What are the fables about?
Jean de La Fontaine's fables were first published between 1668 and 1694. Partly based on Aesop's fables, they were written during the reign of Louis XIV. Featuring poems about industrious ants, brave lions and carefree grasshoppers, these fables not only mock the court of the Sun King but contain moral lessons about living wisely and well.
Who were the engravers?
While Jean-Baptiste Oudry designed the original engravings for Fables Choisies, Montenault commissioned Charles-Nicolas Cochin, the Younger to redraw Oudry's designs because he deemed Oudry's technique to be too 'free and loose' for engravers to follow. Montenault then engaged 42 engravers to complete the copper plates.
Montenault also commissioned Jean-Jacques Bachelier to design decorative tailpieces to fill the spaces at the end of each fable. These ornamental designs, which were engraved on wood by Jean-Michel Papillon and Nicolas Le Sueur, counterbalance the complexity of the engraved plates. | 
