Select Fables of Esop and Other Fabulists. In Three Books
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Authors
Aesop
Dodsley, James
Dodsley, Robert
Issue Date
1764
Type
Book, Whole
Language
Keywords
Alternative Title
Abstract
This is, by all indications, the 1764 second edition of the Birmingham Dodsley. Tips from Serendipity's markings and from my favorite private collector have helped me. The private collector's description indicates that this second edition lacked the medallion illustrations of the first edition. The illustrations here thus include a frontispiece, identical with that in the first edition. Bodemann #145.1 illustrates this frontispiece and describes it this way: Aesop hebt den mit Fabelmotiven bedruckten Schleier der Wahrheit. Further illustrations occur at the beginning of each of the three books: beehive and bees; swan and stork; and squirrel. There is also an elaborate design at the end of each book. All six of these are signed by S(amuel) Wale. The print of the text is much larger in this edition. Thus the first page presents only about two-thirds of the material presented in the first edition. The cover of this copy has separated, and there is significant foxing throughout. There is a note, perhaps from Serendipity, that fourteen of the fifteen illustrations are missing. I think now that that statement may be incorrect for this second edition, which seems never to have had illustrations beyond those present here. Here is what my favorite private collector writes of his 1764 edition: In three books. Second edition. 8vo., engraved frontispiece each of the 3 books with an illustration at head of fable 1 and a tail piece at the end of the book. pp. [ii], lxxvii, [i], 186, [28] index. All that information squares with this book. Notice that that index at the back of the book is really a T of C, and it lasts for twenty-eight pages. For my comments on the text of Dodsley, see Crukshank's edition of 1798.
Description
Citation
Publisher
John Baskerville
printed by John Baskervlle [sic] for R. and J. Dodsley,
printed by John Baskervlle [sic] for R. and J. Dodsley,