Fables de La Fontaine, Volume 1

Title

en_US Fables de La Fontaine, Volume 1

Description

en_US Language note: French

en_US #612

Jean de La Fontaine

Creator

en_US La Fontaine, Jean de See all items with this value

Contributor

en_US Le Jeune, Moreau

Date

2019-07-05T20:12:45Z

2019-05

en_US 1883

Date Available

2019-07-05T20:12:45Z

Date Issued

en_US 1883

Abstract

en_US This is a curious acquisition in several ways. First, I asked the seller a clear question and got an inaccurate answer. Secondly, I am still not sure what "Compositions inédites" means of the six small Moreau le jeune illustrations in this book. Thirdly, this acquisition got me into an inquiry into the two Moreaus, Moreau le jeune and Gustave. In the end, this is yet another key book in the history of La Fontaine fable illustration, and I am happy that it is in the collection. It is also among the most fragile of books in the collection. Its pages are very brittle. To pursue these points, then, this is not Gustave Moreau but Moreau le jeune, who died in 1814 and is already represented in this collection in numerous editions – but not with these illustrations. Secondly, I believe that Milius engraved illustrations of Moreau le jeune that had been "not yet published." That last phrase is my guess at what "Compositions inédites" means. Alas, then, this acquisition does not bring me further in my desire to understand Gustave Moreau. That task will wait for another day. In the end, we have a small pair of volumes, 3⅞" by 6", with a frontispiece and six images, each derived from one of the fables of its book. The largest is about 2½ by 1½". The frontispiece in this volume is a portrait of La Fontaine. The six smaller illustrations in this volume are I 17 ("The Man Between Two Mistresses," 103); II 13 ("The Astrologer Who Fell," 136); III 1 (MSA, 155); IV 16 ("The Wolf, the Mother, and the Child," 222); V 6 ("The Old Woman and the Two Servant Girls," 247); and VI 20 (Discord, 303). There are several bits of good news about these volumes. First, they are numbered, though the numbering is not explained. That is, the "justification de tirage" describes some 180 copies and then numbers this copy as #612. I find that hard to comprehend. Secondly, there is an offhand reference in Bodemann to this edition. Her #222.5 refers apparently to a publication of just the Moreau illustrations, though she recognizes that there was also a publication of the fables with these illustrations. In the end, I am happy to get them into the collection.

Identifier

en_US cf. 222.5

en_US 11595 (Access ID)

uri

http://hdl.handle.net/10504/123214

Language

en_US fre

Publisher

en_US P. Rouquette

en_US Paris

Subject

Jean de La Fontaine See all items with this value