L. Martinet published this edition of Perrault's Fairy Tales in 1930 in the collection Collection Bibliothèque de la Jeunesse et de l'Enfance Nouvelle. It's an edition with almost 30 full-color pictures signed by Henri Thiriet (1873-1946). There are seven of eight Perrault's fairy tales originally published in his Contes de ma mère l’oye, in English speaking world more known as Tales of Mother Goose. Here they are with a short summary: Cinderella There was a pretty girl who lost her mother when she was very young. Her father later remarried a woman who had two daughters from her previous marriage. They soon started bossing around their step-sister who had to work hardest and was nick-named Cinderella. When the king threw a party with a dance where he intended to find a wife for his son, all girls from the kingdom visited the castle. All except Cinderella. But Cinderella got an unexpected visit - a fairy godmother who transformed a pumpkin into a luxurious carriage, got Cinderella a precious dress and several servants to impress the prince. At the dance, she was the light of the party. The prince had immediately fallen in love with Cinderella. But she went home before she asked her for her name. Fortunately for him, she lost one of her glass slippers and the next day all the girls in the kingdom had to try it. No foot fit into the glass slipper. Until the Cinderella tried it! They married and she even managed to find fine husbands for her wicked step-sisters who were truly sorry for their behavior. All lived happily ever after. Donkeyskin There was a king who promised his dying wife he will remarry only if he meets a woman who is equally gracious as she. But the only one who met the high standard became his daughter when she grew up. He started to court her and she was terrified, demanding more and more precious gifts, including a donkey who was coughing the sequins, just to stop him. Then she saw it's impossible to convince him about his mistake. So she decided to run away from home, covered with a donkey skin. she found a job in the kitchen of a castle still hiding her identity. Then a young prince from the castle discovered there's actually a beautiful girl under the skin of the donkey. He wanted to marry her, no matter her social origin. She accepted his proposal and a huge wedding was thrown. Her father also came. They finally found an appropriate new wife for him! The Puss in Boots A miller died and his three sons inherited a mill, a donkey and a cat. The oldest who got the mill and the middle with the donkey could live with their property but the youngest had no idea what to do with the cat. Fortunately, the cat proved to be very handful. He just wanted a pair of boots and started earning a reputation for his young master. He befriended a king (with stolen goods, claiming they came from his young master) and when the king wanted to introduce his daughter to the miller's boy, arranged they met at the river. The cat lied his master was just robbed, so the king gave him good clothes. The princess liked the young boy. In the meantime, the cat ran to another castle where a shapeshifting ogre lived. The cat tricked him to turn into a mouse and ate him. So the castle was vacant and the poor miller's boy could present it as his home. A splendid wedding followed. The miller's son got a princess for wife and half of her father's kingdom. The cat became a minister and never again had to catch a mouse for food. Little Red Riding Hood Once upon a time, there was a little girl who always wore a red riding hood so everybody called her Little Red Riding Hood. When her granny fell sick, she went to the forest where she met a wolf. When Little Red Riding Hood reached the house of her granny she found a wolf in disguise in her bed. She was fooled again by the beast ... ... and the wolf ate her too! Please note: Perrault's version of Little Red Riding Hood ends with wolf's meal. There is no hunter in this story. Hop-o'-My-Thumb A poor woodcutter had seven sons. The youngest, smallest and smartest of all was called Hop-o'-My-Thumb. One day parents decide to leave their kids in the woods. Hop-o'-My-Thumb climbs to the top of the tree and sees a light not too far away. The boys go there and find an ogre. An ogre let the boys sleepover and gives them bonnets. Hop-o'-My-Thumb noticed ogre's daughter wear crowns. When everybody falls asleep Hop-o'-My-Thumb changed the bonnets with crowns. The ogre who planned to kill the boys kill his daughters instead. The boys run away. In the morning the ogre notices his mistake and tries to catch the kids with the help of his seven-league boots. Then the ogre decides to take a nap. Hop-o'-My-Thumb steals his magic boots which soon became a great source of income for the whole family. Bluebeard A mysterious man with a blue beard came into the country. There were rumors about him being married several times but nobody knows what happened to his wives. In spite of that, a lovely girl from the neighborhood married him. After a while, Bluebeard had to leave the castle. He gave all his keys to his wife and specifically forbade her opening one of the rooms in the castle. But she couldn't resist and open the door of the room where she found the bodies of Bluebeard's ex-wives. He immediately returned and said she can only say her prayers before her punishment - death. Bluebeard's wife calls her sister for help. The sister sent brothers of Bluebeard's wife to rescue her and kill the murderer. This fairy tale is almost forgotten today. It's hard to imagine to include it in a modern collection of fairy tales yet it was very popular in the second half of the 19th century and at the beginning of the 20th century right to the beginning of World War 2. It was often even published in stand-alone picture books like Edmund Evans' History of Bluebeard Sleeping Beauty in the Wood A king got a daughter and invited the fairies from the kingdom. All but one came and gave her precious gifts. But the uninvited one came too and cursed the girl. When she will turn 16 years, she'll prick her finger and die. Fortunately one of the fairies had enough magic to change the curse from death into one hundred years of sleep. Together with the princess, all the kingdom will fall asleep. The king's attempts to prevent the accident were futile. The girl pricked her finger and everybody falls asleep. Eventually, a handsome prince enters the castle and finds the sleeping beauty. She wakes up and we have a great wedding and a happy ending. Remember, this is Perrault's version where the prince doesn't kiss the girl - she simply wakes up when he appears at her bed.
The other major difference from today's most known version is the continuation. The marriage between the prince and the princess is just an introduction to another, much more dramatic conflict - between his wife and his mother. Most illustrators avoided that and even the publishers of later editions tend to skip this annoying part. A few words about the illustrator Henri Thiriet was a very prolific designer and illustrator mostly known by poster creation. Very little is known about his private life. We know he married Catherine Laxenaire in 1903 and they had at least one daughter during their marriage. Among the books he illustrated works by Georges Simenon (signed by one of numerous Simenon's pen names: Christian Brulls) are most known.
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