- 182
La Fontaine, Jean de
Estimate
10,000 - 15,000 USD
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Description
Fables choisies mises en vers. Paris: Chez Desaint & Saillant [et] Durant, de L'Imprimerie de Charles-Antoine Jombert, 1755
4 volumes, folio (19 x 13 in.; 480 x 330 mm). Engraved frontispiece of Aesop by N. Dupuis and C. N. Cochin after Oudry, 275 fine engraved plates after Jean-Baptiste Oudry (redrawn by Charles Nicolas Cochin fils) by Baquoy, Prévost, Legrand, Lemire and others, second state of plate 172 with "Le léopard" printed on the banner, numerous title vignettes, head- and tailpieces after Bachellier by Le Sueur, all half-titles present; a few plates lightly discolored or foxed in margins, half-title in vol. 1 foxed, half-title and title-page in vol. 2 discolored, moderate text discoloration in vol. 2 affecting about 20 quires. Contemporary cat's paw calf panelled gilt with floral cornerpieces, the spines in 7 compartments (2 reserved for cognac morocco lettering and numbering pieces) richly gilt, marbled endpapers, edges gilt; raised bands on spine rubbed, joints at spine ends, neatly repaired.
4 volumes, folio (19 x 13 in.; 480 x 330 mm). Engraved frontispiece of Aesop by N. Dupuis and C. N. Cochin after Oudry, 275 fine engraved plates after Jean-Baptiste Oudry (redrawn by Charles Nicolas Cochin fils) by Baquoy, Prévost, Legrand, Lemire and others, second state of plate 172 with "Le léopard" printed on the banner, numerous title vignettes, head- and tailpieces after Bachellier by Le Sueur, all half-titles present; a few plates lightly discolored or foxed in margins, half-title in vol. 1 foxed, half-title and title-page in vol. 2 discolored, moderate text discoloration in vol. 2 affecting about 20 quires. Contemporary cat's paw calf panelled gilt with floral cornerpieces, the spines in 7 compartments (2 reserved for cognac morocco lettering and numbering pieces) richly gilt, marbled endpapers, edges gilt; raised bands on spine rubbed, joints at spine ends, neatly repaired.
Provenance
F. De Kinder (armorial bookplate)
Literature
Cohen de Ricci 548–50; Ray French 5; Rochambeau 86
Catalogue Note
A magnificent large-paper copy of the most opulent edition of La Fontaine's retelling of the Aesopic fables. Oudry produced his sketches for the fables while director of the Beauvais tapestry factory between 1729 and 1733. Some of the finished plates were exhibited at the Salon of 1753, and the work was subsequently published in three issues by subscription.