Adrienne Ségur: A Reminiscence

I was nine when my beloved Aunt Dolly brought me The Fairy Tale Book. Before that, I had two other fairy tale books that had been my mother's when she was growing up in the 1920's. They were, like the Ponsot translations, fairly free of bowdlerization and much darker and more complex than what had been read to me before I could read for myself. But those were big, thick books, with only one color plate each. The Fairy Tale Book transfixed me. Ségur's illustrations were filled with a richness that equaled, and sometimes even surpassed, the gorgeous imagery of the old stories: heroines with long, flowing hair and faces that held traces of childhood innocence; elaborate gowns and even simple peasant dresses that were somehow all stunningly beautiful; and gemstones that appeared on dresses and boxes and the hilts of swords and, most unforgettably, surrounding a stag named Silvershod.

Her animals, too, were extraordinary. Deer, cats, falcons, geese, and dogs with great saucer eyes, they were all imbued with nobility and grace. It's hard to imagine anyone looking at those illustrations and not loving animals.

Her pencil drawings were reproduced in silvery amethyst tones, as if the scenes were washed in moonlight. These illustrations were subtler, softer, and had a depth that made them even more accessible. It was easier to imagine myself in the world of the drawings; they seemed one step more real or perhaps more intimate, a gateway to the jewel-toned world of the paintings. I now think it was the Ségur book that first made me understand what it is to be enchanted. It cast a spell that has never been broken. I still turn to fairy tales, folklore, and myths to feed my soul. And I write stories to recreate a bit of the magic and beauty that Adrienne Ségur gave us all.