Blogging Once Upon a Time

Monzies Engraving

Illustrations by Henri Pille, engraved by Louis Monzies. Plates from Charles Perrault, Les Contes. Paris: Alphonse Lemerre, 1880.

Two Tone Printing

This version of Andersen’s The Snow Queen, illustrated by Katharine Beverley and Elizabeth Ellender, is an example of the artistic heights that this cheap and simple printing process can reach. Like those of Rackham, Nielsen, and Dulac, Beverley’s illustrations are heavily influenced by Aubrey Beardsley.

Evergreen Tales

The Limited Editions Club, which produced these tales, was founded to publish high quality versions of classic works of literature, decorated with original artwork and signed by the illustrators.

The Tale of Ali Baba & the Forty Thieves. [Translated into modern English by E. Powys Mathers.] Illustrated by Edward Ardizzone. New York, Limited Editions Club, 1949.

Robert Southey. The Three Bears. New York: Limited Editions Club, 1949.

Decorated Covers

Jonathan Vankin. The big book of Grimm : truly scary fairy tales to frighten the whole family. New York : Paradox ; London : Turnaround, 2000.

L. Frank Baum. American Fairy Tales. Cover design by Ralph Fletcher. Chicago: George M. Hill Company, 1901.

Harriet T Comstock. Andersen’s Fairy Tales: Retold in Words of 1 Syllable. New York: A. L. Burt Company, 1900.

Georgi Gasenko. Naia iz Dzhunglei. Berlin, [1922?].

George Cruikshank

George Cruikshank’s Fairy Library. London: Routledge and Sons, [1853].

The Fairy Library included the tales “Hop-O’-My-Thumb,” “Jack and the Beanstalk,” “Cinderella,” and “Puss in Boots.” British illustrator George Cruikshank (1792-1878) also illustrated a popular nineteenth-century selection of the Grimms’ fairy tales.

Walter Crane

Little Red Riding Hood. Illustrated by Walter Crane. London and New York: John Lane, n.d.

The English illustrator Walter Crane (1845-1915) and his publishers pioneered the mass-production of illustrated children’s books printed in color.  His affordable “toy books” include illustrated fairy tales such as “Little Red Riding Hood” and “Sleeping Beauty.”  Crane’s illustrations were influenced by Greek architecture and vase painting, illuminated manuscripts, and Japanese prints.  Crane also completed black-and-white illustrations for the volume Household Stories from the Collection of the Brothers Grimm, which was translated by his sister Lucy Crane.