World Tales
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| Author | Idries Shah |
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| Country | United Kingdom |
| Language | English |
| Publisher | Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, Octagon Press |
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Publication date
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December 25, 1979 |
| Media type | |
| Pages | 410 |
| ISBN | (paperback) |
| OCLC | 24743413 |
World Tales, subtitled "The Extraordinary Coincidence of Stories Told in All Times, in All Places" is a book of 65 folk tales collected by Idries Shah from around the world, mostly from literary sources. Some of the tales are very current, others are less well known.
Each story is preceded by a short introduction by the author, giving a brief history of the tale's literary mutations, or remarking on the strange similarities that versions exhibit across great geographical or historical distances. The collection has had a broad appeal. For instance Canadian poet P. K. Page cited it as the book she would give to a child, and author and storyteller Norah Dooley: "This is the book that turned my interest as an adult to folklore and inspired me to take up storytelling." and has become a widely used sourcebook of tales.
Whilst Shah mentions many of the ancient and modern interpretations that have been placed on the tales, along with some of the theories of cross-cultural transmission, he himself interprets them little, writing in the introduction:
The value that Shah put on folklore of this kind is clear, not only from the many volumes of tales that he published but also from books published by his children. The title alone of one of his daughter Saira Shah's books, The Storyteller's Daughter, gives some indication, while his son Tahir Shah's book In Arabian Nights, itself an exploration of the power of the folktale, recalls:
The book was first published in large format by Harcourt Brace Jovanovich with each tale illustrated. Originally Shah asked Ivan Tyrrell to find illustrations for the tales by the likes of Arthur Rackham, Kay Nielsen and Edmund Dulac. Tyrrell instead suggested commissioning new work, Shah agreed to this and the idea was put to, and approved by, the publisher, William Jovanovich. Thirty seven artists contributed. This edition is no longer in print; the Octagon Press edition is text only.
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