1933 Two handbills of La Fontaine fables illustrated by M. Lemainque: 2P and "Le Gland et la Citrouille." 5⅜" x 7⅜". Printed by Louis Bellenand et Fils, Fontenay-aux-Rises, Advertisement on verso. €2.59 each from la fee chinette through Ebay, Sept., '22.
Dragees are candy-like. Would we call them "dietary supplements" now, 90 years later? Both of Lemainque's illustrations are pointed and engaging. The human pots are fun! There is a clever printer's seal at the top right of the image side of the handbill.
1920? Sechs Fabeln. Palmin-Post-Sammelbild. 144. Folge, Bild 1, 2, 5, 6. Four cards (of 6?) advertising "Palmin, das reine Cocos-Speisefett, nur echt mit dem Nameszug Dr. Schlink."
These four cards are in quite a different style from Palmin's other set. DS, LM, CP, BC. I am guessing that the cards show an art deco style. The German text is all in Gothic letters favored in the twentieth century up to 1945. The edges are rough cut and may have been part of a larger page. The verso has a prose fable text with no indication of a fabulist or visual artist or card printer.
1890? Fabeln von LaFontaine. Five cards (of 6?) advertising "Palmin, Feinstes Cocosfett zum Kochen, Braten und Backen." 2¾" x 4 3/8". I have cards #1, 3, 4, 5, and 6. F. Schoen. Hamburg: H. Schlinck and Companie, sole producers of Palmin. F. Kunstdruck, Niedersedlitz bei Dresden. Gift of Heinrich von Fuchs, July, '00. FS (card #2 completing the series) for 9.19 from Heidi 31.7.70 through Ebay, Feb., '19. Extra of "Bild 4: Das Hündchen und der Esel" for $9.48 from heidi31.7.70 on Ebay, August, 20.
A colored circle stands under a red title and over a shadowy white-and-gray scene from the same fable. The interplay between the two scenes makes these some of the loveliest fable trade cards I have seen. Perhaps the best of them shows the horse and the exhausted ass in the colored circle and then, in the larger picture, the horse carrying the hide and burdens of the ass. It is no surprise that the driver raises his whip now to the beleaguered horse! Where, I ask, is that second card in the set? The fables included here are:
1950? Painted wood nodder. 1½" in diameter around the base and 5" high.
The crow is balanced on a slender twig. He thus moves with any movement of the base, and so he appears ready to drop the cheese as he displays his prowess in singing. Might this little piece be either German or oriental?
1960? Painted plastic statuette of Jean de La Fontaine. 2½" high. Mokarex deposé. Unknown source.
This statuette adds color to the other exemplar in the collection. I would guess from what I see online that the painting has been done not by Mokarex but by an amateur hand, which may have had trouble both with the the poet's face and with Renard. Are there black foxes?
1885? A Booklet of 7 black and white fable illustrations advertising Painkiller produced by Davis & Lawrence Company, NY.
Though the cover is colored, the internal pictures on each right-hand page are black-and-white reproductions of cards used for J. & P. Coats Spool Cotton, McPhail Pianos, Emerson Pianos. The surprise is all the greater because I have found a booklet in the same format that does use colored versions of the pictures: Wright's Pills.
1850? 13 separated pages from a set of (La Fontaine’s?) numbered fables. 4.25” x 7.2”. €50. Unknown source.
I wonder if I will be able to find this edition in our collection. And I wonder if these really are separated pages. There are (page?) numbers besides the individual fable numbers. Is that Fable CXXIII not “La Discorde”? The illustrator has the traditional problem in presenting the face of a lion, presumably because he had never seen one.
2010? Four supersized (4 ¼" X 11 ½" X 1") matchboxes featuring details of Fraipont's 1888 illustrations along with La Fontaine's text for FS, WL, FG, and MM. Made in France. Allumettes Seita.
1912 Ouvrages de Dames "Broderies/Dessins Anciens" Brochure. April 7, 1912. Supplement 14 to Nouvelle Mode. $7.75 from Antiquesythier through Ebay, March, '20.
I lose my way in the various chapter headings in this 8-page brochure, which was a supplement in either Ouvrages de Dames or Nouvelle Mode. It consists mostly of patterns and descriptions. The description of FC lists it as a sequel to FG. The design itself is about 4" x 8".
1935? Set of twelve postcard-size (5½" x 3½") cards titled "12 Cartoons for Tapestry by J.-B. Oudry (1686-1765)" by Artext Cards. The twelve are individually labeled as "Artest - A. XXI.1" through " Artest - A. XXI.12." Made in France but titled in English with the general heading "La Fontaine's Fable." $46.05 for the set in a fragile envelope from Heartsdeesire on eBay, Sept., '03.
These are satisfactory renditions of Oudry's work. The seller has the same question I have, namely, "Are these postcards?" I find it unusual that they were printed in France but marketed somewhere in English speaking territory. As the seller also points out, the envelope is torn, but the cards themselves are in very good condition.
1800? 5 reproductions of Oudry's illustrations, perhaps the 1755 edition, with markings of the tissues that protected the illustrations.
I enjoy Oudry's work, and these prints have come out well. I will be on the lookout for the edition that matches this format: pages 8.9" x 11.8" and illustrations 5.75" x 7.7". Oudry is acknowledged on all but one; five different people are listed as the engravers—all, I believe, from the original group that translated Oudry's work into printed form: Cochin and Chenu, LeBas, Tardieu, Beauvarlet, and Pasquier, respectively.
1950? Colored postcard presenting the first phase of Oudry's FS. Van Cortenbergh, Brussels. €2 from Bartko-Reher Ansichtskarten, April, '23.
I am surprised that we do not have other cards from this particular series. The coloring is attractive on one of Oudry's excellent designs.
1907? Fables de La Fontaine. Six unnumbered cards with the title, a reproduction of Oudry's illustration, and La Fontaine's text on the front. The fables are OF, LS, 2P, and FG. The stamp and postmark are also on the front. All were signed and sent from Paris in June/July 1907 to Lucien Lallier. Published by A. Quantin, Paris. Four for 75 Francs from Renaud Teissier at the Paul Bert-St. Ouen Clignancourt Flea Market, May, '97. A fifth card representing WL for €5 from Bartko-Reher, Berlin, April, '21. TMCM earlier from H. Bartij, Kocaeli, Turkey, through eBay.
FG and LS are two of Oudry's best and best-known illustrations, and they retain a good deal of their force in this unusual medium. 2P and OF may be less focused. It is a delight to see Oudry's work reproduced!
1920? Jean de La Fontaine portrait card with his signature. Les Signatures de Personnages Célèbres. Including an illustration of “The Rat Who Retired from the World.” $8 from Bertrand Cocq, Calonne-Ricouart, France, Sept., ’20.
The verso has a life of Fontaine. I am curious about the two letters or symbols that appear after the “De la fontaine” signature, where, by the way, all three capitals are reversed from the present orthography.
1986. "Fables." Learn As You Play. Illustrations by Gesine Mahoney. Fax-Pax. Great Britain.
Thirty-six cards, each with a fable printed on one side and a titled colored picture on the other. The style of the illustrations is soft and cute. How one "plays" is not clear. The best illustrations include: "The Wolf in Sheep's Clothing," "The Trees and the Axe," and "The Stork and the Farmer." The lion has not bad breath but the smell of a skunk from a fight. WC adds a phase: "You only saved me for a reward." The spilt milk is kicked over by a cow; the point is that tomorrow is another day. The FS illustration misses the point by having the fox serve solid chunks of food on plates. The cards' packaging changes slightly in the new edition, apparently from 1989.
1917? "La Fontaine l'avait bien dit!..." "Dessins de Louis Morin." Paris: Imprimerie Montsouris, P. Orsoni, directeur." Essay by Georges Blondel on the verso. 21½" x 14½. Perhaps €15, perhaps in St.-Ouen.
A fascinating piece of work with verses taken or adapted from La Fontaine's fables and applied to the Germans in WWI. I can find another product of "Imprimerie de Montsouris P. Orsoni" on the web, dated 1916. The imagery here is sometimes rough but thoroughly challenging!
1930? Arts and Crafts Movement Metal Original Printer’s Block ‘Aesop’s Fables’ (or ‘Tables’?). 8.25” x 11.6” x 1”. $60 from John Briody through Ebay, July, ’25.
Reversing this printer’s block raises a question. “Fables” or “Tables”? A quick web search reveals several instances of “Aesop’s Tables.” And in either case, where might this have come from? What a curious piece! I put it with “Printed Material” because that is the closest category I can think of. The sweep of the calligraphy is lovely!
1950? Original hand-painted card, 5½" x 3½", presenting CW. Nantes: Madame Yvonne. €10 at Recto-Verso, Strasbourg, July, '19.
There is a story somewhere behind this handmade card! This cat-woman has seized the mouse. The room shows evidence of her mad dash to catch the mouse. Is that a TV in the background? And is that something like a Billiken on top of the TV? I am a little confused about the cat-woman's clothing. Where does dress stop and skin start? Her lower half seems to indicate something like a dress or robe. Her upper body seems uncovered. There is not only a story behind the creation of this card. I would love to learn something of its history. What a surprise find!
