Publication of Histoires ou contes du temps passé by Charles Perrault

Publication Details. The volume was published in Paris on 11 January 1697 by Claude Barbin. It contained eight classical stories, including Cinderella and Puss in Boots. Two reprints occurred in the same year, leading to the unofficial title Contes de ma mère l'Oye.

Literary Context. Perrault wrote the work after retiring from court service as secretary to Jean-Baptiste Colbert. The tales gained popularity because fairy stories were fashionable among aristocrats in Parisian salons. Scholars debate whether the stories were original or modified from earlier medieval sources.

Pre-publication History. Before the 1697 edition, Perrault published individual stories. In 1695, a manuscript edition contained five prose tales. In February 1696, he published The Sleeping Beauty in the Mercure galant. These works formed the prehistory of the final collection.