The Water-Babies

Name: The Water-Babies
Author: Charles Kingsley

A Critical Edition of the 1863 Novel

The Water-BabiesDedication

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English Edition · Branch 12 of 111

Dedication

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The Water-Babies

p. 12

Dedication

To my youngest son Grenville Arthur and to all other good little boysCome read me my riddle, each good little man; if you cannot read it, no grown-up folk can.

1.Source editor’s annotationGrenville Arthur Kingsley (born 1858), the youngest of Kingsley’s four children. Kingsley’s wife recalled that the book began one spring morning in 1862, when she reminded him at breakfast that “Rose, Maurice, and Mary have got their book, and baby must have his.” He went to his study and came back half an hour later with the story of little Tom. The elder children’s book was The Heroes (1856), Kingsley’s retelling of Greek myths, which is dedicated to them. The “little man” whom the narrator keeps addressing is Grenville, and every child reader with him.

2.Source editor’s annotationRead in its old sense of solve or interpret, as one reads a riddle or a dream. The couplet warns that the fairy tale carries a hidden meaning, and claims that a child is better placed than an adult to find it, as in Matthew 11:25, where things hidden “from the wise and prudent” are revealed “unto babes”.

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.