Aesop’s fables of the beasts have been adapted to the respective ages through which they passed, from antiquity to the present. This is no less true of the fables graced and amplified by the inimitable John Ogilby. He imaginatively elaborated them in the verse styles of the Cavalier poets of the early seventeenth century and first published them in 1651 — a time in English political history when society was divided between the retreating Royalists, among whom Ogilby counted himself, and the victorious Parliamentarians.

Ogilby, with discretion, could not resist reading the more political fables according to the troubling circumstances of the times. Yet they remain the familiar fables known and loved, accompanied by full page copper-plate etchings by master designer and craftsman Francis Cleyn. This collection signals an important moment in the history of the illustrated English book, making it a treat for readers with its nearly equal collaboration between poet and artist. It is also a full scholarly edition with a critical and historical introduction, glosses and a double set of annotations.

579 pp.

ISBN: 978-0-772-72504-2 softcover
Published: 2021