“I would gladly give all the hundreds of years that I have to live, to be a human being only for one day and to have the hope of knowing the happiness of that glorious world above the stars.”
Hans Christian Andersen’s well-loved tale of the ill-fated mermaid and the burning love she has for a mysterious sailor has held readers in thrall for over 150 years. Brought gloriously to life here with a beautiful collection of vivid original illustrations by artists including W Heath Robinson, Ivan Bilibin and Anne Anderson, this original and unabridged edition presents a wonderfully vivid translation from the Danish. The varied illustrations show an astonishing variety of interpretations of Andersen’s tale and provide a beautiful and dramatic visual compliment to the text to enhance the reader’s experience. Relive the beauty and heartache of this haunting tale as the young mermaid who aches to visit the surface falls head over heels in love with a sailor who she saves from drowning thus setting her on a fateful journey during which she will risk everything she holds dear to win the sailor’s love and to gain an immortal soul.
And published here together with The Little Mermaid for the first time is the fairy tale which inspired Hans Christian Andersen to write his classic story.
Undine is a dark fairy tale novella which tells the story of a water spirit living in the forest with a poor fisherman. In order to gain an immortal soul, she marries a noble knight but her supernatural powers and mysterious origins give her husband a growing sense of unease. This gem of a fairy tale, full of eerie atmosphere and haunting drama, is presented here with the original illustrations by Arthur Rackham, one of the major artists of the British Golden Age of Illustration. His beautiful illustrations bring the tale of Undine vividly to life – the ideal accompaniment read to The Little Mermaid.
Written 30 years apart and published here side-by-side for the first time, The Little Mermaid and Undine have delighted readers for decades with their hauntingly moving depictions of love, longing and loss in watery mysterious worlds and perfectly complement one another.
“It seemed strange to her that she was now herself living, as it were, in the midst of one of those fairy tales to which she had formerly only listened.”
Undine
This edition includes full author and illustrator biographies.
Teapot Press 