Sale: 348 / Rare Books, Nov. 17./18. 2008 in Hamburg → Lot 1365

Jean de La Fontaine - Contes et Nouvelles, 2 Bde. 1762


1365
Jean de La Fontaine
Contes et Nouvelles, 2 Bde. 1762
Estimate:
€ 2,500 / $ 2,900
Sold:
€ 1,920 / $ 2,227
(incl. surcharge)
1365
Jean de La Fontaine
Contes et Nouvelles, 2 Bde. 1762
Estimate:
€ 2,500 / $ 2,900
Sold:
€ 1,920 / $ 2,227
(incl. surcharge)

La Fontaine, (J.) de, Contes et Nouvelles en vers. 2 vols. With 2 engr. portraits, 2 engr. title vignettes and 80 steel-engr. plates by Aliamet, Baquoy, Choffard, Delafosse et al after Eisen and 57 steel-engr. vignettes by Choffard. Amsterdam [Paris, Barbou] 1762. Dark blue morocco bindings (signed "M. Godillot") with rich floral gilt spine, triple gilt fillet border, inside gilt border, gilt edges and marbled endpapers, together in slipcase with leather edges. 8vo. XIV, 268 pp.,1 l.; 1 l., VIII, 306 pp., 3 ll. (the last blank), 16 pp.
Rochambeau 79. - Hédé-Hauy pp. 20ff. - Cohen/Ricci cols. 558ff. - Lewine p. 278. - Sander 1044. - Fürstenberg cat. 50. - Fine copy of the famous "édition des fermiers-généraux", named after the French leaseholders who financed the company. - With the plates and vignettes by Eisen and Choffard definitely a masterpiece of 18th century illustrative art, without any doubt a highlight of French late baroque book art. "Superbe édition, au point de vue iconographique et typographique ..." (Rochambeau). - "Contains some of the most notable French illustrations of the eighteenth century. Eisen's plates rank among his best work ... Choffard's etchings are exquisite" (Salomons).