The Blue Fairy Book
The Blue Fairy Book
Edited by Andrew Lang
Illustrated by H. J. Ford and G. P. Jacomb Hood
London and New York, Longmans, Green, and Co., 1889
5.8" x 9.6"
Kerlan Collection, Children's Literature Research Collections
University of Minnesota Libraries
Children's books from the 1860s often came with embossed decoration on the front cover that enhanced their gift appeal and, in the days before illustrated dust jackets, also served as a form of point-of-purchase advertising. The editor of this handsomely decorated volume, Andrew Lang, was a prolific Scots poet, critic, historian, and folklorist who, following in the Grimms' footsteps, collected traditional tales he feared might otherwise be lost. Starting with The Blue Fairy Book, shown here, Lang published a series of 13 juvenile gift editions of such stories, each volume cleverly bound in and named for a different color of the rainbow.
Click on any image to enlarge
