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111 - LA FONTAINE (Jean de). Tales and Short Stories in Verse. Ams…
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Estimate €600 - €900
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Description
LA FONTAINE (Jean de). Tales and Short Stories in Verse. Amsterdam [Paris], n.p., 1762. 2 vols. in-8, XIV-(2)-268-(2) pp., 8 pp. (Instructions for the bookbinder), 1 portrait and 39 illustrations; (2)-VIII-(2)-306-(4) pp., pp. [9]-16 (Instructions for the bookbinder), 1 portrait and 41 illustrations. Mottled calfskin, smooth, decorated spines, title and volume number labels in brown morocco, triple gilt fillet framing the covers, fillet on the edges, gilt roulette on the fillets, gilt edges (contemporary binding). Jaws and leather patches restored (following rebinding). A few rare pinholes on some folios. The so-called ‘Fermiers-généraux’ edition, which concludes with five tales not by La Fontaine, namely: ‘The Seamstress’, ‘The Gascon’ and ‘The Jug’ by Autereau; ‘To Promise Is One Thing, to Keep One’s Word Is Another’ by Vergier; ‘The Nightingale’, attributed either to Lamblin or to Du Trousset de Valincourt. The illustrations consist of 2 portraits (La Fontaine after Rigaud, engraved by Ficquet, and Eisen after Vispré, engraved by Ficquet), 80 figures by EISEN, engraved by Aliamet, Baquoy, Choffard, Delafosse, Flipart, Lemire, Leveau, de Longueil and Ouvrier, and four vignettes and 53 end-piece illustrations by Choffard, the last of which features his portrait. The figures in *The Case of Conscience* and *The Devil of Papefiguière* are depicted full-face. “Among the illustrated books of the 18th century, this edition of La Fontaine’s fables—known as the ‘Fermiers généraux’ edition, because they bore the cost—is the one that is, on the whole, the most beautiful and the most delightful; it is, moreover, Eisen’s masterpiece”. (Cohen, 558; Tchemerzine, III, 863; Rothschild, 925; Rochambeau, p. 525, no. 79.) A fine copy. Ex-libris stamp: Bibliothèque du Forestel, Pierre de Roquigny.
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About the sale Bibliophilia (sale without a live event)
Auction location
Auction time 09/09/2026 at 1:00 PM
Pictures credits: Contact the Auction House
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