Jean de La Fontaine & Honoré de Balzac, OEuvres complètes de La Fontaine, ornées de trente vignettes dessinées par Devéria et gravées par Thompson. Notice sur la vie de La Fontaine by Balzac. Paris, A. Sautelet, 1826. In-8, [8]-VIII-493p.) Edition illustrated with headbands by Achille Devéria engraved on end wood by Charles Thompson, printed on two columns. The typeface used is Mignonne, listed in the catalog of the type foundry run by Balzac in 1826-1828. First edition of Balzac's Notice. The verso of the title page reads "H. Balzac, éditeur-propriétaire, rue des Marais-S.-Germain, n° 17". In 1825, Balzac joined forces with bookseller Urbain Canel, physician Charles Carron and a reformed officer, Benet de Montcarville, to publish the complete works of Molière, La Fontaine, Corneille and Racine in a compact edition in a single in-8 volume. Only the first two projects came to fruition, causing Balzac's first bankruptcy, preceded by that of his main partner Urbain Canel. The novelist's sister and unhappy businessman, Laure Surville, recounts that "Balzac, transformed into a speculator, had to start by publishing books, which was indeed what he attempted. He was the first to come up with the idea of compact editions, which have since enriched the book trade, and published the complete works of Molière and La Fontaine in volume form. He managed both publications simultaneously, fearing that one would be taken away from him while he was working on the other. If these editions did not succeed, it was because the publisher, unknown in bookshops, was not supported by his patented colleagues, who refused to sell and receive these books; the sum lent was not sufficient for the numerous advertisements that might have attracted buyers; these editions therefore remained completely unknown: within a year of their publication, my brother had not sold twenty copies, and to avoid paying the rent on the store where they were piled up and lost, he disposed of them, at the price of the gross weight of the beautiful paper that had cost so much to blacken." ("Balzac, sa vie, ses œuvres", Paris, Librairie nouvelle, 1858, pp.77-78) This failure, which explains the rarity of the title, nonetheless gave the novelist a taste for printing, since he became a printer immediately afterwards, before going bankrupt again. Contemporary full brown calf, spine with 4 nerves decorated with gilt fillets, 4 cold fleurons, gilt fillet and large cold frame on the boards, roulettes at the head and tail, marbled edges. 3 corners worn, general yellowing of paper. (Carteret, III, 364; Fléty, p. 80; Rochambeau p.652, 21). Rare copy in full contemporary binding.