Quelques Fables de La Fontaine
No Thumbnail Available
Authors
La Fontaine, Jean de
Issue Date
1927
Volume
Issue
Type
Language
Keywords
Alternative Title
Abstract
104 pages, including 73 chiaroscuro sepia-wash woodcuts of various sizes, 64 of them with the 25 fables indicated in the final T of C. 10” x 13½”. This copy, #10 of 121, is dedicated to Robert de Beauchamp. The woodcuts were printed by hand according to the Japanese method of Yoshijiro Urushibara. The printing was assisted by Germaine de Coster. As Bodemann notes, six of the woodcuts are full-page. There are also initials for every fable. Bodemann mentions that the fables are particularly human struggles, presented generally in several phases, with others, with nature, or with fate. She finds accentuation of the comic and strong human gestures in contrast with the soft beiges and browns. The figures often lack sharp contours. This copy includes, bound-in, a copy of some 41 lots, apparently up for auction on January 31, 1928. The covers are brown Morrocan leather. Do not miss the interior of the covers: beautifully tooled leather repeating a motif of red fruit. The title-page illustration of La Fontaine observing a column of ants is indeed surprising – and delightful. Among the most dramatic full-page illustrations are SW (39); TB (83); and “The Satyr and the Traveler” (99). Among the partial-page woodcuts, I appreciate especially the second illustration for “The Old Woman and the Two Servant Girls” (53); three of the phases of MSA (67-71); and the first two for “Women and Secrets” (87, 89). This large, heavy book smells like mothballs!
Description
Citation
Publisher
Les cent Bibliphiles
License
Journal
Volume
Issue
PubMed ID
DOI
Identifier
12687 (Access ID)