Old & Rare
Illustrator: Adrien Godefroy
[PERRAULT, Charles]. Contes des Fées. Imprimés Par Firmin Didot, Ornés d’Estampes gravées par Adrien Godefroy dáprés ses dessins et ceux de C. Chasselat. Paris: Nepveu, [1818]. Oblong 8vo, 112pp. Rebacked in tan cloth with pieces of original spine affixed and with cream boards with pictorial engraving on front. Engraved title plus 10 full-page engravings by Adrien Godefroy, after drawings by himself and Charles Chasselat. Light edge wear with corners lightly bumped, slightest evidence of faint foxing and hand-soiling, else a generally clean, tight, copy.
Second edition, the first having been published in 1810 at a length of just 92 pages. This second edition, according to the catalog of the publisher, Nepveu, was produced at only 445 copies without or with engravings on the cover. Among these, was described only 4 hardback copies: 2 with the figures in black, 2 with the figures colored by hand. Our copy, therefore, would be one of the two rare hardback copies with an engraved cover without hand coloring.