Diotimos Library · Fairy Tales Collection · English Edition
The Water-Babies
A Critical Edition of the 1863 Novel
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English Edition · Branch 110 of 111
Sources · Part 1
The Water-Babies
p. 110Sources
The text and its editions. Standard Ebooks, The Water-Babies; Standard Ebooks, The Water-Babies: source repository and commit history; Standard Ebooks, Producing an Ebook, Step by Step; Project Gutenberg, The Water-Babies (1922 Goble printing), no. 25564; Project Gutenberg, The Water-Babies (1889 Sambourne edition), no. 1018; Charles Kingsley, The Water-Babies (London: Macmillan, 1922), Internet Archive; Charles Kingsley, The Water-Babies (London and Cambridge: Macmillan, 1863), Internet Archive; Charles Kingsley, The Water-Babies (London: Macmillan, 1864), Internet Archive; Charles Kingsley, The Water-Babies (Boston: Burnham, 1864), Internet Archive; Charles Kingsley, The Water-Babies (London: Macmillan, 1885), Internet Archive; Macmillan’s Magazine, vol. 6 (1862); Macmillan’s Magazine, vol. 7 (1862-63); Newcastle University, Alderson collection, Charles Kingsley (1819-1875): His Books for the Young (2009); Richard Kelly (ed.), The Water-Babies (Broadview); Richard D. Beards (ed.), The Water-Babies (Penguin Classics); Whitmore Rare Books, The Water-Babies, first edition; Rooke Books, The Water-Babies, first edition with the L’Envoi; Victorian Research Web, At the Circulating Library: The Water-Babies.
Kingsley’s life and letters. Frances Kingsley (ed.), Charles Kingsley: His Letters and Memories of His Life, vol. II; Britannica, Charles Kingsley; Westminster Abbey, Charles Kingsley; St Mary’s Church, Eversley, History; Cambridge University Library, ArchiveSearch, Charles Kingsley; The Victorian Web, Charles Kingsley: A Chronology; Orlando, Charles Kingsley; Darwin Correspondence Project, Darwin and Design; Darwin Correspondence Project, Rewriting Origin: The Later Editions; Gordon Chancellor, Introduction to the Second Edition of the Origin; Charles Kingsley, Glaucus; or, The Wonders of the Shore; Charles Kingsley, The Heroes; Charles Kingsley, Sermons for the Times; Charles Kingsley, The Water of Life and Other Sermons; Charles Kingsley, All Saints’ Day and Other Sermons; Charles Kingsley, Literary and General Lectures and Essays; Charles Kingsley, Historical Lectures and Essays; Charles Kingsley, Health and Education; Charles Kingsley, Madam How and Lady Why: “The Glen”; John Henry Newman, Apologia pro Vita Sua; Historic England, Tarn House, list entry 1316812; National Trust, Tarn House; Wellington College, The Kingsleys.
Reviews and criticism. Anonymous, “Mr. Kingsley’s Water-Babies”, The Spectator, 23 May 1863; Anonymous, “Kingsley’s Water Babies”, The Anthropological Review, November 1863; T. H. Huxley, Letter to Julian Huxley, 24 March 1892; T. H. Huxley, Letters of 1863; Robert Nye, “Tell Me a Story”, The Spectator, 22 December 1973; Patricia Craig, “Exasperating Classics”, London Review of Books, 23 May 1985; Humphrey Carpenter, Secret Gardens: excerpt on Kenneth Grahame; Penelope Lively, “Arcadia and Anarchy”, Literary Review, August 1985; Colin Manlove, “Charles Kingsley: The Water-Babies”, in Christian Fantasy; Juli McLoone, Fairy Tale Fridays: The Water-Babies (quoting Goldthwaite and Stevenson); Rita Smith, Charles Kingsley, Recess!, 2001; Jessica Straley, Evolution and Imagination in Victorian Children’s Literature: Introduction; Denis Donoghue, “The Water-Babies: A Fairy Tale for a Land-Baby, by Charles Kingsley”, The Irish Times, 4 May 2013; Robert Douglas-Fairhurst, OUPblog, June 2013; Margaret Drabble, “Charles Kingsley, The Water-Babies”, Slightly Foxed, 2020; Catherine Judd, “Charles Kingsley’s The Water-Babies: Industrial England, the Irish Famine, and the American Civil War”, Victorian Literature and Culture, 2017 (also quoting Klaver); Andrea Immel, “Quotable Quotes from Kingsley’s Water-Babies”, Cotsen Children’s Library blog, 2015; Valentine Cunningham, “Soiled Fairy: The Water-Babies in its Time”, Essays in Criticism, 1985; The Victorian Web, The Water-Babies (Prickett and the letter to Maurice); Anonymous, “Charles Kingsley”, The Spectator, 30 January 1875; Anonymous, “Children’s Books”, The Spectator, 10 November 1961; Wikipedia, The Water-Babies (adaptations); Wikipedia, The Water Babies (1978 film).
Socrates
Reading The Water-Babies · Sources · Sources · Part 1
Ask about a concept, passage, contradiction, or connection.
Socrates will begin with this book and its sources.About This Reading Edition
Charles Kingsley’s fairy tale follows Tom, a mistreated chimney-sweep, into a new life in river and sea. The complete story combines adventure, natural history, moral education, and Victorian satire. This annotated English edition includes the dedication, all eight chapters, the Moral, an introduction and reading guide, 348 explanatory notes, and the full commentary and textual apparatus.
Historical Text
The story first appeared in Macmillan’s Magazine in 1862–63 and as a Macmillan book in 1863. This edition follows Standard Ebooks’ transcription of the 1922 printing, with six readings restored from the first edition. The Note on the Text explains its spelling, punctuation, and corrections. Chapters, poems, songs, and indented catalogues retain their supplied arrangement; page numbers belong to the Diotimos reader.
About This Edition
Diotimos Editions prepared the introduction, reading guide, key words, character descriptions, notes, and commentary for this English edition. The explanatory notes accompany the passages they illuminate. Later sections include an Afterword, a chapter outline, critical reception, further reading, and textual and source notes. The complete supplied text is preserved, with reader branches ending at paragraph boundaries and the original chapter sequence intact.
Rights
Charles Kingsley’s historical text is in the public domain. The introduction, notes, and apparatus are © 2026 Diotimos Editions. Standard Ebooks supplies the copy-text transcription under CC0, and the linked historical printings identify its witnesses. The six restored readings and other editorial decisions are documented in the Note on the Text and Textual Notes. This edition is published with the site owner’s authorization.