This is the first published version of Beauty and the Beast, written by the French author Gabrielle-Suzanne Barbot de Villeneuve in the mid-18th century and translated by James Robinson Planche. It is a novel-length story intended for adult readers, addressing the issues of the marriage system of the day in which women had no right to choose their husband or to refuse to marry. There is also a wealth of rich back story as to how the Prince became cursed and revelations about Beauty's parentage, which fail to appear in subsequent versions of the now classic fairy tale.

This is the first published version of Beauty and the Beast, written by the French author Gabrielle-Suzanne Barbot de Villeneuve in the mid-18th century and translated by James Robinson Planche. It is a novel-length story intended for adult readers, addressing the issues of the marriage system of the day in which women had no right to choose their husband or to refuse to marry. There is also a wealth of rich back story as to how the Prince became cursed and revelations about Beauty's parentage, which fail to appear in subsequent versions of the now classic fairy tale.

Beauty and the Beast is a magical tale of love, understanding, and triumph. Late one night a merchant becomes lost in the woods and stumbles upon a seemingly deserted castle. Hungry and tired, he enters the castle and finds a feast laid out on a grand table. Finding no one else in the castle, he eats the food himself. In the morning as he leaves he finds a beautiful rose bush in the garden and picks a single flower for his daughter Belle. Suddenly a beast appears and tells him he must die for abusing his hospitality. The merchant explains that he only picked the rose for his daughter. The Beast makes a deal with him that he can take the rose and other riches back to his daughter but only if he agrees to return and does not tell his daughter of the deal. The merchant agrees and makes his way home. He is unable to keep this terrible secret from Belle and when she finds out she returns to the Castle in his place. This is a wonderfully enchanting story, from the opening Once Upon a Time until the final Happily Ever After. A story your children will cherish for years.

Due to the very old age and scarcity of this book, many of the pages may be hard to read due to the blurring of the original text, possible missing pages, missing text and other issues beyond our control.

This is a reproduction of a book published before 1923. This book may have occasional imperfections such as missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. that were either part of the original artifact, or were introduced by the scanning process. We believe this work is culturally important, and despite the imperfections, have elected to bring it back into print as part of our continuing commitment to the preservation of printed works worldwide. We appreciate your understanding of the imperfections in the preservation process, and hope you enjoy this valuable book.

This is a reproduction of a book published before 1923. This book may have occasional imperfections such as missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. that were either part of the original artifact, or were introduced by the scanning process. We believe this work is culturally important, and despite the imperfections, have elected to bring it back into print as part of our continuing commitment to the preservation of printed works worldwide. We appreciate your understanding of the imperfections in the preservation process, and hope you enjoy this valuable book.

This is a reproduction of a book published before 1923. This book may have occasional imperfections such as missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. that were either part of the original artifact, or were introduced by the scanning process. We believe this work is culturally important, and despite the imperfections, have elected to bring it back into print as part of our continuing commitment to the preservation of printed works worldwide. We appreciate your understanding of the imperfections in the preservation process, and hope you enjoy this valuable book.

Due to the very old age and scarcity of this book, many of the pages may be hard to read due to the blurring of the original text, possible missing pages, missing text and other issues beyond our control.

This Book Is In French. Due to the very old age and scarcity of this book, many of the pages may be hard to read due to the blurring of the original text.

This Book Is In French. Due to the very old age and scarcity of this book, many of the pages may be hard to read due to the blurring of the original text.