Fables de La Fontaine

Title

en_US Fables de La Fontaine

en_US 0

Description

en_US Language note: French

en_US Nouvelle edition

en_US LaFontaine

Creator

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

Contributor

en_US Grandville, J.J.

Date

2018-07-05T18:38:13Z

en_US 2018-05

en_US 1838

Date Available

2018-07-05T18:38:13Z

Date Issued

en_US 1838

Abstract

en_US When I noticed that this 1838 edition was up for under $80 for the two volumes, I thought I would take a chance. I got lucky! Getting it has given me a chance to compare -- again -- the 1838 Grandvilles that I have. I will keep these two volumes in the collection simply because they are a first edition of a great work. And, though there is foxing in these volumes, the illustrations remain stunning! The result of this comparison in May, 2018 is that I now think that there are only two groupings here. Only the Lovy copy lacks "Nouvelle Édition." I believe it is a genuine first printing. It is distinct from all three other printings in several ways. The title-page in Lovy has "Édition Illustrée, whereas the others have simply "Illustrées" under "La Fontaine." The Lovy printing has an additional element for the publisher: "Perrotin, Place de la Bourse, 1." The typesetting of its pre-text portions is different, e.g. on xii or in the initial letter on xiii. The printer's designs around the titles and after the fables tend to be somewhat airy or spindly, perhaps prepared quickly and in later printings more painstakingly redone. The other three -- this copy as well as those found at Pangloss and Albatross -- differ among themselves only, as far as I can tell, in two ways that may depend more on the bookbinder than on the publisher. The illustration for "Le Héron -- La Fille" faces 258 in Pangloss and this copy, while it faces 260 in Albatross. Secondly, Pangloss and this copy place the initial at the beginnings of Books 2, 3, 6, and 7 too close to the binding. Let me turn now to comments I made on the Pangloss and Albatross copies. One of the finest works I have. The illustrations (120 in the two volumes) are exceptionally clear here. Some of the best are of the city and country rats (20), the cat-woman (82), the lion in love (127), and the fox without a tail (182). Except for decorations at each book's beginning, each woodcut gets a full page, with no print on its verso.

Identifier

en_US 11318 (Access ID)

uri

http://hdl.handle.net/10504/118612

Language

en_US fre

Publisher

en_US H. Fournier Ainé

en_US Paris

Subject

en_US La Fontaine See all items with this value