‎"ANDERSEN, H.C.‎
‎Nye Eventyr. 2 Bind (5 samlinger). (Alle samlinger i 1. oplag, også den første, som indeholder ""Den grimme Ælling""). [New Fairy Tales. Complete with all five collections in two volumes, all in first issue, also the first, which contains ""The Ugly Duck... - [THE EXCEEDINGLY RARE TRUE FIRST PRINTING OF ""THE UGLY DUCKLING""]‎

‎Kjøbenhavn, 1844 - 48. Bound together in one contemporary half calf with richly gilt spine. Upper hinges are slightly wear, but binding is fine and tight. Occasional light brownspotting, but overall a lovely copy. The present collection contains the joint title-page for vol. 1 (dated 1845), the contents leaf for vol. 1 (for all three collections), the joint title-page for vol. 2 (dated 1848), and the contents leaf for vol. 2 (for both collections) Vol. 1, collection 1 also contains: the rare first state title-page (with no mention of neither volume nor collection, dated 1844), dedication leaf, and all the separate half-titles for each individual fairy tale. Vol. 1, collection 2 contains: Joint title-page, dedication leaf, and all the separate half-titles for each individual fairy tale. Vol. 1, collection 3 contains: Joint title-page, dedication leaf, and all the separate half-titles for each individual fairy tale. Vol. 2, collection 1 contains: Title-page, dedication leaf, and all the separate half-titles for each individual fairy tale. Vol. 2, collection 2 contains: Title-page, and all the separate half-titles for each individual fairy tale. All five collections were issued separately and all came with individual titles, half-titles, contents, and dedications. As they were also issued in the two volumes, title-pages for these volumes as well as joint contents for the entire volumes were then also issued. Thus, in all contemporarily bound copies of the fairy tales, many of these leaves for the individual collections were discarded when bound – e.g. it was redundant to have the separate contents leaves for the separate collections, when one had the joint contents leaf for each volume, which also goes for the extra half-titles. No two copies are alike in this regard and there is no talk of completeness – as long as the title-pages and one of the kinds of content leaves are present, it is as it should be.‎

Reference : 63481

‎First edition of Hans Christian Andersen's seminal second collection of fairy tales (Nye Eventyr) - the publication that caused him international fame - with all five collections in first issue, also the first, which is of the utmost rarity. It is in this legendary first collection that we find the first printing of ""The Ugly Duckling"" (not as is indicated in PMM in his first fairy tale collection, which does not contain his most important fairy tales). The rarity of the first issue of volume 1, collection 1, is legendary. It was published on November 11th 1843 (dated 1844 on the title page) in a very small number, probably due to the poor sales of Andersen's first fairy tale collection (Eventyr, fortalte for børn). Against all belief, this first collection sold out within a few days, catapulting Andersen into worldwide fame, and a second issue was published already on December 21st 1843. Thus, only very few copies of the first issue exist, and almost all collections of the ""New fairy Tales"" are bound with the second issue or the third of 1847, meaning that they do not contain the actual first printing of ""The Ugly Duckling"", ""The Nightingale"", ""The Angel"", and ""The Sweethearts"". Only the present two volumes of ""Nye Eventyr"" were issued, the first containing three collections, and the second containing two collections. This is thus a complete collection of the entire set in first editions, first issues. This seminal collection contains the first printings of Andersen's most famous and cherished fairy tales, e.g.: ""The Ugly Duckling"", ""The Angel"", ""The Nightingale"", ""The Pine Tree"", ""The Snow Queen"", ""The Shadow"", ""The Story of a Mother"" etc. etc. It is interesting to note that the Hans Christian Andersen-entry in Printing and the Mind of Man is that of ""Eventyr fortalte for Børn"" (""Fairy Tales related for Children""), Andersen's first fairy tale collection published 1835-42, but that the PMM headline is ""The Ugly Duckling"", which actually first appears in the second fairy tale collection, which we have here. Thus, to be fair, the actual PMM entry ought to have been the second fairy tale collection: ""Success at home was slow. ‘Fairy Tales related for Children’, published in parts from 1835 at 4d. apiece and collected in 1837, were regarded by the author himself as mere bagatelles thrown off by a dubious kind of sleight of hand in the intervals of establishing himself as a greater poet than Oehlenschläger and a greater dramatist than Heiberg. To the end of his life he regarded them at best with tolerance and refused to admit that his international reputation rested on them. Most of the leading critics treated them contemptuously, regarding them as yet further evidence of the incapacity of an author of whom they had no great opinion in any case. Between 1838 and 1848 Andersen turned out several more volumes of tales, frequently accepting books instead of money as payment... it was not until 1843/4 that the appearance of ""The Ugly Duckling"" swept him into general favour. H.C. Oersted the scientist (282) and Thorvaldsen the sculptor were enthusiastic admirers of the tales, matinée readings of them were given at the Royal Theatre at Copenhagen"" but is was their swiftly achieved success abroad that first brought them local notice..."" (PMM 299).‎