Le Liévre [sic] et la Tortuë Mis en Fable par Différens Auteurs

Abstract

Before writing anything else, I must point out what seems to me a major mistake in this student book. The first four presentations of Lièvre get the accent wrong! Those presentations are on the cover, on the first and second title-pages, and on the title-page for the first of the book's five fables. What a howler! This thirty-two page booklet is in excellent condition, especially considering that it was printed in 1914. It was produced by les élèves compositeurs typographes of the Estienne Municipal School at the conclusion of their apprenticeship. Is this craft anything more than that of typesetters? The booklet presents typography of Greek, Arabic, German, and Russian besides the native French. The specimens presented come from La Fontaine, Aesop, and Lokman. Translations into German and Russian complete the fivesome. There are several uncut pages. A booklet like this one answers directly to my desire for this collection, namely that it gather unlikely and rare fable publications. I doubt that I will ever see any of the other one-hundred-and-fourteen copies of this booklet!