The Medici Aesop

Abstract

This book was published in a hardbound version by Harry N. Abrams in 1989. The lovely illustrations remain as precisely rendered here as there. In a curious move, Adele Westbrook, editor of the hardbound version, is not even mentioned here. Let me repeat my comments from that book. What a treasure! A good introduction gives a concise history of Aesop, the text of the fables, and the illustrations. This hand-written and hand-painted manuscript was done from a printed book, Bono Accurzio's 1480 version of Planudes' 1310 text. The versions are surprisingly concise and witty. Several morals wander into generalities. Well told: The Old Woman and the Doctor (44). Differently told: The Eagle and the Fox (20). The illustrations are magnificent but small. They often read from right to left. Some excellent illustrations: The Fox and the Mask (33), The Broken Vow (40), The Thieving Child and His Mother (71), OF (105), The Ant-Man (131), The Thirsty Dove (143). The boar sharpens his tusks on a whetting stone (78)! AD (64) story has a net, while its illustration has a bow.