1818 The Fables of Aesop, and Others

Description

First Edition, Illustrated, Leather Binding, Limited Edition, With Slipcase

One of 500 copies on Royal 8vo with signed "thumb-mark" receipt. Variant B with Philosopher woodcut to p. xvi and last line of p.248 "road of candour and prudence". Roscoe 45b.

The personal copy of Thomas Hugo, an antiquarian and clergyman, who was a dedicated admirer and collector of the Bewicks' woodcuts and publications. With his bookplate to the verso of the front free endpaper, alongside bibliographical note.

Hugo has tipped in page xvi from the Demi 8vo variant, which features the suppressed engraving of "Auld Clouty".

Illustrated with a vignette title, and a woodcut head-piece to each fable, alongside tail-pieces, by Thomas Bewick.

Collated, complete.

Bewick's woodcuts of 'Fables' is one of his best known works. He spent almost his entire creative career producing various editions of illustrated Aesop, the first of which was published in 1776.

Aesop's Fables are a collection of brief moral tales attributed to a storyteller believed to have lived in ancient Greece around the 6th century BCE. These tales typically feature animals as characters who embody human traits and behaviours, teaching practical life lessons through their interactions.

Classic fables like "The Tortoise and the Hare," "The Boy Who Cried Wolf," and "The Ant and the Grasshopper" use simple narratives to convey enduring wisdom about virtues such as perseverance, honesty, and hard work. 

In a handsome full morocco binding.

Housed in a cloth covered clamshell case, with the bookplate of Eric Sweet to the clamshell interior.