Hans Andersen's Fairy Tales, Specially Adapted and Arranged for Young People, by Hans Christian Andersen, Illustrated, [n.d.]

Andersen, Hans Christian. Hans Andersen's Fairy Tales, Specially Adapted and Arranged for Young People. Elgin: David C. Cook Publishing Co., [n.d]. Small octavo. Light brown cloth boards, with stamped titles and decorations in burgundy and green on the front board. Illustrated with one full page black and white frontispiece illustration and 15 in-text illustrations and chapter decorations. Presented with a new archival green cloth slipcase with front inlay. 

This early twentieth century American edition of Hans Christian Andersen’s fairy tales was issued by the David C. Cook Publishing Company of Elgin, Illinois, a firm widely known for its religious and educational publications as well as its juvenile literature. The volume is bound in light brown cloth boards, the front cover decorated and titled in burgundy and green. The book is illustrated with one full-page black and white frontispiece and fifteen additional in-text illustrations and chapter decorations that accompany the narratives. Produced in a compact small octavo format, the book was clearly intended as an accessible and attractive edition for younger readers, presenting twenty-two of Andersen’s well-known stories in an adapted form suitable for family reading and personal use. 

After writing short stories, plays, and several novels and poem collections, Hans Christian Andersen’s first foray into fairy tales was a collection of nine fairy tales, Eventyr, fortalt for Børn. Første Samling (trans: Fairy Tales Told for Children. First Collection). Those nine tales were published by C. A. Reitzel in Copenhagen, in a series of three installments between May 1835 and April 1837. Over the following decades, he helped transform the fairy tale from a purely folkloric tradition into a literary art form. Written in a new conversational style that drew on everyday speech and idioms, his stories combined imaginative fantasy with reflections on human emotion, morality, and the experiences of the outsider, allowing them to resonate with all ages of readers. 

The popularity of Andersen’s stories spread rapidly beyond Denmark through translation, particularly in England and the United States during the mid nineteenth century. By the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, his tales had become staples of children’s publishing, appearing in countless illustrated editions designed for young readers. Many publishers issued abridged or adapted versions that simplified the language while preserving the essential narrative structure and moral lessons. Editions such as the present volume from the David C. Cook Publishing Company represent this tradition of adaptation, presenting Andersen’s imaginative stories in a format suited to early twentieth century youth readers.

CONDITION:

Very good condition. Small octavo. Light brown cloth boards, with stamped titles and decorations in burgundy and green on the front board. Wear on spine corners, light bumping to board corners. Small stain on front board. New joints, linings, and caps. Gift inscription on front free endpaper, “Helen Rose Muehlethaler/ For learning Bible verses/ From Baptist Sunday School/ Christmas 1925” in black ink. Paper is lightly toned, mostly clean, save with stains on pp 27-28, and light scattered foxing in paper margins. Illustrated, with one full page black and white frontispiece illustration and 15 in-text illustrations and chapter decorations. 96 pp. Presented with a new archival green cloth slipcase with front inlay. 

Book Dimensions: 6 3/4” H x 5 1/8” W x 1/4” D. 

Slipcase Dimensions: 7 1/4” x H x 5 1/4” W x 3/4” D. 

Accompanied by our company’s letter of authenticity.