Page:A Study of Fairy Tales.djvu/206

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A STUDY OF FAIRY TALES

The careful translation of Madame D'Aulnoy's tales by Mr. Planché faithfully preserves the spirit of the original.

There were many imitators of Countess D'Aulnoy, in France, in the eighteenth century. Their work was on a much lower level and became published in the Cabinet des Fées, a collection of stories including in its forty volumes the work of many authors, of which the greater part is of little value. Of those following D'Aulnoy three deserve mention:—

1711–1780. Moral Tales, by Madame de Beaumont. These were collected while the author was in England. Of these we use Prince Cherry. Madame de Beaumont wrote a children's book in which is found a tale similar to The Singing, Soaring Lark, entitled The Maiden and the Beast. She also wrote 69 volumes of romance.

1765. Tales, by Madame Villeneuve. Of these we use Beauty and the Beast.

1692–1765. Tales, by Comte de Caylus. The author was an antiquarian and scholar. Of his tales we use Sylvain and Yocosa.

Very little attempt has been made in modern times to include in our children's literature the best of foreign literature for children, for there has been very