Beschreibung:

BARLOW’S ILLUSTRATED EDITION WITH PLATE 17 & ENGRAVED TITLE. Aesop's fables, with his life: in English, French, and Latin, newly translated; illustrated with one hundred and twelve sculptures; to this edition are likewise added, thirty one new figures representing his life. London: Printed by R. Newcomb, for Francis Barlow and are to be sold by the booksellers of London and Westminster, 1703. [3 ll], a2, [32 ll. of plates], B-L2, B-L2, B-R2, R- Ppp2. Extra engraved title page, engraved coat of arms for William Earle of Devonshire, 32 full page plates by Thomas Dudley (first one unnumbered), and 108 (of 110) half page copper plates. Folio (350 x 225 mm). Contemporary full vellum. Folios [2]R1-R2 apparently bound without the copper plate impressions for fables XXII and XXIII, short closed tear to upper gutter margin of Ss1 not affecting plate, verso of Iii2 soiled, boards lightly soiled with chips to center of spine, else a tall clean copy with strong impression of the plates. Third edition. A reissue of the 1666 and 1687 edition sheets, with a cancel title leaf. This edition is actually quite scarce, and apparently exhausted the supply of the remaining sheets in short order, as very few copies are recorded in institutions and none at auction since 1975 according to ABPC. As in the two copies at Harvard’s Houghton Library and another at the Huntington Library, this copy has the sheets for ff. [2]R1-2 without the requisite copper plate impressions, suggesting all 1703 issues were bound without them. More importantly, this volume possesses the scarce plate 17-—most copies of the original 1687 edition had that plate removed because of concern for the nude women depicted. Also, only one other copy of the 1703 edition could be located with the additional engraved title page, which was often substituted with the portrait of Aesop among the animals, which is here bound as the first unnumbered full page plate. The engraved English version of the text is by Aphra Behn. Cf. Hofer, Harvard Library Bulletin, (2) 1948, p. 294. Wing A695. Provenance: With 18th century armorial bookplate of Alexander Lord Polwarth, dated 1722, to front pastedown. See illustration.