Books

Londres: NP, 1770. Hardcover. g. 12mo. XVIII, [19]-122, [10], 118, [2], [4], V, [3], [7]-129, [9], 132, [2]pp. Original spotted calf with gold lettering on spines. Two engraved frontispiece portraits of La Fontaine. Decorative head- and tailpieces. Remarkable edition of La Fontaine's "Contes," lively stories in verse, grazing and sometimes transgressing the bounds of contemporary moral standards. They are magnificently illustrated with 84 engravings by Martinet after the illustrations of Charles Dominique Eisen (1720-1778), Louis XV's Court painter, and drawing master to Madame de Pompadour. The substantial group of plates here, is the liveliest and the most adroit that Eisen ever drew. Thoroughly at home with the varied action of these lusty stories--their love passages, their intrigues, their practical jokes--he is also expert in choosing the moment in each that will best serve his purpose as an illustrator. This copy is a smaller size of the famous Fermiers généraux edition…