University of Virginia Library

A Collection of Novels and Tales of the Fairies (1721-28)

This collection appeared in three volumes, the first two in 1721 and the third in 1728. The 1721 portion contains eight tales by Mme d'Aulnoy, the three nouvelles ("novels") she used to frame her tales, and four fairy tales by Mme de Murat[12] (substituted without acknowledgement for four of Mme d'Aulnoy's tales). Following is an analysis of the 1721 portion of this collection: (Except as indicated, tales are from Tomes III and IV of Mme d'Aulnoy's Contes des fées [1697] and Tomes I through IV of her Contes Nouveaux [1698], the last two volumes of this edition also being referred to as Suite des contes nouveaux.)

The first three tales are contained in the frame story, "novel," called The History of Don Gabriel:

• The Royal Ram (Le Mouton)
• The Story of Finetta the Cinder-Girl (Finette Cendron)
• The Palace of Revenge (Le Palais de vengeance)—This is a translation of the first tale of Mme de Murat's Nouveaux contes des fées (1698). It replaces the Fortunée of Mme d'Aulnoy's collection.

At this point there is a paragraph where the English translator has Mme d'Aulnoy link the last tale with the next and then introduce the two frame stories that will house the remainder of the tales. This paragraph is not in the French original. In fact, the English translator is careful to frame the collection very well; in the French original, some tales stand outside the frame. There follows:

• The Story of Anguilletta (Anguillette)—Also by Mme de Murat, one of the three tales in her Contes des fées (1698). This story replaces the Babiolle of Mme d'Aulnoy's collection.

The next two tales are enclosed in the frame story called The History of Don Ferdinand of Toledo:

• The Story of the Yellow Dwarf (Le Nain)
• The Story of Young-and-Handsome (Jeune et Belle)—Another tale from Mme de Murat's Contes des fées (1698). It replaces the Serpentin vert of Mme d'Aulnoy's plan.

The remainder of the tales are contained in the frame story The History of the New Gentleman-Citizen:

• The Story of the White Cat (La chatte blanche)
• The Story of Fortunio (Belle-Belle ou le Chevalier Fortuné)
• The Story of the Pidgeon and the Dove (Le Pigeon et la colombe)
• The Story of the Princess Fair-Star, and Prince Chery (La Princesse Belle-Etoile et le Prince Chéry)
• The Story of the Princess Carpillona (La Princesse Carpillon)
• Perfect Love (Le Parfait amour)—the fourth and last du Murat tale, from her 1698 Contes des fées. It replaces Mme d'Aulnoy's Le Dauphin.

Volume III of this collection (erroneously called the "Second" edition) appeared in 1728 by itself, that is, without a reprinting of Volumes I and II.[13] This third volume contains twelve tales from the pen of Mme d'Auneuil and one tale whose author has not yet been identified, though the attribution of these tales to Mme d'Aulnoy has persisted down into the twentieth century.[14] The contents of this volume are as follows:

Mme d'Auneuil—The frame story (itself a fairy tale) and three inset tales from La Tiranie des fées détruite (1702): (The French original has five inset tales.)

• The Tyranny of the Fairies Destroyed (frame fairy tale, containing)
• The History of Cleonice (Not separately titled)
• The History of Princess Melicerta
• Princess Leonice

As one can see from the above, Mme d'Aulnoy did indeed dominate the English vogue for the French conte de fée, as Clara Reeve suggested. We know now that eighteen of her tales appeared in English before the nineteenth century—a larger number than those of any other writer. But we also know now that twenty-eight of the tales formerly attributed to her in England are the products of other writers.

Except for the fairy tales of Fénelon and Perrault, there were no other French contes de fées published in England in the early eighteenth century, but two of the collections discussed here did continue to delight English readers throughout the century. The History of the Tales of the Fairies (1716) appeared again in 1749, 1758, and 1781. The Collection of Novels and Tales of the Fairies (all three volumes complete) appeared twice in 1737 and again in 1749 and 1766. In 1817 it even made its way into the era of Jane Austen as Fairy Tales and Novels.