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Encyclopedia Articles

1901?    Encyclopedia articles, "Aesop's Fables among the Jews" and "Fable."  Isidore Singer, Managing Editor.  NY: Funk and Wagnalls Company.  Included in some one of the Jewish books purchased for the collection though Joshua Jakobovich, Shiloh, Israel, July, '22. 

This article sees two streams of fables coming together after the first century: the Greek fables of Aesop and the Indian set under the name of Kybises.  In the second century these two come together under the rhetor Nicostratus.  In the third, these are turned into Greek verse by Babrius.  The articles trace the place of fable in Hebrew Literature.  Jewish fables take on some prominence with the 107 fables of Berechiah ha-Nakdan, apparently deeply related to the fables of Marie de France.  The "Fable" article also mentions John of Capua.  Jacobs "Fables of Aesop" is one of several sources mentioned here.   

1950?  Four leaves from some comprehensive, long, book of French literature for children.  Pages 1991-4 and 2085 to 2088.  “Les sujets que traitent les poètes: Les Animaux Nous Font la Morale.”   “Pages a Lire et à Retenir.”  Individual pages labelled “Pages à Lire.”   Images from Gustave Doré.  Unknown book title and unknown source.

I find the introductory cartoon by M(aurice) Brévannes charming.  The first set of fables includes OF; “Bee and Ant” and “Fox and Goat” with illustrations of the first and last by Doré.  The second set includes LM ; FS ; “Wolf Become Shepherd”; FC ; and “The Pupil.”  There are Doré illustrations for FS and “Wolf Become Shepherd.”