PERRAULT (Charles). Fairy Tales. Paris, Lamy, 1781. In-12, c - Lot 85

PERRAULT (Charles). Fairy Tales. Paris, Lamy, 1781. In-12, contemporary binding in fawn calfskin, triple gilt fillet on the covers, ribbed spine decorated with a green morocco title label, gilt edges. The finest and most beautiful 18th-century edition of Perrault’s Tales. This significant edition is the first to bring together the eight prose tales (Little Red Riding Hood; The Fairies; Bluebeard; Sleeping Beauty; Puss in Boots; Cinderella; Riquet with the Tuft; and Tom Thumb) and the three tales in verse (Griselidis; Donkey Skin; and The Ridiculous Wishes), which until then had always been published separately. Also included are *The Skillful Princess*, a play written by the author’s niece, Marie-Jeanne L’Héritier de Villandon, and the apocryphal prose version of *Donkey Skin*. The illustrations consist of a frontispiece and twelve charming vignettes at the beginning of the tales—eight of which are for the prose tales previously published in the edition edited by Coustelier in 1742, engraved by Fokke after De Sève and retouched here, plus two vignettes by Martinet for *Griselidis* and *Peau d’Ane*, which are repeated for *Les Souhaits ridicules* and the prose version of *Peau d’Ane*. A lovely copy in contemporary fawn calfskin. Minor repairs at the top and bottom of the fore-edges. A few faint, old water stains, mainly marginal, on a few leaves; slightly more pronounced on the last five. Acquired by Émile Rossignol in 1960.

Estimate:$3,374.52

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