The fairy tales of acclaimed Danish author Hans Christian Andersen have delighted and devastated generations of children. Inspiring plays, ballets, novels, and films of both the animated and live-action varieties, these stories have woven themselves into the Western cultural consciousness. While not a complete collection of Andersen’s tales, this edition contains some of his most famous stories: The Ugly Duckling, The Red Shoes, Thumbelina, The Snow Queen, The Nightingale, and The Little Match Girl. This copy has no stated date, but is probably from the early 20th century, most likely after 1900 but before 1910 based on the inscription. The cover is whimsical, and there are a few full color illustrations scattered throughout the text. It is an overall lovely and uncommon copy of a beloved text.
- Title: Andersen’s Fairy Tales
- Author: Hans Christian Andersen
- Publisher: Rand, McNally & Company
- Place: Chicago
- Year: not stated; probably 1900-1910
- Length: 416pp
- Dimensions: 25” x 7.75”
- Format: Hardcover, octavo
- Condition: No dustjacket; the binding is the original olive-green cloth covered boards. There is general scuffing and staining to the boards, and more significant wear and fraying along the edges and the fold where the boards meet the spine. Black titles and tree illustration are printed on the spine. Black title on the front cover. Below the title is a yellow, dark olive, and black printed illustration depicting a gnome and a witch sitting on either side of a cauldron beneath a leafless tree with the sun setting between two hills in the background. Clean pages-no folds or extraneous marks. The binding has loosened very slightly. The page after the title page appears to have been ripped out. An inscription sits in the front endpapers: "Dorothy Sewall // from // Grandma Sewall // Xmas - 1910."