• Bonhams, Mar. 22 – Apr. 2: A RUTH BADER GINSBURG BEADED JUDICIAL COLLAR. $80,000 - $120,000
    Bonhams, Mar. 22 – Apr. 2: ONLY KNOWN COPY OF THE ONLY BOOK BY THE REMARKABLE EVE ADAMS. $8,000 - $12,000
    Bonhams, Mar. 22 – Apr. 2: A COMPLETE RUN OF VISIONAIRE MAGAZINE THROUGH 2010. $6,000 - $9,000
    Bonhams, Mar. 22 – Apr. 2: LAW REVIEW OFFPRINT SIGNED AND INSCRIBED BY RUTH BADER GINSBURG. $3,000 - $5,000
    Bonhams, Mar. 22 – Apr. 2: META REBNER'S WORKING SCRIPT OF THE LOVED ONE. $1,500 - $2,000
    Bonhams, Mar. 22 – Apr. 2: A KATHY GROVE PORTRAIT OF CYNDI LAUPER FOR THE FEBRUARY 1989 DETAILS COVER. $800 - $1,200
    Bonhams, Mar. 22 – Apr. 2: A PLASTIC COAT BY MILLIE DAVID FEATURED IN SOHO NEWS STYLE SECTION, FROM THE COLLECTION OF ANNIE FLANDERS. $500 - $700
    Bonhams, Mar. 22 – Apr. 2: A RUTH BADER GINSBURG JEWELRY BOX. $600 - $900
    Bonhams, Mar. 22 – Apr. 2: A SET OF JONI MITCHELL LYRICS FOR "IF I HAD A HEART." $2,000 - $3,000
  • Potter & Potter Auctions
    How History Unfolds on Paper:
    Choice Selections from the Eric C. Caren Collection
    Part IX
    April 18, 2024
    Potter & Potter, Apr. 18: [RUTH, George Herman “Babe” (1895-1948)]. Signed photograph. Circa 1930s. 191 x 248 mm. $1,500 to $2,500.
    Potter & Potter, Apr. 18: HARRISON, Benjamin. Document signed (“Benj Harrison”) as governor of Virginia, certifying the service of Daniel Cumbo, a Black Revolutionary soldier. $6,000 to $9,000.
    Potter & Potter, Apr. 18: ONE OF THE FIRST PRINTED ANNOUNCEMENTS OF THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE. $4,000 to $6,000.
    Potter & Potter Auctions
    How History Unfolds on Paper:
    Choice Selections from the Eric C. Caren Collection
    Part IX
    April 18, 2024
    Potter & Potter, Apr. 18: FIRST PRINTING OF LINCOLN’S IMMORTAL GETTYSBURG ADDRESS. $4,000 to $6,000.
    Potter & Potter, Apr. 18: HIGHLY IMPORTANT MORMON ARCHIVE. ALLEY, George. Archive of 23 Autograph Letters Signed by Mormon Convert George Alley to His Brother Joseph Alley. $10,000 to $20,000.
    Potter & Potter, Apr. 18: [AVIATION]. [ARMSTRONG, Neil A.] Aviation Hall of Fame Gold Medal MS64 NGC, Awarded to Neil Armstrong in 1979. $2,000 to $3,000.
    Potter & Potter Auctions
    How History Unfolds on Paper:
    Choice Selections from the Eric C. Caren Collection
    Part IX
    April 18, 2024
    Potter & Potter, Apr. 18: NEWLY DISCOVERED FIRST PRINTING OF "WITH MALICE TOWARDS NONE... " FROM THE ONLY NEWSPAPER ACTUALLY ALLOWED TO PARTICIPATE IN LINCOLN’S SECOND INAUGURAL PROCESSION. $4,000 to $8,000.
    Potter & Potter, Apr. 18: THE MOST IMPORTANT GEORGE WASHINGTON DOCUMENT IN PRIVATE HANDS; GEORGE WASHINGTON’S COMMISSION AS COMMANDER IN CHIEF, 1775, ONE OF ONLY TWO ORIGINALS. $150,000 to $250,000.
    Potter & Potter, Apr. 18: A VERY RARE ACCOUNT OF BLACKBEARD’S DEATH AND ONE OF THE MOST IMPORTANT PIRATE ITEMS EXTANT. $3,000 to $5,000.
    Potter & Potter Auctions
    How History Unfolds on Paper:
    Choice Selections from the Eric C. Caren Collection
    Part IX
    April 18, 2024
    Potter & Potter, Apr. 18: EDISON, Thomas. Patent for Edison’s Improvements on the Electric-Light, No. 219,628. [Washington, D.C.: U.S. Patent Office], 16 September 1879. $2,000 to $3,000.
    Potter & Potter, Apr. 18: [VIETNAM WAR]. The original pen used by Secretary of State William P. Rogers to sign the Vietnam Peace Agreement, Paris, 27 January 1973. $10,000 to $15,000.
    Potter & Potter, Apr. 18: SONS OF LIBERTY FOUNDER COLONEL BARRÉ ANNOTATED TITLE-PAGE, “WHICH OUGHT TO ROUSE UP BRITISH ATTENTION”. $4,000 to $6,000.
  • Forum Auctions
    Books, Manuscripts and Works on Paper
    28th March 2024
    Forum Mar. 28: [Langland (William)]. The vision of Pierce Plowman, nowe the seconde time imprinted..., Roberte Crowley, 1550. £8,000 to £10,000.
    Forum Mar. 28: [Shakespeare (William)]. [Comedies, Histories, and Tragedies], second folio edition, [by Tho.Cotes, for Robert Allot], [1632]. £30,000 to £40,000.
    Forum Mar. 28: Bible, Czech Biblia Bohemica, first complete Bible printed in the Czech vernacular, Prague, August 1488. £30,000 to £40,000.
    Forum Auctions
    Books, Manuscripts and Works on Paper
    28th March 2024
    Forum Mar. 28: Shabthai Tzvi.- Collection of four printed and illustrated broadsides detailing the appearance, rise and fall of the false messiah, Shabthai Tzvi, Augsburg, 1666-67. £40,000 to £60,000.
    Forum Mar. 28: Leaf from the Beauvais Missal, in Latin, illuminated manuscript on parchment, [Northern France (perhaps Beauvais or Amiens)], [fourteenth century (c.1310)]. £4,000 to £6,000.
    Forum Mar. 28: Aubrey (John). [Remaines of Gentilisme and Judaisme], manuscript in English, Latin and Greek, [c. 1693]. £30,000 to £50,000.
    Forum Auctions
    Books, Manuscripts and Works on Paper
    28th March 2024
    Forum Mar. 28: Byron (George Gordon Noel, Lord). Poems on Various Occasions, first edition, Harriet Maltby's copy, Newark, Printed by S. & J. Ridge, 1807. £30,000 to £40,000.
    Forum Mar. 28: Tolkien (J.R.R.) The Hobbit, first edition, second impression with dust-jacket, 1937 [but 1938]. £7,000 to £10,000.
    Forum Mar. 28: Blake (William).- Thornton (Robert John). The Pastorals of Virgil, 2 vol., engraved plates by William Blake, 1821. £8,000 to £12,000.
    Forum Auctions
    Books, Manuscripts and Works on Paper
    28th March 2024
    Forum Mar. 28: America.- Mount (William J.) & Thomas Page. The English Pilot…, [bound with] The Fourth Book, describing The West Indies Navigation from Hudson's-Bay to the River Amazones, 1721. £20,000 to £30,000.
    Forum Mar. 28: Oldfield (Henry Ambrose), Rajman Singh Chitrakar & others. An album of 160 photographs and 13 original artworks, (1833-1919), [c. 1850s-1880s]. £20,000 to £30,000.
    Forum Mar. 28: Audubon (John James) [and William MacGillivray]. Ornithological Biography…, 5 vol., first edition, presentation copy inscribed by Audubon, Edinburgh, 1831-49 [i.e. 1831-39]. £10,000 to £15,000.
  • 19th Century Shop
    Catalogue 198 just published
    19th Century Shop. Darwin and Wallace, first printing of the first paper on natural selection
    19th Century Shop. Shakespeare’s Poems, first collected edition
    19th Century Shop. Walt Whitman portrait inscribed with a Leaves of Grass poem
    19th Century Shop. Major Elizabeth Barrett Browning manuscript notebook
    19th Century Shop. Spock's Baby Book, original MS
    19th Century Shop. Cellarius, Harmonia Macrocosmica, the great celestial atlas

Rare Book Monthly

Articles - May - 2014 Issue

Of Goupils and Men, or the Bestial Condition of Man

The Lion King (and Queen) address their beastly subjects.

A question was recently raised in a rare books group on a social network: are fables featuring animals for kids? Yes, they are—but of course, not only. I’m French and, as such, a kid of Jean de La Fontaine—his adaptations of Aesop’s fables have become a part of our DNA. Kids love fables with animals because they are a beautiful way to say horrible things, and they enable them to catch a glimpse of the world of the grown-ups—they are initiatory readings. This reminded me of a peculiar book of mine entitled Le Renard, ou Le Procès des Bêtes (Reynard the Fox (1)) and published in 1743 in Amsterdam—quite a disturbing reading. It’s a sort of German Roman de Renard (2) featuring the dreadful Trigaudin, a cunning fox who cuts off the ears and takes out the eyes of his enemies, devours their offspring, tricks them and leads them to death. Trigaudin is a vicious creature who never pays for his crimes; on the contrary, he is eventually appointed to the highest position of the kingdom—a bloody and immoral tale, in fact. For kids? Well—they usually enjoy it. These animals tell them about the violence of the outside world, and they instinctively understand the value of such a teaching.

 

Mr. Goupil and Dr. Renard

 

 Trigaudin is what French people used to call a goupil—a fox; but the goupil featured in Le Roman de Renard became so famous during the Middle Age that he eventually gave his name, Renard, to his entire race. Le Procès des Bêtes is illustrated with twenty engravings. The first one shows a crowned lion holding a sceptre in front of an assembly of various animals. Among them is Glutton the Wolf (called Isegrim in many English editions, the name derives from Le Roman de Renard), who complains to His Majesty about the behaviour of Trigaudin, the only subject who dared not come to the royal assembly. Trigaudin, reports the Wolf, pretending to clean the face of his offspring, viciously blinded them with his claws! Then Gozille the Cock (a.k.a Chanticleer) shows the beheaded body of his daughter—“Out of fifteen children,” explains the wretched fowl, “Trigaudin has only left four alive!” Trigaudin came to Gozille a few weeks ago to tell him he had decided to stop chasing his offspring and that he was going on a long journey: “Take care of yourself, and don’t you crow too early in the morning and catch a cold.” The gullible fowl believed him, and the fox caught him off-guard. Moral of this chapter: “Never trust your enemy, no matter the reason why he comes to you.

 

Malice Vs. Strength

 

Despite the short morals that end up each chapter, Le Procès des Bêtes is a suspicious book that seems to teach our kids that malice always triumphs—indeed, there’s no satirical dimension to this popular text, as shown by William J. Thoms in his impressive introduction to the 1844 edition of the fable (London). Several royal messengers are sent to Trigaudin in his remote castle, whom he murders or mutilates until he is brought to Court and sentenced to death. With the rope around his neck, Trigaudin suddenly shouts at the Queen, to tell her about a wonderful treasure hidden somewhere. “He was taken off the gallows at once, so he could privately talk to the King and the Queen,” reads the book. Of course, Trigaudin is sent for the so-called treasure with some royal subjects... whom he tricks and murders. After another series of evil deeds, our cunning fox has no choice but to face his infuriated King again. Glutton the Wolf then challenges him to a duel; in the Middle Age, it was a common way to settle feuds, as God would never allow a guilty man to triumph over an innocent. Just like the Judgement of God that consisted in plunging the hand of a suspicious man into boiling water—if innocent, God would cure his wound within three days’ time; else, he was put to death. Trigaudin is less strong than his opponent, but more intelligent—and he eventually wins the fight. As soon as he victoriously comes out of the arena, all his former enemies rush to congratulate him. Moral of this chapter: “You are always wooed when elevated over the multitude, whether by merit or malice. Each and every one tries to get close to those Fortune favours. But adversity keeps even your friends away.”

 

Footnotes: 

 (1): In his Manuel du Libraire (Paris, 1814), Jacques-Charles Brunet gives a short insight of the English editions of this book, starting with The Hystorye of Reynart the Foxe... (M.CCCC.LXXXJ.). “This is one of the rarest editions from the press of Caxton. The history of the Regnard has since been several times printed, but with considerable changes. I’ve seen the following copy: The most delectable history of Reynard the Fox...(London, 1684).” He then evokes the editions of 1667, 1681 and 1733.

 

(2): This collective work from the Middle Age is a cornerstone of French literature. Jacques-Charles Brunet, in the aforementioned work ,writes: “Reynier le renard, histoire très joyeuse et récréative, contenant 70 chapitres, en français et bas allemand (Anvers, 1566). Prosper Marchand says the Flemish text of this volume was republished (...) in 1614, and he thinks that Le Renard, ou le Procès des bêtes, Bruxelles, 1739 (...) was translated from this Flemish version which was itself translated from—or inspired by—the French work Le livre de Maître Regnard. The Grand d’Aussy, on the contrary (...) says these Flemish and French versions were inspired by the old Roman de Renard, written in French verse in the early 13th century by Perrot de Saint-Cloot, or Pierre de Saint-Clost.”

  • Le Renard, ou Le Procez des Bestes (Bruxelles, 1739): title page, 3pp, 2pp, 1pp, 132pp, 4pp. This is the first edition, featuring a preface and some forewords. The quality of the 21 engravings (including a title vignette) is far better than in the edition above.

 Link: books.google.fr/books?id=cdcTAAAAQAAJ

  • Le Renard, ou Le Procès des Bêtes (Amsterdam, 1743): title page, 85pp, 2pp. 20 engravings. This edition features no title vignette and the engravings signed I.C.I are less attractive than those of the first edition.

Link: books.google.fr/books?id=V8t3agycTnkC

Rare Book Monthly

  • Forum Auctions
    Colour Plate Books from the Library of Norman Bobins
    Part 2
    27th March 2024
    Forum Auctions, Mar. 27: Alken (Henry). Sporting Notions, first edition, T.McLean, 1832-33. £800 to £1,200.
    Forum Auctions, Mar. 27: Bardi (Lorenzo). Nuova Raccolta delle piu interessanti Vedute della Citta di Firenze…, Florence, Lorenzo Bardi, [c.1840]. £1,500 to £2,000.
    Forum Auctions, Mar. 27: Crawfurd (John). Journal of an Embassy from the Governor-General of India to the Court of Ava..., first edition, 1829. £1,000 to £1,500.
    Forum Auctions
    Colour Plate Books from the Library of Norman Bobins
    Part 2
    27th March 2024
    Forum Auctions, Mar. 27: Dawe (George, engraver). The Life of a Nobleman, first edition, Geo. Henderson, [c.1825]. £1,000 to £1,500.
    Forum Auctions, Mar. 27: [Doyle (John)], "H.B.". Political Sketches &c., 10 vol. including The Descriptive Key to H.B., Thomas McLean, [1829-51]. £4,000 to £6,000.
    Forum Auctions, Mar. 27: Eben (Adolphus Christian Frederick, Baron von) and Nicolaus Heideloff. Modèles de l'Uniforme Militaire Adopté dans l'Armée Royale de Suède, Rudolph Ackerman, 1808. £1,500 to £2,000.
    Forum Auctions
    Colour Plate Books from the Library of Norman Bobins
    Part 2
    27th March 2024
    Forum Auctions, Mar. 27: Geissler (J.G.G.) and Friedrich Hempel. Mahlerische Darstellungen der Sitten, Gebrauche und Lustbarkeiten bey den Russischen, Tartarischen…, 4 parts in 1, Leipzig and Paris, [1804]. £1,000 to £1,500.
    Forum Auctions, Mar. 27: Hunt (Charles). Portraits of Winning Horses...of the Derby, Oaks, & St. Leger, from the Year 1842 to 1849…, Rock Brothers & Payne, 1849. £1,500 to £2,000.
    Forum Auctions, Mar. 27: Kunike (Adolf Friedrich). Zwey hundert und sechzig Donau-Ansichten nach dem Laufe des Donaustromes…, Vienna, Leopold Grund, 1826. £3,000 to £5,000.
    Forum Auctions
    Colour Plate Books from the Library of Norman Bobins
    Part 2
    27th March 2024
    Forum Auctions, Mar. 27: Lasinio (Carlo). [Matrimony], Florence, 1790. £1,500 to £2,000.
    Forum Auctions, Mar. 27: Reinhardt (Joseph). A Collection of Swiss Costumes, in Miniature, second English edition, James Goodwin, [1828]. £800 to £1,200.
    Forum Auctions, Mar. 27: Wengen (Gottfried Durst von). Die Öffentliche Maskerade Bamberg am Fastnachts-Montage 1833…, Bamberg, [1833]. £2,000 to £3,000.
  • Sotheby’s
    Modern First Editions
    Available for Immediate Purchase
    Sotheby’s, Available Now: Winston Churchill. The Second World War. Set of First-Edition Volumes. 6,000 USD
    Sotheby’s, Available Now: A.A. Milne, Ernest H. Shepard. A Collection of The Pooh Books. Set of First-Editions. 18,600 USD
    Sotheby’s, Available Now: Salvador Dalí, Lewis Carroll. Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. Finely Bound and Signed Limited Edition. 15,000 USD
    Sotheby’s
    Modern First Editions
    Available for Immediate Purchase
    Sotheby’s, Available Now: Ian Fleming. Live and Let Die. First Edition. 9,500 USD
    Sotheby’s, Available Now: J.K. Rowling. Harry Potter Series. Finely Bound First Printing Set of Complete Series. 5,650 USD
    Sotheby’s, Available Now: Ernest Hemingway. A Farewell to Arms. First Edition, First Printing. 4,200 USD

Article Search

Archived Articles

Ask Questions