Blue Fairy Book

Andrew Lang (1844-1912) was a Scottish writer and scholar who wrote on folklore, anthropology, history and literature, as well as poetry and fiction. His Blue Fairy Book, published in 1889, was a beautifully produced and illustrated volume of fairy tales that became a classic. It was followed by many other collections, each named for a colour, and collectively they are known as Andrew Lang's Fairy Books.

Lang did not collect the tales from the oral tradition himself. Instead he selected from existing sources, including French authors such as Madame d'Aulnoy and Charles Perrault, and the folklore gathered by the brothers Grimm and by Norwegian collectors. Many of the translations were prepared by his wife, Leonora Blanche Alleyne Lang, and others, and the series gives credit to a team of helpers. This approach made the books varied and accessible, and their influence on English-speaking readers has been enormous.

The Blue Fairy Book contains thirty-seven tales. Some are familiar; others are less well known but equally rewarding. Together they offer a broad survey of the European fairy tale as it was understood at the end of the nineteenth century.

The reading, by LibriVox volunteers, runs for almost fourteen hours. It is a collection to dip into one tale at a time, and it is suitable for listeners of all ages. Parents will find these tales a rich source of bedtime listening, and adults who love folklore will enjoy recognising the sources of so many modern stories. The collection can be sampled in any order.