15 Fables Célèbres Racontées en Argot, Recueil No. 1

Abstract

Once again, I thought I already had this fragile stapled pamphlet of 16 pages, found thirteen years ago at Librairie de l'Avénue. It turns out that this pamphlet is not the 1998 edition that I have but rather the (original?) 1947 edition. It is different in having both white and green on its cover and in being not 5½ x 8 but rather 7 x 10?. It is published not by Edicom Direct S.A. for Editions Théâtrales Art & Comedie but by Jean Picot for his Recueils. The cover of this copy has No. 81, but it is not clear who put that marking there or what it may mean. It also turns out that the 1998 reproduction reset the type and rearranged the pagination slightly, especially avoiding fables that start on the lower half of one page and continue on the lower half of the next page. The inside back cover here lists all of the numbers in the series Recueils Jean Picot, including #2 and Fables en Sabir Franco-Arabe. It will be a challenge to find that one! The outside back cover lists many of the 80 numbers of the Recueils; perhaps then this is in fact #81. I will reproduce here part of my comment from that later edition, including my expressed hope that I would find an earlier and larger copy. Found! Here are fifteen traditional French fables, presented in slang. This first volume (I have a second volume, dated 1988) contains some perennial favorites from La Fontaine: TH, GA, WL, OF, FG, and AD. Others here from Florian include La guenon, le singe et la noix; L'aveugle et le paralytique; and Le singe et la lanterne magique. The cover cartoon reminds one of Rabier. What a delightful little booklet! I suspect from the format and date of Volume II that this version of Volume I is reduced from its earlier format to a handier size. Maybe someday I can find an earlier and larger copy of this volume!