This time help came in the form of Jonas Collin, the governor of the Royal Theatre. Collin secured Anderson a grant to study at a state grammar school; but Anderson hated it there. At the age of 17, he was put into a class of 12-year olds; he was bullied and ridiculed, and had finally to go to a private tutor. He passed the university matriculation exams at the age of 23. He now openly chose writing as his career.

The entire Collin family became his lifelong friends. Jonas' son, Edvard, eventually took charge of publishing Andersen's work.

Though Anderson never married, he fell in love several times during the course of his long life. He modelled many of the characters in his fairytales on the women he had loved.

His first novel The Improvisatore was published in 1835. It was quickly translated into German, and made his reputation.

He published his Eventyr Fortalte for Born or Tales Told for Children - later in the same year. This, a small, cheap booklet containing four small tales, was in complete contrast to his novel. The word 'eventyr' is generally translated as 'fairytale' but is in fact related to 'adventure' and has the sense of a short fantastic story for any age of reader. Three of the stories in this collection were based on folktales: The Tinderbox, Big Claus and Little Claus, and The Princess on the Pea. The fourth, Little Ida's Flowers, was Anderson's own.

Hans Christian Andersen cont'd... 
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