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