Joseph Jacobs (1) (1854–1916)

Noted 19th-century folklorist and literary critic Joseph Jacobs, the editor of many collections of tales, turned in this 1895 volume to the medieval story of Reynard the Fox. Determined to "provide a text which children could read with ease and pleasure," he turned to the work of Felix Summerly (AKA Sir Henry Cole), and based his own telling on that author's 1846 The Most Delectable History of Reynard the Fox. Jacobs' text is slightly altered, but in all of the major respects it follows the show more Summerly closely, chronicling all of the important incidents of the story, in which the wily fox triumphs against his many enemies, most especially, against Isegrim the wolf...

Because it follows the Summerly so closely, there was little that I found new or noteworthy in Jacobs' The Most Delectable History of Reynard the Fox, when examined from a storytelling perspective. The chief interest for me, when I was conducting research for my masters dissertation, written on three centuries of Reynard retellings for children in the Anglophone world, was the scholarly introduction that Jacobs penned for the book. The melding of folkloric and literary styles in Reynard - the former providing much of the humor, the latter the satire - the influence of Aesopic fables on the story, these and other ideas are explored. I particularly liked what Jacobs had to say about the appeal of the Reynard story, and his statement that "Man may be the most interesting things to Man, but animals are more interesting to men of childlike mind." Perhaps this explains the popularity of the tale as a children's story, over the centuries, despite its many elements that might otherwise exclude it from such a use. Jacobs also has some astute things to say about the appeal of Reynard in general, and the way in which his story speaks to our instinctive sympathy for rebels and underdogs: "It is the adventurous, shifty, eponymous Hero who captures our interest. We have all a sneaking regard for the crafty villain who can control Circumstance... When brute force unblushingly ruled the world cunning was your only remedy against the tyrant." All in all, a Reynard retelling worth seeking out, if one is interested in the story. I suspect I would have enjoyed it more, had I not already read the Summerly (and the Roscoe upon which the Summerly is based). show less

The thought of offering up older, obscure titles in new, affordable form is a delightful one. While the format of the book (trade paperback with less-than-perfect print quality) is not as conducive to a positive reading experience as would be a richly made hardcover, the point here is accessibility and I think Pook Press has moderately succeeded.

The tales themselves are a mix of the familiar ("The Pied Piper") and the forgotten ("The Stars in the Sky"). As was typical of Victorian folk tale show more collections, Jacobs claims as English many tales that have a considerably more international heritage ("The Black Bull of Norroway" is one example, but also represented here are tales like "Tattercoats" and others whose twins appear in Grimm, etc.). It's pleasant to revisit old friends here and equally enjoyable to find new acquaintances. Jacobs' attempt at local dialects -- again typical of his era -- can be occasionally annoying to the modern reader, but always make for fun reading aloud.

While this isn't the first fairy tale book I would hand a child, I do think it's worthy of any good collection. show less

Oy. Definitely more for scholars than for families. Oh the beatings and other cruelties. Oh the inequities. Some stories just about impossible to decode, what with dialect and/or high-falutin' language. Second book in the omnibus, published the year after [a:Robert Browning|24391|Robert Browning|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1198543063p2/24391.jpg] died, includes a prose 'theft' of his poem [b:Pied Piper Of Hamelin|896434|Pied Piper Of Hamelin|Robert show more Browning|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1348439910l/896434._SX50_.jpg|2041215].* Just not a pleasure for me to read... the best stories are well-known and available to ordinary readers in other anthologies and picture-books, and most of the others are better off forgotten.

That being said, I did get a kick out of "Coat o' Clay."
And I think authors of original wonder tales & SF, and of adaptations, could find inspiration here.

*Noted that there are older sources of the tale... but come on, Browning's is the one that counts.

Skimmed February 2022. show less

The Fables of Aesop by Joseph Jacobs

It is my understanding that Jacobs' main thesis concerning the fables of Aesop - that they were derived from and influenced by the animal fables of ancient India - has been discredited by more current scholarship. Interestingly enough, I recently came across some discussion of a possible connection to the Sumerian tradition, in Barbara Bader's introduction to Aesop & Company With Scenes From His Legendary Life.

However that may be (and I'm not sure I'm well show more enough informed to venture an opinion), Jacobs' notes on the eighty-two fables contained herein are still useful, even if one ignores the Indian "connection." As someone intending to read the two classical sources for "Aesop's" fables, Babrius and Phaedrus, Jacobs' work in tracing each selection back to one of these authors is most helpful, as is his history of their medieval transmission.

I'm not sure just how far I want to take my recent Aesop "project" - whether I want to go beyond Babrius and Phaedrus, and really get into the scholarship in the area. Still, the process of reading these many adaptations and retellings has given me some added insight, both into the adaptability of such stories, and into the transmission (or lack thereof) of ancient literature. That alone has made it worthwhile... show less