"A LOVER OF NATURE, OF KEEN INTELLIGENCE, POWER OF OBSERVATION AND POETIC GENIUS"

LA FONTAINE, Jean de. Tales And Novels In Verse. London: Printed For The Society Of English Bibliophilists, circa 1896. Two volumes. Royal octavo, modern full brown morocco gilt, raised bands, gilt dentelles, marbled endpapers, top edges gilt, uncut. $1500.

Limited illustrated edition, one of an unknown limitation, of La Fontaine’s ribald retellings of comic Italian tales, featuring 123 engravings (85 by Eisen). Handsomely bound by Brentano’s.

"A lover of nature, of keen intelligence, power of observation and poetic genius" (Oxford Companion to French Literature, 386), Jean de La Fontaine, best known for his popular animal fables enjoyed by generations of children, penned stories in a decidedly different vein with his Contes et nouvelles en vers. "The first [of the tales] was published in 1664, the last posthumously. He borrowed them mostly from Italian sources, in particular Giovanni Boccaccio… The essence of nearly all his Contes lies in their licentiousness… The accent of La Fontaine the narrator enlivens the story with playfully capricious comments, explanations and digressions" (Britannica Online). This edition of Tales and Novels is a later English verse translation. With 123 engravings, including 85 by Eisen. A similar edition, also printed for the Society of English Bibliophilists and featuring 123 engravings, saw print in 1896 in a limited edition of 520 copies; this edition is undated and the limitation is unspecified.

Expert reinforcement to text blocks. A handsome pair of volumes.