La Fontaine (Jean de) Fables Choisies..., vol.2 & 3 only (of 4),...
La Fontaine (Jean de) Fables Choisies, mises en vers, vol.2 & 3 only (of 4), half-titles, 135 superb engraved plates after Jean-Baptiste Oudry, numerous wood-engraved title-vignettes and tail-pieces by Bachelier, occasional light foxing or soiling, slight water-staining to upper margin towards end of vol.2, some text leaves of vol.3 a little browned, a good tall copy with wide margins in handsome contemporary red morocco with decorative gilt border and corner-pieces of vases of flowers, spine gilt in compartments with pomegranates and seven raised bands, g.e., a little rubbed and scuffed, corners slightly worn, [Cohen de Ricci 548 "fort rare et tres recherche"; Ray, French 5], folio (c.480 x 320mm.), Paris, Charles-Antoine Jombert, 1755-56.
*** Jean-Baptiste Oudry (1686-1755) was a renowned animal painter and artistic director of the tapestry manufacturer at Beauvais. It took him 25 years, working in his spare time and assisted financially by Louis XV, to draw the illustrations for the four volumes. In 1751 Oudry's drawings were acquired by Montenault and re-drawn by Charles-Nicolas Cochin the younger, from which they were engraved. Ray describes the work as "one of the most ambitious and successful of all illustrated books".
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La Fontaine (Jean de) Fables Choisies, mises en vers, vol.2 & 3 only (of 4), half-titles, 135 superb engraved plates after Jean-Baptiste Oudry, numerous wood-engraved title-vignettes and tail-pieces by Bachelier, occasional light foxing or soiling, slight water-staining to upper margin towards end of vol.2, some text leaves of vol.3 a little browned, a good tall copy with wide margins in handsome contemporary red morocco with decorative gilt border and corner-pieces of vases of flowers, spine gilt in compartments with pomegranates and seven raised bands, g.e., a little rubbed and scuffed, corners slightly worn, [Cohen de Ricci 548 "fort rare et tres recherche"; Ray, French 5], folio (c.480 x 320mm.), Paris, Charles-Antoine Jombert, 1755-56.
*** Jean-Baptiste Oudry (1686-1755) was a renowned animal painter and artistic director of the tapestry manufacturer at Beauvais. It took him 25 years, working in his spare time and assisted financially by Louis XV, to draw the illustrations for the four volumes. In 1751 Oudry's drawings were acquired by Montenault and re-drawn by Charles-Nicolas Cochin the younger, from which they were engraved. Ray describes the work as "one of the most ambitious and successful of all illustrated books".
