The Fables of Aesop, and Others

Description:

Second edition. Contains 188 fables, illustrated with head- and tail-pieces by Bewick. According to Roscoe, 1,000 copies of the demy were published. Page 325 numbered 235. With cancel leaf (pp 263-4) with correct cut from the Fowler and Blackbird.

Of the 188 fables in Bewick’s two editions (the same fables appear in each) 182 are Croxall’s; of these, in some twenty-one cases Bewick’s text differs radically from Croxall’s; they may be largely Bewick’s own composing. (Roscoe, p 151)

The publishing of Bewick's Fables is credited by some as being responsible for inspiring other professional artists to the possibilities of Fable as a subject for illustration and decoration. (Roscoe, p 169)

Roscoe, 46 b.

Condition

Demy 8vo (220x140mm) in fours, recent full calf, single blind ruled border to boards, raised bands and elaborate gt tooling to spine compartments, leather title piece. One leaf torn to top/bottom margins with Japanese tissue repair (not affecting text), and another leaf with long closed tear fixed at upper margin with old paper repair. Occasional light foxing; owner's book-plate. A very good copy, charmingly illustrated and handsomely bound.