Two-volume edition, financed, arranged and managed by Fermiers généraux. Vol. 1. Title : CONTES | ET | NOUVELLES | EN VERS, | Par M. de La Fontaine. | TOME I. | {vignette} | A AMSTERDAM. | — | M. DCC. LXII. || Pagination: [2] – blanks [i, ii] – h.t. / blank, [iii, iv] – t.p. / blank, v-xiv, [1] 2–268 [269-70] – table, [4] – blanks, plus frontispiece by Fiquet after Rigault, t.p. vignette, vignette, headpiece, and 23 tailpieces by Choffard, 39 plates by various engravers after Charles Eisen. Vol. 2. Title: same but TOME II. Pagination: [2] – blanks] [i, ii] – h.t. / blank, [iii] iv-viii [1] 2–306 [307-10] – épitaphe / table, [4] – blanks, plus frontispiece by Fiquet after Vispré, t.p. vignette, vignette, headpiece, and 29 tailpieces by Choffard, and 42 plates after Charles Eisen (Ray only cite 41 plates). Binding: 2 volumes, 19.8 x 12.2 each, uniformly bound in full Spanish mottled calf, boards triple ruled in gilt, flat spine with triple bands, double ruled and tooled in gilt, black title labels lettered in gilt, all margins gilt, marbled end-papers, in cardboard slipcases, openings leathered. In vol. 1 a manuscript plate 4.8 x 8.2 cm pasted to page [1]: "Cette Édition est très rare n’y ayant | eu que 30 Exemplaires de livres, ou la figure principale dans le Cas de Conscience page 143 Tom 2 est nud tandis que dans les autres Éditions cette Figure est voilée par un feuillage". Contributors: Jean de La Fontaine (French, 1621–1695) – author. Fermiers généraux and Jean Baptiste Séroux d'Agincourt (French, 1730 – 1814) – publisher. Joseph Gérard Barbou (French, 1723–1790) – printer. Artists: Charles Eisen (French, 1720 – 1778) François Xavier Vispré (British-French, c.1730 – 1789 or after) Hyacinthe Rigaud [Jacint Rigau-Ros i Serra] (Catalan-French, 1659 – 1743) Engravers: Joseph de Longueil (French, 1730 – 1792) Noël Le Mire (French, 1724 – 1801) Jean-Jacques André Le Veau (French, 1729 – 1786) Jacques Aliamet (French, 1726 – 1788) Jean Charles Baquoy (French, 1721 – 1777) Pierre-Philippe Choffard (French, 1730 – 1809) Jean Jacques Flipart (French, 1719 – 1782) Louis Simon Lempereur (French, 1725 – 1796) Jean Ouvrier (French, 1725 – 1784)

Étienne Ficquet (French 1719 – 1794)

Catalogue raisonné: Ray (French): №26, pp. 54-56; Cohen-DeRicci: 558-571; Lewine: 278-280.

Description: 3 volumes, 8vo, 20.4 x 13 cm, first issue, bound in the contemporary speckled calf, all edges gilt, spines gilt with double red/brown lettering labels (vol 1. labels missing); raised bands, gilt in compartments, double gilt-ruled borders; marbled endpapers. With the contemporary signature in each volume of Caroline Marlborough of Blenheim Palace, and bookplates of Lord F. A. Spencer. This is certainly Lady Caroline Russell, wife of George Spencer, Fourth Duke of Marlborough; she was daughter to the Duke of Bedford and was married in 1762. She died at Blenheim in 1811. The later bookplate in each volume pasted to the front pastedown of her son Francis Almeric Spencer (British, 1779-1845). Pagination: Vol. I: [two blank leaves] [half-title, verso blank] [recto blank, frontispiece on verso: portrait of Marmontel by St. Aubin after Cochin] [engraved t.p. by Duclos after Gravelot, verso blank], [i] ii-xvi, [table des contes with 5-line Errata (autograph Lordine Marlborough), verso blank], [1] 2–345 [346-50 blanks]; 9 plates after Gravelot by: Baquoy, de Longueil (2), Legrand, Leveau (2), Rousseau, Voyez, and unsigned (1). Vol. 2: [two blank leaves] [half-title, verso blank] [engraved t.p. by Duclos after Gravelot, verso blank]  [table des contes with 10-line Errata (autograph Lordine Marlborough), verso blank], [1] 2–376 [377-50 blanks]; 9 plates after Gravelot by: de Longueil (5), Leveau (2), Pasquier and  Rousseau. Vol. 3: [two blank leaves] [half-title, verso blank] [engraved t.p. by Duclos after Gravelot, verso blank]  [table des contes with 9-line Errata, verso blank] [two leaves: approbation and Privilege du Roi] [1] 2–312 [313-16 blanks]; 5 plates after Gravelot by: de Longueil (2), Le Mire (2), and Pasquier. Catalogue raisonné: Cohen-De Ricci 686-7; Gordon N. Ray. The Art of the French Illustrated Book 1700 to 1914. — NY, London: The Pierpont Morgan Library; Cornell University Press, 1982, Vol. 1. pp. 44-5. [In their copy vol. 2 and 3 in a different order]; MFA ACCESSION NUMBER 37.1488a-c Illustrated by: Hubert François Gravelot (French, 1699–1773) Engraved by: Jean Charles Baquoy (French, 1721–1777) Engraved by: Antoine Jean Duclos (French, 1742–1795) Engraved by: Louis Legrand (French, 1723–1807) Engraved by: Noël Le Mire (French, 1724–1801) Engraved by: Jean Jacques André Le Veau (French, 1729–1785) Engraved by: Joseph de Longueil (French, 1730–1792) Engraved by: Jean Jacques Pasquier (French, died in 1785) Engraved by: Jean François Rousseau (French, born in 1740) Engraved by: Nicolas Joseph Voyez l'ainé (French, 1742–1806) Portrait(s) designed by: Charles-Nicolas Cochin le fils (French, 1715–1790) Engraved by: Augustin de Saint-Aubin (French, 1736–1807) Author: Jean-François Marmontel (French, 1723–1799) Publisher: Joseph Merlin (French, 1718–1783) Printer: Pierre-Alexandre Le Prieur (French, born in 1722)

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].

Title page: LES | BAISERS , | PRÉCÉDES | DU MOIS DE MAI, | POËME. | [vignette] | A LA HAYE , | Et se trouve à Paris | Chez Lambert , Imprimeur, rue de la Harpe. | Et Delalain , rue de la Comédie Françoise. | M. DCC. LXX Size: 8vo; 24.5 x 15.5 cm; Binding by Hippolyte Duru – stamp at the back of the front end paper DURU, 1855; full red calf, boards decorated in gilt, raised bands and gilt decorations in compartments, gilt lettering, AEG, peacock marbled end papers, text and illustrations printed on Holland paper. Collation: 2 ffls, engraved half-title by N. Ponce after Ch. Eisen, frontispiece by  Etienne Fessard after Claude-Jean-Baptiste Hoin (French, 1750 – 1817) w/guard tissue, t.p. by J. Aliamet after Ch. Eisen, Réflexions préliminaires: A8, B4; 'Le Mois de Mai' half-title, imprim. note on verso, frontispice by De Longueil after Ch. Eisen w/guard tissue, A4 C-F(8) H4; 2bfls. Frontispiece by Etienne Fessard is unique in this edition. Pagination: [2] 3-24, [27]/28, 5/6, 31/32 31/34 11/12 37-119 [120], 22 head-pieces after Ch. Eisen and 22 end-pieces after Marillier, engraved by Baquoy, Binet, Delaunay, Lingée, De Longueil, Masquelier, Massard, and Née. Mistakes in pagination likely confirms first printing first edition. Catalogue raisonné: Cohen, De Ricci (1912): 308-311). Artists: Charles Eisen (French, 1720–1778); Clément Pierre Marillier (French, 1740–1808), and Claude-Jean-Baptiste Hoin (French, 1750–1817). Engravers: Jacques Aliamet (French, 1726–1788); Jean Charles Baquoy (French, 1721–1777); Louis Binet (French, 1744–about 1800); Nicolas Delaunay (French, 1739–1792); Etienne Fessard (French, 1714–1777); Charles Louis Lingée (French, 1748–1819); Joseph de Longueil (French, 1730–1792); Louis Joseph Masquelier (French, 1741–1811); Jean Massard (1740–1822); François Denis Née (French, 1735–1818); Nicholas Ponce (French, 1746–1831).

Title: Life in London ; | DAY AND NIGHT SCENES | OF | JERRY HAWTHORN, ESQ. | AND HIS ELEGANT FRIEND | CORINTHIAN TOM, | ACCOMPANIED BY | BOB LOGIC, THE OXONIAN, | IN THEIR |Rambles and Sprees through the Metropolis. | DEDICATED TO HIS MOST GRACIOUS MAJESTY | KING GEORGE THE FOURTH. | BY PIERCE EGAN, | Author of Walks through Bath, Sporting Anecdotes, Picture of the Fancy, Boxiana, &c. | [Vignette] | EMBELLISHED WITH THIRTY-SIX SCENES FROM REAL LIFE, | DESIGNED AND ETCHED BY I. R. & G. CRUIKSHANK ; | And also enriched with numerous original Designs on Wood, by the same Artists, | London: | PRINTED FOR SHERWOOD, NEELY, AND JONES, | PATERNOSTER-ROW. | 1821. ||

Edition: 1st edition, 1st issue: the first sheet of music is not numbered, absence of any footnote at page 9 (as per Cohn).

Pagination: 3 binder's flyleaves with a specimen of George Cruikshank's signature of Nov. 5th, 1860 to the first one; hand-coloured aquatint frontispiece facing the title page with blank recto, [iii-iv] – t.p. with vignette/ blank, [v] vi-viii – dedication, ix-xii – contents, [xiii]-xvi – list of illustrations; [1] 2-376; 35 hand-coloured aquatints, 3 folding leaves of music; bound without half-title [missing pp. i, ii], advertisements or 'to the subscribers' leaf.

Collation: 8vo; [A]⁷ B-Z⁸ Aa⁸-Bb⁴.

Binding: Full polished calf gilt by Rivière & Son, covers with triple gilt border, spine in 6 compartments, brown morocco lettering pieces to second and third, others richly gilt, raised bands, all edges gilt; neatly re-backed preserving spine.

Catalogue raisonné: Albert M. Cohn, 1924: № 262 p. 90; Abbey, J. R. (Life in England), 281; Tooley (Some English Books with Coloured Plates) 196; Prideaux (Aquatint Engraving) pp. 307, 310; Hardie (English coloured books) 197.

Description of Shapero Rare Books, London: There was a translation into French. At least six plays were based on Egan's characters, contributing to yet more sales. One of these was exported to America, launching the Tom and Jerry craze there. The version created by William Thomas Moncrieff was praised as The Beggar's Opera of its day. Moncrieff's production of Tom and Jerry, or Life in London ran continuously at the Adelphi Theatre for two seasons and it was the dramatist's work as much as the author's that did so much to popularise the book's trademark use of fashionable slang. In 1821 Egan announced the publication of a regular journal: Life in London, appearing monthly at a shilling a time. It was to be illustrated by George Cruikshank (1792 – 1878), and was dedicated to the King, George IV, who at one time had received Egan at court. The first edition of Life in London appeared on 15 July 1821. Egan's creation was an instant success. Pirate versions appeared, featuring such figures as 'Bob Tallyho', 'Dick Wildfire' and the like. Printmakers speedily knocked off cuts featuring the various 'stars' and the real-life public flocked to the 'sporting' addresses that Egan had his heroes frequent.