Grimms’ Fairy Tales in Poland. The analysis of publishing production in the years 1895–2011

Abstract

Two hundred years after the original edition of Kinder- und Hausmärchen (1812–1815) was published there is a possibility to ponder upon how books of the Brothers Grimm were edited in Poland. The review presents fairy tales in self-contained issues in periods: 1895–1939, 1939–1945, 1945–1989, 1990–2011. The first book by Brothers Grimm in Poland was Baśnie dla dzieci i młodzieży (1895) translated by Cecylia Niewiadomska, edited by Gebethner & Wolff. A big number of single fairy tales were published in the years 1918–1939. After the Second World War the most popular collection of fairy tales by W. and J. Grimm was Baśnie translated by Marceli Tarnowski and edited by Nasza Księgarnia in 1956. Up to year 2000 it was reprinted 18 times! In 1982 Ludowa Spółdzielnia Wydawnicza published the first critical edition: Baśnie braci Grimm (transl. by Emilia Bielicka and Marceli Tarnowski, with afterword and comments by Helena Kapełuś) and in 2010 Media Rodzina published the first full version of W. and J. Grimm’s fairy tales: Baśnie dla dzieci i dla domu (translation and afterword by Eliza Pieciul-Karmińska). After 1989 we can observe “chains of books” – multiple adaptations and other editions “related to” those fairy tales. Mass culture and commercial aspects brought many variants of text and visual representations. Many of them have new authors. Presentday adaptations are – like in the 19th century – books for the youngest children, but sometimes they are also new fairy tales inspired by the plot (e.g. Bohdan Butenko’s book). In present times there are possibilities to familiarize children with the original text of the canonic fairy tales, but more and more often only specialists are interested in it.