La Fontaine, Jean de; Jean-Baptiste Oudry Fables Choisies, mises en vers par J. de la Fontaine Paris: Desaint & Saillant [and] Durand, 1755-1759. 4 volumes, large paper copy, folio, engraved allegorical frontispiece, portrait, 275 engraved plates, Le Singe et le Léopard in its second state, contemporary calf, sensitively rebacked retaining early spines, bookplates of the Bibliothèque de Champy, a little light foxing, occasional marginal dampstaining and occasional spotting in places, one cover with some dampstaining, neat repair to p.61 of volume 1 Qty: (4) Note: Jean de la Fontaine's collected 'Fables', first issued between 1668 and 1694, are considered to be a classic of French literature. This collection, a large paper issue in four volumes with illustrations by Oudry, is widely regarded as the pinnacle of 18th century French printing. Jean-Baptiste Oudry illustrated de la Fontaine's Fables as a personal and non-commercial project. However, twenty years after their completion, Montenault purchased the works and commissioned Charles-Nicolas Cochin to engrave them. By all accounts, Cochin vastly improved Oudry's drawings of the figures in the work, however the depictions of the animals suffered. Nonetheless, this finished work is considered to be amongst the most ambitious and successful illustrated works ever to have been produced in France.