(How does this not have more replies?! We can't be the only two fairy tale geeks on this forum!)
Hans Andersen is my favorite author of fairy tales, too.
As far as compilations of the traditional fairy tales passed on through oral traditions go, though, my favorite folklorist is Thomas Keightley, probably because his stuff was the first I've read that was so scholarly and thorough. The compilation itself was obviously not for kids, even if the stories in the compilation might have been for kids--if that makes any sense. It was really how he preserved and examined his culture. W.B. Yeats was also really thorough about it, although he's best known for his poetry, and I must admit that the way he wrote out the compilations as if he were taking diction made it a difficult--if authentic-feeling--read.