"The paper on The Fantastic Imagination had its origin in the repeated request of readers for an explanation of things in certain shorter stories I had written. It forms the preface to an American edition of my so-called Fairy Tales." --Preface, A Dish of Orts (Sampson Low, 1893), p.vi (viewed at HathiTrust)
"This essay first appeared as the introduction to the American edition of The Light Princess, published by Puttnams[sic], New York, 1893. It was then included in A Dish of Orts, Sampson Low, Marston & Co. Edenbridge, Kent 1893. It contains the clearest outline of his views of fairy stories and fantasy." --Phantastes (Paternoster, 2008), edited by Nick Page, p. 275 (viewed as Amazon "Look inside")
In the 2015/2016 Oxford anthology, this essay begins under the two-line heading (in turn, under italic running header George MacDonald): GEORGE MACDONALD 'Fantastic Imagination' (1895) (p. 397, viewed as Amazon "Look Inside").
| Date | Publication | Publisher | Type | Page | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| November 1893 |
|
The Light Princess and Other Fairy Tales | G. P. Putnam's Sons | Collection | iii |
| 1973 | The Gifts of the Child Christ: Fairytales and Stories for the Childlike | Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co. | Collection | |1 | |
| February 1984 |
|
Fantasists on Fantasy | Discus / Avon | Nonfiction | 14 |
| September 1996 |
|
The Gifts of the Child Christ & Other Stories and Fairy Tales | Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co. | Collection | xxi |
| 1999 | The Complete Fairy Tales | Penguin Books (US) | Collection | 1 | |
| 1999 | The Complete Fairy Tales | Penguin Books (US) | Collection | 1 | |
| 2008 |
|
The Fantastic Imagination of George MacDonald, Volume I | Coachwhip Publications | Collection | 35 |
| December 2009 |
|
The Complete Fairy Tales | Digireads.com | Collection | |
| March 2015 |
|
Victorian Fairy Tales | Oxford University Press | Anthology | 397 |
| May 2016 |
|
Victorian Fairy Tales | Oxford University Press | Anthology | |
| March 2022 |
|
Journ-E: The Journal of Imaginative Literature, Vernal Equinox 2022 | Mind's Eye Publications | MAGAZINE | 138 |