LA FONTAINE, Jean de, and BARETCHE (trans.). La Fontaine’s F - Lot 222

LA FONTAINE, Jean de, and BARETCHE (trans.). La Fontaine’s Fables in Gascon Verse. The famous fables adapted into Gascon, some of which have been freely expanded in a mischievously more “local” spirit. Bayonne, Paul Fauvet Duhard, 1776. In-8, fawn calfskin, smooth spine decorated with gilt metal fittings and a red title label, covers adorned with gilt garland borders, edges decorated with a gilt fillet, yellow edges. 2 ff., 284 pp., 8 pp. numbered III–X (table of contents). The front cover is damaged with water stain; the top cap is missing, the bottom cap is damaged, and the corners are rubbed. There is a light water stain on the title page; restoration on the third leaf and on page 129; pages 269 and 270 are missing. Work in Gascon. First edition of this Gascon translation of 106 fables attributed to Baretche. Described by Vinson as “a masterpiece of Bayonne typography,” this beautiful edition opens with a frontispiece title page surmounted by an allegory of the city of Bayonne and a frontispiece featuring a portrait of the author based on the one by Rigaud, surrounded by muses—all engraved on copper by Le Mire after Moreau. At the end of the volume is a small dictionary from Gascon to French (pp. 263–284). [Barbe 57a]. A charming copy of this elegant edition.