Books

Paris: Desaint & Saillant, Durand. , 1755.. Bindings slightly worn, and uniform slight browning due to age, otherwise a very good copy. . Binding: Contemporary full brown calf, upper and lower boards with tooled border, spine with 6 raised bands, title on two, all edges in gilt. Pasted and free marbled endpapers. , Notes: One of the greatest French illustrated books. Jean de La Fontaine (1621–1695) was the most famous French fabulist and one of the most widely read French poets of the 17th century. He is known above all for his Fables, which provided a model for subsequent fabulists across Europe and numerous alternative versions in France, and in French regional languages. Divided into 12 books, there are 239 of the Fables, varying in length from a few lines to some hundred, those written later being as a rule longer than the earlier. Silvestre de Sacy has commented that they supply delights to three different ages: the child rejoices in the freshness and vividness of the story,…

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.