New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1905-12-09
Fairy Tales, Old and Neso, in Gay
Holiday Settings.

Andrew Lang, who is certainly well qualiheu
.. z,,te M, the subject contributes a character
,stic and Illuminating essay on fairy tales az
how they should be written, by way OF q pfeis
70 Irene Maunder's 'sThe Plain Princess air0
Other Stories Gongmans, Green q Co''
admits that it is a difficult question 10 say -
fairy stories ought to be written al1housn -,
does not prevent him from expressing His -
oninion on the matter. He even grams -,
Is not always easy TO know what chiUie -
.a,,-os -ea1lv like OF course what may interesU
most of them does not necessarily app -
h,,t his own experience and ooseh -.
IT., 20 believe that the majority OF chliuie-
60 fond Of reading about giants VINO 'to
,,.,,.111, not very good or kind; and ABOUT uiae
ors who are always venomous; ana aOO -
-ootbers invariably wicked, who are iiiifnii! -
20 crnel deaths: and about ogres ana eaiiiiiD'l-,
,.bo1,, If is impossible to admire ne
a6pes that he regrets and CONDEMNS
.-ss..ae +,,.+ are r1eted out to the wicked. ana
s1yynnathizes to a certain extent Win 'iio -
6er whose tender hearts are torn at lhe
tel of the terrible end Of the wicked step
.to- who us rolled down hill in parrellul
- ,,o,Is with what are called the business ehos
,nside' but for all that, he decides thal !"
any case it is the old, old fairy tales that the
children like the best and" he ADDS oeclsIVely'
they are best"
,Fos+ Of the writers of modern fairy tales seem
IN agree with him, il one may judge from llie
volumes put out by the publishers tor the nun
day trade this year, although among them at
certain books in which the authors nave sousH'
IN substitute gentier themes for the oldtne Ia
,r,.os nv m soften the severity of oldtime meth
o5s Of furnishing evildoers. There is suspl-
zion however. that these tales are aimed rather
- r1easa the parents than the children, VINO are
generally quite elemental in their ideas OF rlghI
and wrong and who unfeignedly rejoice IN the
..coroe-uppance'' of wicked cannibals, osres anu
stenn7o1hers: rejecting in their stage OF mentaI
and moral development that of the times wheh
tl7e old fairy tales were invented, and when' as
Mr. Lang remarks, ''an these cruel things USED
to be done, and everybody said serve thern
right
One not inconsiderable group of this 1all S OUT
mt NJ fairy fiction indeed, is composed OF Varl-
-. collections of these same old favorites IN
now editions. a term which in some cases COM
,rabends nothing more than new bindings. ana
IN others extends to new translations or rem
derinss of the tales. Mr.. Lang's own contrlDU-
+;o, Is THE Red Book Of Romance (LongmaHs'
coon E. COZ which is not. strictly speaking,
fairy book but a book of adventures. YET 'he
adventures are of period when slahCs anu
dvyarfs and magicians and enchanted castles anu
zr.oons and nvine horses entered closely
that their romances were pretty much the same
. e,;r,, stories after all In 1.-The Red Romance
Tecol" the old romances selected have been
made much shorteT-'keeping the livelest parts
IN which things happen''-by Mrs. Lang, with
delightful introduction by her husband The
tales are gathered from all sources, ana IN
clude among many others. How William or
Palermo Was Carried Off by the Werwolf,
s'T-ra and the Lion" THE Tale Of the Cld,
."Tbe Helmet Of Mambrino" and "The Ring OF
Rrsaar7ante., There are eight beautifully col
ored plates by H. J. Ford, and numerous other
illustrations in black and white by the same art
ist Another book Of similar type is Myths
That Every Child Should Know Doubleday,
Page & Coz. edited by Hamilton Wright Mabie.
These classic myths with the exception Of the
North American Indian myth of THE Star and
the Lily" are all from the Grecian and Morse
rnytIologies and are selected from Hawthorne's
wonder Book and "Tanglewood Tales" from
''In the Days of Giants" from Morse Stories
from Church's Stories from Homer" and from
Kingsley's Greek Heroes" These famous old
legends with their gods and demi-gods, their
Heroes and giants their nymphs and dryads.
were real enough 20 those who first recited and
listened to them. but they sure enough fairy
stories to the children of -day-and instructive.
too to those who will pause to read Mr. Mabie's
introduction with his simple explanation Of
their origin and meaning The illustrations and
decorations by Blanche Ostertag. announced on
the title page, appear 20 be confined to frontis
piece OF 'Medeia and Jason with the Golden
Fleece" Other illustration decoration there
is not 'l41sop's Fables are old enough and
fairy enough TO fall into the present category,
and the edition issued by Moffat Yard & Co. is
notable chiefly for its clever and novel iilustra-
lions in color and black and white, by J. VI.
rtiS 6aS
successful in imparting grotesduely human
expressions 20 his animals, and in making the
application of the incidents to present day con-
ditions apparent by clothing them in or
less modern garb Il he loses thereby something
of the ancient spirit he makes up for it by thus
bringing home the lessons of the olden fabulist
to the children of to-day. The text is an adap-
tation of the translation from the Greek by the
Rev. George T. Townsend. and there is learned
introduction by Elisabeth Luther Cary. In The
Widhower Fairy Book Dodd Mead & Coz
Esther Singleton has given another example
of her excellent taste in selection and cola
ton by bringing together fifteen fairy tales
from many lands, such as The Sleeping
Beauty" from the French; 'Rumpeisttskin,"
from the German: tom Thumb" from the Eng
fish and others from Hindoo, japanese, Danish
Italian Norwegian and Arabian sources. There
are several decorative full page colored illustra-
lions, in fat tones, by Charles Buckles Falls.
while delfcateIy printed wiId-fower designs, in