1980? Four large matted prints of GA. Various sizes. Unknown source.
I enjoy this creative approach to the story, particularly the scene in which the grasshopper is using his violin as firewood. So far I have not been able to uncover an artist. Of course I wonder if there are not more prints in the series, including perhaps a print of rejection by the ant. The prints range from 7.25” to 12” across, with matting bringing the total width to 11.25” to 12”.
1920? Broadside presenting four fables with titles, images, and morals. Page 5205. $10 from Janet Vachon, Aurora, ME, April, '14.
I discovered this piece among purchased materials ten years alter. Might it be a printing on sturdier card stock of a page from one of those encyclopedias that offer all sorts of snippets? The verso, 5206, begins a piece titled "The World on a Table." We have several such encyclopedias among our books, but none of the page numbers seem to align with those here.
2009 Four envelopes featuring stamps of Jean de La Fontaine, his Paris home, a tortoise, and a hare. April 13, '09. Addressed to Constantin Popescu, Rm. Valcea, Romania. From Constantin Popescu, May, '09.
One notices the popularity of TH. There are three cancellation seals. They feature TH, FC, and GA, respectively. The seals, stamps, and envelopes are nicely correlated. I am surprised to see La Fontaine's Paris home featured rather than his home in Chateau-Thierry. "Luna Padurii" seems to mean "Forest Moon." Occurrences on the web seem to indicate that it lasts from March 15 to April 15. Offhand, it is hard for me to see the connection with La Fontaine.
1750? Four broadsides of eight illustrations each by Georg Paul Busch from his 117 illustrations for the edition by Abbé Jean-Baptiste Morvan de Bellegarde (Amsterdam 1708). €60 from Antiquariat Kitzinger, Munich, July, '19.
I took time to scan and reproduce these lovely illustrations, which seem to have been presented two per page. Here sets of four are joined together. These four comprise Plates 13-24 and 33-36. Bellegarde is well represented in the collection, both in original editions and later re-editions and facsimiles.
2004 Four signed, numbered acrylic presentations of Aesop’s Fables by Robert Thomas Robie, Walla Walla, WA. Matted. 6.8" x 9" image; 8.5" x 11" paper. From EBSQ book of fables? Unknown source.
The four have wonderfully vivid coloring. I have not been able to find – or even to find out more about – the EBSQ edition of fables.
1998 Four "USOPS Fables" First Day of Issue envelopes featuring The "H" Stamp. Postmarked Troy, NY, Nov. 9, 1998. Signed by Doris Gold. $8 fFIP Covers, Melissa, TX through Ebay, April, '08. $5 from rka through Ebay, August, '04. $7 from Eric Wile, Greensboro, NC, Jan., '06. One further extra.
The picture is of Uncle Sam reaching down to check on whether Hansel has grown fatter, while Gretel sits nearby. Both copies include an insert "Hansel and Gretel Meet Usops." The insert answers my question in its second sentence by identifying USOPS as United State Office Postal Service. In this version, Gretel took along her stamp album, and that saved the two children. The children come upon a post office made of magnificent stamps. The story goes on from there. Notice that each of the four envelopes carries a different number out of 162: 40, 68, 95, and 138. I need to stop buying these envelopes!
