Fables de La Fontaine / édition illustrée par J. J. Grandville (in 2 volumes). – Paris: H. Fournier Ainé, Perronin, 1838. Imp. H. Fournier et Ce, 14 rue de Seine (Premier Tirage).
Vol 1: [2 – ht, imprim.] [2 – blank with handwritten inscription, frontis.] [2 – t.p., blank], [ [i] ii-xxviii – épitre, préface, [2 – plate ‘fables’, [1] 2 – dedication, [3, 4 – pltate: livre 1, blank] [5, 6 – plate: blank, cigale] [7] 8 – fab.1 (the subsequent plates are not paginated) – 292. (245-246 – Avertissement), (247-248 – A mamdam de Montespan); Wood engravings: frontispiece + half-title Fables + 7 running half-titles Livres des Fables + 72 plates.
Vol. 2: [2 – ht, imprim.] [2 – t.p., blank] [1, 2 – plate ‘livre 8’, blank] [3] 4-312 (191-192 épilogue), (195-196 Au duc de Bourgogne), (268 – fin des fables), (269-296 Philemon et Baucis | D. O. M. | La Martone Déphèse | Belphegor), (297 -308 notice), (309-312 table); Wood engravings: 5 running half-titles Livres des Fables + 1 half-title Philemon et Baucis + 48 plates.
Size: 8vo, 23.2 x 15 cm.
Binding: Full tree-calf, flat spine stamped with gilt, red and brown labels with gilt lettering, marbled endpapers. Handwritten nut ink inscription to blank recto of frontispiece: the history of Millet-Fontaine family (provenance?)
There were two print-runs in the year 1838. According to Léopold Carteret (Le trésor du bibliophile. Epoque romantique. 1801-1875 / Livres illustrés du XIXe siècle. – Paris: L. Carteret; imprim. Lahure, 1927, pp. 357-9), the first run (Premier Tirage) published by H. Fournier and Perrotin, while the Second Tirage by H. Fournier Ainé. Though, the initial cap character “N” at p. xiii (vie d’Ésope) in this copy is formed by ‘faite de lignes bouclées‘ as in the first print-run, rather than by ‘petits carreaux noirs et blances‘ as in the second. We can conclude with confidence that this copy belongs to Premier Tirage.
Wood engravings (135 plates, including frontispiece, and numerous headpieces and initial letters) were cut by the following artists (the first number is the number of the chapter (‘livre‘), the second – the number of the fable within the ‘livre‘:
Wood engravers:
John Bastin, (British, fl. 1840 – 1850): 6-6, 7-13, and 8-9.
Alexandre Belhatte (French, born in 1811): 3-11 and chapter title pages to ‘livres‘ 6, 11, 12, headpices on p. 117 in vol. 2, and ‘Philemon et Baucis‘ section title page.
J. Constantine Beneworth (active France, 19th century): 1-6.
Louis-Henri Brévière (French, 1797 – 1869): 1-10, 2-7, 6-10, 6-21, 7-4, 8-10, 8-27, 9-3, 10-4, 12-11, frontispice, together with François-Louis Français (French, 1814–1897), and ‘Fin des fables’ tailpiece.
Brévière et Hébert: Louis-Henri Brévière (French, 1797 – 1869) and César-Auguste Hébert (French, active 19th century): 1-1, 1-2, 1-13, 1-18, 2-2, 2-11, 3-1, 3-3, 3-4, 3-18, 4-20, 4-21, 4-22, 5-5, 5-20, 6-2, 6-8, 7-3, 8-7, 8-12, 8-14, 8-17, 9-14, 10-6, 10-16, 11-6, 12-4, 12-25.
Joseph-Hippolyte-Jules Caqué (French, 1814 – 1885): 7-11 and headpieces on p. 251 in vol. 1 and on p. 197 in vol. 2.
Prosper-Adolphe-Léon Cherrier (French, born 1806): 8-6.
Henry Isidore Chevauchet (French, fl. 1837 – 1850): 1-19, 2-4, and 4-5.
Louis Dujardin (French, 1808 – 1859): 10-9.
Pierre-François Godard (French, 1768 – 1838): 1-5, 1-16, 5-2, and 10-11.
Charles David Laing (British, fl. 1836 – 1853): 7-9.
Lacoste père et fils aîné et Auguste-Alexandre Guillaumot (French, 1815 – 1892): 1-4, 1-20, 9-17, and 11-5.
Laisné (Alfred, Adèle, and Aglaé) (French, active 1835–1868): 5-8, 6-5, 6-17, 8-2, 8-15, 9-9, 9-10, 11-1, 11-8, 12-10.
(Alfred, Adèle, and Aglaé) Laisné (French, active 1835–1868): 5-8, 6-5, 6-17, 8-2, 8-15, 9-9, 9-10, 11-1, 11-8, 12-10.
Théodore Maurisset (French, fl. 1834 – 1859): 2-14 and 6-13.
Antoine-Alphée Piaud (French, 1813 – 1867): 1-17, 2-9, 2-16, 4-1, 4-4, 5-15, 5-17, 5-18, 5-21, 8-22, 8-23, 8-25, 9-19, 10-13, 11-3, 11-9, 12-13, 12-15, 12-21, three ‘livres‘: 3, 9, 10, and headpiece on p. 71 in vol. 2.
Roux-Jourdain: Two ‘livre‘ title pages, 1 and 2.
John Orrin Smith (British, 1799 – 1843): 2-13, 2-18, 3-9, 3-14, 4-9, and 4-14.L. Chauchefoin (French): 2-3 and 5.13.
Matthew Urlwin Sears (British, 1799 – 1870): 10-1 and 12-9.
Monogram TM or MT (possibly for Théodore Maurisset): 6-16 and 10-3.
Monogram GO–> (possibly for Godard) : 5-3, 7-1, and 9-5.
Monogram B and BV: 4-11, 12-6, ‘livre‘ 4, and headpieces on p. 1 in vol. 1 and on p. 167 in vol. 2.
Unsigned or with an illegible signature: “fables’ section title, 1-3, 1-9, 3-5, 3-8, 4-15, 4-18, 5-10, 7-7, 7-16, 9-2, 9-4, 12-2, 12-3, 12-17, and two ‘livre’ title pages, 5 and 8.
Little is know about Matthew Urlwin Sears. He was a wood engraver of good reputation who is known to have worked in London in the early 1820s, Paris and Leipzig. Listed as “wood engraver” on records of the UK Printing Historical Society. Work The British Museum owns three of his earliest published works, engravings for Northcote’s Fables (1828). He authored “Specimen of stereotype ornaments, 1825” which was reprinted as a facsimile in 1990 by the Printing Historical Society (London), with a foreword by James Mosley. He is mentioned by Pierre Gusman in “La Gravure sur Bois en France” (Paris, 1929). Laurent’s Histoire de l’Empereur Napoleon, (1839) is one of many publications on which both Sears and his partner John Quartly worked, as well as numerous other engravers. His work appeared in “Aunt Effie’s Rhymes” (1852) and “Uncle Tom’s Cabin”, by Harriet Beech Stowe (Edinburgh: Adam and Charles Black, 1853) [Claire-Juliette Beale, December 2009].
