Fables
By: by John Gay ; with a life of the author, and embellished with a plate to each fable
Contributors: Johnson, Samuel, 1709-1784; Lowe, Arthur Charles, former owner
Publisher: Printed by Darton and Harvey, for F. & C. Rivington, B & B. White, T. Longman, B. Law & Son ... [and 14 others
Published: 1793
Place of publication: London
Language: eng
Number of pages: 256
Subjects: English Fables; Early works to 1800
Notes: In verse.

Engraved t.p. with vignette (mask with long hair, within oval).

One of two octavo states with the same t.p. and virtually the same type-setting, page for page, except for the spacing between lines and the setting of leaf A2. In this, the smaller octavo state, the last line ends "as he pro-" and the catchword is "bably". In the larger state the line ends "is not known." and the catchword is "The". In this state page 242 is numbered correctly, but pages 138, 142 and 143 are misnumbered 140, 144 and 145 respectively and leaf Q3 is unsigned; in the other, page 242 is misnumbered 422 and leaf Q3 is signed correctly. Leaf R4 is unsigned in both states (cf. ESTC).

The illustrations are copied from those of the 1793 Stockdale edition, re-engraved in an oval form (cf. Gumuchian).

Signatures: pi1 A-R⁸.

Verso of engraved t.p. (p. [2] at front)--is blank.

"Life of John Gay," p. [iii]-xiv, from Johnson's Lives of the English poets.

ESTC T13872

Gumuchian 2682