The Old Nursery Stories with illustrations by William Henry Margetson

The Old Nursery Stories by E. Nesbit, illustrated by WH Margetson

E. Nesbit is, of course, a pen name for Edith Nesbit who was at the time of publishing of the book already married (her surname was Bland), a mother of five (two adopted), and a well-known author of dozens of books. She wrote many, she collaborated on even more, and this one is an example of her retelling and editing skills. By the way, the book is dedicated to her youngest son (adopted, his real mother was the Bland's housekeeper, secretary and long time Edith's husband mistress Alice Hoatson) John.

It's a collection of nine all-time classics, among which Dick Whittington and his cat and The white Cat are almost forgotten now, yet we'll spend a few lines to each one of them, especially enjoying in pictures by William Henry Margetson, who was more of a painter than an illustrator by profession. However, he did a great job on this book and we are lucky to find it and preserved for posterity.

We are less enthusiastic about the adaptations of the stories. Mrs. Nesbit who was prolific in writing for adults too was a fan of literary realism (a socialist by political belief), an author who is credited as a pioneer, if not an inventor of a much more realistic approach to the literature for kids. Her interventions in these timeless texts are more disturbing than enriching, often weakening the basic plot or message (s), despite some humorous additions.

So we'll focus on the illustrations instead. Each one of them is originally accompanied by a line, related to the place in the story, and we included those lines (in italics) as well. They are done in war aquarelle colors, with a loose brush, using the methods of pre-raphaelites and post-impressionists. Just an interesting tidbit - the bok was published in the same year Mr. Margetson became a member of the Royal Institute.

Cinderella

She sat down in the quiet kitchen among the gray ashes, and cried and cried (used as frontispiece)

The story about the girl who lost everything, was degraded almost to the status of the beggar but became the princess and has so big heart, she forgives her stepsisters too.

No one had passed out except a ragged beggar girl, running like a mad thing

Beauty and the Beast

Then he burst into tears

Another well-known fairy tale with riches-to-rags-to-riches plot. This time the youngest girl offers to sacrifice herself to save the father only to find out sometimes the real beauty lies deep below the horrifying appearance.

In a moment she was leaning over it. It was the Beast

We have already dedicated a full post to the story about Beauty and the Beast, illustrated by William H. Thwaites.

Jack the giant-killer

The giant ran clumsily after him

There was a Jack, a brave young man, who decided to clear the world of cruel, violent and cannibalistic giants.

Puss in Boots

The cat stood up in his boots with the yellow heels and put his paws to his mouth and shouted

A story about the boy who inherited only a cat, while his brother got a mill and a donkey. But the cat was not an ordinary cat ...

We can go through the whole story with many more color illustrations in the next post:

Puss in Boots, by Richard Andre

Jack and the beanstalk

She stood looking up after him

Another story about a boy named Jack, this time dealing with one giant only, but he must visit him three times before their conflict is resolved.

Dick Whittington and His Cat

On his doorstep the owner of the house ... found him in the morning

A story with several elements similar to Puss in Boots, but more realistic. It is believed it is a fairy retelling of the life-story of legendary London major Richard Whittington.

We have already presented a collection with this story, where you can find more info:

Told in the Twilight

The Sleeping Beauty in the Wood

"What are you doing, good lady?" the Princess asked

We are all familiar with a curse leading to one hundred years long sleep. It's interesting to note Nesbit 'corrected' the dramatical failure by Brothers Grimm who 'forgot' to punish the wicked fairy. Here, she hears about Sleeping Beauty and her prince's happiness what makes her so angry she dies!

There on the carved ebony bed lay the Princess

The White Cat

A little person ... veiled in black lace, walked with slow dignity towards him

This is probably least known of all fairy tales included in the book. It is written by Madame d'Aulnoy, the woman who invented the term fairy tale, and, as you may presume, wrote a few fairy tales on her own. This one is pretty similar to Beauty and the Beast, but with a twist - a prince meets a cat who is, of course, an enchanted princess.

Hop o 'My Thumb

Hop-o'-my-Thumb lagged behind, and every ten paces he dropped a white stone

Another almost forgotten fairy tale, with a small boy with a big heart and even more brains, who saves his six brothers, tricks a giant and made his family rich and happy.

That's it. The Old Nursery Stories was published by Henry Frowde and Hodder & Stoughton in London in 1909.