Prints

2000? Page from “The Book of Fables. XIVth Century. Animal Scenes” from “Turkey 1621.” Paris: UNESCO World Art Series. New York Graphic Society. Printed in Italy. 13.1” x 18.6”. Unknown source. The two images are familiar: the lion king speak with a jackal and the lion king converses with his mother. The images seem so peaceful. There is bloodthirsty work going on in them!

2004 Print of FK. #11 of 40. Provo, UT: Tryst Press. Feb. 18, 2004. Nov., ’06 from Vamp & Tramp Booksellers, Birmingham, AL. Is that a handpainted design at the bottom of this lovely page? In any case, it is a very limited production! 9.6” x 12.7”. Exquisite printing work!

2004 LM: “Aesop’s Fables: Forgive me this time, I shall never forget it!” Signed “Christine Russell 03/25/04.” 8.5” x 11”. ESL Printables. This delightful piece has appeared among the things we are trying in 2025 to catch up to. I have sought in vain for a connection with Christine Russell in 2004. What a delightful, lively presentation of LM!

1947 "Zehn Fabeln," portfolio of prints printed by Eduard Stichnote in Potsdam. Artists: Walter Heisig; Otto Bunzel; Hans Leistikow; and Max Debus. 3 partial collections in portfolios whose flap shows a list of the ten. Unknown sources. This collection is readily available on the web. The selection of fables, from various sources, is unusual. Several of these fables are only infrequently told. Sometimes the artistry seems as weird as a green-and-red ass! I find Lessing's pelican surprising, and I had usually thought of the Panchatantra's mysterious sound-maker as bigger than a little bell. I wonder what Potsdam was like in 1947. The Green Ass with Red Legs (Gellert: Heisig) The Blind and the Lame (Gellert; Heisig) FC (La Fontaine: Bunzel) GA (La Fontaine: Bunzel) Hamster and Ants (Lessing: Debus) Stallion and Horsefly (Gellert: Heisig) Siskin and Nightingale (Gellert: Heisig) Chicken and Bee (Lessing: Leistikow) The Stupid Pelican (Lessing: Debus): Compare the copy just below. The Stupid Pelican: Notice the lack of red elements. The Fox and the Bell (India: Leistikow)

2024? Limited edition print "Fox and Hare V. II" by Elizabeth Jean Younce for Mustard Beetle, Los Angeles, CA. #72 of 100. 8" x 10". Gift of Sonja Carlson, Dec., '24. What a delightful gift! The artist's structuring puts the two animals together in an oval. The woods surround and separate the two. There seem to be many stories of the fox and the hare. There is a story among traditional fables catalogued by B.E. Perry as Perry #333, Chambry #192, and Gibbs #596. In this fable, the fox says to the curious hare 'If you don't know my arts, I will have you to dinner so that you can get a taste of my art.' When the hare arrives, he finds that he is the dinner. I would also add a widely known story, as it is retold online by Randall Craig: "An old master was with his disciple walking in the woods, when they observed a hare being chased by a fox. The student observed that it would not be long before the hare would be caught, and eaten by the faster (and probably smarter) fox. The master replied that this particular rabbit would get away, and that they should stay and watch. Sure enough, after five-ten minutes of watching, the rabbit did get away, leaving a tired (and probably hungry) fox." The moral commonly drawn is that the hare was running for his life, while the fox was running for his lunch.

2023? Print of WC by MarkesArt. 16" x 12". $18.88 through Redbubble, Dec., '24. The artist describes this as the climactic moment of the fable. I would say that it is the dramatic moment. I believe that the climactic moment is when the crane is not looking into the wolf's throat but rather when he is waiting for his reward and gets the wolf's snarl instead. Good, dramatic black-and-white artistry suitable for use in a lecture.

2015? 5 heavy-paper “PTP Art” art prints of fables. Unknown source. One extra copy of DS. These are a mystery to me in summer of 2025. They are nicely printed on heavy stock. LM and DS are particularly colorful. Nowhere on the web can I find these pictures used with Aesop’s fables, and all five that we have are characterized as from Aesop. Two image backgrounds, DS and “Ant and Chrysalis,” are featured now by Personal Touch Products, but with different texts. Several are offered in different forms on Etsy. Might someone have used PTP backgrounds, some of which have been discontinued, and added fables to them?

1963 Seven “Fabeln” by Erwin Poell, Mannheim. Texts from “Antike Fabeln” by Wolfgang Mader (1951). D. Stempel Verlag. Size. Cost? Source unknown. These very large prints feature a variety of typefaces, almost as though the publisher was advertising the possibilities he could offer. I find the mixture of text and image strong. This set is available online these days and is not expensive. Sellers seem to me to presume that these are “fables of Aesop.” I do not see that attribution here. Among the best are: “Der Esel und der Hund”; “Krebs und Schlange”; “Der Löwe und der Hase”; and “Die Tanzenden Affen.” What a joy, after years to bring these to our website!

1834? Matted, framed in glass illustration of La Fontaine's "The Fox and the Monkey," apparently by Emile Joseph Alexandre Gouget. 10.5" x 8.75". Unknown source. Here is a fifth form in which I find Gouget's work. In this case, someone has apparently separated Gouget's illustration and hand colored it effectively. The text that would have occupied the lower half of Gouget's page here becomes the verso, enhanced by the swirls that mark his fable work. The illustration finds the monkey at the "before" in this fable, where he seizes the crown. Soon he will be caught in shame in a simple trap and lose his claim to be king. Foxes do that sort of thing! The framing work was done by Romain Barillier in Paris.

A fourth group of twelve has elaborate printer's designs around the (identical) illustration and text. Each has these three signatures: Gouget Dir. Ex"; "N. PA. Xardo Sc."; and "LeMercier."

1834 30 copper engravings by Gouget of Fables of La Fontaine. Plus two duplicates of "The Peasant from the Danube. 9½" x 13". €120 from Alain Cano, Lyon, through Ebay, Feb., '25. I have enjoyed finding various forms of this set of engravings. These correspond to pages of the two volumes "Fables de La Fontaine: Edition Taille-Douce," published by LeCointe and Pougin. Their quality varies. I especially impressed with "The Spider and the Swallow"; the second illustration for "The Peasant from the Danube"; "The Dog and His Master's Lunch"; and "The Eagle and the Magpie." A real find for €4 a print! The torn left margins suggest that these were once bookpages, probably from the volumes I just mentioned.

In my short time in Paris in the summer of 2014, I managed to find a number of fable materials. Among them are broadsides or separated pages from Gouget's edition of La Fontaine in 1834 (Bodemann #279.1). There are two groups. One group of five is carefully matted but without decoration around the page of text and illustration. They are slightly colored. The seller labeled them "1834" and that was the first clue that these are Gouget's work. Gouget's signature is at the bottom of most texts. The illustrations here are slightly colored. These five are the following. And now I have found a sixth, "The Lobster and Her Young," for €20 from Albert van den Bosch, June, '23.