Fables de Florian · Carlson Fable Collection

Title

Fables de Florian

Description

Below I offer a rather random collection of cards from one distinctive series presenting Florian. But first I offer a newer and more unified set.

1880? 6 cards depicting fables of Florian, including a text of very small print in two columns at the top of the back of the card and a simple colored picture on the front. 4 3/8" x 3 1/8". All advertise "Lebel Derly -- Nouveautés." €45 from Albert van den Bosch, Antwerp, June, '23.

These cards are particularly well preserved. It is somewhat rare that I can find a set all from the same printer and retail store.

1880? 7 cards depicting fables of Florian, including a text of very small print in two columns at the top of the back of the card and a simple colored picture on the front. 4 3/8" x 3 1/8". Most recently, 6 full-sized cards for 60 Francs each from Annick Tilly at the Clignancourt flea market, August, '99. The other "Aux Deux Magots" card cost $4 from Clipper Cargo at the Sacramento Paper Show, Dec., '96. Six other cards, cropped, cost 140 francs at the Clignancourt flea market, Paris, May, '97.

The first six from Clignancourt are cropped. At present I have full versions of all seven cards except "Le Lion et le Léopard," for which my only examplar is cropped. How wonderful to have something from an institution like "Aux Deux Magots" right at St. Germain des Pres! The colors are strong and the animals well dressed. Most humans would need a magnifying glass to read these fable texts! They were kept deliberately small, one suspects, to make room for the advertiser's information. "La Guenon, le Singe et la Noix" may have the strongest illustration of the lot. The printer for both LP and ER is "Publicité Roussette, 65 Faub. St. Denis, Paris, while the printer for AQF and ADM is "Ass. d'Ouv. lith., Romanet et Cie, 27bis, r. Corbeau. While some cards have only the image on one side and the text of the fable with its title on the other, the other cards represent several advertisers.

1890? Here is a mystery. The same image as "le sanglier et le rossignol" is presented in this unusual card as "L'Artiste t le Financier." No one has been able to point me to a text with this name or even subject. It took more than a little hunting to recognize where in our collection these Florian images have occurred.

Date

1880?

Source

€45 from Albert van den Bosch, Antwerp, June, '23.

Most recently, 6 full-sized cards for 60 Francs each from Annick Tilly at the Clignancourt flea market, August, '99. The other "Aux Deux Magots" card cost $4 from Clipper Cargo at the Sacramento Paper Show, Dec., '96. Six other cards, cropped, cost 140 francs at the Clignancourt flea market, Paris, May, '97.