Fables Choisies, Mises En Vers Par M. De La Fontaine. A Geneve. MDCCLXXVII.
Selected Fables, Put Into Verse by M. De La Fontaine. In Geneva. MDCCLXXVII (1777).
A lovely attractive set of Fontaine's fables in typical bindings of the period and would very much fit a Louis XV/XVI style interior! Complete in two volumes with the end of the second volume stating in French that it ends on the final fable with a lovely frontispiece engraved by N. de Launay after a drawing by Marillier.
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Provenance:
Ownership inscription dated in the 1820s.
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Remarkably similar and probably the same set as that which realised £1,058 (EUR) at Christie's 21st May 2003 lot 294. In the lot description, Christie's described the bindings as "red morocco of the period, triple gilt fillet framing the covers, decorated smooth spine, olive morocco title and volume number pieces, gilt fillet on the cuts, gilt interior roulette, gilt edges, case" which matches the bindings of this set. If it is not the identical example as sold in this auction 20 years ago, it is so close as to be sufficiently comparable.
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Size: 67 x 120 mm (approx., each)
Condition:
[half title, frontis, title, 248pp.]; [half title, title, 236pp.]
Spines lightly rubbed. All boards securely attached with rubbed joints and very minor wear to hinges. Boards with very minor scuffing. Very minor shelf and edge wear. Ownership inscription on preliminary in both volumes. Text block extremely clean with extremely sporadic very minor foxing. Endpapers with minor foxing.
[OCLC 421044939].
