This celebrated edition of the Fables de la Fontaine is a masterpiece of Rococo illustration and one of the most famous illustrated works of all time. The four volumes contain, in addition to the allegorical frontispiece and portrait of the illustrator, 275 extraordinary copperplates engraved by the finest engravers of the period based on drawings by Jean-Baptiste Oudry (1686–1755), a painter, engraver, porcelain designer, and tapestry cartoonist, and from 1722 the official painter of Louis XV's "royal hunts" ("Peintre du Roy"). The panels were carved by Aubert, Aveline, Baquoy, Beauvais, Beauvarlet, Cars, Chedel, Chenu, Chevillet, Cochin, Cousinet (Elisabeth), Dupuis, Duret, de Fehrt, Fessard, Flipart, Floding, Gaillard, Gallimard, Lebas, Legrand, Lemire, Lempereur, Marvie, Menil, Moitte, Ouvrier, Pasquier, Pelletier, Pitre-Martenasie, Poletnich, Prévost, Radigues, Riland, Rode, Salvador, Sornique, Surugue, Tardieu, and Teucher. The realism with which the animals are portrayed, the beauty of the landscapes that form the backdrop, the liveliness of the scenes, and the fine detail are enchanting.