HANS CHRISTIAN ANDERSEN (1805-75) was born in Odense, Denmark, the son of a poor shoemaker. He published his first novel and his first fairy tales in 1835; thereafter he wrote over 150 more of these stories, which have become classics in many languages. A lonely man who never married, Andersen was also an anxious man; he loved travelling, but would carry a coil of rope with him in case of fire in his hotel. Although he originally addressed his fairy tales to children (and some would maintain he had a streak of childhood in his nature) he insisted they were 'for all ages', and the gentleness and humor that are their characteristics are recognized by everyone.