Jacob Ludwig Carl Grimm (1785-1863) and Wilhelm Carl Grimm (1786-1859) were born near Frankfurt, Germany, and both became teachers at Gottingen University. They originally published their fairy tales as a scholarly examination of German folklore, but the stories were soon being read to children, and when they saw the first English translation in 1823, with its handsome woodblock illustrations, they created a selection of the most popular tales in an edition for young readers. Arthur Rackham (1867-1939) grew up outside London, and from a very young age loved to draw. He began to illustrate books in 1894. With the development of four-colour printing, it became possible to accurately reproduce Rackham's beautiful and haunting watercolours, and he quickly became one of the foremost artists of the Edwardian period. He illustrated more than fifty books in all, many of which were published in foreign editions that earned him international fame and recognition.