# Is "German Popular Stories" by Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm; translated by Edgar Taylor a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of German Popular Stories by Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm; translated by Edgar Taylor (C. Baldwyn, 1823) is identified by: Two-volume set: Volume I is dated 1823 on its title page and was issued by C. Translated from German by Edgar Taylor, the first person to translate the Grimms' Kinder- und Hausmarchen into English.

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- Two-volume set: Volume I is dated 1823 on its title page and was issued by C. Baldwyn
- Volume II is dated 1826 and was issued by James Robins
- Both volumes are illustrated with an engraved vignette title and full-page etched plates by George Cruikshank (eleven plates in Vol
- I, nine in Vol
- II) — his earliest book illustrations, and the earliest fully illustrated edition of the Grimms' tales in any language
- On the true first-issue title page of both volumes the German word 'Marchen' is printed without its umlaut; copies with the umlaut later inserted are a subsequent issue of the same first edition
- Publisher imprint reads C. Baldwyn

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm; translated by Edgar Taylor |
| Publisher | C. Baldwyn |
| Year | 1823 |
| True first | — |
| Format | Children's / illustrated |
| Key point | Two-volume set: Volume I is dated 1823 on its title page and was issued by C. Baldwyn |
| Book-club edition exists? | — |

## Points of issue
Two-volume set: Volume I is dated 1823 on its title page and was issued by C. Baldwyn; Volume II is dated 1826 and was issued by James Robins. Both volumes are illustrated with an engraved vignette title and full-page etched plates by George Cruikshank (eleven plates in Vol. I, nine in Vol. II) — his earliest book illustrations, and the earliest fully illustrated edition of the Grimms' tales in any language. On the true first-issue title page of both volumes the German word 'Marchen' is printed without its umlaut; copies with the umlaut later inserted are a subsequent issue of the same first edition. In Volume I first-issue sheets, the list of plates runs only to page 218, the heading for 'The Travelling Musicians' on page 9 carries no added subtitle, and the note referring back to the preface appears last among the endnotes.

## Is this the true first?
Translated from German by Edgar Taylor, the first person to translate the Grimms' Kinder- und Hausmarchen into English. The two volumes were issued three years apart (1823 and 1826); both, each in first-issue state (no umlaut on 'Marchen'), are needed to form a complete first edition.

## Telling it from reprints & book-club editions
A revised edition of Taylor's translation followed in 1837, and the work was reprinted repeatedly thereafter; these later texts are not the 1823-26 Baldwyn/Robins first edition with its umlaut-point first issue and Cruikshank's original plates.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *German Popular Stories* by Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm; translated by Edgar Taylor a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/german-popular-stories
CC BY 4.0. Part of the Canonical First-Edition Points of Issue dataset (https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/api/first-edition-titles.json). Last reviewed 2026-07-04.