The early twentieth century was the golden age of illustration for children's books, featuring the brilliant work of such artists as Arthur Rackham and Edmund Dulac. One of the finest creations to emerge from this era was East of the Sun and West of the Moon, a jewel of children's literature featuring 25 color plates and 21 monochrome images by Kay Nielsen, a young Danish artist who studied in Paris before moving to England in 1911. The collection included fifteen fairy tales gathered by Norwegian folklorists Peter Christen Asbj rnsen and J rgen Engebretsen Moe on their journeys across nineteenth-century Norway. Translated into English by George Webbe Dasent, the stories-populated by witches, trolls, ogres, sly foxes, mysterious bears, beautiful princesses, and shy country lads turned heroes-were praised by Jacob Grimm himself for having a freshness and fullness that "surpasses nearly all others."
This edition has been newly designed and typeset with all of the dazzling color illustrations and line drawings of the original. It is printed on large-format, 70-pound, acid-free, archival-quality paper with a case-laminate binding for durability and long use-by both children and adults. As C. S. Lewis wrote, "When I was ten, I read fairy tales in secret and would have been ashamed if I had been found doing so. Now that I am fifty I read them openly. When I became a man I put away childish things, including the fear of childishness and the desire to be very grown up." This collection of classic Northern tales is for readers of all ages to enjoy.