The Book of One Hundred Riddles of the Fairy Bellaria

by Charles Godfrey Leland, Jack D. Zipes (Introduction)

Reviving a lost classic of American fairy–tale literature
Charles Godfrey Leland was one of the most popular American writers and artists of the nineteenth century, publishing more than twenty books of legends, fairy tales, humor, and essays. Today, however, he is a woefully underappreciated writer. Written, designed, and illustrated by Leland in 1892, The Book of One Hundred Riddles of the Fairy Bellaria is a forgotten classic and a small sample of his influential and experimental work.  The Book of One Hundred Riddles of the Fairy Bellaria features the Scheherazade-like fairy goddess powerful and mysterious, courageous and clever, goddess of spring, flowers, love, fate, and death. In this story, Bellaria engages in a duel of wits with an evil king, a death match of one hundred riddles. Each riddle is spoken as a rhyme and illustrated by an original engraving in the arts and crafts style. This book is a beautiful reintroduction to Leland and his pioneering design.

Genres: Fiction, Fairy Tales

176 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1892

About the author

Charles Godfrey Leland (August 15, 1824 – March 20, 1903) was an American humorist and folklorist, born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He was educated at Princeton University and in Europe.
Leland worked in journalism, travelled extensively, and became interested in folklore and folk linguistics, publishing books and articles on American and European languages and folk traditions. Leland worked in a wide variety of trades, achieved recognition as the author of the comic Hans Breitmann’s Ballads, fought in two conflicts, and wrote what was to become a primary source text for Neopaganism half a century later, Aradia, or the Gospel of the Witches.

Reviews

[Razieh Shojaee · Rating 5 out of 5]

I absolutely loved this book! The answers to the riddles written in the style of poems were a delight to read.

[Hailey · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book of riddles was delightfully written and I loved the introduction that gave us a little insight on the life of the folklorist who wrote this little story! I love the cover and the artwork on this book. The rough cloth makes it feel like an old book (which it is, so it’s nice to keep the packaging true to the content) and the artwork jumped out at me! It’s was a very light read with a very simple plot and resolution which I very much enjoyed. I love clever women and I love a good overarching “prophecy”. The one thing that make me kinda..”hmmm” was when she reveals a certain thing that helped her solve the riddles...made me feel a little bad for the man who was trying to outsmart her. It also felt like cheating a little.