Sunday, September 4, 2011

Public Domain III - Folktales, Fairy Tales, Legends and Myths

Scheherazade
by Edmund Dulac
This is the third in a series of blog posts offering books that are now in the public domain. Some are found on the particular websites, others via Google Books. You may download many of them directly to your computer and in some instances to your Kindle or e-reader. I will be sharing more in the future but for now, on your mark, get set, read!!

The Algonquin Legends of New England by Charles G. Leland, 1894.  “This work contains a collection of the myths, legends, and folk-lore of the principal Wabanaki, or Northeastern Algonquin, Indians…” http://tinyurl.com/3d2b5nk

Among the Meadow People by Clara Dillingham Pierson, 1901 .http://tinyurl.com/yyzcgbk

Chinese Wonder Book - Meet The Nodding Tiger, The Man Who Would Not Scold, among others in these fifteen stories from Norman Hinsdale Pitman, c. 1919. http://tinyurl.com/3jzdjmf

Cossack Fairy Tales and Folktales by Robert Nisbet Bain, 1902 – Bain collected these folktales from Ruthenian, the language of the Cossacks, a language intermediate between Russian and Polish. http://tinyurl.com/2uklns8

Danish Fairy Tales – Forty-six tales collected by J. Christian Bay, 1899 –  “May this train of Danish Kings and queens, wise men and fools, princes and beggars…may they all be kindly welcomed…” http://tinyurl.com/6kso9qf

Fairy Tales of the Allied Nations by Edmund Dulac, 1916. Some of the stories will be familiar to storytellers but others are new gems. The illustrations make the reading even more enjoyable.
"This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.net .”
http://www.gutenberg.org/files/25513/25513-h/25513-h.htm

The Fairy Tales of Marie-Catherine d´Aulony -Marie-Catherine lived in France during the time of Charles Perrault but her tales were shared in a more conversational style and usually featured a female protagonist. Many of her works were collected by Andrew Lang in his Fairy Books. http://tinyurl.com/ydh2hfe

The Golden Mountain by Meyer Levin, 1932 -  “A collection of tales of the Eastern European Hassidic Jews, centering on the holy men Baal Shem Tov and Rabbi Nachman of Bratzlaw…these magical realist stories of the Hassidic rabbis are encoded with deeper levels of meaning similar to Buddhist, Sufi, Celtic, and other spiritual traditions.” http://tinyurl.com/4j952xp

Green Willow and other Japanese Fairy Tales by Grace Adams, 1910 – Thirty eight stories from the Land of the Rising Sun, complemented by the gorgeous illustrations of Warwick Goble. http://tinyurl.com/4rzy5pg

Indian Why Stories – Sparks from War Eagle’s Lodge-Fire – Twenty-two stories collected by Frank B. Linderman, 1915. http://tinyurl.com/63sovcu

More Australian Legendary Folktales by Katie Langloh Parker from 1898. http://tinyurl.com/yczxfms

Myths and Legends of Our Own Land by Charles M. Skinner, 1896
http://tinyurl.com/ya9ko3n

Persian Tales by David Lockhard Roertson Lorimer, 1910 - Once upon a time there was a time when there was no one but God…so begins many of these wonderful stories from Persia. There is also a section vocabulary and pronunciation section at the end of the book. http://chestofbooks.com/fairy-tale/Persian/

The Stories Mother Nature Told Her Children, by Jane Andrews, 1888
http://tinyurl.com/y8bof2z

Summer Legends by Rudolph Baumbach, Translated by Helen B. Dole, c.1888. Twenty-two legends to celebrate the season including The Legend of the Daisy, The Clover Leaf, and more.
http://tinyurl.com/6jxsqhc

Tales of Laughter from 1908. A collection tales from Ireland, Spain, France, Russia and other countries from around the globe. They are sure to have you smiling with delight!http://tinyurl.com/3mzd7pr

And if you missed the previous blog posts of public domain story collections go to:
http://tinyurl.com/3dwd25f
http://tinyurl.com/3mpoeqy

© Karen Chace, 2011

3 comments:

FairyTaleLover said...

Thanks for nice list of folktales. I am trying to find out more of an illustrator of Chinese Book of Wonders Li Chu-T'ang, but it seems there is no useful data on the web. Do you have any reliable info about him (date of birth, death maybe)? I want to figure out if his illustrations are in public domain or not. Thanks again and all the best with your blog!

Karen Chace said...

Hello,

I am pleased you like the blog list of folktales. Thank you for writing. As for Li Chu-Tang, I did a bit of research and came up empty. The book was published in 1919 so it is highly likely he is no long alive. I didn't find any reference to a helpful biography.

Anything published in the US before 1923 is in the public domain, but I am not positive that applies to illustrations. The best thing to do would be to contact the publisher if they are still in business. Good luck!

Karen

FairyTaleLover said...

Hi, me again:)

Yes, everything published in USA (with exception of some districts), including illustrations, is public domain in USA, but I am not from USA and we have a rule of author's life + 70 years (like most countries in Europe + USA for works published after 1923), so we are not in clear area. Another problem are patents (some Disney's work is not in public domain for example)and 'replicas' (photo of art piece for example)...

I guess I have to continue with my search. Have a great time and see you around!