A rich collection of the tales men have told for nearly 4000 years, from ancient Egypt and Peru to the new America of mining- and logging-camp days. The selection is balanced between familiar stories and those which will be fresh discoveries to all but the specialists. Many are from rare and unusual sources; some were first written down by anthropologists making studies of primitive societies; others stem from the Brothers Grimm and Andersen and other well-known authorities. The editor has weighed all existing versions and in each case picked the most readable--many translations are by distinguished authors. The book is divided into nineteen representative world areas: African, American, American Indian, Arabian and Turkish, Chinese, Egyptian, English, Finnish, French, German, Greek, Indian, Irish, Italian, Jewish, Latin American, Russian, Scandinavian, Spanish. All categories of folk tales are included: Märchen, legends, myths, jests and drolls, fabliaux, fairy tales, fables, tall tales; romantic and fantastic tales; ghost stories and animal stories; moral tales and mystery stories.

"This is an unusually comprehensive and thoughtfully selected collection... distinguished from most of its kind by Mr. Rugoff's informative commentaries." -The New York Times

• from back cover