Hans Christian Andersen was born in Odense in 1805. At the age of 14 he decided to seek his fortune at The Royal Theatre in Copenhagen. For a period of three years, Andersen was attached to The Royal Theatre without any fixed salary after which he received help to complete a grammar school education. Having completed the education in 1829, the young graduated began to indulge in poet work on full time.

Here you can see the collections which among other things include drawings by Hans Christian Andersen and numerous books with the author's handwritten inscriptions.

In the poet's lifetime 156 "fairy tales and stories" were published. But if other texts of his in the nature of fairy tales and those which were printed only after his death are included, it makes a total of 212.

'Sympathetic insight and compassion are key words when it comes to the two Nordic writers. The urge to enrich children and make their lives happier has clearly been a strong motivating force for the literature of Astrid Lindgren as well as of H.C. Andersen.' (Excerpt from the article)