Citation: George MacDonald, Dealings with Fairies (London: Alexander Strahan, 1867).
Dealings with fairies. ” Where more is meant than meets the eye.” By George MacDonald. London : Alexander Strahan, 1867.
16mo, pp. viiil + 308 + (4 adv.) + 12 illustrations by Arthur Hughes, cut in wood.
Dedicated “To my children”.
It contains
- The Light Princess:
- The Giant’s Heart:
- The Shadows:
- Cross Purposes:
- The Golden Key.
These stories have frequently been reprinted in various forms, and mark, perhaps, the greatest claim of MacDonald to a permanent place in English literature. The writer of the “ Times Literary Supplement” appreciation (May 20, 1924) says that “the work which George MacDonald did as no one else has quite done it was the writing of what are commonly called his fairy stories “. Mr. Chesterton says much the same, and Dr. Greville MacDonald says he does not know of any stories except the old Grimm’s tales and the Hans Christian Andersen’s which children love in the way they love his father’s. In a preface to a New York edition of “The Light Princess ” (1893), George MacDonald himself sets forth his ideal of the fairy story, of which he considered ‘Undine ’ the most beautiful’”. He holds that “ he who will be a man and will not be a child, must—he cannot help himself—become a little man, a dwarf”.
In this bibliography I enter every story separately under the alphabetical sequence of its title in order to give the briefest chronological proof of its popularity: the full bibliographical facts being noted on its appearance in the various reprints which began with “ Dealings with fairies “.
- 1890. “ Dealings with fairies ” : published by Strahan : square 16mo.
- (1890.) “ The Light Princess and other fairy stories ” (The Giant’s Heart and the Golden Key): published by Blackie: 8vo, pp. 192 plus 3 woodcuts by L. L. B.
- 1891. “Dealings with fairies”: published by Routledge. 16mo.
- (1893.) “ The Light Princess and other fairy tales ” : illustrated by Maud Humphrey. New York: G. P. Putnam’s Sons: 8vo, pp. + 305 + (1). Contains (1) the Light Princess: (2) the Giant’s Heart: (3) the Shadows: (4) Cross Purposes: (5) the Golden Key: (6) the Carasoyn : (7) Little Daylight. In a special preface (pp. iv-xii) MacDonald discusses the nature of the fairy story.
- 1904. “The Fairy tales of George MacDonald”; edited by Greville MacDonald. London : Arthur C. Fifield: printed by S. Clarke, Manchester: with Arthur Hughes’s illustrations in process: 12 mo. This volume was issued in five sixpenny parts:
- (1) the Light Princess, 1 (Oct., 1904), pp. 82 + (2 adv.), with four illustrations:
- (2) the Giant’s Heart: and the Golden Key (Oct., 1904), pp. 83-169 + (1), with three illustrations:
- (3) the Shadows: and Little Daylight, (Nov., 1904), pp. 87 + (I), with two illustrations:
- (4) Cross Purposes: and the Carasoyn, (Nov., 1904), pp. 104, with two illustrations:
- (5) the Day Boy and the Night Girl, (Dec., 1904), pp. 75 + (1), with one illustration.
These editions in single volume form were re-issued in 1905 and 1906 (pp. 434), there being a large paper edition/(71 in. x 4 in.).
- 1905. “ The Light Princess ” : published in the St. Nicholas series by Burt, New York.
- 1906. “ The Golden Key ” : published by the T. Y. Crowell Co., New York.
- (1913.) “ Fairy talcs.” By George MacDonald: containing the Golden Key and Cross Purposes; published in English, in vol. ix. of Fremdsprachliche Illustrirte Jugendlesebucher by Carl Winter, Heidelberg: small 8vo, pp. (iv) + 96 + 6 coloured plates by Paul Scheurich.
- 1915. “The Light Princess” in Crowell’s Child Life series, New York: illustrated: pp. 74.
These publication pages are a collaborative effort of members of The George MacDonald Society. We welcome comments on the individual publication pages to help improve the scope, accuracy, and utility of the descriptions.