Les Fables de La Fontaine

Abstract

One of the most playful books I have seen in a while. Sections of La Fontaine's text are numbered to correspond to cartoon pictures. There is lots of wit here. A steam kettle boiling in one picture (DW) is smelled in the next! Imagination stamps these illustrations. The lion has torn half his skin off in pursuing the mosquito; the dove carries off the fowler's pot, in which the fowler's imagination was already cooking him; the miller's son picks his nose. The Cat and the Old Rat is one of the best here, including the cat's attempt to disguise himself in a bag. Les Animals Malade de la Peste is a magnificent two-page sweep. The last story is also excellent: Le Savetier et le Financier. Twenty-three fables. T of C at the back. The cover is bent at the upper left: my fault for poor packing as I travelled from Santa Clara to Omaha! The spine is also quite weak.