RECUEIL DES MEILLEURS CONTES EN VERS. London Paris,... Lot 59

RECUEIL DES MEILLEURS CONTES EN VERS. London [Paris, Cazin], 1778. 4 volumes in-16, red morocco, triple gilt fillet, ornate smooth spine, havana title and tomaison, interior roulette, gilt edges (period binding). This famous collection, known as Les Petits conteurs, is undoubtedly Cazin's most successful publication. The first two volumes contain the Contes et nouvelles in verse by Jean de La Fontaine; the others bring together works in verse by Voltaire, Perrault, Moncrif, Saint-Lambert, Grécourt, Chamfort, Dorat and others. The illustrations include a portrait of La Fontaine and 116 delightful, unsigned intaglio vignettes attributed to Durand, miniature painter to the Duc d'Orléans. A fine copy, in morocco decorated on the spine with Cazin's iron. Small marginal wetness on two leaves.