The Leather Outlasts the Gilding: 200th Birthday of Hans Christian Andersen Celebrated with Storytelling, Music, and Exhibit of Original Art at the Donnell Library Center

Famed Storytellers Marilyn Iarusso, Laura Simms, and Diane Wolkstein Will Perform Selections from Andersen’s Work

New York, NY, March 16, 2005 -- Born in Odense, Denmark, on April 2, 1805, Hans Christian Andersen is remembered in his country as an author, novelist, playwright, and poet, but it is such fairy tales as “Emperor’s New Clothes,” “Little Ugly Duckling,” and “The Snow Queen,” that are his lasting contribution to world literature. On the occasion of his 200th birthday, The New York Public Library will celebrate the writer and his accomplishments with The Leather Outlasts the Gilding: A Celebration for the 200th Birthday of Hans Christian Andersen, which includes a series of special storytelling programs in several Library Branches and an exhibition of original book illustrations presented at the Donnell Library Center Central Children’s Room, located at 20 West 53rd Street, from March 31 to May 5.  Admission to the exhibition and programs is free. Seating at the storytelling events is first come, first served.

Fairy Tales of Hans Christian Andersen. Illustrated by Helen Stratton. Philadelphia, J.B. Lippincott, 1899.

Three of the best known names in formal storytelling are scheduled to perform at the Donnell Library Center and at additional Libraries throughout Manhattan, the Bronx and Staten Island. The Andersen Bicentennial features the return of Marilyn Berg Iarusso, NYPL’s Storytelling Specialist for 30 years and current Director of the New York Storytelling Center, Inc. There will also be an appearance by Laura Simms, Director of the Storytelling Residency for the past twenty years, and award-winning recording artist, essayist, author and teacher; and Diane Wolkstein, author of more than twenty award-winning books of folklore, including The Magic Orange Tree and Other Haitian Folktales and Inanna, Queen of Heaven and Earth (co-authored with Samuel Noak Kramer). Ms. Wolkstein is director of storytelling programs at the Statue of Hans Christian Andersen in Central Park in the summer. Original music, composed for the storytelling presentations by Ms. Wolkstein and Michael Braudy, a violinist whose performances of Indian classical music span three decades, will be performed by Mr. Braudy and local musician Emiliano Valerio.

A Rainbow Against Dark Clouds
An exhibit, entitled A Rainbow Against Dark Clouds: Books and Artifacts of Hans Christian Andersen from the Collections of the Central Children’s Room, will run from April 1 through May 9 and includes unique materials featuring finely illustrated editions of Andersen’s tales and samples of paper figures cut by Andersen himself.

Hans Christian Andersen
Part of the appeal of Hans Christian Andersen's tales lies in his ability to appeal to, and portray, human emotions in ordinary language. According to Andersen, “I wanted the style to be such that the reader felt the presence of the storyteller; therefore the spoken language had to be used. I wrote the stories for children, but older people ought to find them worth listening to.”

Andersen’s first collection of fairy tales, published in Tales Told for Children (1835), include classic stories such as “The Tinderbox,” “The Princess and the Pea,” and “Little Claus and Big Claus.” These, along with “The Little Mermaid,” “Thumbelina,” and others have gained Hans Christian Andersen enduring fame and delighted children throughout the world. Andersen went on to publish 168 fairy tales and stories before he died in 1875.


SCHEDULE OF PROGRAMS:

Manhattan

Thursday, March 31
Donnell Library Center - Central Children’s Room, 20 West 53rd Street
6:30 p.m. “Hans Christian Andersen Bicentennial.” Celebrate the 200th anniversary of the birth of the great Danish storyteller with some of his stories and a glimpse into his astonishing life. Marilyn Berg Iarusso will tell two of Andersen’s earliest and most popular children’s stories, “The Tinderbox” and “The Real Princess,” as well as “The Sweethearts,” one of his mischievous stories for adults.

Fairy Tales, by Hans Andersen. Illustrated by Arthur Rackham. London, George G. Harrap, 1932. Andersen pictured telling a story and cutting paper figures for it.

Saturday, April 2
Donnell Library Center - Central Children’s Room, 20 West 53rd Street
3:00 p.m. “Hans Clodhopper,” and other tales by Hans Christian Andersen. Presented by author, folklorist and famed storyteller Diane Wolkstein. Live musical accompaniment composed especially for this occasion by Ms. Wolkstein and Michael Braudy will be performed by Mr. Braudy and Emiliano Valerio. Recommended for families with children ages 6 and up.

Friday, April 15, Countee Cullen Branch, 104 West 136th Street
and
Tuesday, April 19, Fort Washington Branch, 535 West 179th Street
4:00 p.m. “Hans Christian Andersen Bicentennial.” Celebrate the 200th anniversary of the birth of the great Danish storyteller with some of his stories and a glimpse into his astonishing life. Marilyn Berg Iarusso will tell two of Andersen’s earliest and most popular children’s stories, “The Tinderbox” and “The Real Princess.”  

Thursday, April 28
Donnell Library Center - Central Children’s Room, 20 West 53rd Street
6:30 p.m. “The Goblin and the Grocer,” and other uncommon tales by Hans Christian Andersen. Presented by author, folklorist and famed storyteller Diane Wolkstein, with live musical accompaniment composed especially for this occasion by Ms. Wolkstein and Michael Braudy, and performed by Mr. Braudy and Emiliano Valerio.  

Thursday, May 5
Donnell Library Center - Central Children’s Room, 20 West 53rd Street
6:30 p.m. “The Pearl of Joy and Sorrow.” Tales by Hans Christian Andersen, including “The Nightingale,” “The Snow Queen,” and others, as well as insights into his life and achievements, all presented by internationally renowned storyteller Laura Simms.


Bronx Programs

Sunday, April 10
Fordham Library Center, 2556 Bainbridge Avenue
2:00 p.m. “Hans Christian Andersen Bicentennial.” Celebrate the 200th anniversary of the birth of the great Danish storyteller with some of his stories and a glimpse into his astonishing life. Marilyn Berg Iarusso will tell two of Andersen’s earliest and most popular children’s stories, “The Tinderbox” and “The Real Princess.”

Stories from Hans Andersen.  Illustrated by Edumund Dulac. New York, George H. Doran, 1923.

Tuesday, April 12
Francis Martin Branch, 2150 University Avenue
4:00 p.m. “Hans Christian Andersen Bicentennial.” Celebrate the 200th anniversary of the birth of the great Danish storyteller with some of his stories and a glimpse into his astonishing life. Marilyn Berg Iarusso will tell two of Andersen’s earliest and most popular children’s stories, “The Tinderbox” and “The Real Princess.”  

Wednesday, April 13
Van Cortlandt Branch, 3874 Sedgwick Avenue
3:00 p.m. “Hans Christian Andersen Bicentennial." Celebrate the 200th anniversary of the birth of the great Danish storyteller with some of his stories and a glimpse into his astonishing life. Marilyn Berg Iarusso will tell two of Andersen’s earliest and most popular children’s stories, “The Tinderbox” and “The Real Princess.”  


Staten Island

Wednesday, April 27
St. George Branch, 5 Central Avenue
4:00 p.m. “Hans Christian Andersen Bicentennial.” Celebrate the 200th anniversary of the birth of the great Danish storyteller with some of his stories and a glimpse into his astonishing life. Marilyn Berg Iarusso will tell two of Andersen’s earliest and most popular children’s stories, “The Tinderbox” and “The Real Princess.”

Programs sponsored by the Shapiro Estate and supported with funds from the Ezra Jack Keats Foundation and the Wallace Foundation.