Fables de La Fontaine

Abstract

This is one of a serious set of books I found on my first days in Paris on this trip. As I recall, I was tired and was lifting them up around my shoulder, when a whole group of heavy books fell in the midst of a crowd around the cashier. Oh, well! This large-format (10 x 12) book with thick pages presents FC on its cover with both characters wearing natty clothing. The book has wonderful and wonderfully varied art from some thirteen artists. There are twenty-seven fables, as the closing T of C makes clear; on the last page of the closing T of C is a fine La Fontaine lying on grass and greeting butterflies as he writes. Among the best illustrations are those for Rabbit, Weasel, and Cat; TMCM; Le Coche et la Mouche; L'Enfant et le maître de école; FG; and Le Savetier et le Financier.