The Observer Translation Project

Twenty-five years younger than Hans Christian Andersen but participating in the same zeitgeist, Petre Ispirescu (1830-1887) was born in a working class section of Bucharest. Never having gone beyond the fourth grade and originally destined for the church, he became a printer, a publisher and a collector of folk tales. Some of Ispirescu’s published works with suggested English titles include:

1862 Ţăranul român / The Romanian Peasant, a journal

1872 Legende sau basmele românilor. Ghicitori şi proverburi  / Tales of the Romanians,    Riddles and Proverbs

 1877 Isprăvile şi viaţa lui Mihai Viteazul / The Life and Works of Mihai Viteazul

1873-1874  Snoave sau poveşti populare / Romanian Anecdotes and Tales. Second edition, 1897.

1879 Din  poveştile unchiaşului sfătos  / Uncle Wisdom’s Tales from the Romanians

1880 Pilde sau ghicitori / Riddles or Parables.

1883 Basme, snoave şi glume / A Child’s Book of Fairy Tales, Stories and Jests

1885 Jucării şi jocuri de copii / Children's Toys and Games

1886 Poveşti morale / Moral Tales