Aesop's Fables. 1686 Aesopi (Aesop) Phrigis et Aliorum Fabulae. Illustrated.

An interesting and scarce 1686 printing of Aesop's Fables, illustrated throughout. The full descriptive title, translated, is actually a great description of the book:

The fables of Aesop the Phrygian, and of others. The names of whom the following page will indicate. Illustrated with the most elegant icons for the benefit of studious youth.

About Aesop's Fables -

Aesop's Fables, or the Aesopica, is a collection of fables credited to Aesop, a slave and storyteller who lived in ancient Greece between 620 and 564 BCE. The first extensive translation of Aesop into Latin iambic trimeters was performed by Phaedrus, a freedman of Augustus in the 1st century CE, although at least one fable had already been translated by the poet Ennius two centuries before, and others are referred to in the work of Horace.

Binder's Waste-

The binder's waste, used to make the pasteboards under the vellum, is page 357 of the 1685 Summa Diversorum Tractatum by Marci Antonii Sabelli (indicating the binding is contemporary to the book).

Provenance -

I solved a provenance mystery in researching this book. Books with this ex libris ticket SHH have long been announced as "unknown". But, a quick search of the motto Libertas Suprema Lex revealed that philosopher and author Shadworth Hollway Hodgson employed this label. In his book Principles of Reform in the Suffrage, he wrote on the motto (page 9, 1866). Also, there is a scanned copy of the 1867 Die Theologie der Vorzeit (Kleutgen) that holds the same label, and under it a library added a second label, "Ex Legato Shadworth Hodgson".

Bibliographic Details -

Universal Short Title Catalogue (USTC) number 1726467, found in 4 of Italy's libraries (Poziuncola, Castello di Castiglione del Terziere, Comunale Manfrediana and Diocesana B Lucia Broccadelli).

Worldcat OCLC number 807897973; no libraries listed as holding a copy.

Physical Attributes -

Measures approx. 14 x 7.5 x 2 cm. Vellum binding, with manuscript title on spine. Signed in 12. Illustrated.

Pages – 1-286, [11 pages of index (verso of last printed leaf blank)]. Either missing the blank last leaf, or it was used as the pastedown (text-block sewing indicates it was).

Collation – A-L12, M17 (blank 18 missing, or used as the pastedown)

Condition -

Binding a little toned. Spine with some chipping at head. Several tiny wormholes to front board. Front pastedown lifted revealing binder’s waste. Ex libris on top of binder’s waste, “425” on facing leaf. Title page with toning, ink marks, manuscript ex libris, chips around edges. Book is toned throughout, with occasional rust spots, dog-eared corners, small edge chip, thumb, errant ink marks, etc. Book is trimmed tight, sometimes catching the header. B11 with 1” tear from fore-edge. Chip at bottom of C12, one word affected. Ink mark bottom of D2. Ink spot D5. Small candle ember hole in K9. Donkey on L2 verso outlined in ink. Bottom corner M7 chipped. Verso of last extant leaf and pastedown with numerous manuscript markings.