El Gran Tesoro de las Fábulas

Abstract

I am delighted to get a well made book produced in Mexico! Dosimont did several editions for Hemma in the 1990's, and I have no doubt that these illustrations were taken from one or several of those editions. The book varies full-colored pages of illustrations with white pages of text framed by a colored repeated floral pattern. The texts seem to be prose poetry. The illustrations lack precision; it is as though they have been recopied from elsewhere. Key symbols in the book are the printer's icon of the book and inkwell at the bottom of many texts and the larger symbol of the crow's tophat and cane on top of a large cheese on 37. The story of DS is told not with a piece of meat or cheese but with a duck whom the dog apparently had in his mouth (47); only the illustration presents the duck, while the text talks of the dog's comida. Of the large illustrations, do not miss Juno and the Peacock on 50-51. This is not a happy Juno! The two rats have a rat-sized car at their disposal in TMCM on 62-63. The flouncy milkmaid on 74 must not be missed! Her face and expression change considerably after the accident on 77. There is a life of La Fontaine on 96 and a T of C on 97. The front cover presents a nice synthesis of several fables, with FC most prominent.