Lecture: Once upon a time. About richly decorated fairy tale books from the Golden Age of Illustration
“Once upon a time” is a phrase that signals our imagination is about to be taken on an adventure. Fairy tales, myths, and legends often begin with these words, unfolding into fantastical, colourful, and sometimes absurd stories filled with people, animals, and otherworldly creatures.
During the 18th and early 19th centuries, writers across the Western world began collecting and transcribing local folklore, and these compilations proved hugely popular. In the last quarter of the 19th century, a series of social and technological advances led to a boom in visually enriched editions of these tales, ushering in what came to be known as the Golden Age of Illustration.
Maastricht University’s Special Collections hold 57 richly illustrated fairy tale books from this period. Most of these titles are English-language first editions. Among them is a 1909 edition of The Fairy Tales of the Brothers Grimm, one of the collection’s finest examples of an illustrated Grimm fairy tale book.
Curator Odin Essers is pleased to present a carefully chosen selection of beautifully illustrated fairy-tale books, including some fine editions. Furthermore, he will tell you about the provenance of the collection, the links with Disney films, and how we use these books in education and research.
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