Aesop's Fables Embellished with One Hundred and Eleven Emblematical Devices

Abstract

This is a curious find. At first it seems very similar to two smaller books, published in 1839 and 1841, with which it shares the words emblematical devices and a title-page illustration of a man seated in the countryside with a scroll in hand and animals nearby. And in fact all three books present Croxall's preface and 110 of his fables. What is different here? This book is slightly larger in format (4 x almost 6½). Its illustrations are different and are generally mirror-opposites of the illustrations in those editions. It lacks the tail-pieces of the other books, and so has the smaller number of illustrations (111 with the frontispiece rather than the other books' upward of one hundred and fifty). It acknowledges Croxall as the author of the preface. It finishes on 266, not 228, and uses larger typeface. As in the other editions, it seems that the first paragraph of Croxall's Application is taken in each case. T of C at the front. At the back there are advertisements for (other) books published by J. Carpenter, J. Booker, and J. Carr. It has gilt-stamped leather. Its spine is chipped and cracked. See my comments on the 1839 edition.