2020? Ten cards featuring orientalizing images of La Fontaine's fables originally distributed as trade cards for Bon Marché. €7 each for the first two from Albert van den Bosch, Antwerp, June, '23. €1.20 each for the last eight from the maker, Ludom Édition, Ollieres, France.
I am delighted to see someone reproduce these favorite images. Ludom here reproduces them well! I am glad that I took the opportunity of finding two to seek out the rest. I do wonder why they are reprinting only ten of the original twelve cards from Bon Marché.
1950? One blotter for "Super Mousseline Biscottes LUC" of Chateauroux, depicting FS. 6" x 7". Printed by Sofoga, Alfortville. $6 from Bertrand Cocq, Calonne Ricouart, France, Sept., '18. LUC TMCM for $5 from Mme Denise Debuigne, Rennes, France, Feb., '05.
By contrast with other LUC blotters, these blotters are labeled "Buvard Extra." Its format -- white background behind an image of, e.g., FS on the upper half, with bright yellow background behind the product and company name on the lower half -- reverses the format of three three other blotters printed for LUC by Sofoga. I presume that one blotter came in each box of cookies.
1950? Three blotters for "Biscottes LUC" of Chateauroux, each depicting a single La Fontaine fable. 6" x 7". Printed by Sofoga, Alfortville. $18 from Bertrand Cocq, Calonne Ricouart, France, Sept., '18. LUC GGE and "Cock and Fox" for $5 each from Mme Denise Debuigne, Rennes, France, Feb., '05.
Bright colors and dramatic action characterize these three blotters, presenting "The Angler and the Small Fish"; TB; and "The Cat, Weasel, and Small Rabbit." I presume that one blatter came in each box of cookies.
1950? Three numbered blotters for "Biscottes LUC" of Chateauroux, each depicting a single La Fontaine fable. 6" x 7". Printed by Beuchet & Vanden Brugge, Nantes and Paris. $18 from Bertrand Cocq, Calonne Ricouart, France, Sept., '18.
These blotters are similar in format to the blotters printed by Sofoga in Alfortville, but with different artistry, different typeface for the fable titles, and added numbering. These three present "The Fish and the Cormorant" (#6); "The Magpie and the Dove" (#10); and "The Rabbit and the Frogs" (13). I presume that one blotter came in each box of cookies.
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.
2015? Lotte Reinigers Märchen & Fabeln. AbsolutMedien. 2 DVD discs offering Reiniger's short silhouette films from 1921 through 1961.
This pair of DVD's present the delightful and awe-inspiring silhouette films of Reiniger, from early silent films into the more developed silhouette films of the 1950's. Among the latter is the only fable I find among these offerings, "Der Heuschreck und die Ameise," apparently produced in London in 1953/54. As the accompanying booklet by Absolutmedien points out, Reiniger adapts this story quite substantially. The ant dismisses the grasshopper in summer and in winter. As he lies dying in the snow, a mouse and a squirrel carry him into their home and revive him. He immediately starts fiddling. The ant hears and stops by to enjoy interaction. Though the mouse and squirrel reject her, the Heuschreck accepts her in. "You worked all summer; now you can dance in winter!"
1860? "Loto des Fables de LaFontaine." Twenty-four stiff 4½" x 7¼" cards using illustrations after those of J.J. Grandville. $120 from François Binetruy, Versailles, France, through Ebay, Dec., '00.
The upper 2½" of each card is taken up with a good rendition after Grandville of an individual fable illustration over a block-print title. The lower 4¼" is taken up with La Fontaine's text and three columns of bingo-like numbers. (The middle column splits the text in cumbersome fashion.) Some cards have one or two footnotes on difficult or antiquated vocabulary. One of the twenty-four cards is outside the pattern. Its upper portion gives the game's title around a bust of La Fontaine, supported by a cabinet. At the center of this cabinet, which is flanked by a fox and a cat, stands "Regle." This card tells us that this "new" game differs from the old one only in its vertical rather than horizontal columns. Apparently, one agrees on the price of each card and pays for his/her cards. Then number-balls are drawn from a sack and called out. For a win, one needs to cover the five numbers in any one column. Unfortunately, there is no real connection between the fables and the game…. I remember seeing this game--I cannot remember where--at a price I could not dream of. I think my favorite fable-collector picked up that copy. I am delighted to find this other copy now!
1936? One four-panel three-colored cartoon postcard offering the first half of Florian’s “The Two Travelers.” #1 of a 2-card series produced by the Belgian Post Office. $10 from Bertrand Cocq, Calonne-Ricouart, France, Sept., ’20.
From references and images on the web, I conclude that this is #3 of three series done by the post office in 1936, including probably both postcards and stamps in a booklet. (A recent winning bid for such a booklet was $275.) The first series seems to be La Fontaine’s MM. This Florian fable itself portrays the age-old argument. When two are travelling, does a found object belong to the pair or only to the first to possess it? Thomas here tells Lubin: “It’s me, not we!” The two travelers soon encounter thieves, and Thomas says to Lubin “We are lost!” Lubin answers “It is you, not we!” Still, both manage to escape. Thomas soon gives the wallet away. Think only of yourself in good fortune and you will find that you have no friends.
