LA FONTAINE (OUDRY). Fables choisies. Paris, Desaint et Saillant, 1755-59. 4 vol. in-folio (434 x 295 mm), red morocco, lace and royal arms of France, ribbed spine, gilt edges (Petit-Simier). Frontispiece, 275 plates drawn by Oudry and engraved by Aveline, Cochin, Fessard etc. and more than 200 culs-de-lampe drawn by Bachelier and wood-engraved by Lesueur and Papillon. THIS ISSUE WAS COATED IN THE 19th CENTURY WITH EXCEPTIONAL RELIVERAGE OF QUASI-ROYAL LUXURY. Charles Petit, who took over the Simier workshop in 1847, produced this spectacular binding around 1860. A second edition copy, washed; stains and spotting remain, notably in volume IV. A shorter quire in t. I; t. IV, paper missing from the lower corner of fol. Ii2; restored tear to the plate of the physicians (vol. II, p. 74). Portrait of Oudry after Largillière (not part of the edition), enclosed.