2008 The New Yorker Cover for Sept. 22, 2008: “The Race Is On” by Barry Blitt. Gift of Jeanette Hilton, found as Creighton weeded its library materials.
Do I understand the cartoon correctly, that racing slow and steady means taking the subway, while hailing a cab is the hare’s way? And will the hare sleep in the cab? Or will a cab never come?
1950? Colored cartoon card of MM. No editor or publisher acknowledged. $5 from Bertrand Cocq, Calonne-Ricouart, France, Sept., ’20.
Here is an unusual representation of MM! Perrette seems, as she steps on a banana peel, to be completely out of whack! Even her tongue is sticking out of her mouth. For a copy that landed elsewhere in the collection, see "Cartoon-Like Prizes." Here in any case is a very creative presentation of the fable! The verso has the fable text and nothing else.
1900? Button “Screech Owl and Mice.” Jean de La Fontaine. 1”. $21.25 from OneWomanRepurposed, Portu, Portugal, through Etsy, August, ’18.
The busyness of life has kept me from cataloguing this button for three years. I believe it is a rare catch! The button authentically portrays the special “trick” of this screech-owl, removing the legs of the mice he cultivated. La Fontaine seems to have admired this example of intelligence in an animal. Who wants to carry around an allusion like this on his or her buttons?
2022? Print 12" x 7.5" Total Size: 14" x 9.5" of "The Man and his Sweethearts." for $29.88 each from FineArtAmerica through Etsy. Archival Matte Paper. Nov., '24.
A larger version of the print.
1890? 1 brass button depicting Doré's illustration of "The Little Fish and the Fisherman," 3/4" in diameter. $6 from Cindy Fortier, Tacoma, WA, through Ebay, April, '99.
Identical with the Goldbarg button described above, except that this lacks the silvered finish. Like the Goldbarg button, it is sketchier in design than the Larner button of the same size; and of course it lacks the silvered finish.
1890? 1 button depicting Doré's illustration of "The Little Fish and the Fisherman," 3/4" in diameter. Gift of Robin Larner, Rochester, NY, May, '99.
This is a one piece pressed brass button with a silvered finish and a loop shank. At first it appears to be identical with the Goldbarg button of the same dimensions, but it includes so much more detail that I think it might have been produced independently.
1890? 1 button depicting Doré's illustration of "The Little Fish and the Fisherman," 3/4" in diameter. $12 from Joni Goldbarg through Ebay, April, '99.
This is a pressed, one-piece silvered brass button in fair to good condition. Like the larger Wiedeman exemplar of the same scene but less distinct, this button adapts Doré's illustration of La Fontaine's V 3 ("Le petit Poisson et le Pêcheur") well to the circular form. In fact, even the backs of the two buttons are remarkably similar.
1890? One one-piece pressed brass button with a silvered finish depicting Doré's illustration of "The Little Fish and the Fisherman," 1 1/8" in diameter. $27 from Onie Wiedeman, Minot, ND, through Ebay, March, '99.
This is a pressed, one-piece silvered brass button in excellent condition. The illustration adapts Doré's illustration of La Fontaine's V 3 ("Le petit Poisson et le Pêcheur") well to the circular form, changing some things around the man, who is clearly in the posture and attitude that Doré had given him. BBB Plate 153 #12. I continue to be amazed at what people have made out of fables!
1900? Paper puzzle woven from strips of paper. “The Little Fish and the Angler. F.N. Paris. $30 from Bertrand Cocq, Calonne Ricouart, France, Sept., '20.
This individual tissage is particularly well done, and it comes to the collection thoroughly intact.
