Red Riding Hood's Favourite Fairy Tales [antikvár]

IntroductionFairy tales were handed down by constant repetition from generation to generation, their origins often blurred and indistinct through the passage of time. But their universal popularity was established by Charles Perrault (1628-1703), the Brothers Grimm (1785-1863 and 1786-1859) and others who collected and compiled the early fairy tale anthologies.In this collection is included one story from another culture. The Feather of Finist the Falcon is a tale (or skazki) of Russian origin. It is a sample of a folk lore steeped in as much fantasy as our own, its origins going back to the very beginnings of the Slavonic race. The pictures by Ivan Bilibin are classics amongst Russian fairy tale illustration, and his striking drawings bear the characteristics of Russian art in the Middle Ages.The Victorians particularly, liked mystical tales and the introduction of commercial colour printing during the middle of the nineteenth century served only to increase their appetite. More and more illustrators were thus given the chance to add to the stories rich and varied imagery. Ever since, the magic and fairy enchantment that they contain has never ceased to attract children of all ages the world over.Such was their popularity that fairy tales were turned into the ever-popular Christmas pantomimes, used in toys, games and advertisements, as well as being printed on to fancy tins, greetings cards and colourful scraps.The turn of the century brought with it a craze for picture postcards, when people not only sent millions of cards but amassed huge collections. Postcard publishers produced pictorial cards to suit all tastes, including all the favourite children's themes: nursery rhymes, games and pastimes, scenes from fairyland and many more.It is interesting to note that almost all illustrators of children's postcards were women. Postcard illustration was never highly paid work and, for many, only provided a supplementary income. Women illustrators of popular books and annuals for children, water colourists, portraitists, miniaturists andNEW. ARTISTIC. POPULAR.D.F.&Co.PICTORIAL POST CARDSQUICK SELLERS. Mainly 1d. Cards.la envelop,.s cniiMMiiiii; -ix .Ir-iuiiiNo. 31. Chitdren's ^Sfries "Nursfru RhunttS." No. 37. Do. do. "f airp falr^.-No. 43. "The Humours of Monastic l.ife."Sen.1 Pom C^r.l 1 we will send sli :with list, post J^ ample sets, assortrd.Delittle, FenwicK 6 Co.,Pictorial Post Card Publishers. YorU.igoj advertisementfor postcards. Cardsfrom Series can be seen on pages 46 and 4g. An examplefrom Series ji is on page 30 of the companion volume to this book.talented part-time illustrators working at home would have found children's postcards a natural choice. The famous illustrators of the dayRackham, Dulac, Charles Robinson and the like, earned far more illustrating books.While some of the illustrators were self-taught, many on completing their training at art school found picture postcards to be one of the first outlets for their work. Usually designs were submitted speculatively and, if accepted, publishers would pay (in the mid 1920s) around three guineas for a set of six finished illustrations. The more ambitious and successful went on to combine this with remunerative advertising commissions and children's book illustration.Illustrating fairy tales on postcards presented artists with a particular problem. Generally, although not always, publishers and retailers preferred a set of six postcards to feature different stories. The artist had then to choose one scene which captured the atmosphere of the story to the full. When illustrating a boolc, on the other hand, the artist could draw perhaps half a dozen scenes depicting key events in the story.Other children's classics, such as Lewis Carroll's Alice in Wonderland andJ. M. Barrie's Peter Pan, also provided popular themes for postcard artists as did familiar scenes from Dickens and Shakespeare.The pictures in this book contrast in many ways. Some of the early designs are full of chilling Victorian drama, as the anonymous illustrations for 'Hansel and Gretel' on pages 18 and 20 show. They were beautifully printed in up to sixteen separate colours. Other early designs are crude by comparison but colourful and no less dramatic. It was not usual in the early years for postcard illustrators to sign their work, although later on it became normal practice.Illustrators like Hilda Miller (1876-1939) were appealing to children of a different era, for fashions and attitudes had moved into the twentieth century. Her designs, drawn around 1920, for 'The Sleeping Beauty' and 'The Goose Girl' on pages 22 and 24 are characteristic of a style more delicate in its appeal, though less dramatic than earlier illustrations.Hilda MillerMillicent Sowerby (1878-1967) was one of the most prolific and popular illustrators of the 'twenties. Her characters were always gentle happy little people (some would describe them as fay), and they obviously appealed to the younger children. Her colourful designs, like 'Jack and the Beanstalk' on page 15 were to be seen regularly on postcards, playbooks and annuals of the period.