CONTES ET NOUVELLES EN VERS ... NOUVELLE EDITION REVUË & AUGMENTTÉE DE PLUSIEURS CONTES DU MESME [sic] AUTEUR, &c D'UNE DISSERTATION SUR LA JOCONDE

A Leyde: Chez Jean Sambix le jeune, 1669.. [6],7-218,[2]pp. 12mo. 13.5 x 8cm. Early unlettered mottled calf, bookplate of Wenman Coke, Esq., on front pastedown, with his shelf-marks on the free endsheet. Astrolabe device on title. Spine extremities a bit chipped at tips, with signs of expert consolidation, front free endsheet pulled at gutter, scattered foxing and tanning, clipped bookseller's description tipped to rear endsheet, but a good copy. Half morocco clamshell case. The second collective Elzevier printing of the first two parts of the CONTES ET NOUVELLES EN VERS, with the addition of the "Dissertation sur la Joconde, A Monsieur B***." Brunet describes the first printing of this edition, which appeared in 1668, as an "Édition plus jolie et plus compléte que la précédente en ce qui concerne La Fontaine." It was reprinted again in 1673. La Fontaine's CONTES ET NOUVELLES EN VERS were published in successive editions, with additions, from 1664 through 1674, and consist of "tales drawn from Ariosto, Boccaccio, Machiavelli, and other sources, mostly light licentious tales ... devoid of serious thought, told with grace and charm. They have been gravely censured on the score of immorality, but they did not offend contemporary readers ... La Fontaine, when converted in his old age, made a public disavowal of the CONTES" - OCFL. This printing, as well as that of the preceding year, are institutionally rare, with two locations of this printing in OCLC: at Princeton and at the Morgan Library. TCHEMERZINE VI:372. BRUNET III:757. RAHIR 3184 (1668 printing). WILLEM 2046. OCLC: 42049880.