Les Fables de La Fontaine II
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Authors
La Fontaine, Jean de
Issue Date
1977
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Type
Book, Whole
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Abstract
This second half of a purchase completes a series I began finding only recently. First I found Dupuis' publication of Hausman's work from 2010. Next I found a 1965 copy and presumed that it was the original edition, identical in content. The format of that book was slightly larger than that of the 2010 edition, and it turned out to be only the first half of that 2010 edition. I saw then in Bodemann that the original behind the 2010 edition was a pair of volumes done in 1970 and 1977. The 1965 edition was the original of the 1970 Volume 1. Now I have found together the 1970 Volume 1 and this 1977 Volume 2. That it is a second volume is indicated on the cover and the title-page with a pair of asterisks. It contains 38 fables on 89 pages, the last two of those pages being a T of C. The book matches the fable illustrations in the last half of the 2010 edition, starting with "Contre ceux qui ont le gout difficile" (4-5 here and 90-91 there). The typesetting is different from that in the 2010 edition. As I wrote there, TT (8-9) surprises and delights. I have never before seen an artist focus on the ducks who have lost their cargo. CW represents another surprise. Where other artists dwell on the pursuit, this is a loving picture-portrait, except that she is dangling a mouse on her fingers (12). SM (40-41) is a weird entry into anatomical and digestive processes; it images the fable perfectly. The second image for "The Lion in Love" (55) is classic. He has little idea what is hitting him -- and no defense. The four scenes of "The Villager and the Serpent" (80-81) track well the craziness at work in this story." I continue to find that Hausman's work is a major contribution to the tradition of illustration for La Fontaine's fables. As I wrote of the earlier volumes, Ren� Hausman is a celebrated illustrator of comic books in Belgium and France. Here his La Fontaine is wonderful! In image after image, I found myself saying either "He has it right!" or "I have not thought of that approach to this fable." Each fable has at least one trenchant illustration.
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Publisher
Dupuis
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DOI
Identifier
10589 (Access ID)