Cinderella - Illustrated by Arthur Rackham

By C. S. Evans and Arthur Rackham

Cinderella is one of the best known stories of all time. Originally penned by Charles Perrault, in his Histoires ou Contes du Temps Passé, it was an instant success. Perrault reported that he was told the story by some anonymous folk-story-tellers, and added extra details (such as the Fairy God-Mother, the much loved pumpkin carriage, anthropomorphic animal servants and the little glass slippers). Perrault (1628 – 1703) was among the first writers to bring magical children’s stories into the literary mainstream, proving to his original seventeenth century readers that such works were important, enjoyable, as well as thought-provoking. They remain as popular today, as they were then.

This ‘Illustrated Cinderella’ is accompanied throughout by a series of dazzling colour and black and white illustrations – by a master of the craft; Arthur Rackham. One of the most celebrated painters of the British Golden Age of Illustration (which encompassed the years from 1850 until the start of the First World War), Rackham’s artistry is quite simply, unparalleled. Throughout his career, he developed a unique style, combining haunting humour with dream-like romance. Presented alongside the text, his illustrations further refine and elucidate Perrault’s enchanting narrative.


Pook Press celebrates the great ‘Golden Age of Illustration‘ in children’s literature – a period of unparalleled excellence in book illustration. We publish rare and vintage Golden Age illustrated books, in high-quality colour editions, so that the masterful artwork and story-telling can continue to delight both young and old.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Read Books Ltd.
• Release date: Apr 16, 2013
• ISBN: 9781473383265

Book preview

CINDERELLA

CHAPTER I

THE LITTLE GIRL IN THE BIG HOUSE

ONCE upon a time there was a nobleman who was married to a sweet and beautiful lady. They had one child, a little girl named Ella, and they lived in a big house in the country.

What a fine house that was! There were more rooms in it than you could count on your fingers and toes, and each room was full of the grandest furniture. Ella had a room all to herself, with pictures of fairy-stories on the walls and cupboards full of toys, and she used to play there on wet days after she had done her lessons and her embroidery. When the weather was fine, however, Ella much preferred to play in the garden, which was so big and so full of interesting things that nobody could ever get tired of it. There was a lake in the garden with nine swans on it; and there was a little summer-house all covered with roses; and there was an orchard where apples and pears and plum-trees grew. At the end of a long drive, by the lodge-keeper’s cottage, were the big gates that shut the garden off from the road. The road led to the town, which was a mile away, and all sorts of interesting people came walking along it—pedlar-men and beggars, and soldiers in splendid uniforms with pikes on their shoulders, marching left, right, left, right. Once Ella saw the King and Queen go by in a grand coach. The young Prince was with them, and all the people came out of their cottages to see him and to shout Hurrah!—for he was a very handsome and lovable young Prince. He smiled at Ella as he went by, and she waved her hand to him, and wished he would stop and come to play with her in the garden.

Although Ella had no brothers or sisters, she seldom felt lonely, because there was always her mother to play with her and tell her stories. Her mother knew so many stories that she could tell a new one every night almost, and they were the most interesting stories one could possibly imagine.

Now Ella’s father spent most of his time in the library reading books—great heavy books without a single picture in them, and no conversations, as Ella knew well, for she had one day stolen a peep at one. Perhaps these books were full of stories! If they were, however, her father never told her any of them. In fact, he hardly ever spoke to her or to anybody else. Every morning after breakfast he would go away to his library, and sit there reading, with a big pair of horn spectacles on his nose, or writing with a quill pen that made a funny, scratchy noise.

There were not many little girls who were happier than Ella up to the time when she was twelve years old. Then a great sorrow came into her life, for her mother was taken ill. All the cleverest doctors came from miles around to give her physic, but none of them could do any good. Ella used to stand by the window and watch them drive up in their carriages. They were most of them big, important-looking men, dressed in black, shiny silk clothes with white lace on the sleeves, and they took snuff and said Hum—ha a great many times. Ella was very anxious to know whether they were going to cure her dear mother, but they always spoke in very low voices, and they looked so important and so solemn that she did not dare to ask any questions.

And then one morning, when she came downstairs, she found her father sitting in the big arm-chair with his head buried in his hands. He did not say anything to her for a long time, and then he came over and put his hand upon her head and stroked her hair.

We are all alone now, dear, he said.

And Ella knew, without any more telling, that her mother was dead.

All that day she crept about with a white face, trying to realize what had happened to her. It

[judithproctor · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

The best stories by are' Welland's Sword' and 'On the Great Wall' ' A. the latter has a real feel of 'A Song of Fire and Ice' and I wouldn't be at all surprised if George RR Martin had been inspired by it.I enjoyed reading these. The only really weak story is 'Dymchurch Flit' which doesn't seem to fit in with the rest.

[jen6e6moore · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Terribly Victorian, of course, but only offensively so at the very end. For the most part it's actually a fairly delightful history of England, Normans and Romans and all that, with lots of adventures and sprinkled with mildly educational material. And I didn't realize that a couple of my favorite poems come from here, too. (The poems are largely the best part.)

[thorold_1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

I was fortunate enough to escape reading this as a child, so I could have the pleasure of reading it as an adult, directly after a visit to Kipling's house in Sussex (on a beautiful summer day, too). As the story is so intimately connected with the grounds of Bateman's and their immediate surroundings, I think that little bit of local knowledge, fresh in my mind, did really make the book much more enjoyable.Kipling's language is wonderful, as always, but the story in this case is a slightly awkward mixture of twee fairy story, historical adventure à-la-Walter-Scott, and didactic history lessons. The stirring patriotic poem that closes the book is likely to challenge the forbearance of even the most tolerant modern reader.

[g026r · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

There's a vague sense of Whiggish history to the tales which form the core of the work [The Sir Richard tales and the final tale, "The Treasure and the Law"], with a definite feel of progression from the pre-Norman Saxons through to Runnymede. (Which can be fun to contrast with the Toryism that runs through the tales, both these but particularly the Roman tales and their story of empire.)Pity about that final tale though, as I had until that point been describing the book as reminding me of a more engaging Scott, but without the anti-Semitism. It's still more engaging, though that certainly leaves a bit of a sour taste at the end of it all.

[msittig-1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This story is retold by C.S.Evans. In this version of the story Cinderella has a mother in the beginning. Her father remarries and Cinderella ends up meeting her stepmother and her two stepsisters. This book is told in novel format and the illustrations are silhouettes in black and a little bot of color.

[thesmellofbooks · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I adored this book till the last chapter.

[soylentgreen23 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

There are two things to note in this interesting collection of stories and poems written for children about the British struggle for nationhood. Firstly, considering the style, difficulty, and variety of the language Kipling uses in this book, how would (and do) modern children cope? At the time when it was first published, more than a hundred years ago, it appeared in Strand magazine as well as a separate publication for younger readers, presumably who were well enough versed in history and legends to understand the stories. Can the same be said today? And how many children nowadays go frolicking in the meadows, quoting Latin verses and reading poetry?The second thing to note is the imperialist mood of the stories - and Kipling was famous for this. The stories could easily have been blood-thirsty thrillers; they concern war, struggle, treachery, revenge, and yet retain a romantic mood. The figures of authority are the greatest of men, though we know really that they weren't. Would children's critical faculties be great enough to discern this? Or would reading Kipling inculcate a sense and desire for imperialism, and the idea that the British nation spirit is strong and desirable?

[jjmcgaffey · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Triggered to read it (this time) by Judith Tarr's Rite of Conquest - hers is the story of William the Conqueror with a large magical aspect to his life, and Puck (the first three stories, of Sir Richard) is the other major source of my knowledge of that period. An interesting difference in the way Tarr and Kipling handled magic (their facts matched just fine) - Tarr writes of an England where the Saxon variety of Christianity is suppressing and destroying magic and the Norman invasion is largely aimed at freeing the magic, while Kipling writes of an England full of magic and the Normans have to adjust to the oddity of it. Then of course I went on to read the other stories - the three Roman ones, Henry VII, and John (it's hard to mark the periods except by who was ruling at the time, even when that doesn't directly affect the story!). And of course now I need to reread Rewards and Fairies. I do love the stories - I remember the plots and events quite well, but when I reread there are all these neat little twists and clever wordings that have slipped my mind. Kipling was a wonderful wordsmith.

[antiquary_1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Wonderfully vivid scenes from English history. aside from the first, the only fantasy element is that Puck introduces modern children to characters from various periods of English history

[melmoththelost · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

This was one of those books which started in a somewhat disappointing fashion but which largely got better either as Kipling got into his stride or as my ear got into his sometimes quite dreadfully archaic language. Or maybe I gave up thinking how naff it was and chucked in a few mental hey nonny nonnies of my own for the hell of it.There's no doubt about it - this book is terribly dated, or at least it's a book of its time in the way that the writings of H Rider Haggard and Sax Rohmer were, and it's difficult to blame either book or author for that. You really couldn't write children's books like this any more and that's probably A Good Thing.