American Fairy Tales
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''American Fairy Tales'' is the title of a collection of twelve
fantasy Fantasy is a genre of speculative fiction involving Magic (supernatural), magical elements, typically set in a fictional universe and sometimes inspired by mythology and folklore. Its roots are in oral traditions, which then became fantasy ...
stories by
L. Frank Baum Lyman Frank Baum (; May 15, 1856 – May 6, 1919) was an American author best known for his children's books, particularly ''The Wonderful Wizard of Oz'' and its sequels. He wrote 14 novels in the ''Oz'' series, plus 41 other novels (not includ ...
, published in 1901 by the George M. Hill Company, the firm that issued ''
The Wonderful Wizard of Oz ''The Wonderful Wizard of Oz'' is a children's novel written by author L. Frank Baum and illustrated by W. W. Denslow. It is the first novel in the Oz series of books. A Kansas farm girl named Dorothy ends up in the magical Land of Oz after s ...
'' the previous year. The cover, title page, and page borders were designed by
Ralph Fletcher Seymour Ralph Fletcher Seymour (March 18, 1876 – January 1, 1966) was an American artist, author, and publisher of the late nineteenth and the twentieth centuries. Though long based in Chicago, he was also noted for his work in the American Southwest ...
; each story was furnished with two full-page black-and-white illustrations, by either Harry Kennedy, Ike Morgan, or Norman P. Hall.


Background

L. Frank Baum was doing well in 1901, better than ever before in his life. He had written two popular books, '' Father Goose: His Book'' and ''The Wonderful Wizard of Oz,'' and was determined to capitalize on this success. In addition to ''American Fairy Tales,'' Baum's ''
Dot and Tot of Merryland ''Dot and Tot of Merryland'' is a 1901 novel by L. Frank Baum. After Baum wrote ''The Wonderful Wizard of Oz'', he wrote this story about the adventures of a little girl named Dot and a little boy named Tot in a land reached by floating on a riv ...
'' and '' The Master Key'' appeared in 1901. Publisher George M. Hill sold the serialization rights to the twelve stories in ''AFT'' to five major newspapers, the ''
Pittsburgh Dispatch The ''Pittsburgh Dispatch'' was a leading newspaper in Pittsburgh, operating from 1846 to 1923. After being enlarged by publisher Daniel O'Neill it was reportedly one of the largest and most prosperous newspapers in the United States. From 1880 ...
'', ''
The Boston Post ''The Boston Post'' was a daily newspaper in New England for over a hundred years before it folded in 1956. The ''Post'' was founded in November 1831 by two prominent Boston businessmen, Charles G. Greene and William Beals. Edwin Grozier bough ...
'', ''
The Cincinnati Enquirer ''The Cincinnati Enquirer'' is a morning daily newspaper published by Gannett in Cincinnati, Ohio, United States. First published in 1841, the ''Enquirer'' is the last remaining daily newspaper in Greater Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky, alth ...
'', the '' St. Louis Republic'', and ''The
Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...
Chronicle''. The stories appeared between March 3 and May 19, 1901; the book followed in October. The first three papers used or adapted the book's illustrations for their publications of the stories, while the ''Chronicle'' and the ''Republic'' had their own staff artists do separate pictures.


Book Design

The first edition of ''AFT'' had an unusual and striking design: each page was furnished with a broad illustrated border done in pen-and-ink by Seymour, which took up more than half the surface of the page, like a medieval
illuminated manuscript An illuminated manuscript is a formally prepared document where the text is often supplemented with flourishes such as borders and miniature illustrations. Often used in the Roman Catholic Church for prayers, liturgical services and psalms, the ...
. This probably reflected the influence of the medieval-revival book designs produced in the late nineteenth century by
William Morris William Morris (24 March 1834 – 3 October 1896) was a British textile designer, poet, artist, novelist, architectural conservationist, printer, translator and socialist activist associated with the British Arts and Crafts Movement. He ...
at his Kelmscott Press.


The stories

The twelve stories were published in this order in the first edition. #"The Box of Robbers." Illustrated by Ike Morgan. #"The Glass Dog." Illustrated by Harry Kennedy. #"The Queen of Quok." Morgan. #"The Girl Who Owned a Bear." Kennedy. #"The Enchanted Types." Morgan. #"The Laughing Hippopotamus." Morgan. #"The Magic Bon Bons." Morgan. #"The Capture of Father Time." Kennedy. #"The Wonderful Pump." The single story illustrated by N. P. Hall. #"The Dummy That Lived." Morgan. #"The King of the Polar Bears." Morgan. #"The Mandarin and the Butterfly." Morgan. The stories, as critics have noted, lack the high-fantasy aspect of many other Baum works. With ironic or nonsensical morals attached to their ends, their tone is more satirical, glib, and tongue-in-cheek than is usual in children's stories; the serialization in newspapers for adult readers was appropriate for the materials. "The Magic Bon Bons" was the most popular of the tales, judging by number of reprints. Two of the stories, "The Enchanted Types" and "The Dummy That Lived," employ Knooks and Ryls, the fairies that Baum would use in ''
The Life and Adventures of Santa Claus ''The Life and Adventures of Santa Claus'' is a 1902 children's book, written by L. Frank Baum and illustrated by Mary Cowles Clark. Setting Plot As a baby, Santa Claus is found in the Forest of Burzee by Ak, the Master Woodsman of the World ...
'' the next year, 1902. "The Dummy That Lived" depends upon the idea of a department-store mannequin brought to life, an early expression of an idea that would be re-used by many later writers in television and films. (Baum's story " The Runaway Shadows," published in newspapers in June 1901, was intended to be part of the collection, but was dropped prior to publication of the book.)Riley, p. 72.


Later Editions

Bobbs-Merrill, the firm that bought the rights to Baum's books when George M. Hill went out of business in February 1902, published a second edition of ''AFT'' in 1908, with a new cover and sixteen two-color illustrations by George Kerr to replace the originals by Morgan, Kennedy, and Hall. This second edition also added an Author's Note by Baum and three more stories—"The Strange Adventures of an Egg," "The Ryl," and "The Witchcraft of Mary-Marie." A third edition that appeared c. 1923–24 dropped half the color illustrations; this edition kept the book in print as late as 1942. The order was shuffled, and ends with "King of the Polar Bears."


Adaptations

Baum adapted "The Box of Robbers" and "The Magic Bon Bons" as chapters 1 and 3 of his
lost film A lost film is a feature or short film that no longer exists in any studio archive, private collection, public archive or the U.S. Library of Congress. Conditions During most of the 20th century, U.S. copyright law required at least one copy o ...
series, ''
Violet's Dreams ''Violet's Dreams'' was a series of short films written and produced by L.Frank Baum with The Oz Film Manufacturing Company in 1915 and starring Violet MacMillan. The films are not known to survive. Each film depicted MacMillan entering a differ ...
'', both with
Violet MacMillan Violet MacMillan (March 4, 1887 – December 29, 1953), was an American actress in Broadway theatre productions, vaudeville, and silent films. Early career MacMillan gained fame as the "Cinderella Girl"''New York Times'' Obituary. Dec. 30, 19 ...
in the role of child protagonist. The former was retitled ''A Box of Bandits'' for film. Baum worked on a stage version of "The Glass Dog," but it was not produced and may not have been completed. In 2008, "The Glass Dog" was adapted for the fifteenth issue of '' Graphic Classics'' by
Antonella Caputo Antonella is a Danish, Italian, Norwegian, Spanish and Swedish given name that is a diminutive form of Antonia and the feminine form of Antonello used in various regions of the United States, throughout Mexico, Central America, Spanish speaking co ...
and
Brad Teare Brad Teare (born 1956) is a Utah-based landscape artist working in oils, acrylics, and woodcuts. Teare was educated at University of Idaho and Utah State University. He subsequently moved to New York City where he freelanced for ''The New York ...
.


Notes


References

* * *


External links

*
On ''American Fairy Tales''
* {{L. Frank Baum Children's short story collections Collections of fairy tales Books by L. Frank Baum 1901 short story collections Fantasy short story collections 1901 children's books Children's books adapted into films