the Tales of Beedle the Bard
OH. EM. GEE.
So, I just bought the Tales of Beedle the Bard Collector's Edition, and it is phenomenal.
The book and its outer container (a library-book looking package, so Hogwarts students can conceal what they are actually reading) are amazingly put together and beautiful. The cover of the book is a reproduction of the original handwritten version, and Rowling's introduction is actually copied from that edition and is lovely.
The stories themselves are fantastic (and often gruesome) and the illustrations show that storytelling is not Rowling's only talent. There are also ten larger prints of some of her illustrations included in the outer box.
But the best part is the commentary. Commentary written by Dumbledore that was apparently found some time after his death, after having been written around the time of Order of the Phoenix. It's a fairly illuminating expansion to the canon as far as wizarding history goes.
I do wonder about the timeline, though - I think Beedle the Bard must have 'lived' more than a thousand years ago, not in the fifteenth century as the introduction claims. Otherwise, wouldn't the stories have been written in English? The runes that Hermione studied are 'ancient'. Five centuries does not make something ancient. Of course, Rowling has had other problems with timelines, too, so it's not exactly surprising.
Overall, a fantastic purchase, and I'm definitely glad I got the collector's edition and not the standard one.
So, I just bought the Tales of Beedle the Bard Collector's Edition, and it is phenomenal.
The book and its outer container (a library-book looking package, so Hogwarts students can conceal what they are actually reading) are amazingly put together and beautiful. The cover of the book is a reproduction of the original handwritten version, and Rowling's introduction is actually copied from that edition and is lovely.
The stories themselves are fantastic (and often gruesome) and the illustrations show that storytelling is not Rowling's only talent. There are also ten larger prints of some of her illustrations included in the outer box.
But the best part is the commentary. Commentary written by Dumbledore that was apparently found some time after his death, after having been written around the time of Order of the Phoenix. It's a fairly illuminating expansion to the canon as far as wizarding history goes.
I do wonder about the timeline, though - I think Beedle the Bard must have 'lived' more than a thousand years ago, not in the fifteenth century as the introduction claims. Otherwise, wouldn't the stories have been written in English? The runes that Hermione studied are 'ancient'. Five centuries does not make something ancient. Of course, Rowling has had other problems with timelines, too, so it's not exactly surprising.
Overall, a fantastic purchase, and I'm definitely glad I got the collector's edition and not the standard one.