Tanglewood Tales

First published in 1853, this children's collection retells six Greek myths in the voice of a storyteller at Tanglewood. Theseus enters the Labyrinth against the Minotaur; Hercules meets the Pygmies after his bout with Antaeus; Cadmus sows dragon's teeth; Odysseus is held on Circe's island; Proserpina is taken to the underworld and eats the pomegranate seeds; Jason sails for the Golden Fleece with Medea's help. Hawthorne softens violence and explains names for young readers, keeping the plots of quest, captivity, and return. The book is a sequel to A Wonder-Book and a set of independent tales, not a scholarly mythography.

Bound in grey-green cloth blocked in red, green and gold with an illustration. Red endpapers. Brown slipcase.