Fables de la Fontaine

Title

en_US Fables de la Fontaine

en_US Les Grand Classiques Française Illustrés

Description

en_US This is a hardbound book (hard cover)

en_US Language note: French

en_US Jean Muzi

Creator

en_US de La Fontaine, Jean

Contributor

en_US Sauvage, Sylvain

Date

2016-01-25T19:29:21Z

en_US 2004-09

en_US 1934

Date Available

2016-01-25T19:29:21Z

Date Issued

en_US 1934

Abstract

en_US I had known of this book earlier, since it is reviewed in L'Illustration of December, 1934. I find the pen-and-ink (?) illustrations of Sylvain Sauvage witty delightful, and often farcical, exaggerated, and dramatic. There is a whole series of these before we ever meet a fable: the wolf as shepherd (pre-title-page); death as a huge scarecrow meeting the woodgatherer (frontispiece); the proud ass carrying relics (title-page); The Bear and the Hermit (at the start of the life of La Fontaine); The Astrologer (one of the best illustrations here, and one I think I have seen before, here at the start of the preface); The Two Pigeons (at the start of the dedication to the Dauphin); and FC (at the start of Book I). The illustrations recur then at the rate of about three or four per book of fables. Among the best are The Pedant and the Drowning Boy, another strong farcical presentation (35); CW (56); The Wolf, the Mother, and the Child (102); The Lion and the Hunter (131); The Women and the Secret (189); The Man, the Wife, and the Thief (238); and The Old Man and the Three Youths (289). There are also small endpieces throughout, as at the end of each book; I like particularly The Young Widow on 151. A number of the pages are still uncut, but all of the illustrations are now accessible. One finds at the end both a T of C and an AI, followed by one last endpiece and one last lovely illustration of a shepherdess. The book is beautifully bound in half-leather, with marbled covers and endpapers. What a treasure!

Identifier

en_US 5205 (Access ID)

uri

http://hdl.handle.net/10504/80774

Language

en_US fre

Publisher

en_US Librairie Hachette

en_US Paris

Subject

en_US PQ1808.A2 1934

en_US Jean de La Fontaine

en_US Title Page Scanned

Type

en_US Book, Whole