LA FONTAINE, Jean de - Lot 41

Lot n° 41
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Estimation :
1000 - 2000 EUR
Result with fees
Result : 3 791EUR
LA FONTAINE, Jean de - Lot 41
LA FONTAINE, Jean de Fables nouvelles et autres poésies. Paris, chez Denys Thierry, 1671. In-12 (163 x 93 mm) of [12] ff. 184 pp. Tan granite calf, cold fillet on the boards, decorated spine, title-piece, gilt coat of arms at the end of the spine, decorated necks, edges speckled (binding end of the 17th/beginning of the 18th century). PARTLY ORIGINAL EDITION DEDICATED TO THE DUKE OF GUISE. It contains 8 fables in original edition : The Lion, The Wolf and the Fox, The Tick and the Fly, The Treasure and the two Men, The Rat and the Oyster, The Monkey and the Cat, The Acorn and the Pumpkin, The Milan and the Nightingale, The Oyster and the Pleasers. It is decorated with a woodcut vignette on the title page and 8 copper-engraved vignettes by Francois Chauveau in the text. This is the "most varied and one of the most curious collection of La Fontaine, who reveals himself under the various aspects of the court poet, the fabulist, the friend of Fouquet in disgrace, and the great artist of Adonis." (Tchémerzine VI, 384). A precious copy in contemporary binding bearing on the tail of the spine the arms of Louis-Alexandre de Bourbon (1678, 1737), Count of Toulouse or of his son Louis-Jean-Marie de Bourbon (1725-1793), Duke of Penthièvre. O.H.R. (plate 2609, iron 1) states that the coats of arms of the father and son are distinguished by the number and arrangement of the anchors, but that there seem to be exceptions to the rule, and that although the iron present here "bears only one anchor, a distinctive mark of the bindings of the Duke of Penthievre, we point out that we have encountered it only on volumes printed between 1677 and 1721, that is to say, before the birth of this prince." RARE CONDITION. Stains on the boards. Small cut at the top corner of the first 30 leaves. A few small defects on the spine.  Minor restorations to corners and nicks to headpieces Rochambeau pp. 6-9.
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