Louvre Felix Lorioux Cards

Title

Louvre Felix Lorioux Cards

Description

1900? Eleven numbered large (5⅜" x 7⅛") La Fontaine and five Florian fable cards illustrated by Felix Lorioux and distributed apparently by or for the Louvre Museum. $110 from Bertrand Cocq, Calonne Ricouart, France, Sept., '18. Six additional cards for 48 Euros from Anne-Marie Kucharski, Saint-Ouen, June, '19. One additional card from an unknown source, July, '19. Additional cards from a bouquinist in Paris, June, '25.

The verso contains the title and fable, perhaps with one or two vocabulary footnotes. The front features "Au Louvre," though in different typeface. The major portion of the front is taken up with Lorioux' glorious colored illustration, often with "E. Desfossés" below the La Fontaine illustration. At the bottom is the fable's title and a selection of two or three lines from the poem. The lively work of Lorioux has been a favorite of mine for a long time. I was not aware of this series of cards, done perhaps as something of a promotion for the Louvre Museum. I cannot yet make sense of the numbering system. Part of the puzzle is that many cards fit into some system using "1" through "4." Then there are some with no numbers and one with the number "9." Part of the puzzle here is that several fables occur twice in this series, with different quotations and illustrations, and always in different number groups. Does each fable represent a "family" of cards, perhaps generally four cards to a family? Some day it will come clear how the cards are numbered and how big the series might be. "Retired Rat #3" is the only duplicate card here. "Cat and Sparrow" includes a card marked "9." One of the three cards representing "The Fish and the Cormorant" has no number but seems to fit what the #2 card must be.

Date

1900?

Source

$110 from Bertrand Cocq, Calonne Ricouart, France, Sept., '18. Six additional cards for 48 Euros from Anne-Marie Kucharski, Saint-Ouen, June, '19. One additional card from an unknown source, July, '19. Additional cards from a bouquinist in Paris, June, '25.

Subject

Cards See all items with this value

Fable Cards See all items with this value

Fable Card Series See all items with this value

The Cat and the Old Rat See all items with this value

The Fox and the Crow See all items with this value

The Tortoise and the Hare See all items with this value

The Pie and the Colombe See all items with this value

The Wolf and the Crane See all items with this value

The Wolf Turned Shepherd See all items with this value

The Retired Rat See all items with this value

The Fish and the Cormorant See all items with this value

The Cat, the Weasel, and the Little Rabbit See all items with this value

The Milkmaid See all items with this value

The Cat and the Sparrow See all items with this value

The Cricket See all items with this value

The Mole and Rabbits See all items with this value