In 1812 Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm published Children’s and Household Tales in the German region of Westphalia and its influence slowly spread all over the world. The Grimms’ book, which they updated in their lifetime, is the second bestselling book in the German language after the Bible.

While many in Britain will have first experienced the tales in Ladybird Books, others will have seen some of the Walt Disney films that brought the stories into the televisual era of the 20th century.

The Brothers Grimm harvested their tales from friends and old books. Many of the tales date back thousands of years and have variations in other languages and cultures. The Grimms later published collections of Irish and Scandinavian folk tales.

via The Observer.