1890 Scarce illustrated French Book ~ Les Contes de Perrault - Fairy Tales published by Lefevre.
Author: Charles Perrault.
Title: Les Contes de Perrault precedes d'une preface de J. T. De Saint-Germain.
Publisher: Paris, Librairie de Theodore Lefevre et Cie, Emile Guerin, no date (circa 1890's). First thus.
Language: Text in French.
Size: 11 "X 7.5 ".
Pages: 217 pages.
Binding: Attractive and very good original beautifully gilt illustrated full cloth binding (hinges fine, slightly worn and scuffed - as shown) under a protective removable mylar cover.
Content: Very good content (bright, tight and clean, some light foxing or staining - as shown - mainly on the illustrations' protective tissue).
Illustrations: Complete with all the beautiful full-page and in-text illustrations by Lefrancq et Jules-Marie Desandre.
Estimate: (USD 200 - USD 250)
The book: Scarce with the original binding in such a very good condition - illustrated french edition of Perrault's fairy tales. Including : Le Petit Chaperon rouge. Les Souhaits ridicules. Peau d'âne. Le Petit Poucet. Le Chat botté. Cendrillon. La Barbe bleue. Riquet à la houppe. La Belle au bois dormant. L'adroite princesse and Les Fées.
The author: Charles Perrault (12 January 1628 – 16 May 1703) was a French author and member of the Académie française. He laid the foundations for a new literary genre, the fairy tale, with his works derived from pre-existing folk tales. The best known of his tales include Le Petit Chaperon rouge (Little Red Riding Hood), Cendrillon (Cinderella), Le Chat Botté (Puss in Boots), La Belle au bois dormant (The Sleeping Beauty) and La Barbe bleue (Bluebeard). Some of Perrault's versions of old stories may have influenced the German versions published by the Brothers Grimm 200 years later. The stories continue to be printed and have been adapted to opera, ballet (such as Tchaikovsky's The Sleeping Beauty), theatre, and film. Perrault was an influential figure in the 17th-century French literary scene, and was the leader of the Modern faction during the Quarrel of the Ancients and the Moderns.