On a Pincushion and Other Fairy Tales
By Mary De Morgan (18501907)
Illustrated by William De Morgan (18391917)
First published 1877. The text of this book is in the public domain worldwide because the author died more than one hundred years ago. The illustrations are in the public domain in countries where copyright is Life+90 or less, and in the USA.
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Mary De Morgan, an English writer, was the author of three volumes of fairy tales: On a Pincushion (1877), The Necklace of Princess Fiorimonde (1880) and The Windfairies (1900). She also wrote short stories, a number of socio-political articles, and, under the name William Dodson, the novel A Choice of Chance (1887).
Although De Morgan is one of the lesser known authors of literary fairytales, her writings played a comprehensive and central role in the evolution of the genre. Edith Nesbit, among other writers, took inspiration from De Morgan.
Her works, influenced by Hans Christian Andersen, are remarkable in deviating from the fairytale norm (not always having a happy ending, or having the protagonist gain, not wealth or power, but rather, the wisdom to recognize the value of living without these things); and in the subtle satirical element of political comment. Her stories frequently have strong female protagonists (often outwitting or rescuing men), and sometimes mock society's expectations of women. A theme runs through many De Morgan stories of the pitfalls of pride and vanity, and redemption from such folly.
(Adapted from Wikipedia.)
EXCERPT -- from The Story of the Opal:
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Text and illustrations were obtained from the Internet Archive. OCR errors were corrected; punctuation, italics, and diacritics formatted; some paragraph breaks added for improved readability. Embedded font for titling.
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Victorian fairy tales -- please enjoy!
.
By Mary De Morgan (18501907)
Illustrated by William De Morgan (18391917)
First published 1877. The text of this book is in the public domain worldwide because the author died more than one hundred years ago. The illustrations are in the public domain in countries where copyright is Life+90 or less, and in the USA.
-----------
Mary De Morgan, an English writer, was the author of three volumes of fairy tales: On a Pincushion (1877), The Necklace of Princess Fiorimonde (1880) and The Windfairies (1900). She also wrote short stories, a number of socio-political articles, and, under the name William Dodson, the novel A Choice of Chance (1887).
Although De Morgan is one of the lesser known authors of literary fairytales, her writings played a comprehensive and central role in the evolution of the genre. Edith Nesbit, among other writers, took inspiration from De Morgan.
Her works, influenced by Hans Christian Andersen, are remarkable in deviating from the fairytale norm (not always having a happy ending, or having the protagonist gain, not wealth or power, but rather, the wisdom to recognize the value of living without these things); and in the subtle satirical element of political comment. Her stories frequently have strong female protagonists (often outwitting or rescuing men), and sometimes mock society's expectations of women. A theme runs through many De Morgan stories of the pitfalls of pride and vanity, and redemption from such folly.
(Adapted from Wikipedia.)
EXCERPT -- from The Story of the Opal:
Spoiler:
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Text and illustrations were obtained from the Internet Archive. OCR errors were corrected; punctuation, italics, and diacritics formatted; some paragraph breaks added for improved readability. Embedded font for titling.
-----------
Victorian fairy tales -- please enjoy!
.
