Books

¿ Paris: Chez l'Auteur, 1765-1775.. FIRST EDITION THUS. 6 vols. 8vo (20 x 13 cm). Entirely engraved. Uniformly bound in polished French contemporary mottled calf, sides ruled with three gilt fillets, flat spines ruled in compartments enclosing gilt fleuron devices, red morocco labels, gilt inner dentelles, marbled endpapers, all edges gilt. In total 254 engraved plates comprising 7 engraved titles, engraved frontispiece, engraved dedication, and 245 engraved plates, plus 243 vignettes, and 226 culs-de-lampe by Bardin, Bidault, Caresme, Desrais, HouÎl, Kobell, LeclËre, Leprince, Loutherbourg, Meyer and Monnet. The text engraved by Montulay and DrouÎt. Ex libris Michel Cail with their book plate to each volume. Some trivial shelfwear, contents clean, generally an excellent set. "This work was the creation of the engraver Fessard, who dedicated it to the Dauphin. He evidently hoped to rival the great edition illustrated by Oudry, and in this effort he didn't altogether fail. With‚Ķ

Fables choisies, mises en vers is a celebrated collection of fables written by the French poet Jean de La Fontaine. First published in 1668, this classic work comprises a series of short tales, each with its own moral lesson, inspired by Aesop and other classical sources.