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Recueil des meilleurs contes en vers


Contes et nouvelles en vers
Illustrated by: Jean Duplessi-Bertaux (French, 1750–1818)
Illustrated by: Louis Godefroid Dreppe (Belgian, 1739–1782)
Engraved by: Pierre-Louis Durand (French, 18th century)
Author: Jean de La Fontaine (French, 1621–1695)
Author: François Marie Arouet de Voltaire (French, 1694–1778)
Author: Claude Perrault (French, 1613–1688)
Author: Jean-Baptiste-Joseph Willart de Grécourt (French, 1684–1743)
Author: Claude Joseph Dorat (French, 1734–1780)
Publisher: Hubert-Martin Cazin (French, 1724–1795)
Illustrated by: Clément Pierre Marillier (French, 1740–1808)
Engraved by: Nicolas Delaunay (French, 1739–1792)
Illustrated by: Henri Chevaux (French, active 1773–1785)
Engraved by: Charles-Eugène Duponchel (French, born in 1748)
1778
Place of Publication: Paris, France

Medium/Technique Illustrated book with 120 etching and engravings
Dimensions Overall (each vol., depth variable): 13.5 x 8.5 x 2.2 cm (5 5/16 x 3 3/8 x 7/8 in.)
Credit Line William A. Sargent Collection—Bequest of William A. Sargent
Accession Number37.1628a-d
NOT ON VIEW
ClassificationsIllustrated books
"Londres" [i.e., Paris: Cazin], 1778

Catalogue Raisonné Cohen-de Ricci 859-860
Description("Londres" [i.e., Paris: Cazin], 1778) Duodecimo, four vols.; [v. 1] 151 leaves, plus 2 plates [1 extra]; [v. 2] 154 ll., plus 1 [extra] pl.; [v. 3] 126 ll., plus 1 [extra] plate; [v. 4] 127 ll., plus 1 [extra] plate; nineteenth-century gilt-stamped red morocco (F. Bedford).

Author portraits, literary illustrations.

A collection of tales by different authors, published by Cazin. This compilation often referred to as the "Petits Conteurs."The first two volumes contain La Fontaine's tales exclusively; the last two comprise those of other authors, including Voltaire, Perrault, Dorat, et al. The "Receuil des meilleurs contes" title does not actually occur on the title page proper, but consistently on the half titles, and the book is most often cited that way. The title pages read "Contes et nouvelles en vers," with the authors listed below.

As Cohen-de Ricci notes, the unsigned vignettes have traditionally been attributed to Duplessi-Bertaux, but the plate on p. 15 of vol. 4 is signed by Dreppe, and several others are thought to be engraved by Durand. This copy is uncut and in a Bedford binding; it has further been extra-illustrated with a further portrait of [v. 1] La Fontaine and one of [v. 3] Voltaire signed "AS"; a frontispiece plate [v. 2] of the tomb of La Fontaine by Delaunay after Marillier, dated 1779; and a plate [v. 4] by Duponchel after Chevaux.

MFA owns another copy: 37.1625a-d
ProvenanceAcquired in 1921 by William A. Sargent, Boston (1858-1936), by whom bequeathed to MFA, November 17, 1937.