History of Bluebeard by Edmund Evans

Edmund Evans (1826-1905) was English illustrator, engraver, printer, and businessman who is for many reasons the most influential man in the history of picture books. He actually created a whole market of books for children which of course already existed before his birth but became huge business only after color printing techniques were improved. He was very much involved in development of marketing and distribution and one of the first printers who started promoting illustrators who were before treated as inferior to 'real' painters.

The picture book History of Bluebeard is one of countless variations of Perrault's fairy tale which is not very popular today. The reason is simple - the title character is a mass murderer. But in the second half of the 19th and first decades of the 20th century Bluebeard belonged among classics and people loved reading and buying it.

Color pictures in this edition, published by Routledge, Warne, and Routledge as a part of the series Aunt Mavor's Toy Books, around 1880, were huge attraction and true magnet among the audience.

As you can notice the printing process was far from perfection, with colors escaping across the line borders and many minor flaws, yet very appealing.

There is no credit for the illustrator in this edition. All available resources simply credit Evans and it's probably the best answer because the engraver effectively had more power in execution of an illustration than the artist (if it wasn't Evans). We can further speculate he didn't draw complete set of presented illustrations. Use of numerous (and almost always anonymous assistants) was very usual for the 19th century.

Another time related thing worth mentioning is the choice of portraying the Bluebeard as a man from Orient, with a turban, wide pants, and a scimitar. As you can see, the color of his beard on the cover is not blue at all.

The beginning of the story is already quite eerie. We are informed about a mysterious man who supposed to be married several times but all his wives vanished without any trace. There are rumors about heir destiny yet nobody knows what really happened. When a lovely Fatima is introduced to this seemingly powerful and extremely rich man, the family decided the can make a great couple.

Thing went great for the first month. Then he had to leave the castle. He left all the keys in the hands of his wife with a warning. One of the keys opens a forbidden chamber which should stay locked until he returns.

Fatima tried to resist the temptation for some time. It was too much for her. One day she decided to open the door into the secret chamber. The scene inside was terrifying. The room was full of dead women. She obviously found her husbands ex-wives!
​Now she knows why she shouldn't open the door.

Right after that Bluebeard returned home. He immediately demanded his keys back. The belong to the master of the house, aren't they?

There's a problem. When Fatima opened the door, she was so shocked the key felt to the ground in the puddle of blood. It turned red and she couldn't clean it any more.
​We can see the moment of returning of the keys with one of them colored red. Treacherous red.

Now we can clearly (and graphically) imagine what happened to previous Bluebeard's wives. He gave them the power with an exception, a temptation which can be interpreted as a test of trust and faithfulness. They all failed.
They were all killed.
​Fatima is next on the list. She already knows what is waiting for her.
By the way, the illustration of the Bluebeard dragging his unreliable wife up the stairs, is by far the most well-known from this particular edition of the Perrault's fairy tale.

Fortunately for Fatima her husband wasn't completely merciless. She got a few minutes to say her prayers before the execution.
She used her time to call for help. Will her siblings see her waiving? Can her brother come fast enough to save her?

Yes! The brothers arrived before Bluebeard killed Fatima. The men fought and Bluebeard was killed.
This is the end of a serial killer. Even more. His widow inherited his fortune and soon met more appropriate husband. They lived happily ever after.

To find out more about the Bluebeard, a fairy tale falling out of fashion, visit:

https://hubpages.com/relationships/Bluebeard