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Fables choisies, mises en vers
Engraved by: Jan Punt (Dutch, 1711–1779)
Engraved by: Reinier Vinkeles (Dutch, 1741–1816)
Engraved by: Abraham Delfos (Dutch, 1731–1820)
Copied after: Jean-Baptiste Oudry (French, 1686–1755)
Copied after: Bernard Picart (French, 1673–1733)
Author: Jean de La Fontaine (French, 1621–1695)
Printer and Publisher: Luzac & van Damm (Dutch, 18th century)
Engraved by: Reinier Vinkeles (Dutch, 1741–1816)
Engraved by: Abraham Delfos (Dutch, 1731–1820)
Copied after: Jean-Baptiste Oudry (French, 1686–1755)
Copied after: Bernard Picart (French, 1673–1733)
Author: Jean de La Fontaine (French, 1621–1695)
Printer and Publisher: Luzac & van Damm (Dutch, 18th century)
1786
Place of Publication: Leiden, Netherlands
Medium/Technique
Illustrated book with 276 engravings
Dimensions
Overall (each vol. [depth varies]): 20.3 x 13 x 2 cm (8 x 5 1/8 x 13/16 in.)
Credit Line
William A. Sargent Collection—Bequest of William A. Sargent
Accession Number37.1763a-f
NOT ON VIEW
CollectionsEurope, Prints and Drawings
ClassificationsIllustrated books
Leiden: Luzac & van Damme, 1786
Catalogue Raisonné
Cohen-de Ricci 550-551
Description(Leiden: Luzac & van Damme, 1786) Octavo, six vols.; [v. 1] 53 leaves, plus plates; [v. 2] 41 ll., plus pls.; [v. 3] 37 ll., plus pls.; [v. 4] 58 ll., plus pls.; [v. 5] 68 ll., plus pls.; [v. 6] 78 ll., plus pls.; nineteenth-century gilt-stamped marbled brown calf [endpaper watermarks dated 1803].
Allegorical frontispiece with portraits of Aesop and La Fontaine; illustrations to La Fontaine's fables.
First edition with these illustrations, with a collective title page inserted for vol. 1 dated 1786, as published by the firm Luzac & van Damme. The later volumes have individual titles: vols. 2-3 were issued by Elie Luzac alone in 1764 and 1770 respectively. Vol. 4 is by the firm, dated 1775, and the last two vols. are dated 1786. This copy does not contain the publisher's statement in vol. 1 about the slow speed of the engraving, in explaining why he was not able to issue the six volumes at six-month intervals as originally intended in 1758 (the date carried by several of the earliest plates). Indeed, Vinkeles, a student of Punt's, took over the illustration for the four last volumes (the last plates are dated 1781). The illustrations are copied from those after Oudry in the Paris 1755-1759 folio edition (MFA copy: BR1289), save for the frontispiece, which is derived from a Picart composition.
This copy is on a thinner paper than the other MFA copy (37.1461a-c), which is printed on so-called Holland paper.
Allegorical frontispiece with portraits of Aesop and La Fontaine; illustrations to La Fontaine's fables.
First edition with these illustrations, with a collective title page inserted for vol. 1 dated 1786, as published by the firm Luzac & van Damme. The later volumes have individual titles: vols. 2-3 were issued by Elie Luzac alone in 1764 and 1770 respectively. Vol. 4 is by the firm, dated 1775, and the last two vols. are dated 1786. This copy does not contain the publisher's statement in vol. 1 about the slow speed of the engraving, in explaining why he was not able to issue the six volumes at six-month intervals as originally intended in 1758 (the date carried by several of the earliest plates). Indeed, Vinkeles, a student of Punt's, took over the illustration for the four last volumes (the last plates are dated 1781). The illustrations are copied from those after Oudry in the Paris 1755-1759 folio edition (MFA copy: BR1289), save for the frontispiece, which is derived from a Picart composition.
This copy is on a thinner paper than the other MFA copy (37.1461a-c), which is printed on so-called Holland paper.
ProvenanceAcquired in 1917 by William A. Sargent, Boston (1858-1936), by whom bequeathed to MFA, November 17, 1937.