Getting to know the Exhibit: Fairy and Folk Tales 

“Fairy and Folk Tales” celebrates the 150th anniversary of the publication of Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland. Written by Lewis Carroll and first published in 1865, Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland built upon existing traditions of literary fairy tales and nonsense verse. To commemorate this anniversary and participate in worldwide celebrations of the book, J. Murrey Atkins Library is exhibiting select holdings from Special Collections that embody the spirit of Carroll’s Alice and her magical Wonderland. Exhibited works pay homage to the fairy tales and folklore that have influenced stories and storytelling around the world.  This week we spotlight on the works of Hans Christian Andersen:

Hans Christian Andersen was a prolific Danish author of plays, travelogues, novels, and poems. Today he is best remembered for his fairy tales including: The Emperor’s New Clothes,  The Little Mermaid, The Nightingale, The Snow Queen, The Ugly Duckling, and The Little Match Girl. Andersen’s popularity is not limited to children and his fairy tales, or “eventyr” in Danish, express themes that transcend age and nationality.

One of Andersen’s most popular tales was published during the holiday season. “The Little Match Girl” is a short story written by Andersen and published in December 1845. The tragic fairy tale of a young girl keeping warm by lighting each of her unsold matchsticks. Each one invokes a vision of a memory or a wish.Sadly, the young girl died of hyperthermia. The interpretation by Andersen, is that the young girl suffers no more.

Andersen, H. C. (1900). Fairy tales and stories. London: Routledge.