Volume 09 · Forthcoming
Contes de Charles Perrault
Annotated
The eight prose tales of 1697, complete with their moralities and supported by historical notes and a lexicon of classical French.
About the work
A landmark mystery, returned to its full narrative force.
Sleeping Beauty, Little Red Riding Hood, Bluebeard, Puss in Boots, Cinderella and their companions appear here in the eight prose tales published in 1697. Their economy, cruelty, wit and social precision remain undiluted. The original dedication and moralities are retained, with support for unfamiliar spelling and courtly references.
Textual source. The eight complete prose tales from the Barbin edition of 1697, with dedication and moralities.
What this edition adds
Care around the text,
never over it.
The canonical eight tales
The complete 1697 sequence includes the dedication and the original verse moralities.
The old language remains alive
A concise lexicon supports classical vocabulary and spelling without modernising the source text.
Darkness and wit restored
Notes draw attention to social ambition, danger and irony beyond the softened modern retellings.
Designed for shared reading
Clear tale-by-tale navigation and descriptive illustrations work for independent and read-aloud use.