ID: 901001660 Page link: http://vocab.getty.edu/page/ia/901001660	Record Type: Literature

	Fables (fables, La Fontaine, 1668/1694)

Note: The Fables by Jean de La Fontaine, classics of French literature, issued in several volumes from 1668 to 1694. The Fables unquestionably represent the peak of La Fontaine’s achievement. The first six books, known as the premier recueil (“first collection”), were published in 1668 and were followed by five more books (the second recueil) in 1678–79 and a twelfth book in 1694. The Fables in the second collection show even greater technical skill than those in the first and are longer, more reflective, and more personal. Some decline of talent is commonly detected in the twelfth book. La Fontaine did not invent the basic material of his Fables; he took it chiefly from the Aesopic tradition and, in the case of the second collection, from the East Asian. He enriched immeasurably the simple stories that earlier fabulists had in general been content to tell perfunctorily, subordinating them to their narrowly didactic intention. He contrived delightful miniature comedies and dramas, excelling in the rapid characterization of his actors, sometimes by deft sketches of their appearance or indications of their gestures and always by the expressive discourse he invented for them.

Display Date: 1668/1694

Names:

	Fables (fables, La Fontaine, 1668/1694) (preferred,English-P,D)

Hierarchical Position:

		Literature and Performing Arts (P)
		....<Named written and performed works> (P)
		........<Literary works: Prose (novels, etc.)> (P)
		............Fables (fables, La Fontaine, 1668/1694) (P)

Other Relationships:

	role/characteristic is .... fables
	.....(genres for literature, genres in literature and performing arts, concepts in the arts and humanities, Associated Concepts (hierarchy name)) (AAT)

	author is .... Fontaine, Jean de La (French poet, 1621-1695)
	.....(Non-Artists) (ULAN)

Sources:

	Fables (fables, La Fontaine, 1668/1694)
	................Getty Research Institute Special Collections Finding Aids (2005-)
	................Encyclopedia Britannica Online (2002-)

Iconography Record Sources:

	................ Encyclopedia Britannica Online (2002-)