LA FONTAINE (Jean de). Selected fables, set... - Lot 15 - Osenat

Lot 15
Go to lot
Estimation :
1000 - 1500 EUR
Result with fees
Result : 3 640EUR
LA FONTAINE (Jean de). Selected fables, set... - Lot 15 - Osenat
LA FONTAINE (Jean de). Selected fables, set in verse. À Paris, chez Desaint & Saillant, Durand, 1755-1759. 4 volumes in-folio, (4)-xxx-xviii-124 + (4)-ii-135- (1 blank) + (4)-iv-146 + (4)-ii-188 pp.., marbled brown calf, spine with ribbed partitions and fleuronnés with garnet and brown tomaison headpieces, used binding with snags at the head covers and corners, one split bit, some skinning, some yellowed leaves, some marginal wet spots in volume II, rare stains and freckles (binding of the period). EXAMPLE ON AUVERGNE PAPER, FIRST ISSUE, i.e. with the first plate of the fable CLXXII without inscription on the banner (vol. III). ONE OF THE MOST AMBITIOUS AND SUCCESSFULLEST ILLUSTRATED WORKS OF THE XVIIIth CENTURY (Gordon N. Ray, pp. 16-20, no. 5). This famous edition was prepared and financed by an enlightened amateur, Jean-Louis Regnard de Montenault, who inserted at the head of the edition an epistle dedicated to Louis XV and a life of La Fontaine. FAMOUS COPPER SUITE AFTER THE PAINTER JEANBAPTISTE OUDRY: 275 plates out of text illustrating the fables. For his relaxation, Jean-Baptiste Oudry painted a series of sketches between 1729 and 1735, finding pleasure in expressing the affinities that bound him to the spirit of La Fontaine, and which are revealed in the broad and free style of his stroke. Regnard de Montenault had the good fortune to acquire these drawings and, in order to distribute them, entrusted the engraving to Charles-Nicolas Cochin dit Cochin fils. The latter first transcribed the paintings into drawings, which added to the quality of the work by the firmness and precision of his technique, particularly in the human figures (Oudry himself recognized all the merit of this work), and then directed the engraving operations of a team of about forty artists. Also engraved on copper after Jean-Baptiste Oudry, a portrait-frontispiece of La Fontaine by Nicolas-Gabriel Dupuis and Cochin fils. WITH ILLUSTRATION IN THE TEXT CONSTITUTING ONE OF THE ONLY O
My orders
Sale information
Sales conditions
Return to catalogue