Four and Twenty Fairy Tales

This elegant collection gathers twenty-four classic French fairy tales, carefully translated by J. R. Planché and arranged in chronological order to trace the genre's evolution from Perrault to Madame Leprince de Beaumont. In his lively preface, Planché insists that fairy tales are not mere children's amusements, but enduring works of wit, fancy, and feeling for readers of every age. Familiar favorites and rarer gems alike are enhanced by illustrations and a balance of scholarship, charm, and suspense. Among the best-known stories, Blue Beard offers a chilling lesson in curiosity and obedience as a newly married wife discovers the murdered bodies hidden behind a forbidden door, then survives only through desperate delay and her brothers' last-minute rescue. The Sleeping Beauty in the Wood unfolds from a cursed christening to a century-long enchanted sleep, a hidden castle, and a prince's fated awakening kiss. Other tales darken the fairy realm with menace and wonder: a prince must protect his secret bride from an ogress mother with a taste for children, while Beauty and the Beast leads toward a profound transformation of trust, love, and identity. Together, these tales blend romance, danger, morality, and enchantment in enduring French fairy-tale form. This edition has been fully restored with modern typesetting, custom cover design.