Abstract
Nineteenth-century English writer James Robinson Planché, in his own time known for writing musical extravaganzas based upon fairy tales, particularly admired the works of Marie-Catherine le Jumel de Barneville, baronne d’Aulnoy. Fourteen of his twenty-three fairy plays depicted d’Aulnoy's tales. Although his musical plays usually followed the original plots closely, they also added topical humor and comic subplots. In the mid-1850s, while considering retiring to pursue his scholarly interests, he felt compelled to translate the original printed tales as accurately as he could as “a point of conscience,” since he had taken liberties in adapting them to the stage, but even more so because no one else had ever translated them completely and without alteration. Close examination of his translation, Fairy Tales of the Countess d’Aulnoy (1855), shows his general conscientious thoroughness but also signature characteristics in interpretation, documentation, and language.
Recommended Citation
Buczkowski, Paul. "The First Precise English Translation of Madame d’Aulnoy’s Fairy Tales." Marvels & Tales 23.1 (2009). Web. <https://digitalcommons.wayne.edu/marvels/vol23/iss1/4>.
