1907? "La Fourmi Charitable." Complete five card postcard series. Postmarked 1908. All sent to the members of the same family Capoulade in Nice. Paris: Croissant. Sazerac phot. $30 for the set of 5 from Bertrand Cocq, Calonne-Ricouart, France, Sept. '20.
The text of these cards starts as does La Fontaine in these beautifully colored cards. In this version, the ant offers the desperate grasshopper a hot soup. The grasshopper receives it gratefully, takes her hand, and takes off, as he must, for further adventures, "sur le grand route lointaine." Do I read the grasshopper's French correctly to say to the ant on the last card "La Fontaine missed your generosity"?
1970? La Fontaine's Fables: Jig Saw Picture Puzzle. 3 fables: FC, GA, and WL. 42 pieces. Heavy cardboard. WB 197. About 7½" x 8 ½". Made in China. CFC2020.0150.1-4. Source?
Three strong and simple images. The fox's mouth is visibly watering as he flatters the crow. Both GA and the wolf in WL seem to me to have been "borrowed" from Felix Lorioux or perhaps another popular French artist. The packaging of these nice puzzles is a little unusual: envelopes inside of a thin cardboard package. The puzzles themselves seem untouched. It was relatively easy to get them out of and back into their envelopes.
