Oeuvres diverses

Edition with some parts in first edition. The three volumes contain, compared to the 3-volume quarto edition of 1726, 19 pieces in first edition, including 5 fragments from Songe de Vaux and 4 letters to Madame de La Fontaine (account of a journey from Paris to Limousin). A portrait frontispiece by Hyacinthe Rigaud engraved by Scotin. This edition was distributed among the booksellers Didot, Nyon, Pissot and Huart, which is why one also finds title pages bearing Didot's address or Nyon's (they have substantially the same collation). The Hague edition of 1729 in 4 volumes bears no relation to this edition.
Armorial copy of Nicolas de Tilly, Marquis de Blaru, Or with a fleur-de-lys gules. Norman nobility of knightly extraction whose genealogy dates back to the 12th century.
Contemporary full speckled brown sheep bindings. Raised band spines decorated with 4 lozenges. Title and volume labels in fawn morocco. Arms stamped on boards. One lack at head of volume I. Lower joint cracked at head. Lack below the last raised band of volume 3. Traces of rubbing. 2 corners slightly bumped.
19th-century armorial bookplate with the motto: In indulgentia virtus
Collection of all La Fontaine's works other than his tales and fables (plays, operas, verses, letters). The publisher received all of La Fontaine's manuscripts from his son's widow. The texts were thus published without critical apparatus and in the greatest disorder. The most substantial work of the collection being Psyché, which occupies more than 200 pages. This edition was long attributed - by Voltaire, then Walkenaer - to Abbé d'Olivet, but Barbier considers the hypothesis impossible due to d'Olivet's meticulousness and the negligence shown in this edition.
Manuscript ownership inscription on a label: G.J.B. Ducos. Doctor of Medicine.