The Grey Fairy Book was published by Longmans, Green in 1900. By the turn of the century, Lang’s project had become a fixture of the children’s book market, and the Grey continued the pattern of incorporating increasingly diverse sources. Lithuanian, Greek, and various African traditions contributed tales alongside the by-now-expected French and German material.
The volume appeared at a transitional moment — the cusp of the Edwardian era, with its different sensibilities about childhood, empire, and the “primitive.” Lang’s approach to non-European material was, by the standards of his time, respectful and scholarly; by modern standards, it inevitably reflected Victorian assumptions about cultural hierarchy.
Collecting The Grey Fairy Book
First edition (Longmans, Green, London, 1900): Grey cloth with gilt decorations.
Market values:
- Fine condition: $400–$1,000
- Very good: $150–$400
- Good: $50–$150
Projected values (2026–2036): Moderate appreciation.
Lithuanian, Greek, and African
The Grey volume (1900) draws from Lithuanian, Greek, French, and various African traditions. By the sixth volume, the series’ geographical ambition is unmistakable: Lang is assembling a global anthology of fairy tales, demonstrating through juxtaposition that the same narrative patterns — transformation, quest, trial, reward — appear in cultures with no historical contact. This implicit argument for the psychic unity of mankind was ahead of its time.
Frequently Asked Questions
How did Lang choose the stories? Lang drew from published folklore collections in many languages, from literary fairy tales by known authors (Madame d’Aulnoy, Charles Perrault, the Brothers Grimm), and from ethnographic field reports. His wife Leonora and other collaborators translated or adapted the stories, while Lang supervised the selection and wrote scholarly prefaces contextualising the material.