Fables Volume II - La Fontaine & Ge Hongdewei - Antique Books

Author: Jean de La Fontaine Title: [Fables] (Fables de La Fontaine Illustrées par JJ Grandville. Nouvelle edition. ) Signed: Paris, H. Fournier Ainé. Techniques: two volumes, volume 1 includes hardwood woodcut illustration title page, XXVIII, 292 pages in total; volume 2 has 312 pages in total. There are 120 full-page hardwood woodcut illustrations in the whole book, and each fable is decorated with geometric floral patterns before and after the main text. Cowhide semi-hardcover, with romantic gilt flower decoration on the spine, front and rear covers covered with reddish-brown moiré paper, both with gilt embossing. The new edition was published in the same year as the first edition. Year: 1838. Dimensions: 22 x 14 cm (BO 56). Jean de La Fontaine (Jean de La Fontaine, 1621~1695) was born in Château-Thierry in the Aisne department in central France, and his father was a government official. He studied law and theology, but finally decided to become a writer. From 1652 to 1671, he inherited his father's business and served as the manager of water and forest in his hometown. Published "Contes et nouvelles en vers" (Contes et nouvelles en vers) in 1664. The content was drawn from Boccaccio, Rabelais (Francois Rabelais), Ariosto (Ariost) and others. Although the writing style is elegant, there are many obscene scenes , was rated as indecent by the people at that time. As for "La Fontaine's Fables" (Fables), which made him famous, the first edition was published in 1668, which became his later career, and continued to be written until his death, with a total of 239 volumes in twelve volumes. The stories in "La Fontaine's Fables" are not compiled by La Fontaine, but mainly come from Aesop of ancient Greece, Phaedrus (Phaedrus), a fabler of ancient Rome, and the story collection "Five Books" of ancient India. Covers medieval and seventeenth-century European folktales. However, La Fontaine turned the old into something new and pushed the traditional genre of fable to a new height. His poetic style is flexible, rich in vocabulary, and varied in rhythm. He is good at using animals as metaphors to satirize snobs and dignitaries. This collection of twelve volumes of fables is loved by both children and adults. In addition to the publication of general texts, well-known illustrators have also successively painted and endorsed for it. The version of Ge Hongdewei (Grandville, 1803~1847) is one of the well-known ones. Ge Hongdewei, whose real name is Jean Ignace Isidore Gérard (Jean Ignace Isidore Gérard), is generally called by his pseudonym Ge Hongdewei. He was an important French illustrator and cartoonist in the nineteenth century. He was born into a family of artists in Nancy, in northeastern France. Ge Hongdewei is the stage name his grandparents performed on the professional stage. His father was a miniature painter, who started his life in drawing. At the age of twenty-one, he came to Paris and soon published a series of lithographs. It was not until "Les Métamorphoses du jour" (Les Métamorphoses du jour) in 1829 that he was noticed. These 70 pictures combine animal heads with human bodies to present a human comedy. Human characteristics are impressively combined with animal shapes. The rise of Ge Hongdewei in France at this moment has its background. After the July Revolution in France in 1830, the publication of popular images became active again. An important element that constitutes the connotation of popular images should be genre satirical prints. After the French Revolution, the moral standards and aesthetic theories established by the ruling class were ruthlessly attacked, sharp class antagonisms and social conflicts, the golden mean was no longer visible, and satirical prints played a pivotal role here. This kind of works use exaggerated brushwork to attack and derogate opponents. On the one hand, it achieves the purpose of attacking, and on the other hand, it uses sensational and distorted pictures to arouse the emotions of the masses and gain their approval. Revolutionaries also admit that caricature is the most powerful tool of demagoguery. In 1815, the restoration forces in Europe rebuilt the old autocratic system, and the satirical prints that were popular during the revolutionary period faced official censorship and disappeared temporarily. After the July Revolution, the new regime in France promised freedom of expression, and satirical prints revived. Many French caricature masters leaped onto the stage of history at this time. Ge Hongdewei's performance in this kind of satirical caricature is outstanding. At that time, famous pictorial magazines, such as "La Caricature" (La Caricature), "La Silhouette" (La Silhouette), "The Artist" (L'Artiste), etc., All scrambled to cooperate with him, and he also attacked the political society at that time with his humorous satire, which was famous for a while. It is a pity that the good times did not last long. In 1835, the wind direction changed and the censorship system of comics became more stringent. Ge Hongweide had to fully devote himself to the field of book illustrations, drawing illustrations for many classic works, such as "Don Quixote", "Lilliputian Travel Notes" ]. Just like his achievements in satirical cartoons, he still uses his absurd and exaggerated brushwork to accurately capture the characteristics of each character in his illustrated books. His creativity is rich and amazing, and his humor is gentle and delicate, with thought-provoking philosophical thinking. Among the illustrations in "Fables", through 120 illustrations, you can just have a glimpse of the outstanding artistic ingenuity of this outstanding illustrator. *If you have any details, please send a message to contact the designer *The main products in this design hall are western antiques, old jewelry and home decorations, and old European original print books. The old products inevitably have traces of history, but they are cleverly arranged according to personal taste, and each plays its own role, which can lead to extraordinary results. Life taste and aesthetic concept. However, if you mind, please consider carefully before placing an order.