1926?/98? Aesop's Fables (Volume 2). Eight Paul Terry Aesop's Films. Commonwealth Pictures. 2273. $14.50 from Nostalgia Family Video, Baker City, OR, through Ebay, June, '00.
This tape's label is incorrect. It has a different number from the first volume but then lists the same cartoons. In fact, the tape presents a new set of cartoons, beginning with "Jungle Sports." In it, an explorer and an ape play games and then get into a fight.
1926?/98? Aesop's Fables (Volume 1). Eight Paul Terry Aesop's Films. Commonwealth Pictures. 2061.
Included are "Up in the Air" ('26), "Flying Hoofs" ('28), "Rooster and the Eagle" ('28), "Wicked City" ('26), "Red Hot Sands" ('28), "Hitting the Rails" ('28), "Runaway Balloon" ('28), and "Fable of the Alley Cat" ('28). I am presuming that the numbers "26" and "28" in parentheses indicate the year of each cartoon. These are typical Terry work in the series "Aesop's Film Fables." In what I watched this time, there is plenty of music but never any spoken speech. There will be an occasional written expression from one character. These are not traditional Aesopic fables, but rather stories about animals playing tricks on people. There is delightful fantasy here, as when a mice musician plays some notes and then climbs them like steps of a ladder.
1915? Three dust-jackets, each with an orange duochrome illustration of a La Fontaine fable signed by Paul Giraud. The verso offers tables of addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division. The stapled inside flaps offer the outline of a weekly work plan and a centimeter ruler, respectively. $5 apiece from Mme Denise Debuigne, Rennes, France, Feb., '05. Extra copy for $6 of LM from Bertrand Cocq, Calonne-Ricouart, France, Sept., '21.
Paul Giraud died in 1917. The line figures on these dust-jackets are surprisingly engaging, particularly the tears of the dying laborer's children. I also enjoy the three different emotions suggested by the three faces in MSA. Can one speak of a "cartoon style," and would it appropriately characterize the approach of these three illustrations?
1930? Two black-and-white handbills by Paul Colin presenting FG and “The Old Man and the Three Young Men.” Stamped by Lesbroussart & Fils in Beauvais. 7¾” x 11”. No publisher acknowledged. Planche #2008 (“Old Man”) and #2016 (FG). $6 each from Bertrand Cocq, Calonne-Ricouart, France, Sept., ’20.
Someone must have produced a lot of handbills to make these in the 2000’s! These images replicate large Colin posters in the collection and also a book of Colin posters, “La Fontaine en Images.” I love Colin’s work! Does something of the fox’s face get lost in FG? Does some other artist create these black-and-white designs on the basis of Colin's work, or might he do that himself?
1960? Brown, red, and gold presentation of FC designed by R. Odoul with a long cartoon advertisement on the back cover. Pastilles Pulmoll. $5 from Mme Denise Debuigne, Rennes, France, Feb., '05.
Pulmoll is here using the same catch-phrase as on the dust-jackets from a different era. The side flaps still present districts of France. The cartoon on the back cover seems to say that Grandpa gets over the cough from smoking cigars by taking Pulmoll tablets.
1940? Three French dust-jackets, 9½" x 7", apparently for a school book, advertising "Pastille Pulmoll" €6 each at St. Ouen, August, '13. One duplicate of TH without the "Grande Pharmacie La Fontaine" stamp on the cover for $5 from Mme Denise Debuigne, Rennes, France, Feb., '05.
The title continues "calme la Toux * flatte le Gout" (perhaps "calms the cough, soothes the taste"?) Two marked "Face au Pont Grand Pharmacie. J. Fontaine. Compiegne." Highly colorful cartoons of TH, GA, and TMCM grace the covers of these three dust jackets. The back cover has basic road signs. Inside on the flaps are lists of districts of France.
1880? Partial set of 6 cards with red backing similar in format to the above complete set, but with a different numbering system. By Mauclair and Dacier, according to the seller. $91.72 from Alexandra Lacroix of nantes-antiques, Nantes, France, through Ebay, Oct., '20.
Six of the cards in this lot actually repeat cards in the above complete set. These other six follow a different numbering system, namely two sets of continuous numbers, four consecutive numbers at the top and then, after skipping eight numbers, another continuous set of numbers across the bottom of the board. These illustrations are well colored, and the boards themselves are well preserved.
1920? Two large (10½" x 8⅛") sheets presenting each two fables (WL and WC; LM and DS) in four colors. Paris-Vêtements. $20 from Bertrand Cocq, Calonne Ricouart, France, Sept., '18.
Thin paper and vivid color mark these pages. It is hard to imagine where in life they would show up, since they are neither as hardy nor as small as a card. No artist or printer seems to be acknowledged. Both have suffered a tear in the upper right corner as one views the image side.
