228 - LA FONTAINE. [FERMIERS GÉNÉRAUX].

LA FONTAINE. [FERMIERS GÉNÉRAUX]. Tales and Short Stories in Verse. (Paris), 1762. 2 volumes in small 8vo format, (2)-XIV-268-(2) pp. and (8) pp. of Instructions to the Binder; (3)-VIII-306-(2) pp. and (14) pp. of Instructions to the Binder, on laid paper with generous margins. 19th-century red morocco, spine with raised ribs decorated with floral panels featuring double gilt fillets and interlacing, gilt title and volume number, gilt date at the foot, triple gilt and floral frames in the spandrels on the covers, gilt edges, guilloché caps, double gilt fillets on the edges, gilt garland with plant and animal motifs on the inner covers highlighted by gilt fillets and scrolls, handmade paper endpapers [Lortic]. Description: A beautiful, pristine copy. Illustrated with 80 copperplate engravings in black by Eisen, 4 vignettes, and 53 end-piece illustrations by Choffard, signed in dotted lines. Includes the two portraits—of La Fontaine and Eisen—engraved by Picquet. Edition known as the “Fermiers Généraux” edition. The illustrations for *Le Cas de conscience* and *Le Diable de Papefiguière* are uncovered. A very fine copy with superb prints, bound in a fine and rich morocco leather binding by Lortic that once belonged to him personally. Provenance: from the library of the bookbinder Lortic, bearing his engraved bookplate. Accompanied by a signed purchase invoice from November 1895, with a receipt from the Druinaud bookstore in Poitiers for Mr. Barilleau, a professor at the law school. Tchemerzine, III, 862. Cohen, 569–570.