Nathaniel Hawthorne (1804-1864) rewrote six famous classic Greek myths for this book, first published in 1853. It followed by a year his equally famous A Wonder-Book for Girls and Boys. These two books were among his last works and were aimed specifically at a younger audience. The stories in this edition include:

• The Minotaur
• The Pygmies
• The Dragon’s Teeth
• Circe’s Palace
• The Pomegranate Seeds
• The Golden Fleece

Sterrett (1900-1931) died tragically young from tuberculosis. During her short career she illustrated this book as well as works such as “Old French Fairy Tales” by Comtesse de Segur, and “Arabian Nights.” Some of these other illustrations (which may not be in the public domain) can be found off this site HERE.

Many volumes of the book are digitized on line with the full text available. This edition is available at Archive.org and Google Books also has some texts digitized. There are also sites with Sterrett’s images available, although often for a fee. I have made reproductions available for sale HERE, although you may download them for no cost in the gallery by using the link below.

As always, the images are free to download in a range of high resolution sizes.

Title: Tanglewood Tales
Author: Nathaniel Hawthorne
Artist: Virginia Frances Sterrett
Publisher: The Penn Publishing Company
Date Published: 1921

Antaus and the Pygmies

Ariadne and Theseus

Cadmus and the Dragon

Europa and the Bull

Harmonia

Jason and Medea

Medea and the Snakes

Proserpina and the Sea Nymphs

Proserpina in Pluto’s Palace

Proserpina in Pluto's Palace

The Golden Fleece

Ulysses in Circe's Palace