The Great Fairy Tale Tradition: From Straparola and Basile to the Brothers Grimm (Norton Critical Editions)

Based on new scholarship and designed specifically for course use, The Great Fairy Tale Tradition: From Straparola and Basile to the Brothers Grimm is the indispensable companion for courses focused on the Brothers Grimm and fairy tales in general. As the genre's leading expert, Jack Zipes disproves conventional wisdom regarding the origins of the Grimm fairy tales, which holds that the Grimms collected their tales from the oral traditions of peasants. This is simply not so. Rather, the Grimms took most of their tales from literary sources, rewriting them again and again. These tales are based on a great literary tradition, which this volume documents. The fairy tales—116 in all—are grouped thematically and are accompanied by detailed introductions and annotations. "Criticism" provides seven important assessments of different aspects of the fairy tale tradition by Jack Zipes, W.G. Waters, Benedetto Croce, Lewis Seifert, Patricia Hannon, Harry Velten, and Siegfried Neumann. Brief biographies of the storytellers and a Selected Bibliography are also included.

About the Series: No other series of classic texts equals the caliber of the Norton Critical Editions. Each volume combines the most authoritative text available with the comprehenive pedagogical apparatus necessary to appreciate the work fully. Careful editing, first-rate translation, and thorough explanatory annotations allow each text to meet the highest literary standards while remaining accessible to students. Each edition is printed on acid-free paper and every text in the series remains in print. Norton Critical Editions are the choice for excellence in scholarship for students at more than 2,000 universities worldwide.