The Caldecott Aesop: Twenty Fables : A Facsimile of the 1883 Edition

by Aesop, Alfred Caldecott (Translator), Randolph Caldecott (Illustrator)

Twenty familiar fables with drawings by a well-known nineteenth-century English illustrator.

Hardcover

First published November 1, 1978

About the author

620 BC - 564 BC
Tradition considers Greek fabulist Aesop as the author of Aesop's Fables , including "The Tortoise and the Hare" and "The Fox and the Grapes."

This credited ancient man told numerous now collectively known stories. None of his writings, if they ever existed, survive; despite his uncertain existence, people gathered and credited numerous tales across the centuries in many languages in a storytelling tradition that continues to this day. Generally human characteristics of animals and inanimate objects that speak and solve problems characterize many of the tales.

One can find scattered details of his life in ancient sources, including Aristotle, Herodotus, and Plutarch. An ancient literary work, called The Aesop Romance tells an episodic, probably highly fictional version of his life, including the traditional description of him as a strikingly ugly slave (δοῦλος), whose cleverness acquires him freedom as an adviser to kings and city-states. Older spellings of his name included Esop(e) and Isope. A later tradition, dating from the Middle Ages, depicts Aesop as a black Ethiopian. Depictions of Aesop in popular culture over the last two and a half millennia included several works of art and his appearance as a character in numerous books, films, plays, and television programs.

Abandoning the perennial image of Aesop as an ugly slave, the movie Night in Paradise (1946) cast Turhan Bey in the role, depicting Aesop as an advisor to Croesus, king; Aesop falls in love with a Persian princess, the intended bride of the king, whom Merle Oberon plays. Lamont Johnson also plays Aesop the Helene Hanff teleplay Aesop and Rhodope (1953), broadcast on hallmark hall of fame.

Brazilian dramatist Guilherme Figueiredo published A raposa e as uvas ("The Fox and the Grapes"), a play in three acts about the life of Aesop, in 1953; in many countries, people performed this play, including a videotaped production in China in 2000 under the title Hu li yu pu tao or 狐狸与葡萄 .

Beginning in 1959, animated shorts under the title Aesop and Son recurred as a segment in the television series Rocky and His Friends and The Bullwinkle Show, its successor. People abandoned the image of Aesop as ugly slave; Charles Ruggles voiced Aesop, a Greek citizen, who recounted for the edification of his son, Aesop Jr., who then delivered the moral in the form of an atrocious pun. In 1998, Robert Keeshan voiced him, who amounted to little more than a cameo in the episode "Hercules and the Kids" in the animated television series Hercules.

In 1971, Bill Cosby played him in the television production Aesop's Fables.

British playwright Peter Terson first produced the musical Aesop's Fables in 1983. In 2010, Mhlekahi Mosiea as Aesop staged the play at the Fugard theatre in Cape Town, South Africa.

Reviews

[Cheryl · Rating 4 out of 5]

Oh goodness, what a treasure! The fables themselves are told in adaptations too brief to have much significance (oh, *why* did the donkey put on a lion's skin?) but the art is glorious. And each fable has a smaller vignette illustration that relates the moral of the fable to contemporary human mores. For example, 'The Frogs Desiring a King' is related to Ireland's campaign for Home Rule. The 1979 introduction by Hearn is enlightening, as are the copyright & title pages of the original, too.

Highly recommended to students of children's literature, to fans of Aesop's fables, to fans of Caldecott, and to historians.

[Sherri Anderson]

This book includes twenty of Aesop’s fables with reproductions of hand-colored illustrations created by Randolph Caldecott. The selected fables are retold in the context of situations between creatures and are unique because they are told from Caldecott’s adoring view of the English countryside in the 1800s.

The style of these fables is influenced by and adapted to Caldecott’s illustrations. Each fable is stripped of superfluous detail and delivers its moral in only one or two paragraphs. True to Aesop’s themes, the selections are humorous and entertaining. Although the fables are short, the language is advanced for young readers and some of the fables are obscure.

Talking animals with human characteristics and tendencies toward trickery are the themes of these fables. Most often, a common-sense and obvious lesson is taught at the expense of one or more of the characters. The words “foolish” and “simpleton” are prevalent throughout.

Aesop’s fables are timeless and the text is brief. Although I found this book in the children’s section, this book is more appropriate for teenagers and adults, unless interpreted for children by a more mature reader. Because the purpose of fables is to teach lessons of character and morality, it would be useful to use this as an example of how a story can be told using very few words or a wordless, single drawing.
The spare format of fables is perfect subject matter for practicing oral language. The talking animal characters and brief dialogue make fables ideal for performing short plays.

[Shawn Thrasher · Rating 3 out of 5]

The illustrations in here are kick ass, even if the stories are mostly obscure. Randolph Caldecott and brother Alfred first illustrate and tell the original tale, then they have an "application" in which Caldecott illustrates a modern scene (or an 1890s scene) that applies the fable and moral to the (then) present day. For example, "The Fox and the Crow" has the fox charming the cheese out of the crow's mouth in one scene, and in another little vignette, a Gay 90s Casanova charms a mother in to leaving him alone with her daughter. That was my favorite one, really cute and funny. These are wordless, which makes me want to have a historian of Britain next to me to translate - because I didn't understand half of them. This is certainly not a children's book (although I found it on the shelves of a children's section in a public library) unless you know a child that can discuss intelligently the question of Irish Home Rule in the 1890s.

[Lance · Rating 3 out of 5]

These timeless fables are still wonderful and carry excellent messages to this day. This version has wonderful illustrations created by Randolph Caldecott. I really enjoy how there are standard and modern images for each story. The only unfortunate thing about this is that while the modern pictures had bearing at one point, they elude the now modern generation. While admiring the modern portrayals, I could not even fathom how they related to the story. Solid book despite the images being lost on me.

[Robynn · Rating 3 out of 5]

Oversized collection of Aesop fables not familiar to me. Each one accompanied by Caldicott's illustrations of the story followed by a "contemporary" illustration of people in a related context. I didn't always understand the people pictures and their connection to the story. But his illustrations are fun to study and I find Aesop says so much in such a few words.

[Emily · Rating 4 out of 5]

the modern applications are absolutely fabulous.

[Mark Gilbert · Rating 2 out of 5]

The old illustrations are great, but the English text is just awful. Not just incomprehensible, but plain awful.