Fables de La Fontaine

Abstract

What a master Grandville is! These three packagings of the same volume show a nice variety. The Walden volume is the best, with a green-and-red marbled binding embossed in gold, gilt page-edges, and marvelously preserved pages. (It lacks the page preceding the title page, with elephants and LaFontaine's bust.) The workhorse San Francisco Public Library copy probably made it through the great fire. All three have excellent runs of the Grandville illustrations. Compare these with the still better 1838 Fournier two-volume set and the very good English version (1860) by Elizur Wright. There is some foxing and spotting in all, especially the last two. Do not miss Hobbs' insightful comments on Grandville's illustrations. All three copies share the apparent misprint donnna in the first line of II 5. Extra copy with different cover for $115 from Charles Lloyd, Red Bank, NJ, Baltimore Antiquarian Fair, Aug., '91. Another extra copy in library binding from San Francisco Public Library for $40 at Bookmonger, San Francisco, Dec., '90.