Historedia
EuropeEvent

Hans Christian Andersen's Fairy Tales, First Collection, begins publication

When
1835–1837
Where
Copenhagen
Episodes
3

Hans Christian Andersen's 'Fairy Tales Told for Children. First Collection' began publication in Copenhagen in May 1835. This series of three installments, published by C. Reitzel, marked Andersen's initial venture into the fairy tale genre. The first booklet, released on 8 May 1835, contained four stories, some based on childhood folktales. Subsequent installments followed in December 1835 and April 1837, completing the collection of nine tales.

Episodes

  1. 8 May 1835 · CopenhagenFirst Installment Publication

    Andersen's first fairy tale booklet, containing four stories, was published in Copenhagen on 8 May 1835 by C. Reitzel.

  2. 16 December 1835 · CopenhagenSecond Installment Publication

    The second booklet, containing three tales including 'Thumbelina', was published on 16 December 1835.

  3. 7 April 1837 · CopenhagenThird Installment Publication

    The third booklet, containing 'The Little Mermaid' and 'The Emperor's New Clothes', was published on 7 April 1837.

Background and detail

Publication Details. The first installment was a volume of sixty-one unbound pages published on 8 May 1835. It contained 'The Tinderbox', 'Little Claus and Big Claus', 'The Princess and the Pea', and 'Little Ida's Flowers'. The first three tales were based on folktales Andersen had heard in his childhood. The second booklet was published on 16 December 1835, containing 'The Naughty Boy', 'The Traveling Companion', and 'Thumbelina'.

Reception and Completion. Danish reviews of the first two booklets appeared in 1836 but were not enthusiastic. Andersen believed he was working against critics' preconceived notions about fairy tales. He temporarily returned to novel-writing, waiting a full year before publishing his third installment. The third booklet, containing 'The Little Mermaid' and 'The Emperor's New Clothes', was published on 7 April 1837. In 1837, the nine tales were published in one volume.

People involved

Sources

  1. Fairy Tales Told for Children. First Collection. Wikipedia, revision of 2025-09-18
  2. Hans Christian Andersen Wikipedia, revision of 2026-09-26

Machine-drafted from the cited Wikipedia passages and checked by a reviewing model, not by a human editor. Every passage cites the revision it was written from; dates and places follow those passages.