Jacob Ludwig Carl Grimm (known as Karl) of the Grimm Brothers was born on this day, 4 January, 1785 (d: 20 September, 1863) . The brothers are famous to this day and their name is practically synonymous with folk tales and fairytales.
1 ) Jacob Grimm was the older of the two brothers.
2 ) Jacob is credited with establishing Grimm’s Law – a linguistic rule which ties in earl Germanic stops with other European languages. The law is the first non-trivial systematic sound change to be discovered in the study of languages.
3 ) Jacob was known for his thirst for knowledge. After his law studies, Jacob moved to Paris for help with his literary work. Jacob was very happy in Paris and spent much of his time in libraries studying literatures of the Middle Ages. Returning home he got a jobwith the war office, but in 1808, after his mother’s death, Jacob was appointed superintendent of the private library of Jérôme Bonaparte, King of Westphalia
4 ) The Grimm Brothers collected folk lyrics and published the collection as Children’s and Household Tales, later known as Grimm’s Fairy Tales.
5 ) Grimm’s Fairy Tales was published over a decade between 1812 and 1822 in several volumes.
6 ) The focus of the brothers was to reproduce oral tales as faithfully as they could, taking into consideration the techniques storytellers used.
7 ) Jacob’s work was influenced by his ideals on Germany and its culture, tieing his work with fairy tales and his philological work dealt with German origins.
8 ) Jacob Grimm continued was described as a “small and lively in figure, with a harsh voice, speaking a broad Hessian dialect”. He was also known to have a powerful memory and could speak extensively while only referring to a few notes with names and dates.
9 ) King Frederick William IV of Prussia personally bestowed upon the brothers a membership of the Royal Academy of Science in 1840.
10) The brothers started work on a huge dictionary. Wilhelm died in 1859, the brother’s dictionary was on the letter “D”. Four years later, when Jacob died he was on the letter “F”.
Zohar – Man of la Book
2 Comments
I am a huge collector of folk lore and fairy tales. I have the complete works of Grimm and collect as many well-illustrated versions as possible although I haven’t been able to hunt down the book I had as a child. I read these stories over and over to my own son.
I would like to read more about these brothers and their stories. I need to find a good biography on the Grimms.
That’s great Sharon, I’m trying to get my kids into fairytales as well