Fairy Tales (novel by Brothers Grimm)

Grimm's Fairy Tales - De grootste literatuur aller tijden

The Grimms' Fairy Tales, originally known as the Children's and Household Tales (German: Kinder- und Hausmärchen, pronounced [ˌkɪndɐ ʔʊnt ˈhaʊsmɛːɐ̯çən]), is a collection of fairy tales by the Grimm brothers or "Brothers Grimm", Jakob and Wilhelm, first published on 20 December 1812. The first edition of The Grimms' Fairy Tales contained 86 stories, and by the seventh edition in 1857, had 211 unique fairy tales.

The brothers' initial intention of their first book, The Grimms' Fairy Tales or Children’s and Household Tales, was to establish a name for themselves in the world. After the first book was published in 1812, they began their second volume of The Grimms' Fairy Tales, German Legends, which was published in 1818. The book that started their international success was not any of their tales, but Jacob’s publication of German Grammar in 1819. This was one year after their publication of the German Legends. In 1825, the Brothers published their Kleine Ausgabe or "small edition", a selection of 50 tales designed for child readers. This children's version went through ten editions between 1825 and 1858.

In 1830, Jacob became a professor at University of Göttingen and shortly after, in 1835, Wilhelm also became a professor. During these years Jacob wrote a third volume of German Grammar and Wilhelm prepared the third revision of The Grimms' Fairy Tales or the Children’s and Household Tales.

In 1837, King Ernst August II revoked the constitution of 1833 and was attempting to restore absolutism for the Kingdom of Hannover. Since Göttingen was a part of Hannover, the brothers were expected to take an oath of allegiance. However, the brothers and five other professors led a protest against this and were heavily supported by the student body since all of these professors were well renowned. Jacob left Göttingen immediately and Wilhelm followed him a few months later back to Kassel.

In Kassel, the Grimms devoted themselves to researching and studying. A close friend of theirs, Bettina von Arnim, was also a talented writer. Savigny and others convinced the King of Prussia, Friedrich Wilhelm IV, to allow the brothers to teach and conduct research at the University of Berlin. In March 1841, the brothers did just this and also continued to work on the German Dictionary.