Contes et fables indiennes, de Bipdaï et de Lokman. Taduites d'Ali Tchelebi -Ben-Saleh Auteur Turc. Ouvrage commencé par feu M. Galland, continué & fini par M. Cardonne, Secrétaire-Interprète du Roi pour les Langues Orientales, Professeur en Langue Arabe au Collège Royal, Inspecteur de la Librairie & Censeur Royal.

Edition with some parts in first edition. Second edition expanded by Cardonne, of the first translation by Antoine Galland which had appeared in 1724.
Full marbled and glazed calf binding, smooth spine decorated. Red morocco title-label and volume label. Red edges. 2 corners slightly bumped. Signs of rubbing, notably to headcaps and joints.
These fables of Bidpai (or Pilpai) are extracted from the "Panchatantra" attributed to Pandit Vishnu Sarma, who would have lived in the 3rd century BC. They were translated into Persian and Arabic, and spread throughout the Orient. These are the oldest fables that we know. It is not sufficiently known but this was one of the sources of La Fontaine's Fables, who acknowledges his debt in the preface to his second collection of Fables.