Joseph Jacobs

Joseph Jacobs (1854-1916) was an Australian-English folklorist, historian, and literary scholar who collected and popularized English and Celtic fairy tales. His 'English Fairy Tales' (1890) and 'More English Fairy Tales' (1894) preserved stories like 'Jack and the Beanstalk,' 'The Three Little Pigs,' and 'Goldilocks' that might otherwise have been lost. Unlike many Victorian folklorists who rewrote tales to be morally instructive, Jacobs aimed for authenticity and included violent or bawdy elements that reflected the tales' original character. He also compiled Jewish folklore and was a founding member of the English Folklore Society.