English Fairy Tales

English Fairy Tales - Joseph Jacobs - Joseph Jacobs He published his English fairy tale collections: English Fairy Tales in 1890 and More English Fairy Tales in 1893.From the Preface:'WHO says that English folk have no fairy tales of their own? The present volume contains only a selection out of some 140, of which I have found traces in this country. It is probable that many more exist. A quarter of the tales in this volume have been collected during the last ten years or so, and some of them have not been hitherto published. Up to 1870, it was said equally of France and of Italy, that they possessed no folk-tales. Yet, within fifteen years from that date, over 1000 tales had been collected in each country.

Joseph Jacobs was an Australian folklorist, literary critic, historian and writer of English literature who became a notable collector and publisher of English Folklore. His work went on to popularize some of the worlds best known versions of English fairy tales including 'Jack and the Beanstalk', 'Goldilocks and the three bears', 'The Three Little Pigs', 'Jack the Giant Killer' and 'The History of Tom Thumb'. He published his English fairy tale collections: English Fairy Tales in 1890 and More English Fairytales in 1894 but also went on after and in between both books to publish fairy tales collected from continental Europe as well as Jewish, Celtic and Indian Fairytales which made him one of the most popular writers of fairytales for the English language. Jacobs was also an editor for journals and books on the subject of folklore which included editing the Fables of Bidpai and the Fables of Aesop, as well as articles on the migration of Jewish folklore. He also edited editions of 'The Thousand and One Nights'. He went on to join The Folklore Society in England and became an editor of the society journal Folklore. Joseph Jacobs also contributed to the Jewish Encyclopedia.