7 DECEMBER 1889, Page 8

The Old, Old Fairy - Tales. Collected and edited by Mrs. Valen-

tine. (F. Warne and Co.)—Here are forty of the fairy-tales that have delighted many generations of children. The names of Madame d'Aulnoy, Charles Perrault, and the Princess de Beaumont account, between them, for twenty ; one we owe to Mademoiselle de in Torre, and one to M. de Caylus ; the rest come from anony- mous translators. As to the authors of them, who can say who they were ? The editor tells us that she has rewritten two, and given a slight revision to the rest. One or two, as the

melancholy story of " The Yellow Dwarf," might perhaps have been omitted without much loss. But the collection may be recommended. It is a fine, substantial volume of between five and six hundred closely printed pages. There is an abundance of illustrations, some of them gaily coloured, and with a very fair average of merit.