Drawing on a variety of (unnamed) nineteenth-century textual sources for his retelling of the classic fairy-tale of Beauty and the Beast, as well as images from a number of vintage editions, Cooper Edens provides an informal "history" of how this story has been interpreted by various artists over the years. From Walter Crane to Edmund Dulac, Arthur Rackham to Warwick Goble, many of the artists included here were immensely influential, in the development of picture-book illustration. A healthy smattering of anonymous artists, whose work decorated various fairy-tale collections of the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, is also included.

The result is simply fascinating: an eclectic mix of styles, and a wide range of Beauties and Beasts is to be seen here. Given that I am in the midst of a project whose aim is to examine some of the different ways that authors and artists have responded to this tale, Edens' Beauty and the Beast is a real treat! Beauty is variously a brunette or blonde, clothed in medieval or nineteenth-century garments, very young or in blooming maturity. The Beast is a boar, a bear, a walrus (that one was a surprise!), a lion, and everything in between! Edens provides a helpful guide to his illustrations (and their sources) at the rear.

Fans of the fairy-tale Beauty and the Beast, and readers with a general interest in fairy-tale art, will want to take a look at this volume, which will give them a heady taste of the diverse approaches that have been taken to the subject! ( )

Beauty and the Beast, credited to Gianfrancesco Straparola

One of a number of fairy-tale picture-books printed for Sunoco gas stations back in the 1980s - for free giveaways? for sale? I honestly have no idea! - this retelling of the story of Beauty and the Beast is credited to Gianfrancesco Straparola (also known as Giovanni Francesco Straparola), a late fifteenth and sixteenth-century Italian writer believed to be one of the first to pen literary fairy-tales, and who is best known for his Le piacevoli notti ("The Facetious Nights of Straparola"). This collection of tales was an influence on the work of many authors who followed, from Giambattista Basile to Charles Perrault, not to mention the Brothers Grimm.

The brief afterword here claims that Straparola was the first to record the story of Beauty and the Beast, which was then "translated" into French by Mme de Villeneuve. If this is true, then it is news to me, as I had always understood de Villaneuve to be the original author! I have read a great deal about the origins of this tale, and this is the first time I have run into a reference to Straparola as the original creator. Needless to say, I will be running down a copy of his "Nights," and seeking to verify whether or not it is true. After a cursory glance through the SurLaLune page devoted to his work, I suspect that it is not...

In any case, this question of whether or not Straparola was the original creator of the Beauty and the Beast story is really the only point of interest, when it comes to this picture-book. The translator and/or adapter, as well as the illustrator, are unlisted, which is just as well, since they have done an indifferent job. I found the narrative rather lackluster, and did not appreciate the artwork at all. Beauty looked like an (unintentionally) odd little doll to me, and Beast like a lion puppet. The best thing about this version of the tale is the cover illustration, which led me to expect better! Ah well, at least I have the Straparola question to investigate...

Addendum: It would appear that the anonymous translator/adapter here was referencing The Pig King, a tale that, like Beauty and the Beast, features an enchanted bridegroom. In the case of Straparola's tale, he is born in the shape of a pig, and the story of his three wives puts me in mind of the French-Missourian tale of Prince White Hog (see Betsy Hearne's collection, Beauties and Beasts). Despite this connection to the general tale-type, Straparola's story is not in fact an earlier version of Mme. de Villeneuve's Beauty and the Beast, so the information in this title's afterword is quite misleading. Perhaps the author was confused, as apparently Mme. d'Aulnoy - another French fairy-tale author, who coined the term contes de fées (fairy-tales), which was subsequently applied to the entire genre - did adapt Straparola's story into French. In any case, The Pig King is clearly not a direct antecedent of the story found in this picture-book, making its attribution extremely problematic. I wish I knew who undertook this project for Sunoco...

Additional Addendum: it would appear that this edition shares an ISBN with one edited by Cooper Edens, which I have also reviewed. Very odd! ( )

The afterword attributes the original story to Gianfrancesco Straparola in Piacevoli notti (c 1550-3) with further popularization by Mademoiselle de Villeneuve, this story is closer to the latter's version. However, the sisters are not mean and conniving and the father takes the (already cut) rose from a vase, rather than cut it himself.