David Blamires Telling Tales the Impact of Germany on English Children’S Books 1780-1918
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David Blamires Telling Tales The Impact of Germany on English Children’s Books 1780-1918 TELLING TALES David Blamires (University of Manchester) is the author of around 100 arti- cles on a variety of German and English topics and of publications includ- ing Characterization and Individuality in Wolfram’s ‘Parzival’; David Jones: Art- ist and Writer; Herzog Ernst and the Otherworld Journey: a Comparative Study; Happily Ever After: Fairytale Books through the Ages; Margaret Pilkington 1891- 1974; Fortunatus in His Many English Guises; Robin Hood: a Hero for all Times and The Books of Jonah. He also guest-edited a special number of the Bulletin of the John Rylands University Library of Manchester on Children’s Literature. [Christoph von Schmid], The Basket of Flowers; or, Piety and Truth Triumphant (London, [1868]). David Blamires Telling Tales The Impact of Germany on English Children’s Books 1780-1918 Cambridge 2009 40 Devonshire Road, Cambridge, CB1 2BL, United Kingdom http://www.openbookpublishers.com @ 2009 David Blamires Some rights are reserved. This book is made available under the Creative Commons Attribution-Non-Commercial-No Derivative Works 2.0 UK: England & Wales License. This license allows for copying any part of the work for personal and non-commercial use, providing author attribution is clearly stated. Details of allowances and restrictions are available at: http://www.openbookpublishers.com As with all Open Book Publishers titles, digital material and resources associated with this volume are available from our website: http://www.openbookpublishers.com ISBN Hardback: 978-1-906924-10-2 ISBN Paperback: 978-1-906924-09-6 ISBN Digital (pdf): 978-1-906924-11-9 All paper used by Open Book Publishers is SFI (Sustainable Forestry Initia- tive), and PEFC (Programme for the Endorsement of Forest Certification Schemes) Certified. Printed in the United Kingdom and United States by Lightning Source for Open Book Publishers To Roger Paulin for his persistent encouragement over several years. Contents Introduction 1 1. The Adventures of Baron Munchausen 9 2. A World of Discovery: Joachim Heirich Campe 23 3. Elements of Morality: Salzmann and Wollstonecraft 39 4. Musäus and the Beginnings of the Fairytale 51 5. Discovering Germany 63 6. The Swiss Family Robinson 79 7. Moral, Didactic and Religious Tales 95 8. Friedrich de la Motte Fouqué: Undine and Sintram 121 9. Adelbert von Chamisso’s Peter Schlemihl 135 10. The Fairytales of the Brothers Grimm 147 11. The Fairytales of Wilhelm Hauff 181 12. The Folktale Tradition in Germany 205 13. E. T. A. Hoffmann’s Nutcracker and Mouse King 223 14. Lesser Fairytales Authors 245 15. Clemens Brentano’s Fairytales 263 16. Learning about German History 275 17. The Thirty Years War 291 18. Historical Tales and Adventure Stories 309 19. Picture Books 321 20. Siegfried and the Nibelungenlied 353 21. The Franco-Prussian War 371 22. German Books for Girls 395 23. Children’s Books and the First World War 409 Primary Texts 423 Select Bibliography 441 Index 449 Illustrations Page Cover: Wilhelm Busch, Max and Moritz. A Story in Seven Tricks (Munich: Braun & Schneider; London: A. N. Myers & Co., c. 1892). p. 12. Frontispiece: [Christoph von Schmid], The Basket of Flowers; or, Pi- ety and Truth Triumphant. Translated from the original German Edition. With Numerous Coloured Illustrations (London: Frederick Warne & Co., [1868]). ii 1. Adventures of the Renowned Baron Munchausen, Containing Singu- lar Travels, Campaigns, Voyages, and Adventures (London: Thomas Tegg, 1811). Frontispiece by Thomas Rowlandson. 8 2. The Life and Exploits of Baron Munchausen. Who Outdid All Other Travellers. Related by Himself (Glasgow: Richard Griffin & Co., 1827). Title-page. 17 3. Baron Munchausen. Webb, Millington and Co.’s Penny Pictorial Library, no. 6. (London: Yorkshire J. S. Publishing and Stationery Co. Limited, c. 1865). Hand-coloured frontispiece. 19 4. J. H. Campe, The New Robinson Crusoe; an Instructive and Enter- taining History, for the Use of Children of Both Sexes. Translated from the French. New Edition (London: John Stockdale, 1811). Frontis- piece by John Bewick. 29 5. J. H. Campe, The Discovery of America; for the Use of Children and Young Persons (London: J. Johnson, 1799). Frontispiece by J. Burney. 32 6. C. G. Salzmann, Elements of Morality, for the Use of Children; with an Introductory Address to Parents. Translated [by Mary Wollstonecraft] from the German. A New Edition (London: J. Johnson, 1805). Title- page. 44 7. J. K. A. Musäus, Legends of Number Nip. Translated by Mark Lemon Illustrations ix (London: Macmillan & Co., 1864). Illustrated by Charles Keene. 57 8. Isaac Taylor, Scenes in Europe, for the Amusement and Instruction of Little Tarry-at-Home Travellers. Second edition (London: J. Harris, 1819). Copper-engravings. 72 9. Travels with Minna and Godfrey in Many Lands. From the Journals of the Author. The Rhine, Nassau, and Baden (London: Smith, Elder & Co., 1839). Copper-engraving of the Drachenfels, Rolandseck and Nonnenfels, opposite p. 84. 74 10. The Swiss Family Robinson (London: Frederick Warne & Co., [by 1883]), opposite p. 145. 91 11. [F. A. Krummacher], The Little Dove: a Story for Children, Founded on Fact. New Edition. (London: Charles Gilpin, c. 1854). Title-page and frontispiece. 100 12. [Franz Sales Meyer], Little Swiss Seppeli; or Confidence in God Re- warded. A True Story Translated from the German (London: Harvey & Darton, 1829). Title-page and frontispiece. 100 13. Christopher von Schmid, The Flower-Basket. A Moral Tale. Trans- lated by William E. Drugulin. With illustrations by Julius Nisle (Stutt- gart: J. B. Müller, 1848). Title-page and frontispiece. 110 14. C. G. Barth, The Young Tyrolese. Translated by Samuel Jackson (London: Darton & Clark [1838]). Title-page and frontispiece. 116 15. Friedrich de la Motte Fouqué,Sintram and his Companions. Illus- trations by H. C. Selous (London: Edward Lumley, n.d.), p. 1. 130 16. [Adelbert von Chamisso, wrongly attributed to Lamotte Fou- qué], Peter Schlemihl. With Plates by George Cruikshank (London: G. and W. B. Whittaker, 1824), opposite p. 44. 141 17. Unlucky John and his Lump of Silver. A Juvenile Comic Tale. Trans- lated into Easy Verse by Madame Leinstein (London: A. K. Newman & Co., c. 1825). Hand-coloured engravings. Title-page and frontis- piece. 156 18. [George Nicol], An Hour at Bearwood. The Wolf and the Seven Lit- tle Kids. Second edition (London: Wright, 1839), opposite p. 17. 158 19. Brothers Grimm, Household Stories. Newly Translated. Illustra- x Telling Tales tions by Edward Wehnert. 2 vols. (London: Addey & Co., 1853), op- posite p. 134 (illustration to ‘The Musicians of Bremen’). 164 20. W. Hauff,Longnose the Dwarf, and Other Fairy Tales. Translated by Percy E. Pinkerton. With 14 Plates and 19 Woodcuts (London: Swan Sonnenschein & Allen, 1881). Frontispiece (illustration to ‘The Stone-cold Heart’). 188 21. Ludwig Bechstein, The Old Story-teller: Popular German Tales. Il- lustrations by Ludwig Richter (London: Addey & Co., 1854). Title- page and frontispiece. 208 22. A Picture Story-book (London: George Routledge & Sons, n.d.). Illustrations by Bertall to [E. T. A. Hoffmann/Alexandre Dumas], The History of a Nutcracker, p. 156. 239 23. The King of the Swans and Other Tales, with Four Lithographs (Lon- don: Joseph Cundall, 1846). Title-page and frontispiece (Rudol- phi’s ‘The King of the Swans’). 248 24. Fairy Tales from Brentano, Translated by Kate Freiligrath Kroeker. Illustrations by F. Carruthers Gould (London: T. Fisher Unwin, 1884), p. 3. 268 25. Julia Corner, The History of Germany and the Austrian Empire. New edition, Revised and Enlarged (London: Thomas Dean & Son, c. 1854). Copper-engraving by Davenport, after Gilbert, opposite p. 280 170. 26. [Robert B. Paul], A History of Germany, from the Invasion of Germany by Marius to the Battle of Leipzic, 1813. On the plan of Mrs. Markham’s 282 histories. For the use of Young Persons (London: John Murray, 1847), p. 276. 27. Scenes and Narratives from German History (London: Society for 284 Promoting Christian Knowledge, n.d.), opposite p. 132, ‘Gustavus Kneeling in front of his Army’. 329 28. Little Lily’s Alphabet. With Rhymes by S. M. P. and Pictures by Os- car Pletsch (London: Frederick Warne & Co., c. 1865). W for Winter. 29. Heinrich Hoffmann,The English Struwwelpeter. Pretty Stories and Funny Pictures for Little Children. Fifteenth edition (Leipzic: Frie- 336 drich Volckmar; London: Agency of the German Literary Society, Illustrations xi c. 1858), p. 8. ‘The Story of Fidgedy [sic] Philip’. 359 30. The Heroic Life and Exploits of Siegfried the Dragon Slayer. An Old German Story. With Eight Illustrations Designed by Wilhelm Kaulbach (London: Joseph Cundall & David Bogue, 1848), opposite p. 108. 31. Golden Threads from an Ancient Loom. Das Nibelungenlied. Adapted 365 to the use of young readers by Lydia Hands. Engravings by Julius Schnorr, of Carolsfeld (London: Griffith & Farran, 1880), p. 72, ‘Criemhild’s Frenzy’. 375 32. [Hesba Stretton], Max Krömer. A Story of the Siege of Strasbourg (London: The Religious Tract Society, [1871]). Title-page and fron- tispiece. 33. Ottilie Wildermuth, Nurse Margaret’s Two St. Sylvester’s Eves 401 (London: Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge, [1871]). Ti- tle-page and frontispiece. Introduction The boundaries between children’s literature and literature for adults are difficult to determine. Until books were written specifically for children – first of all to teach them their letters and instruct them in the rudiments of religion and social behaviour and only later to amuse them − they would read whatever came to hand from other sources. In the eighteenth century animal fables and chapbooks would be their most likely reading material. But other more demanding books might also attract their attention. In this way such classics as Defoe’s Robinson Crusoe (1719) and Swift’s Gulliver’s Travels (1726) were adopted by children, and the texts were quickly adapted to suit their needs.