Born: Odense, Denmark, 2 April 1805. Education: Educated at schools in Odense to age 14; alone in Copenhagen, 1819-22, and patronized by various benefactors: loosely associated with the singing and dancing schools at Royal Theatre, 1819-22; attended Slagelse Latin school, 1822-26, and Elsinore grammar school, 1826-27; tutored in Copenhagen by L.C. Muller, 1827-28; completed examen artium, 1828. Career: Freelance writer from 1828: royal grant for travel, 1833, 1834, and pension from Frederik VI, 1838; granted title of professor, 1851; privy councillor, 1874. Member: Knight of Red Eagle (Prussia), 1845; Order of the Dannebrog, 1846; Knight of the Northern Star (Sweden), 1848; Order of the White Falcon (Weimar), 1848. Died: 4 August 1875.
Publications
Collections
Samlede skrifter [Collected Writings]. 33 vols., 1853-79; 2nd edition,15 vols., 1876-80.
Romaner og rejseskildringer [Novels and Travel Notes], edited by H. Tops0e-Jensen. 7 vols., 1941-44. Fairy Tales, edited by Svend Larsen, translated by R.P. Keigwin. 4 vols., 1951-40.
Complete Fairy Tales and Stories, translated by Erik Haugaard. 1974. Samlede eventyr og historier [Collected Tales and Stories], edited by Erik Dal. 5 vols., 1975.
Fiction
Improvisatoren. 1835; as The Improvisatore; or, Life in Italy, translated by Mary Howitt, 1845.
Eventyr: Fortalt forb0rn [Fairy Tales for Children]. 6 vols., 1835-42; Nye Eventyr [New Fairy Tales], 4 vols., 1843-47; edited by Erik Dal and Erling Nielsen, 1963—; numerous subsequent translations. O.T. 1836; as O.T.; or, Life in Denmark, translated by Mary Howitt, with Only a Fiddler, 1845. Kun en Spillemand. 1837; as Only a Fiddler, translated by Mary Howitt, with O. T., 1845.
Billedbog uden billeder. 2 vols., 1838-40; as Picture Book Without Pictures, translated by Hanby Crump, 1856; as Tales the Moon Can Tell, translated by R.P. Keigwin, 1955.
Eventyr og historier [Tales and Stories]. 1839; Nye Eventyr og Historier, 6 vols., 1858-67; edited by Hans Brix and Anker Jensen, 5 vols., 1918-20. De to baronesser. 1848; as The Two Baronesses, translated by Charles Beckwith Lohmeyer, 1848.
A Poet’s Day Dreams (selected tales). 1853.
At vxre eller ikke vxre. 1857; as To Be, or Not to Be? translated by Mrs. Bushby, 1857.
Later Tales, translated by Caroline Peachey. 1869.
Lykke-Peer. 1870: as Lucky Peer, translated by Horace E. Scudder, 1871.
Verse
Digte [Poems]. 1830. Samlede digte [Collected Poems]. 1833.
Seven Poems, translated by R.P. Keigwin. 1955.
Udvalgte digte [Selected Poems]. 1975.
Brothers, Very Far Away: and Other Poems, translated by Paula Hostrup-Jessen, 1991.
Plays
Kjxrlighed paa Nicolai Taarn [Love on St. Nicholas Tower] (produced 1829). 1829.
Skibet, from a play by Scribe. 1831.
Bruden fra Lammermoor, music by Ivar Bredal, from the novel The Bride of Lammermoor by Scott (produced 1832). 1832.
Ravnen [The Raven], music by J.P.E. Hartmann, from a play by Gozzi (produced 1832). 1832.
Agnete og Havmanden [Agnete and the Merman], music by Nils V.Gade, from Andersen’s poem (produced 1833). 1834.
FestenpaaKenilworth [The Festival at Kenilworth], music by C.E.F. Weyse, from the novel Kenilworth by Scott (produced 1836).
Skilles og m0des [Parting and Meeting] (produced 1836). In Det Kongelige Theaters Repertoire, n.d. Den Usynlige paa Sprog0 [The Invisible Man on Sprog0] (produced 1839).
Mulatten [The Mulatto], from a story by Fanny Reybaud (produced 1840). 1840.
Mikkels Kjxrligheds historier i Paris [Mikkel's Parisian Love Stories] (produced 1840).
Maurerpigen [The Moorish Girl] (produced 1840), 1840.
En comedie i det gr0nne [Country Comedy], from a play by Dorvigny (produced 1840).
Fuglen ipxretrxet [The Bird in the Pear Tree] (produced 1842).
Kongen dr0mmer [Dreams of the King] (produced 1844), 1844.
Dronningen paa 16 aar [The 16-Year-Old Queen], from a play by Bayard. 1844.
Lykkens blomst [The Blossom of Happiness] (produced 1845). 1847.
Den nye barselstue [The New Maternity Ward] (produced 1845). 1850.
HerrRasmussen (produced 1846). Edited by E. Agerholm, 1913.
Liden Kirsten [Little Kirsten], music by J.P.E. Hartmann, from the story by Andersen (produced 1846). 1847.
Kunstens dannevirke [The Bulwark of Art] (produced 1848). 1848. En nat i Roskilde [A Night in Roskilde], from a play by C. Warin and C.E. Lefevre (produced 1848). 1850.
Brylluppet ved Como-S0en [The Wedding at Lake Como], music by Franz Glaser, from a novel by Manzoni (produced 1849). 1849.
Meer endperler og guld [More Than Pearls and Gold], from a play by Ferdinand Raimund (produced 1849). 1849.
Ole Luk0ie [Old Shuteye] (produced 1850). 1850.
Hyldemoer [Mother Elder] (produced 1851). 1851.
N0kken [The Nix], music by Franz Glaser (produced 1853). 1853.
Paa Langebro [On the Bridge] (produced 1864).
Han er ikke f0dt [He Is Not Well-Born] (produced 1864). 1864.
Da Spanierne var her [When the Spaniards Were Here] ( produced 1865). 1865.
Other
Ungdoms-fors0g [Youthful Attempts]. 1822.
Fodreise fra Holmens Canal til 0stpynten af Amager i 1828 og 1829 [A Walking Trip from Holmen's Canal to Amager]. 1829.
Skyggebilleder af en Reise til Harzen. 1831; as Rambles in the Romantic Regions of the Harz Mountains, translated by Charles Beckwith Lohmeyer, 1848.
En digters bazar. 1842; as A Poet’s Bazaar, translated by Charles Beckwith Lohmeyer, 1846; as A Visit to Germany, Italy and Malta, translated by Grace Thornton, 1987.
Das Marchen meines Lebens ohne Dichtung (in collected German edition). 1847; as The True Story of My Life, translated by Mary Howitt, 1847; as Mit eget eventyr uden digtning, edited by H. Tops0e-Jensen, 1942.
I Sverrig. 1851; as Pictures of Sweden, translated by Charles Beckwith Lohmeyer, 1851; as In Sweden, translated by K.R.K. MacKenzie, 1852.
Mit livs eventyr. 1855; revised editions, 1859, 1877; edited by H. Tops0e-Jensen, 1951; as The Story of My Life, translated by D. Spillan, 1871; as The Fairy Tale of My Life, translated by W. Glyn Jones, 1954; in part as The Mermaid Man, translated by Maurice Michael, 1955.
I Spanien. 1863; as In Spain, and A Visit to Portugal, translated by Mrs. Bushby, 1864; as A Visit to Spain, edited and translated by Grace Thornton. 1975.
Collected Writings. 10 vols., 1870-71.
Breve, edited by C.S.A. Bille and N. B0gh. 2 vols., 1878.
Briefwechsel mit dem Grossherzog Carl Alexander von Sachsen-Weimar-Eisenach, edited by Emil Jonas. 1887.
Correspondence with the Late Grand-Duke of Saxe-Weimar, Charles Dickens, etc., edited by Frederick Crawford. 1891.
Optegnelsesbog, edited by Julius Clausen. 1926.
Breve til Therese og Martin R. Henriques 1860-75 (correspondence), edited by H. Tops0e-Jensen. 1932.
Brevveksling med Edvard og Henriette Collin (correspondence), edited by H. Tops0e-Jensen. 6 vols., 1933-37.
Brevveksling med Jonas Collin den &ldre og andre Medlemmer af det Collinske Hus (correspondence), edited by H. Tops0e-Jensen. 3 vols., 1945-48.
Romerske Dagb0ger [Roman Diaries], edited by Paul V. Rubow and H. Tops0e-Jensen. 1947.
Brevveksling (correspondence), with Horace E. Scudder, edited by Jean Hersholt. 1948; as The Andersen-Scudder Letters, translated by Waldemar Westergaard, 1949.
Reise fra Kj0benhavn til Rhinen [Travels from Copenhagen to the Rhine], edited by H. Tops0e-Jensen. 1955.
Brevveksling (correspondence), with Henriette Wulff, edited by H. Tops0e-Jensen. 3 vols., 1959-60.
Breve til Mathias Weber (correspondence), edited by Arne Portman. 1961.
Levnedsbog 1805-1831 [The Book of Life], edited by H. Tops0e-Jensen. 1962.
Et bes0g i Portugal 1866, edited by Pout H0ybye. 1968; as A Visit to Portugal 1866, translated by Grace Thornton, 1972.
Skuggebilleder, edited by H. Tops0e-Jensen. 1968.
Breve til Carl B. Lorck (correspondence), edited by H. T0psoe-Jensen. 1969.
Dagb0ger 1825-75, edited by Kare Olsen and H. T0psoe-Jensen. 12 vols., 1971-76; as Diaries, edited and translated by Patricia Conroy and Sven H. Rossel, 1989.
Tegninger til Otto Zinck [Drawings for Otto Zinck], edited by Kjeld Heltoft. 2 vols., 1972.
Rom dagbogsnotater og tegninger [Diary and Drawings from Rome],edited by H. Tops0e-Jensen. 1980.
Album, edited by Kare Olsen and others. 3 vols., 1980.
Hans Christian Andersen on Copenhagen, edited by Johan de Mylius, 1997.
The Red Shoes, retold and illustrated by Barbara Bazilian, 1997.
The Ugly Duckling, adapted and illustrated by Jerry Pinkney, 1999.
The Little Match Girl, adapted and illustrated by Jerry Pinkney, 1999.
The Dinosaur’s New Clothes: A Retelling of the Hans Christian Andersen Tale by Diane Goode, 1999.
Critical Studies:
Hans Christian Andersen: His Life and Work edited by Svend Dahl and H. Tops0e-Jensen, 1955; Hans Christian Andersen: A Biography by Fredrick Book, 1962; Hans Christian Andersen and the Romantic Theatre by Frederick J. Marker, 1971; Hans Christian Andersen and His World by Reginald Spink, 1972; Hans Christian Andersen: The Story of His Life and Work, 1805-75 by Elias Bredsdorff, 1975; Hans Christian Andersen by Bo Gr0nbech, 1980; ”Andersen’s Love” by Peter Brask and Turid Sverre, in The Nordic Mind: Current Trends in Scandinavian Literary Criticism edited by Frank E. Andersen and John Weinstock, 1986; H.C. Andersen og Thalia by Hans Christian Andersen, 1992; Hans Christian Andersen: Danish Writer and Citizen of the World edited by Sven Hakon Rossel, 1996; Hans Christian Andersen: The Fan Dancer by Alison Prince, 1998; Hans Christian Andersen: The Life of a Storyteller by Jackie Wullschlager, 2000.
The fame of Hans Christian Andersen—H.C. Andersen to his fellow countrymen and Hans Andersen to countless readers outside Denmark—is founded on paradox. Although he was—and is—a very distinctly Danish author, he was anything but parochial. Well-read, well-informed about the cultural and scientific developments of his time, and well-travelled—some of Andersen’s travel-books still deserve attention, e.g., En digters bazar (A Poet’s Bazaar)—he made a name for himself both in his own country and internationally as a novelist during his own lifetime. And yet, as the physicist H.C. 0rsted told a sceptical Andersen, if his novels made him famous, his fairytales would make him immortal.
Andersen’s first love was the theatre, but in spite of his many works for the stage—of which Mulatten [The Mulatto] was the most significant—he was more at home in the free form of the novel than in the conventionally more disciplined forms of lyric and drama. His first novel, Improvisatoren (The Improvisatore), soon became popular abroad because of its perceptive descriptions of the colourful Italian life and landscapes. Like much of Andersen’s work, including the fairy-tales, it had its roots in his own experience, and aspects of his own childhood among the lower classes formed part of the next two novels, O.T. and Kun en Spillemand (Only a Fiddler). He described his life directly in his autobiography, Mit livs eventyr (The Fairy Tale of My Life).
If the novel had given him greater freedom, it was only in the shorter form of the fairy-tale, which did not demand control of long plots or complex characterization, that he found his true medium. Andersen’s first tales were published in 1835. That they gave him a reputation as a children’s writer is no coincidence: the earliest among his 156 tales were written for children, and until 1843 his published collections carried the subtitle ”Told for Children.” As he gained confidence and increasingly wrote original stories—in fact only a minority, e.g., ”Fyrt0jet” (”The Tinder Box”), 1835, derive from traditional folk-tales—he abandoned that subtitle and increasingly addressed himself to a grown-up audience. Stories like ”Historien om en Moder” (”Story of a Mother,” 1848) can be understood but not fully appreciated by children. Andersen’s great achievement was to develop the form of the folk-tale into original, mature art in a way which has not been surpassed, and he did so partly by creating a new literary language which was essentially that of spoken narration, free of abstractions, concrete and deceptively simple. His best tales reveal his keen sense of observation of human behaviour and his deep understanding of the major issues of human existence, told with humour and sympathy.
