Fables de La Fontaine

First edition, first issue, illustrated with an engraved frontispiece printed on mounted China paper and 120 wood-engraved plates by Grandville. From 1839 onwards, subsequent printings incorporated the wood engravings within the text and the frontispiece was printed on ordinary paper. Two issues were published by Fournier in 1838. The first issue may be identified by the captions to the engravings ending with a full stop; on page XIII of the Life of Aesop, the capital letter N is formed of looping lines, whereas in the second issue it is composed of small black-and-white squares. This distinction between the two issues is seldom noted. Our copy combines features of both issues: all the wood engravings end with a full stop, confirming that the complete suite of illustrations belongs to the very first issue; however, the capital N in the Life of Aesop is composed of small black-and-white squares, a characteristic of the second issue.
Contemporary half glazed midnight-blue calf over marbled boards. Smooth spine decorated with gilt rolls and fillets. A few surface abrasions along the upper joint of volume II. Small losses at the foot of the joints on volume I, together with a small loss at the head of the lower joint. Minor rubbing. Scattered foxing. A good copy.

One of the artist's finest achievements in the anthropomorphic depiction of animals.