This Dover volume brings into general circulation for the first time a rare edition of Aesop's Fables issued in Paris in 1931 and limited to only 665 copies. The book combines the 1692 translation of the Fables by English journalist Sir Roger L'Estrange with 50 drawings created especially as illustration for the tales by American sculptor, painter, and illustrator Alexander Calder.
L'Estrange's 17th-century rendering of the fables is a delight to read, judged by The Cambridge History of English Literature "the best that we have." Calder's art needs no special introduction: his widely displayed "mobiles" and "stabiles" have won him international popularity. The drawings Calder executed for this book rank among his most imaginative creations.
Two hundred and one of the traditional fables are narrated here, including such all-time favorites as "A Hare and a Tortoise," "A Fox and Grapes," "A Lyoness and a Fox," "A City Mouse and a Country Mouse," "A Swallow and a Crow," and "A Fox and a Raven." An entertaining volume for general readers, prized by literature students and art lovers alike, this is a book that should appeal to practically everybody. Unabridged, unaltered republication of the first (1931) edition.