LA FONTAINE (Jean de). Fables choisies, mises en vers... A P - Lot 118

LA FONTAINE (Jean de). Fables choisies, mises en vers... A Paris, chez Desaint et Saillant, Durand, 1755-1759. 4 volumes in-folio, fawn-colored basane, 6-ribbed spine, red title-pieces, ornate caissons, triple gilt fillet edging the covers, interior roulette, gilt edges (defects including uncovered headpieces, worn corners, rubbing, split jaws, one gnawed on t.4, worm damage on one board; paper browned especially in text, a few light spots at the beginning of t.3 including on the 1st plate, t.3 p.7 torn but not missing, one corner missing in margin p.167 t.4). One of the finest illustrated books of the 18th century, magnified by the drawings of animal painter Jean-Baptiste Oudry (1686-1755). The illustration features a frontispiece engraved by Cochin, and 275 plates executed by the finest engravers of the time, including Aveline, Baquoy, Cars, Fessart, Lebas, Marvie and Tardieu. Second edition identified by the mention on the banner in the illustration of the fable of the monkey and the leopard in t.3. (Cohen, 548-550).