Fedro / Esopo - Fabularum Aesopiarum - 1742

FABLES FOR PRINCIPLES AND PHILOSOPHERS: THE POWER OF ANIMALS, FEDRUS AND AESOP IN THE AGE OF ENLIGHTENMENT
The Paris edition of 1742 of Fedro’s Fabularum Aesopiarum libri quinque, printed at Coustelier, returns in an elegant, measured, and visually refined form one of the founding texts of Western moral tradition. The fables of Aesop rewritten by Phaedrus in Latin hexameter couplets constitute an unmatched model of conciseness, clarity, and universal ethical appeal, capable of crossing centuries without losing its polemical force. In this seven hundred edition, the classical text is offered both as a reading object for cultivated readers and as a symbol of representation: the beautiful contemporary full red morocco binding with rich gilding and the refined engraved illustrations transform the volume into a work that blends pedagogy and social prestige. The book thus becomes not only a moral instrument but also a sign of belonging to a classical, orderly, and rational culture, fully in tune with Enlightenment aesthetics.
MARKET VALUE
On the European antique market, seven hundred Latin editions of Fedro, particularly the Parisian ones with a decorative binding and complete illustration apparatus, generally fall in a value range between 900 and 1,600 euros. The presence of a contemporary full leather binding with gilding on the covers and edges, together with well-preserved engravings and a crisp typographic impression, helps place the exemplar in the upper-middle to high end of the bracket. Copies with later bindings or missing plates fetch lower values.
PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION AND CONDITION
Beautiful contemporaneous red morocco binding, with a gilded frame on the covers, spines adorned with festoons and gilded title; gilded edges. Illustrative apparatus composed of finely executed copper-engraved plates that translate the moral scenes of the fables into images, emphasizing their allegorical and theatrical dimension. Pages with some scattered foxing; crisp and well-contrasted typographic impression. Overall solid structure, with light signs of use appropriate to age. In ancient books with a long history, a few imperfections may be present, not always noted in the description. Pp. (6); 22 ll.; 132; (4).
FULL TITLE AND AUTHOR
Fabularum Aesopiarum libri quinque.
Parisiis, apud Coustelier, 1742.
Fedro; Esopo.
CONTEXT AND SIGNIFICANCE
Phaedrus represents the decisive moment when the Aesopic fable enters classical Latin literature in a metrical and stylistic form that would become canonical. Active in the first century CE, probably under Tiberius, Fedro reorganizes the narrative stock attributed to Aesop into a terse and incisive language, turning short tales into instruments of social critique and moral reflection. His fables, often sharp and disenchanted, stage power relations, deceptions, and ambitions through animal allegory, offering a lucid view of human dynamics. In the eighteenth century, these texts were reread in light of rational ethics and Enlightenment pedagogy: the fable becomes a practice of style, a school tool, and a model of universal morality, perfectly aligned with the French cultural ideal of clarity and restraint of that era.
BIOGRAPHY OF THE AUTHOR
Phaedrus was a Latin author of probably Macedonian or Thracian origin, who lived in the first century CE. Freed from slavery, he operated under the principate of Augustus and Tiberius. His five collections of fables in hexameters constitute the first organic Latin arrangement of the Aesopic material. His work, initially little circulated, experienced a Renaissance in the humanistic age and enjoyed broad editorial fortune in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries.
BIOGRAPHY OF AESOP
Aesop is a semi-legendary figure traditionally placed in the sixth century BCE, probably active in the Asia Minor area or early Greece. According to tradition, he was an exceptionally intelligent and witty slave, capable of expressing moral and political truths through short allegorical tales with talking animals. His fables, transmitted orally and later collected in written form, formed one of the core nuclei of ancient didactic literature. Their success crossed the classical, Roman, and medieval ages, becoming an indispensable model for humanistic and modern culture. In the Enlightenment era, Aesop is seen as the archetype of the universal moralist: simple in form, deep in content, able to speak to princes as well as the common people.
PRINTING HISTORY AND CIRCULATION
The Paris edition of 1742, printed by Coustelier, sits within the solid French editorial tradition devoted to Latin classics intended both for school use and for the cultivated private library. The typographic care, paper quality, illustration apparatus, and presence of prestigious bindings reflect an editorial strategy aimed at an audience that regards the classical book as an object of training and social representation. Such editions enjoyed wide circulation in the eighteenth century, especially in colleges and domestic libraries of the European bourgeoisie and aristocracy.
BIBLIOGRAPHY AND REFERENCES
ICCU/OPAC SBN: records relating to the Parisis, apud Coustelier, 1742 edition.
Catalogue général de la BnF: entries for the eighteenth-century Paris editions of Fedro.
WorldCat: international locations of the 1742 edition.
Brunet, Jacques-Charles, Manuel du libraire et de l’amateur de livres, entries on Phaedrus and eighteenth-century illustrated editions.
Perry, B. E., Babrius and Phaedrus, Cambridge, Harvard University Press, for the textual tradition.