Fables and Tales from La Fontaine. In French and English. Now First Translated. To Which is Prefix'd, the Author's Life. London: For A. Bettsworth and C. Hitch, and C. Davis, 1734.
First edition in English, after the French of 1668.
Octavo. [x], iii-xxvi, [vi], 293 (i.e. 295), [1] pp., including errata and 1 page publisher's advertisements. Woodcut historiated chapter initials, head- and tail-pieces. Facing text in both French & English. Full contemporary sprinkled calf, re-backed; five raised bands, gilt rules with morocco spine label; interior bright and crisp. Contemporary ownership inscriptions (1 effaced) and notations, as well as 2 green ownership stamps of P.T. Clay.
First edition in English of La Fontaine's famous and beloved fables. Dedicated to the son of Louis XIV, the fables were a delightful collection of witty and satirical animal stories, often containing criticisms of politics and human nature, and were always moralizing. Though geared towards the society of the time, they contain morals and messages that continue to be relevant today.
Though La Fontaine's works were clearly influenced by such western thinkers as Aesop, Machiavelli, Horace and Boccaccio, he himself considered the great Indian sage Pilpai (author of the Panchatantra, a wonderful collection of 3rd century Indian animal fables) to be his greatest inspiration, and credits him in the introduction to his second compilation of fables printed in 1678.
La Fontaine (1621-95) was a famous French fabulist, and one of the most important French poets of the 17th century. His command and use of the French language was remarkable - Flaubert considered him to be the only poet to have truly understood and mastered the language before Hugo. His fables have delighted generations upon generations of children and adults, and are some of the most timeless stories ever written.
ESTC, 154423; Osborne, p. 568-69
ID:
4268
$
4,000