Treasures of the Bodleian

Fables have long provided popular reading material for children, and those composed by Fontaine in the 17th century enjoyed lasting success. Wollstonecraft’s daughters read them when they were young, and Jane Austen had a copy of the Fables among her childhood books. This edition, with cut-out figures that can be positioned to recreate tableaux from each fable, would have particularly appealed to children.