Rarest Kind of Best

Is this even possible? Yes it is! According to this article from The Guardian by Victoria Sussens-Messerer, a Bavarian historian named Franz Xaver von Schönwerth was recording and collecting fairy tales around the same time as the Brothers Grimm. However while their collection enjoyed huge success across Europe, Schönwerth’s 3-volume work sank into obscurity.

This could be due to the fact that Schönwerth actually did what the Grimms claimed to do: he recorded the stories faithfully and didn’t put his own spin on the morals, didn’t tinker with them or ‘polish’ up the language. (As opposed to the Brothers Grimm. More here.) At the time Schönwerth’s works were not bestsellers, but now that they’ve been rediscovered, their authenticity is what gives them such appeal and value.

Among versions of tales which also appeared in Grimms, cultural curator Erika Eichenseer discovered 500 unknown fairy tales. She published them last year in German and is now having them translated into English. The Guardian has one of them on their site: The Turnip Princess.

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related post: Fairy Tale Controversy, Part 3 (including info on the Grimms’ tinkering with their tales)