La Fontaine: Selected Fables
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Authors
de La Fontaine, Jean
LoMascolo, Robert
Issue Date
2009
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Type
Book, Whole
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Abstract
Let me start with the press's own description: 5½ x 7¾; 30 pages. Monotype composition with over 300 handset typographic ornaments. Letterpress printed with 8 linoleum illustrations tipped in. Hot foil stamping. Printed on machine-made cotton paper. Illustrated free end pages and end papers. Flatback binding paper over boards with title in gilt on spine. Then I will add the maker's own description: This volume of La Fontaine was principally inspired by the work of Bruce Rogers and Fredric Warde. The ornaments, a favorite of both Rogers and Warde, were originally designed by Robert Granjon and used in his configuration on the end sheets. The linoleum cut illustrations in this volume are based on Florentine woodcuts from the 1500s. This book is highly unusual in that all of the type and ornaments have been cast and printed from metal type, Centaur, designed by Rogers, Arrighi, designed by Warde, and the ornaments by Granjon, were all freshly cast specifically for this volume in Monotype. As one of only 33 copies, it is a real treasure! It is a virtue and not a defect of the book that the author had to correct by hand his own typo madecotton in the closing colophon. I cannot establish who was the translator, but it seems not to be Wright, Spector, or Moore. Perhaps LoMascolo did it himself. The seven fables presented here are: The Raven Who Would Rival The Eagle, The Ass Carrying Relics, The Acorn & The Pumpkin, The Raven & The Fox, The Two Bulls & The Frog, The Thieves & The Ass, and The Miller, His Son & The Ass. My prize for the best illustration goes to the first of the two for MSA, which shows the ass hanging by his tied hooves from a pole. I was very fortunate to learn of and have a chance to get this lovely book!
Description
Citation
Publisher
Excelsior: The Press of Robert LoMascolo
Wells College]
Wells College]
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Identifier
10054 (Access ID)