Some well known Fables selected and illustrated by Antonio Frasconi

Title

en_US Some well known Fables selected and illustrated by Antonio Frasconi

Description

en_US First edition

Lynn T. McRae

Creator

en_US McRae, Lynn T. See all items with this value

Contributor

en_US Frasconi, Antonio

Date

2025-05-20T17:10:14Z

2024-01

en_US 2023

Date Available

2025-05-20T17:10:14Z

Date Issued

en_US 2023

Abstract

en_US Here is an unexpected pleasure. For some thirty years, I have had on my want-list Antonio Frasconi's "Some Well Known Fables," a set of woodblock prints published in 1950. Now here is a large (9" x 12") presentation of the woodcuts from that even larger (11½" x 16") book. I realize now that there is a reason why we will never have that book in this collection. The original publication was of only 10 prints of the fifteen woodblocks: 12 fables, 2 title-pages, and "Aesop Tree," a tracing of various influences leading to the first published fable books in the late fifteenth century. It is unclear whether Frasconi ever intended these prints to be a book. In 1952, the Print Club of Cleveland chose to have 250 copies of one of the prints, "The Dog and the Crocodile," presented to its members. At this time, Frasconi produced an additional set of 15 copies of the other prints in the portfolio. So there are only 25 copies of individual prints, and perhaps very few complete collections of the 15 prints. Getting one of those would be miraculous! It is thus a thrill for me to have this presentation of those very rare prints. His approach here is easy to recognize because of its similarities to his work in his two later fable works, both in our collection, "12 Fables of Aesop" and "Known Fables." Frasconi works not to complement text but to tell the story in a woodblock. A good example is SW (23), which contains the two contrasting scenes in one intricate and active image giving a strong sense of turbulent wind and swirling water. Frasconi typically fills the whole frame. Notice this tendency at work in MSA on 29. The miller turns away awkwardly from his son to pay attention to a bystander in the upper right corner. The predatory animals surround the victim sheep in "The Dog and the Sheep" (35). 46 pages. A real treasure!

Identifier

en_US 13523 (Access ID)

uri

https://cdr.creighton.edu/handle/10504/157886

Language

en_US eng

Publisher

en_US Willow Arts Press

en_US Menlo Park, CA

Subject

Aesop and others See all items with this value