Joseph Jacobs

Joseph Jacobs was born in Sydney (Australia) to a Jewish family (29 August 1854 – 30 January 1916). He was the sixth surviving son of John Jacobs, who had emigrated from London in around 1837, and his wife Sarah. Jacobs was educated at Sydney Grammar School and at the University of Sydney, to which he won a scholarship for classics, mathematics and chemistry. He did not complete his studies in Sydney, but left for Britain at the age of 18.
Jacobs was a folklorist, translator, literary critic, social scientist, historian and writer of English literature who became a notable collector and publisher of English folklore.
His work went on to popularise some of the world's best known versions of English fairy tales including "Jack and the Beanstalk", "Goldilocks and the Three Bears", "The Three Little Pigs", "Jack the Giant Killer" and "The History of Tom Thumb".
He published his first English fairy tale collections in 1890, followed by fairy tales collecions from continental Europe as well as Jewish, Celtic and Indian fairytales, which made him one of the most popular writers of fairytales for the English language.
Jacobs was also an editor for journals and books on the subject of folklore which included editing the Fables of Bidpai and the Fables of Aesop, as well as articles on the migration of Jewish folklore. He also edited editions of The Thousand and One Nights. He went on to join The Folklore Society in England and became an editor of the society journal Folklore.
During his lifetime, Jacobs came to be regarded as one of the foremost experts on English folklore.

Joseph Jacobs, nato a Sydney (24 agosto 1854 – 30 gennaio 1916) è stato un folclorista australiano, traduttore, critico letterario, sociologo, storico e scrittore di letteratura inglese che divenne un insigne ricercatore ed editore di folclore inglese, giacché si opponeva al monopolio delle fiabe tedesche e francesi per i bambini inglesi.
Il suo lavoro ha contribuito a diffondere alcune delle versioni più famose al mondo delle fiabe inglesi, tra cui "Jack e la pianta di fagioli", "La storia dei tre orsi", "I tre porcellini", "L'Ammazzagiganti" e "Pollicino". Pubblicò la sua prima raccolta di fiabe inglesi nel 1890, cui seguirono raccolte di fiabe dell'Europa continentale, ebraiche, celtiche e indiane, circostanza che lo rese uno degli autori di fiabe più popolari della lingua inglese.
Jacobs curò inoltre delle riviste e alcuni libri sul tema del folclore, tra cui le Favole di Bidpai e le Favole di Esopo, compresi articoli sul folclore ebraico. Curò alcune versioni di "Le mille e una notte". Entrò a far parte della "The Folklore Society" della Gran Bretagna e contribuì alla rivista della società "Folklore".
Durante la sua vita, Jacobs finì per essere considerato uno dei massimi esperti di folklore inglese.

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