the focus of most of his work was on folklore. he first published a collection of slovak tales in "slovenské povesti" ("slovak tales") from 1858 to 1861 in 6 volumes, with a total of 64 stories. he followed this up with "prostonárodnie obyčaje, povery a hry slovenské" ("simple national slovak customs, superstitions, and plays") in 1880, just five years before his death. in that same year, he also started publishing a series of volumes at his own expense of a more complete and larger collection of slovak folktales, "prostonárodnie slovenské povesti" ("simple national slovak tales"). he would continue publishing more volumes of this work until 1883, bringing the total up to 90 stories in 8 volumes. as most of the folk and fairy tales were originally intended for an adult audience, dobšinský had to edit out much brutality, eroticism and juicy humor, thus making them suitable for children and simultaneously helping them to be more popular.