Select Fables of Esop and Other Fabulists. In Three Books
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Authors
Aesop
Bachet, Claude-Gaspard
Dodsley, Robert
Dodsley, James
Issue Date
1761
Type
Book, Whole
Language
Keywords
Alternative Title
Abstract
Here is Bodemann #145.1, with the description fulfilled in every detail. I have been so delighted to find a Dodsley first edition. I had worked with Dodsley at length at the Pierpont Morgan during my sabbatical. The book is in excellent condition. I think I had hoped for more in the original illustrations, presented as a set of from four to (more usually) twelve medallion-like circles on one page. They are simple and straightforward. In the size in which they are presented, there is not much room for detail or nuance. They show up much better on Hobbs' end-papers, since they are so much larger. My Rose's copy is beautifully bound in leather with 1671 at the base of the spine. There are of course here three books, respectively of ancient, modern, and original fables (54, 53, and 52 fables respectively). There is an introductory illustration and a closing vignette for each book. After all three books, there is a comprehensive listing of morals, deliberately kept separate from the stories themselves. Since there is neither a T of C nor an AI, this index also serves as the best way of finding a fable's place within the collection. For my comments on the text of Dodsley, see Crukshank's edition of 1798.
Description
Citation
Publisher
Printed by John Baskerville for R. and J. Dodsley,