Books

1688. Anvers: Henry van Dunewalt, (parts 1, 2, and 4) and La Haye: Henry van Bulderen, (part 3), 1688. 4 vols. in one, thick 12mo, (18), 1-233 (5, table)pp. Engraved general title by Romeyn de Hooghe, separate letterpress titles to each volume, small engraved plate at the head of each fable all by Henrik Cause. Old speckled calf, gilt backstrip, gilt rubbed largely away but quite sound. In all an excellent copy of a very scarce and important book. § First printing thus, this copy inscribed at the front in an early hand "Au Comte Frobenius de Furstenberg" with the donor's initials inked out. As there were two Furstenberg families it is unclear exactly to whom this copy was donated. Landwehr (p. 314) notes: "The first illustrated edition of [La Fontaine's Fables] was published in March 1668... in Paris. It would take yet twelve years before the 124 fables were published in the Low Countries... in 1688... the first illustrated edition was published in Antwerpen by Henry van…

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.