1869 Rare Hans Andersen Victorian Edition - Everything in Its Right Place

Author: Hans Christian Andersen. Translated by H.W. Dulcken, Ph.D.
Title: Everything in Its Right Place and Other Stories.
Publisher: London, George Routledge and Sons, 1869.
Language: Text in English.
Size: 6.5 x 4 inches.
Pages: 149 pages + publisher’s catalogue.
Binding: Attractive and very good original Victorian publisher’s decorative brick-red cloth binding, richly stamped in black with central medallion motifs and gilt title panels to spine and front board (hinges fine, overall slightly worn and scuffed - as shown) under a protective removable mylar cover.
Content: Very good content (bright, tight and clean, rare light foxing or staining - as shown, previous owner’s bookplate (R. A. Young, dated 1869) and faint oval stamp “St. James, Taunton” to front endpaper - as shown). 
Illustrations: Illustrated with a hand-colored frontispiece (“The Goose-Girl and the Pedlar”) and numerous black-and-white in-text engravings throughout. Illustrations remain crisp and engaging, characteristic of Victorian children’s books. (Complete).

The book: This 1869 Routledge edition of Hans Christian Andersen’s Everything in Its Right Place is a significant part of The Hans Andersen Library series, designed to bring Andersen’s tales into English homes with accessible translations and abundant illustrations. The collection includes stories such as “The Angel,” “What the Moon Saw,” “Ib and Christine,” “The Snow Man,” and “The Child in the Grave.” This copy is particularly desirable for its vibrant Victorian cloth binding and the hand-colored frontispiece, a hallmark of Routledge’s Andersen editions.

The author: Hans Christian Andersen (1805–1875) was a Danish author celebrated for his fairy tales, which have become classics of children’s literature worldwide. Stories such as The Snow Queen, The Little Mermaid, and The Ugly Duckling transformed folklore into enduring works of art imbued with both imagination and deep moral insight.

The translator: Henry William Dulcken (1832–1894), a Victorian translator and editor, played a pivotal role in popularizing Andersen’s stories in English. His translations, often paired with rich illustrations, brought Andersen’s works to generations of English-speaking children.