Details
LA FONTAINE, Jean de. Contes et Nouvelles en Vers. Paris: Didot l'Aîné, l'an III de la République, 1795.
2 volumes, large 4° (320 x 235mm). Half-title and title to vol. I, additional half-title and title to volume II, 20 engraved plates, EXTRA-ILLUSTRATED WITH 9 ETCHED AND 12 ENGRAVED PLATES before letters, after Jean-Honoré Fragonard and others. (5 plates misbound.) Early 19th-century red boards, spines gilt with black morocco lettering-piece, uncut, some pages unopened (extremities slightly rubbed), in modern cloth boxes.
A FINE LARGE COPY on Papier Vélin of this attractive edition, with 14 additional plates, including 9 etchings. The additional plates are (using Cohen-de Ricci's numbering): 1 (Joconde - 'Le Départ', etching after Lebarbier); 8 (Le Muletier, etching after Fragonard); 10 (La Gageure de Trois Commères - 'Le Poirier', engraving before letters); 11 (La Gageure - 'Le Fil', etching); 17 (La Finacée du Roi de Garbe - 'Le Chevalier', etching); 18 (La Fiancée - 'L'Arbre', engraving by L. Petit); 26 (La Clochette, etching after Fragonard); 28 (Les Deux Amis, etching); 29 (Le Juge de Mesle, etching); 30 (Alix Malade, engraving before letters); 33 (Soeur Jeanne, engraving by Patas after Monnet); 34 (Imitation d'Anacréon, etching); and 36 (L'Hermite, etching after Fragonard).
As early as 1793, Pierre Didot had planned a luxurious edition of the Contes, illustrated with eighty plates after Fragonard (cf. the prospectus reproduced in Cohen-de Ricci). The text appeared in 1795, but only the first two instalments of the plates (twenty in total) were ever published. Later, seventeen further drawings (five by Fragonard) were brought to various states of completion by the engravers. It remains unclear why Didot was forced to abandon his grand project: Cohen-de Ricci suggests that "au lendemain de la Terreur . . . les amateurs de publications splendides . . . s'occupaient beaucoup plus de politique que de livres"; Ray believes that the difficulty of obtaining illustrations by Fragonard, or substitutes of the same quality, may have been responsible. Cohen-de Ricci 573-582 (noting that only 150 impressions of the plate before letters were printed); Ray French 77; Rochambeau 104. (2)
2 volumes, large 4° (320 x 235mm). Half-title and title to vol. I, additional half-title and title to volume II, 20 engraved plates, EXTRA-ILLUSTRATED WITH 9 ETCHED AND 12 ENGRAVED PLATES before letters, after Jean-Honoré Fragonard and others. (5 plates misbound.) Early 19th-century red boards, spines gilt with black morocco lettering-piece, uncut, some pages unopened (extremities slightly rubbed), in modern cloth boxes.
A FINE LARGE COPY on Papier Vélin of this attractive edition, with 14 additional plates, including 9 etchings. The additional plates are (using Cohen-de Ricci's numbering): 1 (Joconde - 'Le Départ', etching after Lebarbier); 8 (Le Muletier, etching after Fragonard); 10 (La Gageure de Trois Commères - 'Le Poirier', engraving before letters); 11 (La Gageure - 'Le Fil', etching); 17 (La Finacée du Roi de Garbe - 'Le Chevalier', etching); 18 (La Fiancée - 'L'Arbre', engraving by L. Petit); 26 (La Clochette, etching after Fragonard); 28 (Les Deux Amis, etching); 29 (Le Juge de Mesle, etching); 30 (Alix Malade, engraving before letters); 33 (Soeur Jeanne, engraving by Patas after Monnet); 34 (Imitation d'Anacréon, etching); and 36 (L'Hermite, etching after Fragonard).
As early as 1793, Pierre Didot had planned a luxurious edition of the Contes, illustrated with eighty plates after Fragonard (cf. the prospectus reproduced in Cohen-de Ricci). The text appeared in 1795, but only the first two instalments of the plates (twenty in total) were ever published. Later, seventeen further drawings (five by Fragonard) were brought to various states of completion by the engravers. It remains unclear why Didot was forced to abandon his grand project: Cohen-de Ricci suggests that "au lendemain de la Terreur . . . les amateurs de publications splendides . . . s'occupaient beaucoup plus de politique que de livres"; Ray believes that the difficulty of obtaining illustrations by Fragonard, or substitutes of the same quality, may have been responsible. Cohen-de Ricci 573-582 (noting that only 150 impressions of the plate before letters were printed); Ray French 77; Rochambeau 104. (2)