1935? Shredded Wheat Picture Story Album. Twelve 3" x 7" cards of familiar rhymes, stories, and foreign places, several colored in. $.25 at the Omaha Antique Center, Winter, '89. Included is TH. Also, though without fables, an incomplete set of Tony Sarg's Animal Circus.
2016 Sheet of Japan Scott's 4064a-j, featuring the work of Mitsumasa Anno, including "Anno's Aesop." $6 from The Plastic Card Collector, Wakefield, MA, through Ebay, March, '23.
Now, this is fascinating! I would never have expected a stamp commemorating a fable book, and especially not from Japan. What a surprise! The book was, of course, published first in Japan in 1987 and then in the USA in English in 1989. This acquisition marks the 29th country to have contributed fable-themed stamps to our collection!
2023? Shapeshifter wooden and paper tiles of "Baby's Own Aesop." 12 pieces. About 1¾" square. $10.43 from ShapeShifterUK, London, through Etsy, April, '23.
Now here is something different. Paper facsimiles of Walter Crane's illustrations in "Baby's Own Aesop" are glued onto original wooden backings 45 mm square. Well done! We show them here in threes.
2008? Shadow Theater: Fables. For stories from Aesop, La Fontaine and other animal tales. Budapest, Hungary: Manufaktor Studio. $19 from the manufacturer through Etsy, June, '20.
This is a very creative and engaging set of materials. The materials, which take some shaping and assembling, include a stage with a translucent backdrop, for a shadow show, a number of characters, about a dozen stiff cardboard characters and props to cut out and attach to a set of thin straws. There are scripts in six different languages for GA; FC; "The Wolf and the Fox"; FS, FG, and UP. So clever and so well made!
1900? 2 cards from a larger French set depicting shadows created by hands in front of a screen or wall. The two images here are of "Tortue" and "Aigle." $3 apiece at Foster City, Feb., '97.
The image beneath the shadow in each case is a fable image. In the former, we sit near the finish line and see the tortoise cross in front of the hare. In the latter, we see the eagle sustain the stolen lamb in mid air. No text and blank back.
1965? "Set of 56 Fables of Aesop on Individual Cards" A Superb Collection of Favorite Fables by Aesop, Magnificently Illustrated." Illustrations from Percy Billinghurst, not acknowledged. No. 1880S. Printed in Hong Kong. Shackman, NY 10001. Four sets in varying condition, one with a box without a label, another in a box missing one side. $25.07 from JoAnn Jeffreys, Overland, MO, through Ebay, July, '00. $15 from Frank Scott, Elizabeth City, NC, through Ebay, August, '00. $9.95 from Dorothy Buhrman, Cambria, CA, through Ebay, Feb., '01. $20 from Lee Shepherd, Lake Mary, FL, through Ebay, March, '01.
These sets all look much older than the 1960's, but there is a card with each deck providing Aesop's history and a sense of the fables. It includes at its bottom the ZIP code I have included above, and that gives us a terminus post quem. I almost believe that Shackman had someone "antique" the boxes by throwing them around and roughing them up! Some of the narrower Billinghurst designs have an added symbol or ornament outside the picture, like DS at the right. At first, I thought that these cards constituted a game to play, but I see no hint of that within the package. Now that I have at last had a chance to catalogue these cards and learned that the sets are all the same, I can stop buying them!
1960? Severin Original Wooden Box Purse Presenting TH. 6.5" x 3.75" x 3.75". Signed "Severin" on the inside cover. Unknown source.
Here is one of the more unusual objects in the collection. I learned what it is only by going online and seeing another instance for sale, with a price of $150 discounted to $75. I had wondered whether it might be a lunchbox. The four sides track the race from the starter's line to the finish, where the hare is sleeping five feet from the finish! The pictures seem to be carefully applied decals. The artist signs the last image "Carl." I wondered if the images themselves might be found on the web, but there I had no luck. I ask myself what the occasion might be for carrying a TH purse.
17 further pieces of earthenware from the same set for €129.90 from La Lanterne Rouge through Ebay, March, '25.
How nice to find more of the set 25 years later! And now, of course, I wonder how big the complete set might be. A quick Google search came up empty-handed.
1925? Seven Original Gouaches on La Fontaine's "Lion and Mouse" 12.5" x 9.75". Meant originally apparently for a book project. €250 from Sebastian Bailly, Paris, Jan., '25.
The "ci Bienfait" illustration is a second attempt pasted over the original. Might it be that #3 of 8 was planned but was either never done or became separated from these lovely depictions? Sebastian Bailly could give no further information on the source of these. His estimate was that they were created in the 1920's or 1930's.
1963 Seven “Fabeln” by Erwin Poell, Mannheim. Texts from “Antike Fabeln” by Wolfgang Mader (1951). D. Stempel Verlag. Size. Cost? Source unknown.
These very large prints feature a variety of typefaces, almost as though the publisher was advertising the possibilities he could offer. I find the mixture of text and image strong. This set is available online these days and is not expensive. Sellers seem to me to presume that these are “fables of Aesop.” I do not see that attribution here. Among the best are: “Der Esel und der Hund”; “Krebs und Schlange”; “Der Löwe und der Hase”; and “Die Tanzenden Affen.” What a joy, after years to bring these to our website!
2000? Série complète de 10 fèves Fables de la Fontaine. Two dimensional. €17.81 from fabolfolies through Ebay, Oct., '22.
The unusual characteristic of this otherwise unidentified set of 10 fèves is that each has a flat side and is thus two-dimensional. It is also unusual that two pairs out of the ten figurines use the same form but are colored differently. Is there a black ant and a white ant? And are there two cicadas? Otherwise we have OF, TH, and FC.
2010? Complete set of six fèves depicting fables of La Fontaine. Ref. T111. €9.50 from ptijacky, Usez, France, through Ebay, Oct., '22.
These six fèves are marked by their double character. Even FG is really about the interaction of two entities. With all the others it is even clearer. It is curious that that FG fève is the only one of this set not already in the collection and pictured under "fèves to be viewed three dimensionally." Comparison of the five duplicates shows how differently those of this set are colored. I have been unable to learn anything more about this set or where it comes from.
1995 Set of four uncancelled stamps from Albania featuring "Zhan de la Fonten." The three conventional full-color stamps display each a variety of fable characters. The fourth, larger item worth 60 leke presents La Fontaine himself with several fable scenes. $3.35 from John Ortz, Montreal, through eBay, Oct., '02. Extra copy of the 60 leke stamp for $1.75 from Mr. Y. Fuks, Montreal, Quebec, Canada, through eBay, Oct., '06.
Earlier I had found the FDC with the three cancelled stamps. Now I have a set of the stamps uncancelled and the fourth piece that goes with them. This larger piece is not perforated. It presents La Fontaine, LM, FC, OF, "The Eagle and the Tortoise," and a final scene which I cannot specify. This scene involves a man and a snake, but I cannot understand their relationship. It bears the name "A. Matsoukis, S.A." It is numbered 0032252. To allow closer viewing of the stamps, I present each enlarged: click on the stamp to see the enlarged version.
2014 Set of four Hadley “Aesop’s Fables” Table Placemats. Boxed. 15.5” x 11.6”. Wood and cork. Source unknown.
This set is one of the heaviest items in the collection! These substantial placemats picture TH; FG with a smaller tortoise and hare; “The Wise Owl and the Little Birds”; and “Two Fish.” The third of these has the owl warning other birds successively about the dangerous trees that men are growing. The other birds do not heed his wise advice and pay the price for that, while he removes himself from their company. I do not know which fable that placemat of the two fish refers to. There is also a circular set of Hadley placemats. Now to find those!
1989 Set of four full-color Ciskei stamps illustrating "Little Jackal and the Lion." Johan van Niekerk. $3.50 from Carolyn and Dan Lequerica at the CarDan Company, Fairfield, CA, through Ebay, Sept., '01.
Ciskei is a former black homeland and nominal republic in southeastern South Africa, one of the "Bantustans" created by the former South Africa. I do not know the story presented on these stamps. It may be a trickster tale that involves getting the lion to climb a vine that will not support his weight. They are pretty stamps! Each is numbered and has a different denomination:
2020? Set of four "Fable Beer and Ale" coasters. Foam rubber. Unknown source.
"Good friends. Good times. Good beer." I have tried hard to find out where I might have received or found these. No luck! Who would have thought of "Fable Beer and Ale"?
1981 Set of five PRC China postage stamps. "Marking the Gunwale" Series Presentation Folder. Mint. Issued March 10, 1981. £7.19 from Simon Andrews Stamps/The Cecil Court Stamp Shop, London, through eBay, Nov., '02.
This is a favorite fable of mine. It has the right leap from one category to another that sometimes makes a fable take our breath away. I will let the presentation folder tell the fable itself. The other side of the folder identifies the five scenes in the series:
Marking the Gunwale to Find the Sword
Crossing the River
The Sword Dropping into the Water
Marking a Mark on the Gunwale
Jumping into the Water to Find the Sword
1995 Set of eight Republique Française "Fables de La Fontaine" postage stamps. Mint. Marked "La Poste 1995." A T of C stamp lists the last six stamps of the series amid a border showing FG. Then on the second stamp the neck-scarf of a portrait-bust of La Fontaine reaches out to enclose a scene of TMCM. The six stamps follow, all showing a value of 2,80. The art is by R. and C. Sabatier. The last seven stamps in the series show "ITVF" in the lower right corner. £4 from Rowan S. Baker, The Covent Garden Stamp Shop, July, '98. One extra set for the same price at the same time. See the set of almost-identical postcards for a larger blow-up of each scene.
LAFsetof6a.jpg(right top) "Le Lièvre et la Tortue" shows the tortoise breaking the finish-line tape while the hare chases a butterfly with a net.
(center top) "Le Corbeau et le Renard" gives the serenading fox a violin.
(left top) "La Cigale et la Fourmi" has the grasshopper playing an accordion and a tambourine.
(right bottom) "Le Chat, la Belette et le petit Lapin" shows a cat already licking his chops as he holds a scale with one of the contestants in each pan.
(center bottom) "La Grenouille qui se veut fair aussi grosse que le Boeuf" manages to present the nose-holding frog as being as big as the steer in the background.
(left bottom) "Le Loup et l'Agneau" is one of the best; the wolf leers at the lamb, but as a reflection seen by the lamb in the water
I had heard of a recent set of French La Fontaine stamps and had asked for them at several places. It was luck and a whim that led me to ask for them when I passed this stamp shop during a very brief London visit. The eight stamps are a single strip, and the better copy has a margin attached on the left. Here's the way the strip looks as originally published with the stamps together:
2001? Complete set of eight fèves depicting four pairs of characters from fables of La Fontaine. Casino - Arguydal. AFF 50.2001. P12. *74. €10 from Faboland-com, Champdieu, France through Ebay, Oct., '22. Extra set for €7 from 09.manue through Ebay at the same time. An extra of the wolf as a gift from a generous seller earlier.
These eight fèves are nicely divided into pairs. The best may be the crow and the wolf. The least good may be the grasshopper. Their small size may have precluded more detail.
