the seventeenth century. French, German, and Italian tales were all derived independently by oral tradition. In 1696, in Recueil, a magazine published by Moetjens, at The Hague, appeared The Story of Sleeping Beauty, by Perrault. In 1697 appeared seven other tales by Perrault. Eight stories were published in 12mo, under a title borrowed from a fabliau, Contes de ma Mère l'Oye. In a later edition three stories were added, The Ass's Skin, The Clever Princess, and The Foolish Wishes. The tales of Perrault were:—
1. The Fairies. 2. The Sleeping Beauty in the Wood. |
6. Cinderella. 7. Rique with the Tuft. |
Immediately afterwards the tales appeared published at Paris in a volume entitled, Histoires ou Contes du Temps Passe, avec des Moralites—Contes de ma Mère l'Oye. The earliest translation into English was in a book containing French and English, Tales of Passed Times, by Mother Goose, with Morals. Written in French by M. Charles Perrault and Englished by R. S., Gent. An English translation by Mr. Samber was advertised in the English Monthly Chronicle, March, 1729. Andrew Lang, with an introduction, has edited these tales from the original edition, published by the Clarendon Press, Oxford, 1888. These tales made their way slowly in England, but gradually eclipsed the native English tales and legends which had been