Oeuvres Complete de La Fontaine

Abstract

Here is a serious tome containing all of La Fontaine's works. The work seems closest to Bodemann #135.14, of which I have the first two volumes. Those are the two volumes in that set which contain fables. This edition is from 1877, though, not 1872. It matches those two volumes in including illustrations of La Fontaine (frontispiece), 2W (47), The Mouse Changed into a Woman (83), and The Shepherd Fishing with His Flute (94). However it lacks MSA, TB, Madame de Sabliere, and Daphnis and Alcimadura, which are there. It also lacks three things found in the earlier edition: the lengthy list of maxims, a collection of the most-cited verses, and a commentary following each book of fables. This edition, by contrast with that edition, acknowledges on its title page the designs of Staal as the pattern for its engravings. Further engravings here include The Wager of the Three Buddies, The Geese of Br. Philip, The Amorous Courtesan, The River Scamander, Daphne, The Florentine, and The Loves of Psyche. Fables here take up the first 119 pages. Like the earlier edition, this is a beautifully bound volume.