AESOP.

Select Fables of Esop and Other Fabulists. In Three Books.

London: Printed for R. and J. Dodsley..., 1761. FIRST EDITION. 8vo, pp. [ii], iv, lxiii [lxxiv blank], 130, [3], 133 - 175, 177 - 204, [28] pp. index, engraved frontispiece, 15 full-page engraved plates usually with 12 small engravings on each leaf, but with two leaves having fewer, 3 engraved vignettes, 3 engraved tail-pieces, 19th century marbled boards, leather label; upper corner of fore-margin of frontispiece (very slightly browned) repaired, P5 creased with fore-margin very slightly frayed. A modest copy. This edition of Aesop was edited and partially written by Robert Dodsley; published on 23 February 1761, it was an instant success. James E. Tierney, in his edition of Dodsley's correspondences notes that the Monthly Review called it "ingenious...elegant...and very useful...a classical performance." The Critical Review praised Dodsley as the "best prose-writer of apologues of this or any country." There are fables by Aesop, as well as more recent writers, not to mention ones by Dodsley and his friends, and Dodsley covered himself in glory with this publication. It was also printed by Baskerville in a larger and more elegant format (Gaskell 14). The work was reprinted several times in the 18th century. ESTC N21210 locates copies in O; CaOHM, CLU-S/C, CLU-C, GEU, MH-H, NcD; OOxM. There is also a copy in the Spencer Library, Kansas. Copies of the Baskerville printing are more common.

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Book number: 5676

Catalogue: Fables

Keywords: fables allegory literature

APULIEUS.

Psyche. Traduction nouvelle par Victor Develay De la Bibliotheque-SeGenevieve.

Paris Librairie des Bibliophiles Rue Saint-Honore, 338. 1873. FIRST EDITION of this translation. Small 8vo (in 4s), 106 x 62 mms., pp. 133 [134 printer's notice, 135 - 136 adverts], including half-title, title-page in red and black, handsomely bound in full contemporary red morocco, gilt borders on covers, floral ornaments in each corner of border, spine gilt in compartments, all edges gilt, with the initials "P. W." in gilt on front cover. A fine and attractive copy. Victor Develay (1828 - ?) translated a number of works from Latin into French, but it is not clear if he ever translated Asinus Aureus in its entirety. Limitation notice on verso of half-title: "10 exemplaires sor papier de Chine/ 500 - sur papier vergé"; this is one of the latter (laid paper).

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Book number: 7271

Catalogue: Fables

Keywords: fables translation literature

BOOTHBY (Brooke), Sir:

Fables and Satires. With a Preface on the Esopean Fable.

Edinburgh: Printed by George Ramsey and Company, for Archibald Constable..., 1809. 2 volumes in 1. 8vo, 184 x 112 mms., pp. [lxiii - lxiii [lxiv blank], 192; x, 241 [241 blank], bound in contemporary half plum calf, gilt spine; binding a little worn, but a good copy. The Quarterly Review noticed the work in 1810, beginning with this amusing observation: "Although the well-known division of authors into writers for fame - writers for bread - and writers for both is tolerably comprehensive on the whole; yet the classification, we conceive, may be conveniently extended, by adding to it the farther division, of writers from ennui.... The pupil of the School of Ennui is usually guiltless, in his outset, of any designs upon the attention of the public; but his little performances accumulate by degrees...; he induces a good-natured friend with a recital...and his good-natured friend can scarcely refuse to praise [the work]: thus encouraged, by a person of the most unequivocal and sincerity, the author deliberates no longer - he sends for a printer, rushes into the jaws of the press, and becomes a lamental victim...."

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Book number: 10070

Catalogue: Fables

Keywords: fables satire literature

[BOUREAU - DELANDES (Andre Francois)]:

Pigmalion ou La Statue Animée.

Berlin [no publisher] 1753 Small 8vo, 145 x 78 mms., pp. vi, [7] - 69 [70 blanks], engraved title-page with vignette of flowers in a basket, with 8 blank leaves before title-page and 9 blank leaves after last leaf of text, contemporary lightly mottled calf, gilt border on covers, gilt spine, red morocco label, marbled end-papers, with large contemporary engraved ex-libris (Claud Joyant) to verso of free endpaper, showing a rural scene with lake, flowers, etc.; and a smaller engraving of Pigmalion et Galathee pasted to facing recto; title-page and following leaf browned The French philosopher André-François Boureau-Deslandes (1689–1757) was one of the precursors of the group whose efforts resulted in the Encyclopedie. The work was first published in 1742 and in the same year was condemned to be burnt by the Parlement de Dijon (some sources give 1741 for the first edition). The work tells the now familiar story of a statue which, when kissed, comes to life, acquires feelings and a soul. No copies traced in Copac; WorldCat locates copies at North Carolina Chapel Hill and Johns Hopkins. See Marc André Bernier, "Mécanique des sensations et conception du mariage dans Pigmalion ou La Statue Animée" in Sexualité, mariage et famille au XVIIIe siècle (1998).

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Book number: 7995

Catalogue: Fables

Keywords: fables illustration literature

[FOULIS PRESS]. GAY (John):

Fables by the Late Mr. Gay. In Two Volumes.

Glasgow, Printed for Alexander M'Kenzie [no date], [?1755]. 2 volumes in 1. 12mo, 160 x 92 mms., pp. viii, [9] - 192, with X2 paginated 164 on recto and 163 on verso, registration continuous throughout, volume 2 with half-title only, 19th century half calf, gilt spine, marbled boards. A very good copy. The printer, Andrew and Robert Foulis, is identified by the typeface. In this issue, page 35 is not signed E2, but in other respects it conforms to ESTC T13842 (BL and NLS), without the printing features identified in ESTC T18340. The Foulis brothers printed Gay's Fables under their own imprint in 1761, as well as Poems on Several Occasions in 1751. Not in Gaskell.

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Book number: 8331

Catalogue: Fables

Keywords: fables printing history literature

GAY (John):

Fables. By the late Mr. Gay. The Seventh [Fifth]Edition.

London: Printed for J. and R. Tonson and J. Watts. 1753. 2 volumes. 8vo, 200 x 117 mms., pp. [xiv], 194; [iv], 155 [156 blank], volume 2 a fifth edition, with the binder having bound leaves signed (a) - [(a2)], between the last two leaves (M1.2, pp. 154 - 155), engraved vignette on title-page of and engraved head-pieces for each of the fifty fables in volume 1 (mostly by Van Der Gucht after Kent), engraved frontispiece and 16 full-page engraved plates, one for each fable in volume 2, mostly by G. Scotin after H. Gravelot and many plates with a date of 1738, contemporary calf, gilt spines, red leathr labels; bindings a bit scratched, front hinge volume 1 cracked and cover holding on for dear life, but a good set with four bookplates: Earl of Munster, The Honourable G. FitzClarence (1841), Lt. Col. Fitz Clarence, and, and A M Broadley (1902). George Augustus Frederick FitzCalrence, First earl of Munster (1794–1842) was the eldest son of the actress Dorothy Jordan (1761 - 1816) and the Duke of Clarence, later King William IV (1765 - 1837); and the two other FitzClarence bookplates are those of his children. A. M. Broadly is the author and book collector Alexander Meyrick Broadley (1847 - 1916), known for "grangerizing" some of his books with additional illustrations. Since this edition of Gay's Fables, first published in 1727, was well-illustrated, it presumably escaped his attentions on that score. Fable 50 in the first volume is a representation of Gay as a female rabbit being pursued by hounds. The second volume of fables was first published in 1738, after Gay's death in 1732, with Alexander Pope overseeing the publication. -

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Book number: 8397

Catalogue: Fables

Keywords: fables illustration

GAY (John):

Fables By John Gay With a Life of the Author and embellished with Seventy Plates.

London Printed for John Stockdale, Piccadilly, 1793. FIRST STOCKDALE EDITION. 2 volumes. Large 8vo, 257 x 163 mms., pp. [ii] iii - xi [xii blank], 225 [226 blank]; [ii], iii - vii [viii blank], 187 [188 adverts], engraved frontispiece in volume, engraved title-page in both volumes, first issue with long "s" in text, 67 engraved plates, including 12 by William Blake, contemporary tree calf, with later rebacked in lighter calf, morocco labels; foxing and offsetting with plates, hinges reinforced with tape, corners worn. The plates engraved by Blake appear in volume at pages 1, 29, 59, 73, 99, 109, 125, 133, 181; and in volume 2, at 1, 105, and 181. Blake was one of the subscribers, along with six of the other seven engravers, viz. Audinet, Granger, Lovegrove, Mazell, Skelton, and Wilson. Bentley: Blake Books. 460 A.

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Book number: 10499

Catalogue: Fables

Keywords: fables engraving literature

GELLERT (Christian Fürchtgott):

Fabelen en Vertelsels nederduitsche vaerzen gevolgd.

Te Amsterdam, nij deErven P. Meijer, en G. Warnars, 1784. 3 volumes. 12mo, 132 x 74 mms., pp. [iv], 124; [vi], 132; [ii], 110 [111 - 112 index], engraved vignette of Gellert on each title-page, engraved frontispiece in volume 1, 149 engraved plates, by N. van der Meer after J. Buys, contemporary continental half calf, speckled boards, spines ornately gilt in compartments, olive morocco labels. A very good to fine set, with the bookplate of Walther Konigsbeerger in each volume. Gellert (1715 - 1769) studied theology at Leipzig University but eventually became a tutor in philosophy, where his lectures were widely appreciated by both students and colleagues. Fabeln und Erzählungen was published in 1746-1748 and translated into other European languages. Gellert modelled his fables on those of Fontaine, and several were set to music, most notably by Beethoven.

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Book number: 8017

Catalogue: Fables

Keywords: fables fiction literature

HANDS (Several):

The Court of Atalantis. Containing, A Four Years History of that Famous Island, Political and Gallant; Intermixt with Fables and Epistles in Verse and Prose. By Several Hands.

London: Printed and Sold by J. Roberts in Warwick-Lane, 1714. FIRST EDITION. 8vo, 187 x 113 mms.,pp. [ii], vi [vii - viii Contents], 310, page 178 correctly numbered, recent modern half calf, marbled boards, title in gilt on spine; some light browning and waterstaining to margins, but a good copy.

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Book number: 9926

Catalogue: Fables

Keywords: fables fiction literature

LANGHORNE (John):

The Fables of Flora. The Fifth Edition.

London: Printed for T. Bekcet..., 1773. 4to, 207 x 153 mms., pp. [9], 10 - 65 [66 blank, 67 - 68 adverts, including half-title, engraved vignette on title-page, original boards, spine of marbled paper (slightly defective with pieces missing) The first edition was published in 1771 and received somewhat sniffily by The Monthly Review, which concluded its assessment, "On the whole, we may pronounce, of these Fables, that, with all their poetical merit, they contain more ornament than substance, more description than design, more fancy than moral." It fared little better in The Critical Review: "Dr. Langhorne certainly over rates the merits of his Fables.... The plan of these Fables is trifling; and it is ill conducted.... If smooth and lulling versification can atone for the want of manly sense, these Fables will bring their author a temporary reputation."

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Book number: 8794

Catalogue: Fables

Keywords: fables poetry literature

[LAWRENCE (Herbert)]:

The Passions Personify'd in Familiar Fables.

London: Printed for J. Whiston...and M. Lawrence... [no date], [1773] FIRST AND ONLY EDITION. Tall 8vo (in 4s), pp. [ii], iv [v Contents, vi "Explanation of the Frontispiece," vii recto plate on viii], 104, with engraved frontispiece and 12 engraved plates (not included in numeration], contemporary calf, rebacked, with title in gilt on spine; text a bit fingered and binding worn and shabby, but a decent copy with the amusing bookplate of John T. Beer on the front paste-down end-paper. "John T. Beer was a successful Merseyside clothier and an avid book collector, who turned to fore-edge painting after his retirement and produced hundreds of works between 1884 and 1900. As he was not a professional painter working on commission, Beer was able to select books from his own collection, including several incunabula, and decorate them to his own taste" (scolarcardiff.wordpress.com). This copy, alas, does not have a fore-edge painting. The Monthly Review for May, 1773, began rather sniffily, "We were rather prepossessed against these fables, by the Author's preface; which, not having the merit of satire, has many of the effects of a disagreeable and offensive pertness: and we concluced the Writer to be, if not an immoral, at least an impractical member of the community. We were agreeably disappointed upon reading the fables; and, though they have many faulty lines and passages, we can recommend them to the Reader, as having some poetical merit, and being perfectly moral and practical" (The words in italics are quoted from the author's preface.) The work was often attributed to Edward Young.

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Book number: 9360

Catalogue: Fables

Keywords: fables illustration literature

LE GRAND, (D'Aussey, Pierre Jean-Baptiste):

Fabliaus or Tales, Abridged from French Manuscripts of the XIIth and XIIIth Centuries By M. Le Grand, Selected and Translated into English Verse. With a Preface and Notes. Vo. 1. [All Published].

London: Printed by W. Bulmer...Sold by R. Faulder..., 1796. Large 8vo, 230 x 162 mms., pp. [iv], xxxv [xxxvi blank] [3] 4 - 280, engraved wooduct on title-page, 24 head and tale woodcuts, finely bound, by C. Hering with his pink ticket on the upper margin of the verso of the front free end-paper, in contemporary straight grain red morocco, double gilt borders on covers, with gilt fleurons at each corner, gilt spine, all edges gilt; front joint very slightly rubbed, but a very good and attractive copy with the autograph "J. [or S] Hafford" on the top margin of the title-page, armorial bookplate of Viscount Granville, probably Granville Leveson-Gower, 1st Earl Granville (1773 - 1846). The dedicatory verses by the translator are signed: G. L. W. [i.e. Gregory Lewis Way]; the preface and notes are by G. Ellis. One of the owners has added text to the initials in order to complete the surnames in this copy. The woodcuts are by John and Thomas Bewick. The work was originally issued in two volumes, with Bulmer printing 750 copies of the first volume and 1000 of the second volume; the first volume was re-issued, as above, in a printing of 250 copies to correct the discrepancy. The notice in the British Critic described it as "beautiful in its form, as well as pleasing in its contents...the typography belongs to the first class of Bulmerian work and the vignette ornaments are...executed on wood by the Bewicks." Tattersfield: Thomas Bewick: The Complete Illustrative Work (2011), TB 2.167.

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Book number: 9302

Catalogue: Fables

Keywords: fables binding literature

Mérard de Saint-Just, Anne-Jeanne-Félicité d'Ormoy,

Bergeries et Opuscules

En Arcadie, Et se trouve a Paris, chez Lamy..., 1780. FIRST EDITION. 12mo (in 6s), 124 x 72 mms., pp. [iv], 169 [ 170 blank], additional engraved title-page preceding printed title-page, contemporary French cal, gilt border on covers; top and base of spine chipped, corners slightly worn, binding a bit rubbed; some browning and foxing, engraved title-page slightly soiled, several contemporary autographs on verso of front free end-paper facing engraved title, with a name repeated on verso of engraved title-page First edition of this rare collection of works by the prolific French writer Anne d'Ormoy, (17651830). Comprising a series of eleven contes on pastoral and moral themes, the work is dedicated, fulsomely, to the author's husband, the writer SimonPierre Mérard de Saint Just, who was for many years Maîtred'Hôtel of the future Louis XIII, and whom she had married shortly before. The various tales celebrate the loves and intrigues of shepherds and shepherdesses, anticipating some of the themes of d'Ormoy's Mon Journal d'un an of 1788. Anne-Jeanne-Félicité Martin d'Ormoy (1755 - 18300was the daughter of Claude Martin d'Ormoy, president of the Pithiviers election (1755), and of Charlotte Chaumat. This was her first book with acloying dedication to her husband, the writer SimonPierre Mérard de Saint Just, who was for many years Maître d'Hôtel of the future Louis XIII. The text consists of eleven short stories or tales almost entirely on bucolic themes. Pickering and Chatto, catalogue 800 "Summer Miscellany"

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Book number: 10633

Catalogue: Fables

Keywords: fables women literature

[MARRYAT (Thomas)]:

Sentimental Fables. Designed chiefly for the Use of the Ladies.

London, Printed for the Author; and sold by G. Robins..., 1772. 8vo, 200 x 130 mms., pp. xii, 312, woodcut headpiece vignettes for each of the 48 fables, title-page printed in red and black, contemporary (?original) blue boards; no end-papers, boards a bit rubbed and joints slightly tender. Thomas Marryat (1730 - 1792) became a physician in his late twenties, having also been ordained a minister at Southwold in Suffolk, and having exhibited skills and abilities in a number of areas. He spent some time in America and returned in 1766. He maintained himself by quack medicine and writing, but this volume seems to have little that is "sentimental" in it. The work was first published in Belfast, and a third edition, with a dedication to Hannah More, appeared in 1791.

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Book number: 6345

Catalogue: Fables

Keywords: fables poetry literature women

MOORE (Edward):

Fables for the Female Sex. The Fourth Edition.

London: Printed for R. Francklin..., 1755. 8vo, pp. [vi], 173 [174 blank, 175 - 176 adverts], title-page in red and black, engraved frontispiece, 16 other full-page engraved plates, contemporary calf, spine gilt in compartments; spine slightly split, top and base of spine chipped, joints cracked, corners worn.

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Book number: 4287

Catalogue: Fables

Keywords: fables poetry literature women