First published in 1889, "The Blue Fairy Book" is the first in a series of collections of fairy tales from around the world edited by Andrew Lang, the Scottish novelist, poet and literary critic, with translations and retellings by his wife, Leonora Blanche Alleyne, and others. Lang and Alleyne would go on to publish popular collections of fairy tales and poetry for over twenty years. As the first in the series of collections, each named after a color, "The Blue Fairy Book" contains some of the world's most famous and recognizable fairy tales. Some are from the Brothers Grimm, with tales also from Charles Perrault and Madame d'Aulnoy, stories from the Tales of the Arabian Nights, and four stories are translations of Norwegian tales. The collections published by Lang and Alleyne put all of these memorable and universally appealing tales into a single volume making them accessible to generations of children and parents. No childhood would be complete without hearing about the adventures of "Puss in Boots", the mystery of "Rumpelstiltskin", the romance of "Sleeping Beauty" and "Beauty and the Beast", and all the other beautiful and timeless tales in "The Blue Fairy Book". This edition includes a biographical afterword.