FROM OUR EDITORS

Barnes & Noble Classics offers quality editions at affordable prices to the student and the general reader, including new scholarship, thoughtful design, and pages of carefully crafted extras. Here are some of the remarkable features of Barnes & Noble Classics:New introductions commissioned from today's top writers and scholars Biographies of the authors Chronologies of contemporary historical, biographical, and cultural events Footnotes and endnotes Selective discussions of imitations, parodies, poems, books, plays, paintings, operas, statuary, and films inspired by the work Comments by other famous authors Study questions to challenge the reader's viewpoints and expectations Bibliographies for further reading Indices & Glossaries, when appropriateAll editions are beautifully designed and are printed to superior specifications; some include illustrations of historical interest. Barnes & Noble Classics pulls together a constellation of influences—biographical, historical, and literary—to enrich each reader's understanding of these enduring works.

FROM THE PUBLISHER

With the words ￯﾿ﾽOnce upon a time,￯﾿ﾽ the Brothers Grimm transport readers to a timeless realm where witches, giants, princesses, kings, fairies, goblins, and wizards fall in love, try to get rich, quarrel with their neighbors, and have magical adventures of all kinds￯﾿ﾽand in the process reveal essential truths about human nature. ￯﾿ﾽIt is hardly too much to say,￯﾿ﾽ remarked W. H. Auden, ￯﾿ﾽthat these tales rank next to the Bible in importance.￯﾿ﾽ When Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm set out to collect stories in the early 1800s, their goal was not to entertain children but to preserve Germanic folklore,￯﾿ﾽ and the hard life of European peasants was reflected in the tales they discovered. However, once the brothers saw how the stories entranced young readers, they began softening some of the harsher aspects to make them more suitable for children. A cornerstone of Western culture since the early 1800s, Grimm￯﾿ﾽs Fairy Tales is now beloved the world over. This collection of more than 120 of the Grimms￯﾿ﾽ best tales includes such classics as ￯﾿ﾽCinderella,￯﾿ﾽ ￯﾿ﾽSnow White,￯﾿ﾽ ￯﾿ﾽHansel and Grethel,￯﾿ﾽ ￯﾿ﾽRapunzel,￯﾿ﾽ ￯﾿ﾽRumpelstiltskin,￯﾿ﾽ ￯﾿ﾽLittle Red Riding Hood,￯﾿ﾽ and ￯﾿ﾽThe Frog Prince,￯﾿ﾽ as well as others that are not as well known but no less fascinating. Rich in wisdom and imagery, these legendary stories are sure to delight both young and old.

Elizabeth Dalton is Professor of English and Comparative Literature at Barnard College. She has published fiction and criticism in The New Yorker, Partisan Review, Commentary, and The New York Times Book Review.