Les Contes Des Fees, Madame D***, Auteur des Memoires & Voyage d’Espagne. (Marie-Catherine Le Jumel de Barneville also known as Countess d’Aulnoy) Tome Premier. Published by d’Estienne Roger Marchand Libraire, Amsterdam. 1717. Volume One. 24mo up to 5½” tall. 423pp. frontispiece, each story headed by illustration. Leather boards with 4 raised bands title in gilt. In very good condition. Pencil notations and scribbling to front and rear pastedown and flyleaf; light browning to pages; and otherwise, contents are clean without tears or folds. Small loss of leather in 2 spots on rear board with tiny splits head of spine; moderate rubbing to boards; binding remains tight. A very rare early edition.
Contains 9 tales: Gracieuse and Pércinet; la belle Aux Cheveux D’or ( Beauty with Golden Hair); L’oiseay Bleu (The Blue Bird) ; Le Prince Lutin (Prince Leprechaun); La Princesse Printaniere (The Spring Princess); La Princesse Rosette (Princess Rosette); Le Rameau Dor (The Golden Bough); L’oranger Et Ll’abeille (The Orange Tree and the Bee); La Bonne Petite Souris (The Good Little Mouse).
Marie-Catherine Le Jumel de Barneville, Baroness d’Aulnoy, also known as Countess d’Aulnoy (1650/51 – 1705) was a French writer of fairy tales and of novels of court intrigue. Her 1697 collection Les Contes des Fées (Fairy Tales), coined the literary genre’s name and included the first story to feature “Prince Charmant” or Prince Charming. She was one of the most popular and notable authors of her time. She was invited to various literary salons and established her own salon on the rue Saint-Benoît. It became customary at d’Aulnoy’s salon to recite fairy tales and on festive occasions to dress up like characters from fairy tales. Her ‘fairy tales’ however, were written for entertaining adults and were not intended for children.
