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Introductory Note
Introductory Note
Hans Christian Andersen was born in Odense, Denmark, April 2, 1805. He
was the son of a poor cobbler who died when Hans was eleven; and after a
meager schooling he went to Copenhagen at the age of fourteen in the hope of
finding employment in the theater. Here after much discouragement and hardship
he finally found patrons who kept him from starving, and arranged for his
regular education at the government`s expense. His literary career began in
1829 with his humorous extravaganza, "A Journey on Foot from Holm Canal to the
East Point of Amager," which was followed by plays, poems, and descriptions of
travel, and in 1835 by his first novel, "The Improvisatore," which was an
immediate success. In the same year he found his real forte in the first
volume of his "Fairy Tales" (Eventyr), but neither he nor the general public
recognized this at first. Those critics who condescended to consider them at
all were troubled about their lack of clear moral teaching and their
colloquial style; but children liked them from the beginning.
[See Snow White: Snow white and the seven dwarfs.]
While the Tales, added to year by year, were gradually finding their
public, Andersen continued his writing of novels in his "O. T." and "Only a
Fiddler"; of plays in his "Mulatto" and many others; of travels in his
"Author`s Bazaar," "In Sweden," and "In Spain"; of poetry in his epic,
"Ahasuerus," and many lyrics. His reputation spread far beyond Denmark and in
the many countries he visited he was enthusiastically received. He died full
of honors in August, 1875.
[See Christmas Eve Dream: A Christmas eve dream.]
As a man Andersen was vain and sentimental, and he suffered more from his
mortified vanity than from his actual hardships. The stories which have made
his name a household word he underestimated, and strove after a dramatic
success for which he was temperamentally unfitted.
Oddly enough, he was not particularly fond of children, though he had an
extraordinary capacity for amusing them; and it was this gift that led a
friend to suggest his writing down the stories which he invented for their
entertainment. Many of the tales are based on folk-lore, many are purely his
own imagining, but all are told with a quaintness, humor, and fancy that have
given the author a place by himself in letters.
[See Princess And Pea: Now they knew that she was a real Princess.]
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