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Madame d'Aulnoy (1650–1705)

Author of The Fairy Tales of Madame d'Aulnoy

80+ Works 306 Members 7 Reviews

About the Author

Image credit: Photo © ÖNB/Wien

Works by Madame d'Aulnoy

The Bluebird (1697) 18 copies
The White Cat (1972) 10 copies
Travels into Spain (1690) 9 copies
El cuarto de las hadas (1992) 6 copies
Le cabinet des fées (1988) 6 copies
Kreivittären satukirja (1985) 4 copies
Contes de fées (1997) 4 copies
La Corza del Bosque (1982) 3 copies
The Yellow Dwarf (2015) 3 copies
FORTUNIA. A Tale. (1974) 3 copies
Contes de Madame d'Aulnoy (2011) 2 copies
The Child's Fairy Library (1837) 2 copies
Contes, Tome I: 1 (2015) 1 copy
Fairy Tales (1888) 1 copy
The Prince of Carency (1985) 1 copy
Contes, T. 1 1 copy
Contes de fées (2013) 1 copy
Contes - Tome I (2013) 1 copy
Contes - Tome II (2013) 1 copy
Contes, T. 2 1 copy

Associated Works

Contes (1694) — some editions — 435 copies
A Child's Book of Stories (1986) — Contributor — 360 copies
QPB Illustrated Treasury of Classic Fairy Tales (2003) — Contributor — 155 copies
Dean's A Book of Fairy Tales (1977) — Contributor — 116 copies
Golden Cities, Far (1970) — Contributor — 80 copies
The Mammoth Book of Fairy Tales (1997) — Contributor — 62 copies
Women of the Weird: Eerie Stories by the Gentle Sex (1976) — Contributor — 42 copies
The Blue Bird (1970) 5 copies
The Best Book of Fairy Tales (1989) — Contributor — 3 copies

Tagged

Common Knowledge

Canonical name
Madame d'Aulnoy
Legal name
baronne d'Aulnoy, Marie-Catherine le Jumel de Barneville,
Other names
Comtesse d'Aulnoy
Baronne d'Aulnoy, Marie-Catherine le Jumel de Barneville,
Birthdate
1650
Date of death
1705-01-04
Gender
female
Nationality
France
Country (for map)
France
Birthplace
Barneville-la-Bertran, France
Place of death
Paris, France
Places of residence
Barneville-la-Bertran, France
Paris, France
Occupations
novelist
historian
fairy tale writer
salonniere
Relationships
L'Heritier, Marie-Jeanne (friend)
Awards and honors
Accademia dei Ricovrati
Short biography
Marie-Catherine Le Jumel de Barneville, known as Madame d’Aulnoy, was born to an aristocratic French family in Barneville-la-Bertran, Normandy. In 1666, at about age 15, she was forced to marry François de la Motte, Baron d'Aulnoy, 30 years her senior. It was an unhappy union, and she was imprisoned in 1669 for plotting to kill her husband, but released the following year for lack of evidence. For the next 13 years, she traveled around Europe -- what she did during this period is still a mystery -- and then in 1685, bought a house on the rue Saint-Benoît in Paris. There she established a popular salon and began her literary career. Her first important novel, Histoire d’Hypolite, comte de Duglas (The Story of Hypolitus, Count of Douglas), which appeared in 1690,was a great success and contained her first major fairy tale, "L’Ile de la félicité" ("The Island of Happiness"). She followed it up the same year with a bestselling pseudo-history, Mémoires de la cour d’Espagne (Memoirs of the Spanish Court) and in 1691 with an epistolary travel narrative, Relation du voyage d’Espagne (An Account of a Journey to Spain). Eventually she published several volumes of fairy tales: Les Contes des Fées, I–III (1696-1697), Les Contes de Fées, IV (1698), and Contes Nouveaux ou les Fées à la Mode, I–IV (New Tales, or Fairies in Fashion, 1698). Madame d’Aulnoy influenced other writers and the vogue for writing fairy tales among other aristocratic women in late 17th century France. It was with a 1699 translation of Les Contes de Fées published in the UK that the term "fairy tales" entered the English language, along with the first use of the name "Prince Charming."

Members

Reviews

One of my all time favorite books. Read it as a child. Read it as a young adult. Read it as an adult. Read it to my child. It is timeless.
 
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stacykurko | Oct 29, 2015 |
With intensely idiosyncratic illustrations from the prolific Etienne Delessert - two-time winner of the Premio Grafico at the Bologna World Children's Book Fair, whose artwork can be seen in titles such as Humpty Dumpty and Moon Theater - this version of the classic fairy-tale of Beauty and the Beast was published by Creative Editions, a small Mankato publisher specializing in more artistic picture-books. The result is a volume that is visually arresting, with a surreal sensibility that is attention-grabbing, even when not (in my personal estimation) beautiful. It's hard to describe the Beast here, as he is only fully depicted once or twice, and then in a rather distorted way, but I would say that he has the appearance of a large dark grayish hound.

The narrative itself is engaging enough, although very text-heavy - definitely too involved for younger children! - and diverges a bit from the Mme Le Prince de Beaumont-influenced versions most often seen. It is attributed to Mme. D'Aulnoy, which I find very difficult to understand, as all the scholarship I have read on Beauty and the Beast agrees that the first recorded version of this story was in Mme. de Villeneuve's 1740 La jeune américaine, et les contes marins, and Mme. D'Aulnoy died in 1705, her two major fairy-tale collections - Les Contes des Fées and Contes Nouveaux ou Les Fées à la Mode - being published in 1697 and 1698, respectively. How then, if the first written version of this tale appeared in 1740, could D'Aulnoy have penned a version? This edition is the first indication I have seen, that any version of this story is attributed to Mme. D'Aulnoy - although I know she translated a similar story, originally from Giovanni Francesco Straparola, about a Pig Prince - and I suspect it must be a mistake. One wonders what the source (by which I mean the actual volume) was?

In any case, leaving aside these puzzling issues of attribution, this is a version of Beauty and the Beast I recommend to fan of the tale, as it offers a very different aesthetic sensibility than most other versions I have seen. Obviously, Etienne Delessert fans will also enjoy it.
… (more)
1 vote
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AbigailAdams26 | Apr 8, 2013 |
Ce roman est plus historique que le précédent. Il a eu
plusieurs éditions en 1714 et 1715. » D. P.
 
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MarieAntoinette | Jan 18, 2008 |
Hard to find stories, in an awkward translation, garishly illustrated. If you've any interest in 17th century French fairy tales, I suggest the collection Wonder Tales edited by Marina Warner, or Beauties, Beasts, and Enchantments, edited and translated by Jack Zipes, instead. Be aware that neither is actually intended for children.
½
2 vote
Flagged
Eurydice | May 11, 2006 |

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Works
80
Also by
12
Members
306
Popularity
#76,934
Rating
4.0
Reviews
7
ISBNs
73
Languages
9

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