One Hundred New Court Fables

Abstract

This book is a travesty from start to finish. An accessible English translation of De la Motte would be a fine thing, and that is what this book promises. However, readers will be frustrated with the book. It is in large format at 7½ by 9¾. One opens to find three densely packed columns on each page. One does not need to read far to find that the book is a jumbled mass of computer scanning gone mad. Consider this passage on 49: The Phenix and the Owl. Fable I. To the Queen of Prussia. 3&taGKSS5&@cept, O mighty Queen, my 3s?RR> humble Homage. This Tribute of a Stranger mould be more agreeable to you. What reader will put up with trying to decipher this mess? The last surprise comes when the print stops on 58. There follow fifty blank pages. The blank pages anger me less than the print pages! I hope I never buy another unproofed, scanned, printed-on-demand book in my life!