Public Domain IV - Folktales, Fairytales, Myths and Legends

Chasing Fortune

by William Russell Flint, 1912

This is a fourth in a series of blog posts offering folktale books that are now in the public domain. There will be more in the future. I hope you will find a new stories to add to your storytelling repertoire, classroom curriculum, library story time or simply for your own reading pleasure. Join me and step into long ago and far away...

The Art of the Storyteller - In 1915 Marie Shedlock wrote as part of the forward for the book, “One of the surest signs of a belief in the educational power of the story is its introduction into the curriculum…It is just at the time when the imagination is most keen, the mind being unhampered by accumulation of facts, that stories appeal most vividly and are retained for all time.” The book, now in public domain, is available online from a woman who was truly ahead of her time. http://digital.library.upenn.edu/women/shedlock/story/story.html

Folk-tales of Angola – Fifty tales collected and edited by Heli Chatelain, 1894 with Ki-mbundu text, literal English translation introduction and notes. Stories of antelope, wolf, turtle, leopard, monkey and much more.
http://tinyurl.com/6f6nt2m

Forty-four Turkish Fairy Tales by Ignácz Kúnos Illustrations by Willy Pogany, 1913. “There are quests to win the hand of a princess, evil step-relations, talking animals, magical objects and transformations, simple (but brave) peasants, wizards and witches, dragons and dungeons, thousand-league journeys, and loveable fools.” There is a helpful glossary at the end of the book as well.

http://www.sacred-texts.com/asia/ftft/index.htm

Additional formatting and proofing at sacred-texts.com by John B. Hare. This text is in the public domain. This file may be used for any non-commercial purpose, provided this notice of attribution is left intact.

Dutch Fairy Tales for Young Children - Ten Dutch tales from 1918. Find out why The Stork Loves Holland, visit with the The Princess With Twenty Petty Coats and more. http://tinyurl.com/4jp7b3

Folktales From Many Lands - From 1910 a fascinating book of twenty-three folktales from around the world. Feast your eyes not only on the words but the exquisite illustrations that complement each tale.  http://tinyurl.com/2janra

Georgian Folktales -A short collection of folktales from the nation of Georgia by Marjory Wardrop, offered by Sacred Texts. Lose yourself in these stories collected in 1894: The Two Brothers, The Shepherd’s Judge, The King and the Sage and more.

http://tinyurl.com/2rzm5h

The Golden Rod Fairy Book - “Fairyland is not on any map, and some people actually insist that there is no such country…” So begins the introduction to this delightful book, edited by Esther Singleton and published in 1903. Stories from England, France, Poland, Bohemia, Russia, India, China, Italy, Denmark, Ireland and Spain are contained between these cyber covers and include such authors as Perrault, Grimm and Anderson. In the words of Esther, “All you need is a comfortable chair and a bright fire…”

http://www.elfinspell.com/GoldenrodTitle.html

Hawaiian Folktales - An anthology of Hawaiian folklore, including many articles which were originally published in difficult to obtain journals and now-rare books written in the late 19th or early 20th century. Most are based on first-hand oral traditions.

http://www.sacred-texts.com/pac/hft/index.htm

Scanned at sacred-texts.com, July 2006. Proofed and formatted by John Bruno Hare. This text is in the public domain in the United States because it was published prior to 1923. 

Legends and Stories of Italy - Sixteen stories from this 1909 publication, along with beautiful illustrations. http://tinyurl.com/4jpug7 

Oriental Myths and Legends - From Sacred Texts “an anthology of tales from several widely separated Asian story-telling traditions, with the center of gravity somewhere in Persia.” http://tinyurl.com/3unjh9

Scottish Folktales - Thirty-three folktales from 1899.

http://tinyurl.com/4u6tbl

From Compass Rose Cultural Crossroads http://www.compassrose.org. 

Speak Bird, Speak Again - A book of Palestinian Arab Folktales from Ibrahim Muhawi and Sharif Kanaana.  http://tinyurl.com/2lcqn7

Turkish Fairy Tales and Folktales – Collected by Ignacz Kunos and translated from the Hungarian by Nisbet Bain, 1901. While this book contains some of the same stories as the Turkish book above, there are a number of new tales as well.
http://tinyurl.com/5tmgmw9

The Welsh Fairy Book - Eighty-four stories published in 1908 by Jenkyn Thomas, along with a page of pronunciation notes. Scanned and redacted by Phillip Brown. http://www.sacred-texts.com/neu/celt/wfb/index.htm  

Additional formatting and proofing at sacred-texts.com by John B. Hare. This text is in the public domain. This file may be used for any non-commercial purpose, provided this notice of attribution is left intact.

And if you missed the previous blog posts of public domain story collections go to:

• http://karenchace.blogspot.com/2011/05/public-domain-folktales-myths-legends.html
• http://karenchace.blogspot.com/2011/06/public-domain-ii-folktales-myths-and.html
• http://karenchace.blogspot.com/2011/09/public-domain-iii-folktales-fairy-tales.html

This blog post was painstakingly researched and compiled by Karen Chace. Permission for private use is granted. Distribution, either electronically or on paper is prohibited without my expressed written permission. For permission please contact me at storybug@aol.com. Of course, if you wish to link to my newsletter via your website, blog, newsletter, Facebook page or Twitter please feel free to do so; I greatly appreciate your support and personal integrity.