Eventyr Inscribed by Hans Christian Andersen

Published in Copenhagen by C.A. Reitzel, the 1850 printing of Eventyr (Fairy Tales) represents a vital landmark in the material history of Danish literature. Prior to this era, Hans Christian Andersen’s tales were scattered across flimsy, unillustrated pamphlets. This comprehensive 1850 collection gathered his early masterpieces—such as The Tinderbox, The Princess and the Pea, and The Little Mermaid—into a single, unified volume. Most importantly, this edition finalized the inclusion of the brilliant, atmospheric wood engravings by Vilhelm Pedersen, the artist personally chosen by Andersen to define the visual world of his characters. Bound in contemporary mid-century cloth or marbled paperboards, an immaculate 1850 Eventyris highly prized by antiquarian collectors as the precise moment Andersen's ephemeral stories stabilized into an immortal literary monument. 

The provenance of this copy is that it is hand-inscribed by Hans Christian Andersen to Danish-Swedish opera icon Henriette Nissen-Saloman (1819–1879). With that association, this book bridges the worlds of 19th-century literature and European opera. Born in Sweden and tutored in piano by Chopin and singing by Manuel Garcia, Nissen-Saloman was an elite mezzo-soprano dubbed "the Swedish lark," whose fame on the opera stages of Paris, Berlin, and St. Petersburg directly rivaled her contemporary, Jenny Lind. Andersen, a passionate theater devotee who famously harbored a lifelong infatuation with Lind, moved in the exact same high-society circles as Nissen-Saloman and frequently gifted inscribed copies of his latest books to the musicians who enchanted him. This specific 1850 presentation volume—likely gifted around the time of her marriage to the Danish composer and violinist Siegfried Saloman—stands as an extraordinary museum-quality artifact, beautifully documenting Andersen’s intimate, lifelong adoration for the golden age of European opera. 

On the half-title of this volume, Hans Christian Andersen writes, “Sangerinden Fru Nissen-Saloman En Boquet — Eventyr til venlig Erindring om Denmark og H. C. Andersen.” In English this Danish inscription reads “The singer Mrs. Nissen-Saloman A Bouquet of Fairy Tales in kind remembrance of Denmark and H. C. Andersen.”

Textured floral deep blue-green boards with emerald leather three quarter binding. Gilt decorations to spine and lettering to center spine. Marbled edges. Illustrated. Fading in places to lower board. Inscription to half title. Transcription of inscription tipped onto interior of lower board. Tight and intact. Fine condition.