Though they were first written over 300 years ago, this is the first complete English translation of Jean de La Fontaine's comedic classic Contes et nouvelles en vers. Both sexually charged and wickedly funny, La Fontaine's Tales will surprise readers who know him only from his work on fables for children. Though the writing is more suggestive than vulgar, it still has the power to shock readers unprepared for the darkness that inhabits these poems. Included are nearly seventy illustrations dating from the 18th and 19th centuries, many of them rare, as well as extensive commentary by the editor.

With their unique blend of wit and poetic mastery, the verse interpretations of Aesop’s Fables by 17th-century author Jean de La Fontaine have enchanted readers of all ages for over three centuries. 70 popular and oft-quoted fables appear here, including "The Grasshopper and the Ant," "The Town Rat and the Country Rat," "The Fox and the Grapes," "The Hare and the Tortoise," and dozens more. A classic of French literature; brilliantly translated by Walter Thornbury into English verse.

This eleventh edition was developed during the encyclopaedia's transition from a British to an American publication. Some of its articles were written by the best-known scholars of the time and it is considered to be a landmark encyclopaedia for scholarship and literary style.