This post is dedicated to a very special edition of Perrault's fairy tales (Tales of Mother Goose). It's a rare opportunity to see color images signed by Frederic Theodore Lix (1830-1897) in pretty good resolution. There are also numerous black and white drawings, sometimes vignettes, sometimes very complex illustrations that are not signed. We can only tell they were done by Pierre-Gustave-Eugene Staal (1817-1882), Yan' Dargent (1824-1899), Osvaldo Tofani (1849-1915), and 'others'. By others are probably meant apprentices and other workers in Staal' workshop, following orders of the chief engraver who was one of the top masters of his profession in the second half of the 19th century. We could already admire his work on Gustave Dore's take on Mother Goose Tales. Unfortunately, all black and white drawings are scanned in very poor quality and we present them only to show complete project. We have also included decorative capital letters. There may be a bit of confusion looking at the presented material for the first time. It looks fairy tales were illustrated by line drawings at first, printed together with text and leaving empty pages to glue color prints of Lix's paintings later. Such an approach was characteristic in the 19th century although more advanced printers already begun with color printing of complete books at once. But the result in our case is far from being perfect. While all black and white illustrations fit into the accompanying stories, the color ones fail on more than on occasion. Even more: the illustration of the fairy tale The Fairies is placed in the middle of The Little Red Riding Hood without having the text of The Fairies anywhere in the book. Another blunder is the inclusion of The Discreet Princess (The Adventures of the Finette) in the collection. This story was written by Mademoiselle Marie-Jeanne L’Heritier de Villandon (1664-1734). The extenuating circumstances for publishers were the fact Marie-Jeanne was a niece of Perrault, writing and publishing fairy tales at the same time and speculation about his help or at least partial authorship of the tale. So we included this story just like all others. Here are all the titles, pictures and illustrations (with short comments) in the exact order as published by Garnier Brothers in Paris, probably around 1904. Little Red Riding Hood Such decorative capital letters at the beginning of each story were a standard for centuries. The first meeting of the girl with red riding hood and the talking wolf. The famous scene of picking flowers. An illustration from The Fairies, another story by Perrault. While illustration is, the story is not included in this book. This looks like a hunter approaching granny's house. Illustrator may draw it by memory (influenced by other, more popular versions of Little Red Riding Hood). Yet, Perrault's version, included in this book, doesn't have a hunter. Another decorative element in the book - a vignette with elements from the next story. The most thrilling scene of the story about the Bluebeard. Publisher put it right at the beginning of the story, while it should be close to the end. Bluebeard The same decorative capital "I" was used. It's very likely it was used for other books as well. We may never know who created it. Bluebeard's new wife and soon-to-be-a-victim has a sister. They are friends what is not very often in fairy tales. She couldn't resist and opened the door of the forbidden chamber. Bluebeard already knew how to punish his wife for her curiosity. After all, he was married for six times before. Fortunately, her two brothers came to the rescue, they killed Bluebeard and she inherited his fortune. The most famous scene from Sleeping Beauty in the Wood. In Perrault's version there is no kiss. And it's not at the end of the story! Sleeping Beauty in the Wood Well, they apparently had more than one decorative capital letter. The arrival of the wicked fairy. The prophecy is just about to fulfill. Prince Charming is coming to the castle. When he enters, she wakes up. No kissing, please! Happy couple is ready to move. They will live in his castle. His wicked mother plans to kill the son's wife and kids, but he returns home just in time to save his new family and punish his mother. Perrault's version of Sleeping Beauty is some kind of link between older versions dealing with jealousy and newer versions ending right after the awakening of the princess. Puss in Boots (The Master Cat) Decorative capital letter "U". This illustration would look better if they placed it right before the end of the story, when the cat arranges the final step for his master's social position. One brother got a mill, the other a donkey. He has just a cat! If anybody asks, all this belongs to the Puss' master. Finally, the cat and his master got a castle and by marriage entered the world of nobility. One of the most recognizable scenes from the fairy tales - the glass slipper should fit. Cinderella Here we go again with the decorative capital letter "I". While everybody else in the house has good time, Cinderella works from early hours till late night. With right outfit Cinderella steals the show at the prince's ball. Nobody recognized her. Yes, the slipper fits her. She will marry the prince. Riquet with the Tuft This decorative capital letter is very similar to one of the already published. The beauty and wit are not given together in this story. At least not from the beginning. He is charmed by her beauty and she likes his wit. But, is this enough? Fortunately, they both poses magical powers to solve the problems. A happy ending is inevitable. A decorative capital letter "I" for one more time. This is not the most shocking, yet by far the most popular scene among the illustrators. Little Thumb, also known as Hop o' My Thumb, will try ogre's boots. The family is so poor they have no food for kids. Father left them in the wood but they won't despair. An ogre is going to eat them! They don't just escape, Little Thumb took his seven-league boots too. Boys safely returned home and Little Thumb got a profitable job at the king thanks to his new magical boots. The Discreet Princess (The Adventures of Finette) Donkey Skin This decorative capital letter should already look familiar. While a donkey means ability to earn in Puss in Boots, it helps the lady in distress in Donkey Skin in a completely new way. The princess has to run away. She disguises herself with a skin of a donkey. She becomes a kitchen helper until a prince blows her cover. Princess gets a husband and her father finds a new wife too. That's all. Did you notice how color pages disappeared in the second half of the book? Many books printed in those times were similarly made. Partly because it was easier to add them when the book was already made, partly because a buyer usually checked only the beginning of the book.
Many had only one colored page - a frontispiece! Today, of course the price of color printing is not so much more expense, so we can enjoy in full-color printing at most books for kids. But the quality of work of the old masters is still worth checking. I hope you enjoyed and you'll tell your friends about this beautiful collection of Perrault's fairy tales pictured by Theodore Lix and other masters.
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