LA FONTAINE, Jean de.

Inquire · Offered by Peter Harrington

Fables choisies, mises en vers. First edition, large paper issue, and one of a small number printed on thick holland paper, of "one of the most ambitious and successful of all illustrated books" (Ray). Jean-Baptiste Oudry's sketches for La Fontaine's Fables were executed for his own enjoyment between 1729 and 1735. They were purchased by Montenault, who asked the finest engraver in France, Charles-Nicolas Cochin the Younger, to take charge of their transformation into finished prints for this edition. Cochin redrew the original designs, improving the figures and backgrounds and supplying precise lines for the engravers. The final result was thus their dual achievement. Oudry's images were among the most influential of all contemporary artistic creations, inspiring imitations in media as varied as Beauvais tapestry, porcelain and furniture. A handsome set of one of the glories of rococo book production, ranking in Ray's "100 Outstanding French Illustrated Books, 1700-1914". "The Fables unquestionably represent the peak of La Fontaine's achievement. The first six books, known as the premier recueil ("first collection"), were published in 1668 and were followed by five more books (the second recueil) in 1678-79 and a twelfth book in 1694. The Fables in the second collection show even greater technical skill than those in the first and are longer, more reflective, and more personal... La Fontaine did not invent the basic material of his Fables; he took it chiefly from the Aesopic

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