Diamonds and toads is an English translation of Perrault's The Fairies. It's a story about two sisters. One is kind and the other rude. Both came into the same situation where reacted accordingly to their characters. One was rewarded, the other punished. The story was illustrated by Kate Greenaway and published in the collection called Aunt Louisa's Big Picture Books and also included in Aunt Louisa's Nursery Favorite, edited by Laura Valentine.
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This edition of Bluebeard is just one of many illustrated by the same artist and engraved and printed by Edmund Evans. We had already had a chance to see how Evans illustrated the story about Bluebeard and it's obvious we are dealing with completely different kinds of quality. Crane paid full attention to every single detail, he often even rewrote the text, he made his own fonts and used so tiny details it's hard to believe how much he produced in his lifetime. Evans, on the other hand, was a businessman. When he sniffed a chance to make some profit, he jumped right into it, never bothering with artistic dilemmas Crane had. These differences eventually ended their collaboration but we can still enjoy numerous projects of the two. This edition is one such example. As we can see in the title, it's a so-called reissue (Bluebeard by Crane had at least five reissues at Evans), but we don't know the exact year of publishing. Anyway, we are dealing with a quality copy, with endpapers before and after the main content and a special page with a list of other titles in the same collection of Crane's picture books. Being limited to a number of pictures, Crane went right into the action. Bluebeard is leaving home and he is giving away his keys. But can he trust his new wife? Will she obey his command? There is a chamber in the house she is forbidden to enter! She took care of the property, she invited people to enjoy in the house, just like Bluebeard told her, yet she couldn't resist. The temptation was too much for her. She had to open the door and there was the most horrible scene she ever had seen. All previous wives were hanged on the wall, floor covered with blood! The key to the forbidden room fell on the floor and became covered with the blood. She couldn't clean it, no matter what she did. When her husband returned, he immediately knew what happened. His dark secret was revealed. His trust was betrayed. His wife entered the chamber with dead bodies of Bluebeard's ex-wives and she is about to become one of them as well! Her begging was futile. Her punishment should be executed as soon as possible. He just gave her a chance to say her prayers, to prepare for leaving the world of living creatures. She sent her sister to the top of the tower. Can she call for their brothers and save Bluebeard's wife's life? Bluebeard couldn't wait any longer. He wanted her dead. She was still begging for mercy, trying to steal a few more moments, to improve her chances of being rescued by her brothers. Brothers were approaching very fast but Bluebeard had his sword ready... Lucky for her brothers were faster than Bluebeard's revenge. They killed him and she became a very rich widow! This picture book about Bluebeard was published in 1898.
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Who Was Charles Perrault?He wrote only eight fairy tales in prose and three in verse, yet he is rightfully called the father of modern fairy tale. Archives
October 2023
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