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Contes et Fables d'Animaux

1978 Le Chat et le Renard et autres fables. Illustrations de P. Latimer. Paperbound. Paris: Contes et Fables d'Animaux 1: Éditions des Deux Coqs d'Or. $1.70 from Marie Gervais, St.-Urbain-Premier, Quebec, Canada, through eBay, Dec., '10.

This is one of four twelve-page oversized (9" x 11¾") pamphlets I bought from Marie Gervais together. There seem to be two others in the series beyond these four. The illustration style is highly reminiscent of that found in several works: Les Plus Belles Fables d'Animaux, published in 1982 by Deux Coqs d'Or; El arca de las Fabulas, published in 1983 by Sigmar in 1983; and work published in English in 1979 by Falcon Books. The surprise is that the artist listed for those is Sergio Cavina, while these pamphlets are explicit in proclaiming P. Latimer as the illustrator. The bibliographical notes here mention a 1976 copyright by Falcon. Someday this mystery will be solved. Here five fables get either two or three pages each, with an abundance of clever and fine-grain illustrations. Though La Fontaine does not seem to be mentioned, these prose fables seem to follow La Fontaine's versions. Readers of this volume will remember particularly the images of the mosquito as a traveler with satchel and umbrella; of the mosquito upbraiding the sweating horse; and of the weasel stuck in the hole through which he had entered leaner.

1978 Le Renard et l'Alouette et autres fables. Illustrations de P. Latimer. Paperbound. Paris: Contes et Fables d'Animaux 1: Éditions des Deux Coqs d'Or. $1.70 from Marie Gervais, St.-Urbain-Premier, Quebec, Canada, through eBay, Dec., '10.

This is one of four twelve-page oversized (9" x 11¾") pamphlets I bought from Marie Gervais together. There seem to be two others in the series beyond these four. The illustration style is highly reminiscent of that found in several works: Les Plus Belles Fables d'Animaux, published in 1982 by Deux Coqs d'Or; El arca de las Fabulas, published in 1983 by Sigmar in 1983; and work published in English in 1979 by Falcon Books. The surprise is that the artist listed for those is Sergio Cavina, while these pamphlets are explicit in proclaiming P. Latimer as the illustrator. The bibliographical notes here mention a 1976 copyright by Falcon. Someday this mystery will be solved. Here five fables get either two or three pages each, with an abundance of clever and fine-grain illustrations. All five fables are new to me: "The Wolf and the Goat"; "The Giraffe's Neck"; "The Fox and the Lark"; "The Rooster and the Two Cats"; and "The Timorous Rabbit." In the first fable, the little goat helps the wolf escape from angry farmers, hoping for a reward. He learns that his only reward is to escape alive. "The Giraffe's Neck" is standard fable stuff. A young gazelle envies the giraffe's long neck. While his mother is suggesting to him that the giraffe's gift has its drawbacks, a leopard jumps forward. All the other animals can flee into the woods, but the giraffe cannot.. "The Fox and the Lark" seems a variation of "Universal Peace." The lark says to the love-protesting fox "Fly up here and we will talk all you want!" The two cats act as horses drawing the king rooster's coach, until they get away from the farm, pounce upon him, and devour him. "The Timorous Rabbit" seems a development of the fable in which the rabbit allows himself delusions of grandeur because of his "antlers," which are really ears. Readers of this volume will remember particularly the image of the giraffe looking in terror as the leopard bounds with open jaws towards the giraffe's long neck.

1978 La Chauve-Souris et les Deux Chats et autres fables. Illustrations de P. Latimer. Paperbound. Paris: Contes et Fables d'Animaux 3: Éditions des Deux Coqs d'Or. $1.70 from Marie Gervais, St.-Urbain-Premier, Quebec, Canada, through eBay, Dec., '10.

This is one of four twelve-page oversized (9" x 11¾") pamphlets I bought from Marie Gervais together. There seem to be two others in the series beyond these four. The illustration style is highly reminiscent of that found in several works: Les Plus Belles Fables d'Animaux, published in 1982 by Deux Coqs d'Or; El arca de las Fabulas, published in 1983 by Sigmar in 1983; and work published in English in 1979 by Falcon Books. The surprise is that the artist listed for those is Sergio Cavina, while these pamphlets are explicit in proclaiming P. Latimer as the illustrator. The bibliographical notes here mention a 1976 copyright by Falcon. Someday this mystery will be solved. Here five fables get either two or three pages each, with an abundance of clever and fine-grain illustrations. Several work off of better known fables. "The Revenge of the Old Dog" features a lame forgotten old dog who learns to dig up truffles and so wins his master's renewed love. "The Monkey and the Giraffe" has a monkey who falls on a giraffe's head and enjoys sliding down his long neck. The monkey can repay the giraffe by getting tender foliage for him from the highest branches. They become friends and enjoy each other. This story has one of the pamphlet's two best illustrations: the annoyed giraffe looks up toward the monkey who has plopped onto his head. "The Donkey and the Lyre" seems to embellish the standard Iriarte fable: he talks a good game about playing the lyre but cannot do it. "The Eagle and the Dove" puts together two fables I know. The eagle begins by offering to protect the doves from a marauding stone marten. He proceeds to carry away one dove after another, eating them as soon as each is out of sight of the others. "The Bat and the Two Cats" embellishes the standard fable by having the bat compliment each of the two cats on his particular strength, respectively against mice and against birds. The illustration of the pondering cat is the other outstanding illustration here.

1978 Le Chat et la Souris et autres fables. NA. Illustrations de P. Latimer. Paperbound. Paris: Contes et Fables d'Animaux 5: Éditions des Deux Coqs d'Or. $1.70 from Marie Gervais, St.-Urbain-Premier, Quebec, Canada, through eBay, Dec., '10.

This is one of four twelve-page oversized (9" x 11¾") pamphlets I bought from Marie Gervais together. There seem to be two others in the series beyond these four. The illustration style is highly reminiscent of that found in several works: Les Plus Belles Fables d'Animaux, published in 1982 by Deux Coqs d'Or; El arca de las Fabulas, published in 1983 by Sigmar in 1983; and work published in English in 1979 by Falcon Books. The surprise is that the artist listed for those is Sergio Cavina, while these pamphlets are explicit in proclaiming P. Latimer as the illustrator. The bibliographical notes here mention a 1976 copyright by Falcon. Someday this mystery will be solved. Here five fables get either two or three pages each, with an abundance of clever and fine-grain illustrations. The first seems straight La Fontaine: "The Animals Sick from the Plague." The second is "The Cat and the Mouse." The cat does good service but annoys his master by knocking over olive jars and wine bottles, all in pursuit of a single mouse. The master beats and dismisses him, only to see his cellars devastated by mice. MSA is then told in the manner of La Fontaine, but including in its first stage a cart like a wheel-barrow in which to carry the ass! "The Never-Happy Turtle" is new to me. A young turtle complains of having to carry his shell with him. While he complains to a friendly frog, a horse comes along. The frog can jump to safety, but the turtle cannot. However, his shell protects him even as the horse's hoof lands on his shell. "The Viper and the Badger" is likewise new to me. A hunter with his dog comes upon a standoff between a viper and a badger. In a rather complex fable, the hunter mistakenly shoots the badger, the viper attacks the curious dog, and the hunter wonders what he was doing in butting into other creatures' lives. The best of the pamphlet's illustrations might be the ugly look on the master's face as he sends the cat whom he has beaten away from his home.

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