Fables
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Authors
Gay, John
Issue Date
1727
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Type
Book, Whole
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Abstract
The program is summed up in introduction: Thus ev'ry object of creation/Can furnish hints to contemplation,/And from the most minute and mean/A virtuous mind can morals glean. 50 and 16 talky, preachy fables. Occasional wit: in I 5, the ram says that sheep get their revenge on mankind by supplying drums and parchment (for war). In I 10 a Greek-speaking elephant gets into a bookseller's shop. In I 12 a pet deer gets frisky and loses all inhibitions; the moral is pointed against country girls with soldiers. I 21 The Ratcatcher and the Cats comes close to Aesopic fable: touching and wise. Likewise, I 50's hare is deserted by all friends ; the last of them says We'll lament you ! The second volume has one great couplet: And what's a butterfly? At best,/He's but a caterpillar, drest... Fables are regularly turned against mankind as the most bestial of animals. Gay seems angry. I's illustrations are poor; Gravelot's in II are larger and better. It was a chore to read this book.
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Publisher
William Andrews Clark Memorial Library University of California,
William Andrews Clark Memorial Library, UCLA
William Andrews Clark Memorial Library, UCLA
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DOI
Identifier
571 (Access ID)