La Fontaine's Fables, rewritten and illustrated by Frederick Colin Tilney
What's so special about La Fontaine's Fables? Jean de La Fontaine was a master of verse and an extremely perceptive observer of human nature with an emphasis on their relations. He was very well informed about the affairs in the French court in the 17th century when fairy tales and fables became immensely popular.
Like every other educated person of the time he knew Aesop's fables by heart and used his verbal skills, combined with already mentioned knowledge of the society to adapt Aesop's (and by other 'authors', as well) to point out the most pressing problems of his time so well, his versions, although not original per se, are still very much alive in the present-days.
And he did it in verse, of course.
The heart of Thyrsis left
La Fontaine's Fables were translated to almost all languages of the world and English was among the first ones. Fables stayed popular for centuries and Frederick Colin Tilney was only one of many who tried to adapt them a bit to better fit his view of the world. As a multi-talented artist with great knowledge of literature, art, and music, he probably didn't have too much trouble selecting a few dozen fables (48 altogether, to be exact), translating them, and writing them in prose. Apart from editorial work, he also illustrated several of them and here we have a presentation of the book, published around 1913 by J. M. Dent & Sons, London, and E. P Dutton & Company, New York.
After the preface, a list of fables follows. Here is the content section:
CONTENTS
The Two Mules
The Hare and the Partridge
The Gardener and His Landlord
The Man and His Image
The Animals Sick of the Plague
The Unhappily Married Man
The Rat retired from the World
The Maiden
The Wishes
The Dairy-Woman and the Pail of Milk
The Priest and the Corpse
The Man Who ran after Fortune and the Man who waited for Her in His Bed
An Animal in the Moon
The Fortune-Tellers
The Cobbler and the Financier
The Power of Fable
The Dog Who Carried His Master's Dinner
Thyrsis and Amaranth
The Rat and the Elephant
The Horoscope
Jupiter and the Thunderbolts
Education
Democritus and the People of Abdera
The Acorn and the Pumpkin
The Schoolboy, the Pedant, and the Owner of a Garden
The Sculptor and the Statue of Jupiter
The Oyster and the Pleaders
The Cat and the Fox
The Monkey and the Cat
The Two Rats, the Fox, and the Egg
The Dog with His Ears Cropped
The Lioness and the She-Bear
The Rabbits
The Gods wishing to Instruct a Son of Jupiter
The Lion, the Monkey, and the Two Asses
The Wolf and the Fox in the Well
The Mice and the Screech-Owl
The Companions of Ulysses
The Quarrel between the Dogs and the Cats and between the Cats and the Mice
The Wolf and the Fox
Love and Folly
The Forest and the Woodcutter
The Fox and the Young Turkeys
The Ape
The Scythian Philosopher
The Elephant and Jupiter's Ape
The League of Rats
The Arbiter, the Hospitaller, and the Hermit
You are probably familiar with some of the fables, but not all. Anyway, it's not the intention of this article to dive into the summaries of already short fables and their morals. Everybody interested in fables can visit this list of fables and explore them by authors, themes, morals, etc.
We'll just continue with the drawings and paintings by F. C. Tilney.
After the content section, there is a list of (color) illustrations and a very short biography of La Fontaine.
This vignette belongs to the fable titled The Two Mules.
The next picture illustrates the fable The Hare and the Partridge
You boasted of being so swift
The second line drawing is a decoration of The Rat Retired from the World.
And here is a variation of another well-known fable - about spoiled milk: The Dairy-Woman and the Pail of Milk
Overtoppled the milk
The Fortune Tellers
The garret was still a sybil's den
Another black and white vignette, this time for Jupiter and the Thunderbolts
The illustration above is a head-piece of The Acorn and the Pumpkin.
It's time for another color picture by Tilney. The fable is titled The Oyster and the Pleaders
Deliberately swallowed the oyster
The Lioness and the She-Bear
Why cannot you be silent also?
The Wolf and the Fox in the Well is another classic fable. As you probably noticed, this one was used for the cover of the first edition too.
Descended by his greater weight
Another vignette is (as all others) used for a head-piece. The fable is titled The Companions of Ulysses.
The Wolf and the Fox
No, it's not a mistake. This is a different fable about two ancient enemies. This time two other characters interfere.
A guide for the footsteps of love
This black and white drawing has the same design as the one presented before but with different animals. The title is The Elephant and Jupiter's Ape.
This concludes our graphic journey through the book. Unfortunately, there is not much to find out about the artist. There is even some controversy about his birth, with some sources claiming he was born in 1865 and others saying it was in 1870. There is a consensus about the place of his birth and death: Westminster, and the time of death: 1951.
We know that Frederick Colin Tilney was an author, designer, etcher, musician, painter, and photographer. He studied at Birkbeck College in London and Westminster School of Art. His style is influenced by the Arts and Crafts movement and we know he illustrated at least 16 books. Aesop's and especially La Fontaine's are his most praised works but we have to mention at least his take on Wagner's Lohengrin and the design of playing cards with characters from Shakespeare's works.
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