Joseph Jacobs (29 August 1854 - 30 January 1916) was an Australian folklorist, translator, literary critic, social scientist, historian and writer of English literature who became a notable collector and publisher of English folklore. Jacobs was born in Sydney to a Jewish family. His work went on to popularize some of the world’s best known versions of English fairy tales including Jack and the Beanstalk , Goldilocks and the three bears , The Three Little Pigs , Jack the Giant Killer and The History of Tom Thumb . He published his English fairy tale collections: English Fairy Tales in 1890 and More English Fairy Tales in 1893 but also went on after and in between both books to publish fairy tales collected from continental Europe as well as Jewish, Celtic and Indian fairytales.