Description
LA FONTAINE (Jean de). Fables choisies. Paris: Desaint & Saillant, Durand, 1755-1759. - 4 volumes in-folio, 470 x 314: frontispiece, (2 ff.), xxx, xviij, 124 pp., 70 plates; (2 ff.), ij, 135 pp., 68 plates; (2 ff.), iv, 146 pp., 68 plates; (2 ff.), ij, 188 pp., 69 plates. Granite calf, triple gilt fillet framing the boards, ornate ribbed spine, red edges (period binding). Rochambeau, 86. - Cohen, I, 548-550. Magnificent illustrated edition by Oudry, probably the most famous and beautiful of the early illustrated editions of La Fontaine's Fables. It was undertaken by the lawyer and journalist Charles-Philippe Montenault (1696-1749), who had acquired the drawings of the painter Jean-Baptiste Oudry (1686-1755) around 1751. He entrusted Charles-Nicolas Cochin with the task of enlarging these drawings and adapting them for engraving. In the Mémoires de Trévoux, Father Berthier spoke highly of this edition: "La Fontaine and Oudry have shared, as it were, the empire of the animals. The poet gave them a voice; the painter captured their manners, their games, their attitudes. The former knew how to guess what they would say, if they had formed a society among themselves; the latter had the talent to render them as they are. La Fontaine, in his fables, let himself be led by genius; Oudry, in his drawings, was guided by observation: both have produced two masterpieces which can be found together in 4 vol. in-fol." The illustrations include a frontispiece with a bust of La Fontaine and 275 plates based on Oudry's drawings, engraved under Cochin's direction by him and a team of over 40 engravers, including Aliamet, Aubert, Aveline, Baquoy, Chedel, Chenu, Choffard, Fessart, Galimard, Lebas, Lemire, Moitte, etc. Copy in contemporary binding, including the illustration for Le Singe et le Léopard (tome III, fable CLXXII) in its original state, without the mention "Au Léopard" on the banner. From the library of Aymar Jean de Nicolaï, Marquis de Goussainville (1709-1785), First President of the Paris Chamber of Accounts. Binding skilfully restored, some wear and tear. Non-missing tear at bottom of leaf R2 in first volume. Scattered brown spots, more pronounced on the edges of some leaves, notably in the third volume.
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LA FONTAINE (Jean de). Fables choisies. Paris: Desaint & Saillant, Durand, 1755-1759. - 4 volumes in-folio, 470 x 314: frontispiece, (2 ff.), xxx, xviij, 124 pp., 70 plates; (2 ff.), ij, 135 pp., 68 plates; (2 ff.), iv, 146 pp., 68 plates; (2 ff.), ij, 188 pp., 69 plates. Granite calf, triple gilt fillet framing the boards, ornate ribbed spine, red edges (period binding). Rochambeau, 86. - Cohen, I, 548-550. Magnificent illustrated edition by Oudry, probably the most famous and beautiful of the early illustrated editions of La Fontaine's Fables. It was undertaken by the lawyer and journalist Charles-Philippe Montenault (1696-1749), who had acquired the drawings of the painter Jean-Baptiste Oudry (1686-1755) around 1751. He entrusted Charles-Nicolas Cochin with the task of enlarging these drawings and adapting them for engraving. In the Mémoires de Trévoux, Father Berthier spoke highly of this edition: "La Fontaine and Oudry have shared, as it were, the empire of the animals. The poet gave them a voice; the painter captured their manners, their games, their attitudes. The former knew how to guess what they would say, if they had formed a society among themselves; the latter had the talent to render them as they are. La Fontaine, in his fables, let himself be led by genius; Oudry, in his drawings, was guided by observation: both have produced two masterpieces which can be found together in 4 vol. in-fol." The illustrations include a frontispiece with a bust of La Fontaine and 275 plates based on Oudry's drawings, engraved under Cochin's direction by him and a team of over 40 engravers, including Aliamet, Aubert, Aveline, Baquoy, Chedel, Chenu, Choffard, Fessart, Galimard, Lebas, Lemire, Moitte, etc. Copy in contemporary binding, including the illustration for Le Singe et le Léopard (tome III, fable CLXXII) in its original state, without the mention "Au Léopard" on the banner. From the library of Aymar Jean de Nicolaï, Marquis de Goussainville (1709-1785), First President of the Paris Chamber of Accounts. Binding skilfully restored, some wear and tear. Non-missing tear at bottom of leaf R2 in first volume. Scattered brown spots, more pronounced on the edges of some leaves, notably in the third volume.
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