Encyclopedia of Fable

Abstract

This book has been a disappointment. I rejoiced to find it and have probably tried consulting it six or eight times, never to find helpful information. I have tried some experiments here in an attempt to keep an open mind. Ade does not show up in the offerings but has one reference in the index. Steinhöwel likewise does not have his own section but has two references in the index. Jean Anouilh gets no mention at all. I notice a nice collection of Aesopic images and aphorisms on 12-13. Babrius has a section of his own, but Avianus does not; he does get several references in the index and is included on 236-8 under Latin Fable. There is a helpful list on 381-92 of major authors of fable and fable-based literature. That is followed, however, by a page of Films of Fable headed by Alice in Wonderland, A Midsummer Night's Dream, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, A Christmas Carol, and Fastasia. Are those fables? I am glad to see Robert Louis Stevenson included, but wonder about the full-page illustration from Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. My feeling is that I cannot rely on this book. 451 pages.