[SADELER, Aegidius].

Lot 32
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Result : 358EUR
[SADELER, Aegidius].
ESOPE Fables of Aesop, with the figures of Sadeler. New translation. Paris : Pierre Auboyn, Pierre Emery and Charles Clouzier, 1689. In-8, frontispiece, (12)-279-(5) pages. Contemporary brown marbled calf, spine decorated with nerves, brown morocco title-piece. Rare edition of Aesop's fables, illustrated with 139 copperplate figures remarkably engraved by Aegidius Sadeler after Marcus Gheeraerts. These figures are mostly faithful copies, but reversed, of the etchings that Marcus Gheeraerts the Elder had made to illustrate two collections of emblematic fables, De warachtighe fabulen der dieren (Bruges: P. de Clerck for M. Gheeraerts, 1567) and l'Esbatement moral des animaux (Antwerp: G. Smits for Ph. Galle, 1578). Fifteen of them are however Sadeler's invention: "The 15 original designs are on page 3, 7, 11, 13, 19, 21, 27, 29, 35, 39, 47, 49, 55, 57 and 276. These added designs by Sadeler are highlights in the history of book illustration, and yet they are so harmonious that it can almost be said that they belong to Gheeraerts' series and enlarge it by 15 plates" (Edward Hodnett, Marcus Gheeraerts the Elder, 1971). Sadeler's engravings had first appeared in the anonymous German booklet Theatrum morum. Artliche gesprach der thier (Prague, P. Sesse, 1608). This fablier "had a great influence on esophic production in France - an influence mainly due to the beautiful illustrations with which Sadeler accompanied his collection." (Paul J. Smith, "La Fontaine et les Fables d'Ésope, avec les figures de Sadeler (1689)," Le Fablier. Revue des Amis de Jean de La Fontaine, no. 30, 2019, pp. 47-51). The first French edition of these engravings can be found in Raphaël Trichet du Fresne's collection, Figures diverses tirées des Fables d'Esope et d'autres (Paris, C. Cramoisy, 1659). This is the second French edition. (Hinges, headpieces, nerves, spines and corners rubbed; marginal rings, soiling and stains. Frontispiece foxed, soiled and slightly faded in places; restorations of small tears and consolidations of margins on about fifteen leaves, without affecting the figures or the text (pp. 13-14, pp. 197 - 206, pp. 209 - 216, pp. 247 - 248 and last 4 leaves); marginal paper loss on p. 33 without affecting the figure or the text).
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