The Fables of La Fontaine. Translated into English Verse by Walter Thornbury. With Three Hundred Illustrations by Gustave Dore and One Hundred Etchings by Famous French Etchers.
New York, London, Paris and Melbourne. Cassell & Company. N.d. c. [1885]. Hardcover. folio, 30cm, "edition de luxe", In Two volumes, lxiv,(320) & 757pp., frontis, 100 engraved plates on heavy stock paper, with tissue guards & over 300 text and half page illustrations, floral decorated endpapers, in the original pebbled red cloth, paper spine labels, some leaves uncut, a fine set. (cgc) An exceptionally illustrated edition of La Fontaine's collection of 237 fables first published in 1668. This edition illustrated by Dore first appeared from 1867 to 1870, published in 37 parts. The de luxe edition includes all 37 parts with an extensive essay on the life and works of Jean de la Fontaine by French critic, Nicholas Geruze (1799-1865). Also included is La Fontaine's "Life of Aesop, the Phrygian", his dedication to the Dauphin, the grandson of Louis XIV and his original Preface. Of particular note are the magnificent engraved plates with etchings by French artist, Jean Baptiste Oudry (1686-1755) and engraved by Cochin, Sornique, Ouvrier, Tardieu and others. Item #36228
Price: $2,000.00