MAIN WORK OF ROCOCO BOOK-ILLUSTRATION

FONTAINE, M de la.

Contes et Nouvelles en Vers. 2 Tomes.

Amsterdam, 1764. 8vo. Two very nice cont. uniform red hcalfs; gilt backs w. gilt black leather title-labels. All edges uncut. Minor repairs to upper part of back of vol. one. In very good condition. Some of the text-leaves of the last section of the second volumes are evenly browned, and a few of the last leaves are professionally repaired, otherwise only occasional brownspotting to a few leaves. Nicely printed on good paper. Richly and beautifully illustrated w. the engr. portrait of La Fontaine, engr. frontisp. in both volumes, engr. title-vignettes, engr. preliminary vignette-leaves, 77 full-page engr. plates and 63 engr. text-vignettes. I.e. in all 80 engr. plates, 67 engr. vignettes and two woodcut vignettes (in the table of contents).

This rare and very beautiful Amsterdam edition is printed two years after the monumental first edition from Paris, which was commissioned by Ferniers Géneraux, and which is very scarce and sought after. This is the most beautiful and well-executed of the re-impressions (Paris, 1762 (-without vignettes), Amsterdam, 1764 and London, 1764). -"Celle d'Amsterdam, 1764, 2 vol. in-8. fig. copiées sur celles de l'édition de 1762, est assez belle..." (Brunet III:760). The illustrations of this edition are excellent and copied from the beautiful first edition; many of them are engraved and signed by C. Boily, and all are after Eisen. Most of the vignettes are after Choffard. The portrait of La Fontaine is engraved by Macret after Ficquet. "Cette imitation de l'édition des fermiers généraux est assez jolie. Le portrait de La Fontaine est tantôt gravé par Savaret, et tantôt par Macret, suivant les exemplaires." (Cohen, p. 310).

The illustrations of this work are considered Eisen's main work, the book is considered one of the greatest works of rococo book-illustration, and it has greatly inspired later tradition in this field.

Order-nr.: 31576