Marie-Catherine Le Jumel de Barneville, Baroness d'Aulnoy, also known as Countess d'Aulnoy, was a French author known for her literary fairy tales. The term contes de fées has been attributed to her, but her work was called "contes DES fées" ; the term "contes DE fées" comes from Mme de Murat's first fairytale compilation: "Contes de fées", published in 1698.
Marie-Catherine d'Aulnoy
A fairy tale is a short story that belongs to the folklore genre. Such stories typically feature magic, enchantments, and mythical or fanciful beings. In most cultures, there is no clear line separating myth from folk or fairy tale; all these together form the literature of preliterate societies. Fairy tales may be distinguished from other folk narratives such as legends and explicit moral tales, including beast fables. Prevalent elements include dragons, dwarfs, elves, fairies, giants, gnomes, goblins, griffins, merfolk, monsters, talking animals, trolls, unicorns, witches, wizards, magic, and enchantments.
The European fairy tale Little Red Riding Hood and the Wolf in a painting by Carl Larsson in 1881.
Hop-o'-My-Thumb and the ogre in an 1865 illustration
A picture by Gustave Doré of Mother Goose reading written (literary) fairy tales
Ivan Bilibin (1876-1942)'s illustration of the Russian fairy tale about Vasilisa the Beautiful