Lilla Esop

Abstract

Like the original Danish version, which is in this collection, this book was published just after the war. I now have the book in three languages, including English. This paperbound version has a loosening spine. This book has become a favorite of mine. As I wrote of the English version, the book did not appear until after the liberation in 1945, though a number of copies had been distributed privately with a duplicate T of C that emphasized the topical application of the fables. Thus OF (#1) was titled Great Germany and The Lion, the Ass, and the Fox (#59) was titled The Fate of the Informer. The artwork, which usually adds one color to black, is delightful. BW (#14) involves a repeated cry that wolves are coming and a fact that plural wolves do come. Fable #15 on the war of the birds and beasts gives a good example of the book's excellent silhouette art. LS (#29) has a wonderful illustration of a bloody stag divided into four equal parts! The following fable's illustration shows graphically with its separated human limbs what would happen to the man if a lion created the sculpture! Zieler does a creative job of making faces out of the rivers and the sea for #40. In fable #51 the mule kicks the wolf in the forehead while the latter is trying to read what kind of horse his father was. There are no titles and there is no T of C.