[ANDERSEN, HANS CHRISTIAN (1805-1875); HOWITT, MARY (translator)]. Wonderful Stories for Children. London: Chapman & Hall, MDCCCXLVI [1846].
FIRST ENGLISH EDITION, FIRST ISSUE. Cloth-bound; hardcover; octavo (172 x 127 x 15 mm); pp. [6], 127. English text translated by Mary Howitt. Publisher's cloth, decorated in blind, cover and spine lettered in gilt with gilt wreath device to cover. Four hand-coloured lithographed plates, including frontispiece. Printed by Vizetelly Brothers and Co. Condition: GOOD. Binding secure. Marks to covers. Rubbing with minor losses at the spine ends. Interior with some thumbing and occasional spots. Without previous ownership markings. Scarce.
Notes: First edition, first issue, with "Anderson" to the title-page, of the first appearance in English of Andersen's influential collection of fairy tales. With Andersen's international popularity exploding, spurred by the success of "The Ugly Duckling," the English market took notice beginning in 1846 with the publication of five collections in English translation. This was the first, translated by Dickens's friend Mary Howitt, who learned Danish so that she might translate the stories, which include Andersen's now classic tales "Ole Lukoie," "The Naughty Boy," "Tommelise" ("Thumbelina"), "The Rose-Elf," "The Garden of Paradise," "A Night in the Kitchen," "The Constant Tin Soldier," "The Storks" and two others. "The earliest collections in Danish are of the utmost rarity; and the English translations in 1846 and 1847 are almost as rare" (Muir, Early English Children's Books 1600-1900, p 52); (see Osborne: 1566-1910, p.17).
