From the Author's Preface. When we were children (which was somewhere about 1820), we were presented with fairy tales at New-Year for our amusement. By whom they were written mattered little; provided they kept us still for an hour without quarrelling or breaking things, the book was thought a good one, and nothing more was asked of the author. Since that time a great change has taken place. Fairy tales now hold a prominent place in literature. Like great noblemen, they have their pedigree and history. They treat of ...
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From the Author's Preface. When we were children (which was somewhere about 1820), we were presented with fairy tales at New-Year for our amusement. By whom they were written mattered little; provided they kept us still for an hour without quarrelling or breaking things, the book was thought a good one, and nothing more was asked of the author. Since that time a great change has taken place. Fairy tales now hold a prominent place in literature. Like great noblemen, they have their pedigree and history. They treat of geography, astronomy, and zoology, and will very soon include philosophy and religion. Analysis has appeared; farewell to jollity. An ancient muse, of whom we must speak no ill, because she is a lady, and of uncertain age, and also because she is too often in the right -- Science, since we must call her by her name-with her long fingers, hooked nose, and great round goggles, is prying into everything. We can no longer laugh at an ogre without being lacking in respect to the god Orcus; Riquet with the Tuft is nothing but the Winter Solstice; and the White Cat, in her enchanted castle, is the nymph Calisto, or, rather, the Great Bear in person. A plague on our grandnephews; they are too wise for us old fellows! For my part, I, too, could invent theories as well as others, if I saw fit. With the protection and support of a respectable political coterie I should stand a good chance of admission to the Academy of Mother Goose; for I have her blood in my veins. I know what fairy tales are. I have tried to make them, and have thereby learned a great truth, namely, that these tales are not manufactured to order. The brightest man is put to his wit's end when he undertakes the task. At most, he invents some allegory as innocent as it is transparent; he tells a story at which he himself is the first to laugh, and which does not for an instant beguile his readers, however young. I therefore hold it as a maxim that the more sense a man has, the more insipid and tedious are his fairy tales....
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Add this copy of Last Fairy Tales (1884) to cart. $38.29, like new condition, Sold by Phatpocket Limited rated 4.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Waltham Abbey, ESSEX, UNITED KINGDOM.
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Like New. Used-Like New. Ships from UK in 48 hours or less (usually same day). Your purchase helps support Sri Lankan Children's Charity 'The Rainbow Centre'. 100% money back guarantee. We are a world class secondhand bookstore based in Hertfordshire, United Kingdom and specialize in high quality textbooks across an enormous variety of subjects. We aim to provide a vast range of textbooks, rare and collectible books at a great price. Our donations to The Rainbow Centre have helped provide an education and a safe haven to hundreds of children who live in appalling conditions. We provide a 100% money back guarantee and are dedicated to providing our customers with the highest standards of service in the bookselling industry.
Add this copy of Last Fairy Tales to cart. $66.41, good condition, Sold by Bonita rated 4.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Newport Coast, CA, UNITED STATES, published 2016 by Palala Press.
Add this copy of Last Fairy Tales to cart. $95.00, fair condition, Sold by Robert Harper Books rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Hyattsville, MD, UNITED STATES, published 1884 by Harper & Brothers.
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ACCEPTABLE in NONE jacket. 1st edition; 376 pages with light tanning, some small creases at corners, and foxing; brown stain at upper corner affects most pages and back cover but does not affect text; some stains on fore edge of textblock bleed onto pages; hinge beginning to separate at half title page; mesh is showing at back hinge; foxing inside front and back covers; blue cloth cover has a cup stain on front, bumped and frayed corners, rubbing a long spine, creasing at top and bottom of spine, and soiling on back; 1 book in The Twilight Series (Imaginative Stories and Fairy Tales)
