The Original Folk and Fairy Tales of the Brothers Grimm: The Complete First Edition

Love having access to the original stories. Far better than the disneyified versions told today.

Fantastic. Sooo good to have a modern authoritative translation of this classic!

Be warned. The original faiery tales were much weirder and more brutal than their modern sanitized, censored versions. This stuff is brutal, and authentic.

I would assume that most people are familiar with the Brothers Grimm and their collection of fairy tales. It's almost a rite of passage for children, and has been for many generations. Probably less people know that there were seven editions (which, until reading this, included me). These first editions, in this first complete English translation, provide a window into the type of material that would be honed and grew over the years into the collection we know today. I was only familiar with a minority of the stories, and it was interesting to see how they differ from what I've read before. They are certainly rougher, in multiple senses of the word. Some were so short, as to be barely a story at all. And all of them, like the more familiar versions, reflected a simple morality. There were also numerous recurring themes and character types, the subject of much literature since. Overall, I think this collection is more interesting from a philological perspective, in no small part because I doubt this was meant to be read cover to cover, but I'm sure any fan of these time-tested tales would want to read them, if only out of curiosity.

As a person who collects fairy tales and folkore from around the wolrld, this is a must have. Dont be fooled by Disney adaptations. Those are made to appeal to children. These tales however? Unfiltered and honest. You think you know Cinderella and Rapunzel? Think again! This collection is marvelous for people who appreciate Grimm’s tales as they were. Not the washed out versions told today. I love how there are addittional notes citing that the brother's obtained these tales all over Germany. They even admitted when certain tales were influenced by other countries! In their pursuit of collecting stories that reflected Germany in a certain way, they did a great job!! Also, I recommend this book for older teenagers and up. Young readers will be shocked at saddened at the true tales of classics.

This is a wonderful volume. As it were, this represents the first version of the Brothers Grimm Fairy Tale collection. The author is Professor Emeritus of German and Comparative Literature at the University of Minnesota. As such, he wondered at the lack of a published version of the original volume put together by the Brothers Grimm. Consequently, Dr. Zipes translated and edited the 1812/15 version and it was published by Princeton University Press. The Introduction by Zipes places the volume in context; he discusses the goals of Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm; he notes the changes in the tone and tenor of the stories over multiple editions of the collected works. If one is familiar with the story of Rapunzel, the changes are rather stark. I(n the original version, she becomes pregnant by her visiting male friend. In later versions, pregnancy did NOT occur. The Grimm brothers' prefatory comments on Volume 1 and Volume 2 are provided in this collection, adding their own personal observations to the picture. Their desire to bring the collective tales told and retold by people is manifest in the publication of their original version. But it is the stories that are the highlight here. There are two frog prince stories that I read (# 1 in Volume 1 and # 13 in Volume 2). In each case, the princesses were rather snotty to the frog. An edgier version as compared with subsequent volumes. One of the issues raised by the Brothers is that lessons were often taught in these tales. One is that one is rewarded for good and generous deeds. # 83 in Volume 1, "The Poor Maiden." This is the story of a poor maiden who gave away what little she had--including clothing--to help others. The end? The stars fell from heaven and became coins that she used to become "rich for the rest of her life" (page 263). It's been a long time since I read "Puss in Boots" (Volume 1, # 33). The cat who wore boots and did great deeds for his master ended up producing a royal wife for the man, a kingdom, too, at a later point. And, finally, the cat became prime minister. Other familiar stories with somewhat edgier approaches--Little Red Cap (Volume 1, # 26), or, as we know it, "Little Red Riding Hood; Hansel and Gretel (# 15, Volume 1); Rapunzel (already noted (# 12, Volume 1). And so on. This is a volume well worth acquiring, to provide a context against which to compare later volumes and more familiar versions of the tales that we are aware of.

Great edition for any library.

I bought a used book from doubleeagle58 and I was very happy with the overall condition of the book and it came on the day before it said it had to be delivered by im just happy that it came I love this book and would recommend it to anyone looking for a good read of fairy Tales that arent all princesses and rainbows some of the stuff in the book is grim but other than that it makes for a wonderful read and because it being a bunch of little stories you dont have to read it all in one go you can read a little story here one there overall its great love it.

excellent pour ma fille au collège, elle s’exerce

O livro conta com a primeira edição dos contos dos irmãos Grimm. Os seus contos foram readaptados várias vezes e eram escritos para assustar as crianças e entreter adultos. Não diria que essas histórias são de terror, mas muitas delas são bem "gore" (violência bem discarada)

It's really an amazing book, it contains simple short stories which can entertain not only children but also older readers. The front cover and the inside pictures are great. I received the package with no problem.

Wow, have these ever been 'cleaned up' and sanitizied. Its interesting to read the originals.

At the time of ordering this Kindle edition, it was totally free, so even if it was just a dozen stories, it would be great. No, it turned out to be the FULL Grimms collection - over 200 stories, told in the most traditional style, and definitely not sanitised for modern readers. All those vivid, original gory details are included: death, torture, starvation, jealousy, anger, bitterness, revenge, wicked witches, and much more, sometime (but not always) tempered with the "nice" stuff: beautiful maidens, handsome princes, helpful talking animals, good deeds, compassion, rewards, happy endings, etc. Obviously, the stories are a translation (the Grimms were not native English speakers), but they are a pretty good translation; providing a very familiar, traditional, stylised (almost biblical) way of telling the stories - to be honest, exactly how I remember them from my childhood. Furthermore, this is a good Kindle edition - featuring a decent menu with proper separate links to all the tales. There are no illustrations, but I found that I didn't really need any - with these stories, I enjoy using my imagination. All-in-all, this collection is a great addition to anyone's Kindle. I've been dipping into it for bedtime stories (yes, honestly, kids love them), and also to read to an elderly relative (they bring back a lot of memories), and (of course) for myself - it's nice to revisit these old stories from time to time.