1890? 6 colored French cards with gold background picturing La Fontaine's GA. Almost 3" x almost 4½". Paris: Lessertisseux.
These are curious cards. The background is heavily gold with sparse suggestive scenery, especially ripe fields, storehouse doors, and snow on the ground. The characters are children dressed in adult clothing. Their faces form the focal point of each illustration. A particular curiosity of these portrait-formatted small cards is that the characters seem to change clothing (and faces?) from scene to scene in the five moments of the story pictured here. Are we to think that a little troop of players are taking turns at acting out one scene each? The bottom portion of each picture page contains a few lines of the La Fontaine fable. They give the clue to the order of cards, which is difficult to decipher from the pictures alone. The print of these texts, like the titles at the cards' top, is hard to read against the gold background. The text side of four cards is taken up completely with a uniform advertisement: "Grand Magasins de Nouveautés/Au Progrès/Vallée Ainé" with an address in Caen. The verso of other cards is blank. Perhaps the best of the illustrations is the fourth, in which the niggardly ant asks what the cicada did during the summer.
1890? 6 colored French cards with gold background picturing La Fontaine's FC. Almost 3" x almost 4½". Paris: Lessertisseux.
These are curious cards. The background is heavily gold with a few emblematic items, like a path and a few trees. The characters are all children highly dressed in adult clothing. Their faces form the focal point of each illustration. A particular curiosity of these portrait-formatted small cards is that the characters' clothing changes from card to card in the six moments of the story. Are we to think that a little troop of players are taking turns at acting out one scene each? The bottom portion of each picture page contains a few lines of the La Fontaine fable. This print, like the title at the card's top, is hard to read against the gold background. Each card in the Cocq set is stamped on the picture side with "A. Motte-Bergeot, Nouveautées a Illiers," which seems to sell furniture as well as men's, women's, and children's clothing. The text side of these cards is taken up completely with a uniform advertisement for Motte-Bergeot. I am especially impressed with the third card, on which "Renard" flatters the vain figure seated in the fork of the tree.
1960? Les Vins des Caves du Plessis Buvard N. 1. FG. Les Fables de la Fontaine. About 8¼" x 5¼". St. Venant. $5 from Mme Denise Debuigne, Rennes, France, May, '02.
In a lovely design using black, green and red inks, the fox claims, as usual, that the grapes are too green. The blotter's text agrees but adds "but the wines of the Plessis Caves are wonderful!" The blotter also invites one to ask for the whole series of blotters at one's local provider of wines. I would love to do that!
1956 Les plus belles Fables de La Fontaine en relief et en musique. Editions Lucos. Pop-up. Paperbound. Mulhouse: Lucos: Le Petit Ménestral: Editions Lucien Adés.
This is a worthy combination of a 33 rpm record and six excellent pop-up scenes. The La Fontaine scenes, presented in landscape format with the fable on the flat surface closest to the reader, are about 90% intact. In several, one character or element is unhinged or otherwise defective. The scenes are GA; MM; OF; WL; FC; and TH. The best of them is WL, both for its artistic vigor and for its present condition. FC is also strong and well preserved. This is a heavy book. The small 33 rpm record is in a wrapper attached to the inside of the front cover. Its music is by Hubert Rostaing and the fables are read by François Perier. I will keep the record with the book. A lovely find!
