The Blue Fairy Book

Enjoy over 35 best-loved fairy and folk tales in this classic collection selected by Andrew Lang, beautifully presented with cover gilding, sprayed page edges and magnificent illustrations.

The Blue Fairy Book was the first in a series of collections of fairy and folk tales brought together by the prolific Scottish novelist, poet and editor, Andrew Lang, and his wife, Leonora Blanche Alleyne. The fairy tales were selected from a variety of provenances, including the work of the Brothers Grimm and the French writer Madame d'Aulnoy as well as the Tales of the Arabian Nights and various other sources from across Scandinavia and Europe.

Readers may recognise such stories as 'The Sleeping Beauty in the Wood', 'Aladdin and the Wonderful Lamp', and 'Beauty and the Beast' which remain as entrancing today as when they were first told. Each tale will transport the reader to a magical world full of charismatic characters and their thrilling, escapades.

This charming hardback gift edition features classic illustrations by Henry Justice Ford and G. P. Jacomb-Hood, as well as gold cover accents and patterned endpapers. This creates and enchanting and immersive way to enjoy these magnificent tales.

Andrew Lang was a prolific collector of folk and fairytales as well as being a poet, novelist and critic. Born in Scotland, he was educated at the Universities of St Andrews and Oxford. Best known for his 'Fairy Books', which each included a color in their titles, he also collaborated on translations of Homer's The Iliad and The Odyssey and produced popular biographies of historical figures, such as Sir Walter Scott, plus other collections of stories for children. Alongside his writing, Lang took a strong interest in anthropology, psychic research and spiritualism, but his versatility as a writer earned him his reputation as one of the 19th and early 20th centuries' best-loved storytellers.

Leanora Blanche Alleyne Lang (1851-1933) was an English writer, editor, and translator, best known for her collaboration with her husband Andrew Lang on The Fairy Books. She has been credited as the editor of the series as well as the translator of the international fairy tales from the French, German, Portuguese, Italian, Spanish, Catalan, and other languages and adapted them to suit Victorian sensibilities.