The central idea of this excerpt is that the tales in the first edition of the Grimm Brothers' collection were collected from literate people, not peasants, and these stories reflected the real living conditions of their times.
The excerpt explains that the first edition tales were not collected directly from peasants, as is commonly believed, but mainly from literate individuals whom the Grimms had established relationships with. These literate contributors often obtained the tales from illiterate or anonymous informants. The Grimms trusted and valued the contributions of these informants, even if they did not personally know them.
Furthermore, the excerpt highlights that the stories in the first edition carried a certain humanity, known as "Menschlichkeit" in German. They contained truths about the living conditions of the times in which they were told. The mutual trust between the Grimms and the contributors is emphasized as something special, and it contributed to the golden age of folk and fairy tales in the 19th century.
In summary, the central idea of this excerpt is that the Grimm Brothers collected stories about real living conditions from literate people they trusted, which contributed to the unique and valuable nature of the tales in the first edition of their collection.
~ Lady Brain