Vasilisa the Beautiful and Baba Yaga

The famous Russian fairy tale about a brave girl sent by her jealous stepsisters to fetch fire from frightful witch Baba Yaga was recorded by the renowned folklorist Alexander Nikolayevich Afanasyev (1826–1871), who collected and published more than 600 Russian folk tales in the middle 19th century. The illustrations included in this edition were created in the early 20th century by Ivan Yakovlevich Bilibin, a famous Russian illustrator and stage designer, who was inspired by Slavic folklore throughout his career. He was a prominent figure in the artistic movement Mir Iskusstva and contributed to the Ballets Russes.