Æsop?s Fables. With Instructive Morals and Reflections, Abstracted from all Party Considerations, Adapted To All Capacities; And designed to promote Religion, Morality, and Universal Benevolence. Containing Two Hundred and Forty Fables, with a Cut Engrav'd on Copper to each Fable. And the Life of Aesop prefixed, by Mr. Richardson.

Fourth Richardson Edition. in contemporary mottled calf, the spine gilt in compartments with raised bands, red goatskin label lettered in gilt, binding slightly rubbed and headcap chipped, but generally a good, sound copy. 8vo (172 x 100 mm), pp. [ii], xxxiii, [3], 192, with an engraved title-page and 25 engraved plates, each with multiple images illustrating each of the 244 fables, An attractive copy of the fourth of five illustrated editions with Richardson?s Life of Aesop. It was first published in 1739, with a title-page dated 1740, with subsequent editions in 1749, 1753 (two issues) and 1775. All of the editions are scarce, with ESTC listing four copies of the first edition, two copies of the second, five of the third edition. The 25 engraved plates include delightful illustrations in miniature for each of the fables, with a brief caption and fable number given above each illustration. The engraved title-page is also very attractive, with an idealised illustration of a landscape peopled with different animals. ESTC t118432, listing BL, Bodleian, Szczecin Public Library, Louisiana State University, Rice, UCLA and Yale.…