1900 Exposition Universelle 1900 GGE. Five slightly larger than 6½" x 4" cards, titled "La Poule aux Oeufs d'Or," printed by B. Sirven, Toulouse-Paris. €8 for four cards (of 6?): #1, 2, 3, and 5 in St. Ouen, August, '13. Extra copy of #1 for 60 Francs from Annick Tilly at the Clignancourt flea market, August, '99. Extra copies of several cards and a first copy of the last missing card, #4, from Caveron Devey, Paris, August, '14. The truly last missing card for €12 from Bertrand Cocq, Calonne Ricquart, France, Sept., '18.
In the first image, a little girl seems to be putting coins into a stocking while a little boy watches. This seems the "before" of the story itself, establishing that the couple is poor. The second scene shows the young man delighted to have found a golden egg. The young man believes in the third scene that this black hen contains a whole treasure. The fourth card introduces the sinister knife with wondrous eagerness! In the fifth scene, the hen lies dead and the two humans grieve. Now in 2020, I have learned from Bertrand Cocq that there are actually six cards in the series. Of course! There are always six! Lovely colors!
1950? Large 5¼" x 8¼" blotter put out by La Mutuelle Générale Française insurance company of Le Mans. Around the top and both sides are eight small square illustrations of the more popular fables of La Fontaine. $5 from Dany Wolfs, Roesalare, Belgium, May, '01.
The fables presented by the simple block illustrations here are OR, OF, WL, FC, TH, FS, MSA, and "The Lion and the Mosquito." A short adage praises La Fontaine for extolling prudence, economy, and wisdom.
1960? 'La Laitiere et le Pot au Lait." Buvard #5 d'une collection illustrant les 'Fables de La Fontaine.' Gri-gri, le vrai jus de fruits aux vitamines naturelles. Illustration signed by Polotec. Red and black on pink paper. 8¼' x 5¼'. $7 from Bertrand Cocq, Calonne Ricouart, France, Sept., '18.
The sketch again takes up two-thirds of this blotter. The milkmaid cries over her spilt milk because she was counting her chickens before they hatched, as well as her future pigs and cow. So now I have three of this series. It is still true: I would like to know how many blotters there were in this collection and would like to get hold of the rest!
1907? "La Fourmi Charitable." Complete five card postcard series. Postmarked 1908. All sent to the members of the same family Capoulade in Nice. Paris: Croissant. Sazerac phot. $30 for the set of 5 from Bertrand Cocq, Calonne-Ricouart, France, Sept. '20.
The text of these cards starts as does La Fontaine in these beautifully colored cards. In this version, the ant offers the desperate grasshopper a hot soup. The grasshopper receives it gratefully, takes her hand, and takes off, as he must, for further adventures, "sur le grand route lointaine." Do I read the grasshopper's French correctly to say to the ant on the last card "La Fontaine missed your generosity"?
1970? La Fontaine's Fables: Jig Saw Picture Puzzle. 3 fables: FC, GA, and WL. 42 pieces. Heavy cardboard. WB 197. About 7½" x 8 ½". Made in China. CFC2020.0150.1-4. Source?
Three strong and simple images. The fox's mouth is visibly watering as he flatters the crow. Both GA and the wolf in WL seem to me to have been "borrowed" from Felix Lorioux or perhaps another popular French artist. The packaging of these nice puzzles is a little unusual: envelopes inside of a thin cardboard package. The puzzles themselves seem untouched. It was relatively easy to get them out of and back into their envelopes.
1830? La Fontaine's Fables in Play. Vienna: M(atthias) Trentsensky/London: A & S Joseph Myers & Co. 23 lithographed cardboard figures, including six without wooden stands. Original box. Unknown source.
This is one of the great antiques in our collection! Some of the stand-up two-dimensional figures are beautifully done. Set XI apparently still has all five pieces: two of the stag, two of dogs, and one of a trumpeter. XI is clearly SW, with its rider in the wind, a sweating man, and a horse without rider. XIV features a seated man and an ass loaded down. XV has a loaded wagon, perhaps looking for a man praying to Hercules? XVI has a man reaching out and a tree with bushes. XVII has a lonely shepherd and XVIII a man with a stick. Might the other figures come from different sets? What a lovely treasure! The box is marked $400.
1999 La Fontaine: Texte Intégral: Fables, contes, poésie, théâtre. Fabriqué en France. France inter. Bibliopolis.
This is a CD-Rom containing the text of La Fontaine's works. GA begins on 40, and the last fable finishes on 590. Of course, all the other works of La Fontaine are here as well. This is probably my first French CD-Rom. How nice to be able to have the full text on one's computer! Alas, there are no illustrations that I can find on the disc.
