Browse Similar Items
FABLES NOUVELLES DÉDIÉES AU ROI.
(Paris: Gregoire Dupuis, 1719). 278 x 220 mm. (11 1/4 x 8 1/2"). xlii, 358, [6] pp. FIRST EDITION.
Fine contemporary olive-brown morocco, covers with blind-rule border, gilt cypher topped with a crown at each corner, raised bands, spine panels with gilt cypher stamp, red morocco label, marbled endpapers, all edges gilt (perhaps tiny old repairs at spine ends and corners). With allegorical frontispiece, title page vignette, and 100 HEADPIECE VIGNETTES by Gillot (62), Coypel (17), Picart (3), Ranc (7), and Massé (1), as well as 10 unsigned. A Large Paper Copy. Front pastedown with engraved armorial bookplate of Lancelot Holland, morocco ex-libris of Georges Danyau, and ex-libris of Hans Fürstenberg. Cohen-de Ricci 594; Lewine 289; Fürstenberg Collection 4 (this copy). See: Moureau, "Les 'Fables Nouvelles' (1719) de La Motte ou comment s’en débarrasser," in "Le Fablier. Revue des Amis de Jean de La Fontaine" (1990) no. 2, pp. 19-24. Leather with minor fading and discoloration, isolated vague foxing, but AN EXTREMELY APPEALING COPY, clean and fresh internally, with fine impressions of the engravings, in a stately binding showing virtually no wear.
This is the especially desirable Large Paper version of the first of the great 18th century French illustrated books, proclaimed by Cohen de Ricci to be "a very beautiful, rare, and sought-after edition" highlighted by "pretty and witty" vignettes. The 100 fables here are illustrated by Académie royale painters and engravers, most notably Charles le Brun's student Bernard Picart (1673-1733); Antoine Coypel (1661-1722), Court Painter to Louis XV and director of the Académie; and Claude Gillot (1673-1722), theatrical designer and teacher of the Rococo master Watteau. Whether depicting anthropomorphic sailor monkeys, realistic agricultural scenes, fine ladies in fine houses, or idealized figures from Classical mythology, the artists provide us with delicate details, intriguing action, and that touch of sophisticated humor that would come to characterize 18th century French illustration. Just as the illustrations usher in the rising Rococo era, so do La Motte's "New Fables" act as a manifesto for the new "Modern" school of art and literature in turn-of-the-18th-century France, which faced off against the "Ancients" who revered the Greek and Roman Classics beloved of Renaissance humanists. La Motte's "Fables" were the Modern movement's answer to La Fontaine's own celebrated "Fables," which drew heavily on the works of Aesop and Horace. As Moureau notes in his article on La Motte, "Whereas La Fontaine's Fables were intended for the education of the Grand Dauphin—and subsequently his son, the Duke of Burgundy--those of La Motte inaugurate the new reign of Louis the Beloved—the century of Louis XV--with a reordering of aesthetic values. . . . Politics certainly appeared in La Fontaine's 'Fables'--albeit merely as an adjunct to morality, and precisely because they were intended for the Princes of France being groomed to govern the realm. In the work of La Motte, however, the political coloring is far more pronounced. His 'New Fables' serve as the manifesto of this 'new' art." In the end, the Ancients would prevail: La Fontaine, Fénelon, Racine, and Molière are the ones still read, studied, and performed; La Motte and his cohort less so. That does not, however, make this very handsome book any less beautiful. Our copy has graced several distinguished collections. Lancelot Holland (1781-1859) was the grandson of the garden designer "Capability" Brown, and had a distinguished career in the army before retiring to engage in business and indulge in his love for rare and beautiful books. His library was sold by Leigh Sotheby in 1860. Georges Danyau (1832-94) was the son of bibliophile Antoine-Constant Danyau (1803-71) and a connoisseur of prints and illustrated books. In the 20th century, our book was owned by Hans (or Jean) Fürstenberg (1890-1982), a bibliophile of refined discrimination who assembled one of the great collections of the 20th century and whose books were noted for their outstanding condition. One of his library's signal achievements was his collection of 18th century French books, out of which came his "Das Französische Buch im Achtzehnten Jarhundert und in der Empirezeit," a brilliant survey of the field that he published in 1929. (ST20868)
Price: $4,500.00