<P> Beauty and the Beast ( French : La Belle et la Bête ) is a traditional fairy tale written by French novelist Gabrielle - Suzanne Barbot de Villeneuve and published in 1740 in La Jeune Américaine et les contes marins ( The Young American and Marine Tales ) . Her lengthy version was abridged , rewritten , and published first by Jeanne - Marie Leprince de Beaumont in 1756 in Magasin des enfants ( Children 's Collection ) and by Andrew Lang in the Blue Fairy Book of his Fairy Book series in 1889 , to produce the version ( s ) most commonly retold . It was influenced by some earlier stories , such as `` Cupid and Psyche '' , written by Lucius Apuleius Madaurensi in The Golden Ass in the 2nd century AD , and `` The Pig King '' . an Italian fairytale published by Giovanni Francesco Straparola in The Facetious Nights of Straparola . </P>
who is beauty and the beast written by
Gabrielle - Suzanne Barbot de Villeneuve