Fables de La Fontaine Edition Taille-Douce, Tomes 1er/2eme
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1834
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Partial copy of Bodemann #279.1. This large-format book first appeared in sixty-three separate parts. There should be 246 half-page illustrations. The first of them is a bust of La Fontaine set into a pastoral scene including mother and child as well as a dog and some sheep. Apparently the notice on the life of La Fontaine below this illustration stems from Walckenaer. That page is present, as are the two title-pages and the two table-of-contents pages. When one opens this book, one experiences some confusion. The first confusion comes from the nature of the table of contents for each of the volumes. The T of C in each case arranges the fables by La Fontaine's books, but the order it uses within the book is alphabetical. The order in which the fables actually should occur is, I gather, La Fontaine's order. I write I gather because of the second confusion. Much of this book is missing, and what is here is not well ordered. One opens the first volume to page 64 and MSA! Its two pages are followed by 43 (BC) and 46 (SW). Succeeding pages in the (mostly lacking) first volume are 49, 56, 3 (4 pages), 53, 28 (bis), 37 (bis), 39 (bis), 45, 43, and 41. I do not know whether to be angry or to be delighted that I found a weird copy of the book! The illustration styles are quite varied. I am taken with the dog's inactivity while the wolf kills the ass on 56. The Wolf and the Fox (41) makes a good presentation of a traditional visual theme. Of the human scenes, The Fool Who Sells Wisdom may be the most active (53). The second half seems more complete but is still disorganized. There is a wondrously vigorous bear about to smash the fly above his friend on one of the several page 44's. The Animal in the Moon (53) is well presented here. It seems that most pages from 37 through 64 are here with the exception of 39, 42, and 49. In many cases, different pages--up to four of them--have the same number. The organizing motif intended by the publisher may have been the indications at the end of each fable showing its book and number. As Bodemann notes, the illustrations often follow Oudry. There is a good deal of repair evident in the book. Its spine is weak.
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Lecointe et Pougin, Libraires
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5406 (Access ID)