1820 Select Fables

Description

Fine Binding, Illustrated, Leather Binding, With Slipcase

In a beautiful quarter morocco binding with patterned cloth to the boards, in a custom cloth chemise and custom cloth slipcase, a lovely unsigned binding by Eric Sweet, with renewed endpapers. Chemise and slipcase are both in a fine condition.

Pages have been washed, presenting an uncommonly bright copy of this sought after work.

Thomas and John Bewick's edition of Aesop's 'Fables'.

Illustrated with a frontispiece, engraved title, four portrait plates, and woodcut vignettes throughout. Collated, complete, though the endpapers have been renewed. 

This edition includes a memoir and a descriptive catalogue of the works of the Bewick brothers. 

Aesop's Fables is a selection of fables, generally attributed to the ancient Greek Aesop. The fables are moral tales that guide in religious and secular aspects of life.

Thomas Bewick spent almost his entire creative career producing various editions of illustrated 'Aesop's Fables', the first of which was published in 1776.

Bewick was an illustrator known for his fine illustrations for books, illustrating many natural history works, such as 'A History of British Birds', and 'A History of Quadrupeds'. He is known for popularising the practice of printing illustrations using wood, producing high-quality illustrations at a lower price.

Bound by Eric Sweet, a keen collector of private press and fables. He studied at the Brighton College of Art, before moving to London to work as a lettering artist and typographer for advertising agencies, later becoming the head of Birmingham School of Printing. Sweet's bindings are unique and striking, reflecting the topics of the volumes in distinctive style.