Oxford world's classics.

"First published 2015 ... reissued 2018"--Title page verso

The Queen and the bat had been talking a good deal that afternoon..." The Victorian fascination with fairyland vivified the literature of the period, and led to some of the most imaginative fairy tales ever written. They offer the shortest path to the age's dreams, desires, and wishes. Authors central to the nineteenth-century canon such as W. M. Thackeray, Oscar Wilde, Ford Madox Ford, and Rudyard Kipling wrote fairy tales, and authors primarily famous for their work in the genre include George MacDonald, Juliana Ewing, Mary De Morgan, and Andrew Lang. This anthology brings together fourteen of the best stories, by these and other outstanding practitioners, to show the vibrancy and variety of the form and its abilities to reflect our deepest concerns. In tales of whimsy and romance, witty satire and uncanny mystery, love, suffering, family, and the travails of identity are imaginatively explored. Michael Newton's Introduction and notes provide illuminating contextual and biographical information about the authors and the development of the literary fairy tale. A selection of original illustrations is also included

Introduction -- Note on the texts -- Select bibliography --

A chronology of the literary fairy tale --

Prologue.

Rumpel-Stilts-kin / Jakob and Wilhelm Grimm -- Princess and the peas / Hans Christian Andersen -- Victorian fairy tales. Story of the three bears / Robert Southey -- King of the golden river / John Ruskin -- Rose and the ring / William Makepeace Thackeray -- Golden key / George MacDonald -- Little lame prince and his travelling cloak / Dinah Mulock Craik -- Wanderings of Arasmon / Mary de Morgan -- First wife's wedding-ring / Juliana Horatia Ewing -- Selfish giant / Oscar Wilde -- Prince Prigio / Andrew Lang -- Queen who flew / Ford Madox Ford -- Story of the herons / Laurence Housman -- Reluctant dragon / Kenneth Grahame -- Melisande / E. Nesbit -- Dymchurch flit / Rudyard Kipling -- Appendix: What is a fairy tale? -- 'Introduction' to German popular stories / John Ruskin -- 'Preface' to Old-fashioned fairy tales / Juliana Horatia Ewing -- 'The fantastic imagination' / George MacDonald -- 'Introduction' to Gammer Grethel's fairy tales / Laurence Housman --

Explanatory notes