Panel Large 2 3 MU KPB 047 The Sleeping Beauty And Other Fairytales From The Old French Retoldby A.T. Quiller Couch 0008

The differences to be found between Charles Perrault’s version of a tale and that of the Brothers Grimm are multiple and intriguing. For instance, in the Grimm version of The Sleeping Beauty, Beauty can only be awakened by a kiss from the Prince. In the Perrault version, she wakes up by herself. The Prince is in fact a reward for her patience. She then chats with the Prince for four hours, dines with him, and they marry, all in the same day. A French-British illustrator, Edmund Dulac (1882-1953) was one of the major figures of the Golden Age of Illustration. His image for Sleeping Beauty refers to the French Rococo period with its intricate furniture, rich drapery, and use of pastel color. While one putti is waking Beauty up, the other seems to have just drawn an arrow, aimed at the heart of the Prince.

Dulac, Edmund. (1910). The Sleeping Beauty. (Pen and watercolor on paper). In Quiller-Couch, A., Dulac, E., Villeneuve, G.-S. B. G., & Perrault, C. (1910). The sleeping beauty, and other fairy tales: from the old french. Hodder & Stoughton. Maastricht University Special Collections. Call number: MU KPB 047