A version of the famous beast fable, “Reynard the Fox,” one of the most ancient stories in existence, and as assured a classic as “Aesop's Fables” themselves. The original, of which the present poem is a translation, is a burlesque narrative in low-German verse, dated 1481, or eleven years before the discovery of America. It was one of the first works printed in Germany, and by pointing out in poignant satire many of the vices of the Roman Church of that day, it did as much as the works of Erasmus, Rabelais and Boccaccio to pave the way for the Reformation. This German poem has never lost its popularity; from the fifteenth to the end of the eighteenth century not fewer than twenty-two editions of the original were published, besides translations into nearly every language of Europe. One liberty with the original was taken by the translator—the scene of the action having been transplanted for obvious reasons from Germany to England. - [Author]

With numerus line drawings and colored illustrations.

Language: English