Swan, Rush and Iris, by Walter Crane (1845-1915)
Bodycolour and Watercolour, England, 1875
© V&A Images/Victoria and Albert Museum, London

Sources

Project Gutenberg

Internet Archives

Bestiaria Latina

Wikipedia – the free encyclopedia or Wikipedia

the Encyclopædia Britannica (online)

 

Internet Sources

I spent a lifetime in the classroom and wish to praise initiatives such as the Project Gutenberg and the Internet Archives. I didn’t have those precious tools. Æsop’s fables are available online, including lovely illustrations one can also use for to illustrate La Fontaine’s retelling of an Æsopic fable. As for Bestiaria Latina or mythfolklore.net, it is a rich and accurate source of information and also leads to texts. Needless to say, Wikipedia – the free encyclopedia is an excellent and exhaustive source of information as is the monumental Encyclopædia Britannica.

I had prepared a long and informative article that contained a list of illustrators. There was a Golden Age of Illustration (1880 – 1920) and a Golden Age of Children’s Literature (see also Artcyclopedia and Pinterest). However, my post disappeared, with the exception of the earliest draft which, fortunately, contained a list of the e-texts I use most frequently. Posting that information will suffice.

—ooo—

The Project Gutenberg Collection

• [EBook #11339] Æsop’s Fables, translated by V. S. Vernon Jones, intro. G. K. Chesterton, ill. Arthur Rackham, 1912
• [EBook #19994] The Æsop for Children, illustrated by Milo Winter, 1919
• [EBook #21] Æsop’s Fables by Aesop, translated by George Fyler Townsend (no date; no illustrations)

Illustrators

• Arthur Rackham (19 September 1867 – 6 September 1939) [EBook #11339] Æsop
• John Rae (Pinterest) La Fontaine [EBook #24108]
• John Rae Neill (12 November 1877 – 19 September 1943)*
• Milo Winter (7 August 1888 – 15 August 1956) [EBook #19994] Æsop for Children
• Percy J. Billinghurst, ill. La Fontaine [EBook #25357]
• Gustave Doré [EBook #50316] Walter Thornbury

* Could John Rae (ill.) be John Rae Neill (ill.) (12 November 1877 – 19 September 1943)?

La Fontaine, Jean de (1621 – 1695)

• [EBook #50316] Walter Thornbury, Gustave Doré, ill.
• [EBook #24108] Fables in Rhyme for Little Folks, by Jean de La Fontaine, translated by John William Trowbridge Larned, ill. John Rae or John Rae Neill (1918) (Wikipedia)
• [EBook #25357] A Hundred Fables of La Fontaine. Percy J. Billinghurst, ill.
• Jean de La Fontaine, Château-Thierry (FR & EN) all Fables (complete)
• lafontaine.net.

For La Fontaine, my favourite site is the Jean de La Fontaine, Château-Thierry. It is La Fontaine’s official and bilingual (French-English) internet site.

La Fontaine wrote many Æsopic fables, so illustrations inspired by Æsop’s fables may also be used to illustrate La Fontaine’s retelling of fable by Æsop.

On the Market

• [EBook #11339] Æsop’s Fables, translated by V. S. Vernon Jones, intro. G. K. Chesterton, ill. Arthur Rackham, 1912
• [EBook #25357] A Hundred Fables of La Fontaine, Percy J. Billinghurst, ill.

The video features Walter Crane’s illustrations of fairy tales rather than fables, but the two genres are related.

© Micheline Walker

7 September 2014

WordPress

The Æsop for Children