1761 Collection (page 4)

The Spider & Silkworm
THE SPIDER & THE SILKWORM A spider boasts she can spin much more quickly than the silkworm; the silkworm replies her labours endure & are valued unlike the spiders web

The Wolf & the Mastiff
THE WOLF AND THE MASTIFF A hungry wolf asks a dog how he stays so well-fed; the dog says obedience to his master is enough; the wolf values his freedom over easy meals

Prometheus Forms Man
Prometheus forms man of clay and against the wishes of Jupiter steals fire from heaven to animate his work

Nightingale & Bullfinch
THE NIGHTINGALE & BULLFINCH Two birds occupied cages together; the nightingale varied her tunes, the bullfinch always sang the same & wondered why it was derided

Fable / Partial Judge
THE PARTIAL JUDGE After an incident with an oxen and a bull, a farmer finds that a lawyer is keener to see justice done when its in his favour rather than against him

Fable / Two Lizards
THE TWO LIZARDS: two lizards were bemoaning their fate as lowly creatures, & wishing they d been born proud stags, when hounds tore apart the very stag they d admired

The Mimick & Countryman
THE MIMICK & THE COUNTRYMAN A man imitating the sound of a pig is judged more realistic than an actual pig concealed beneath the cloak of another man

Fable / the Sorceress
THE SORCERESS An evil sorceress casts a spell and conjures up a demon

Fable / the Spectacles
THE SPECTACLES Jupiter makes a present to mankind of pairs of spectacles; Momus is sent to deliver them

Man Eaten by Crocodile
THE TENTYRITES AND THE ICHNEUMON A huge crocodile seizes a man in its jaws on the island of Tentyra

Fable / the Mock-Bird
THE MOCK-BIRD The mock-bird is chastised by a little warbler for imitating and ridiculing their songs without adding any original strains of his own

Fable / Momus
JUPITER, NEPTUNE, MINERVA AND MOMUS: Momus found fault with everything made by the gods including man, so much so that Jupiter drove him from his office of judge

Farmer, Cranes & Stork
THE FARMER, THE CRANES & THE STORK: A stork, caught by a farmer, begs that his life be spared as he is not like the thieving cranes; he has been caught with them however

Fable / Frogs & Stork
FROGS PETITION JUPITER FOR A KING: the frogs think they should be ruled, so Jupiter sends a log; some complain, so Jupiter sends a stork which eats them all up

Fable / the Fox and Goat
THE FOX AND THE GOAT A fox and goat, feeling very thirsty, jump into a well to drink; unable to escape, the fox suggests he climb upon the goat, only to then run off

Fable / Farmer & Stag
A stag speaks to a farmer

Fable / Elm and Vine
The vine needs the elm tree to support it; the elm needs the vines grapes to enhance it

Fortune & the Schoolboy
FORTUNE & THE SCHOOLBOY or Child or Traveller: A boy sleeps on the brink of a deep well; Fortune wakes him, not wanting the blame for the boys folly if he should fall

The Lion and the Gnat
THE LION AND THE GNAT A lion was dismissive of a mere gnat, but found himself tormented by the gnats numerous bites

Fable / Horse & the Stag
THE HORSE AND THE STAG A horse, who finds a stag has intruded into his domain, seeks help from a man; the man obliges, and the horse then finds he has been enslaved

Fable / Blind Man & Lame
The blind man who cannot see the delicious fruit carries the lame man who cannot walk to it, and both profit

Cormorant & the Fishes
THE CORMORANT & THE FISHES The cormorant, having told the fish he would ferry them to safety in his beak, eats them at his leisure

Fable / Maid & Milk Pail
COUNTRY MAID AND MILKPAIL The maid unwisely thinks of all she will do with the money for the milk at market, and neglects to watch what she is doing so spilling the milk

The Atheist & the Acorn
The fable of the atheist and the acorn

Fable / Cat and Bat
The cat, having made a vow never to eat another bird, decides that the bat, as a bird is unlawful prey, but as a mouse it is fair game

Aesop Revealing Truth
An allegory of Aesop revealing concealed truth through his fables

The Bear and the Bees
THE BEAR AND THE BEES The bear is stung by a bee and in retaliation overturns the hive whereupon hundreds of bees attack and sting him

Fable / Daw & Feathers
THE DAW WITH BORROWED FEATHERS The jackdaw imagined he could pass as an elegant peacock merely by dressing himself in their coloured plumes

Fable / Boy & Butterfly
A boy, smitten with the colours of a butterfly, pursues it around the garden trying to capture it

Fable / Dove and Ant
THE DOVE AND THE ANT The ant bites the hunter on the ankle when he is about to shoot the dove, so repaying the doves good deed in rescuing him from the stream

Esops Fables Title Page
Title page of Select Fables of Esop and Other Fabulists in Three Books by R Dodsley including a quotation from Paradise Lost and a vignette of wingless putti

Fable / the Two Bees
Two bees, one wise and temperate, the other careless and extravagant, arrive in a garden; one makes provision against the distant winter, the other gorges itself

Fable / Bull and Gnat
THE BULL AND THE GNAT A gnat settled on a bulls horn, & asked if it should go; the bull said he had not known the gnat was there & would not miss it when it was gone

Fable / Discontented Bee
The discontented bee complains to Jupiter about her wretched and anxious life, but Jupiter considers the bee ungrateful as he has provided her with all she needs for good living

The Ass and the Lap-Dog
THE ASS AND THE LAP-DOG The ass imitates the behaviour of the little dog to try to win his masters affection

Queen Charlotte
Portrait of Queen Charlotte (1744-1818), Queen of Great Britain and Ireland and wife of George III. Originally Charlotte Sophia, Princess of Mecklenburg-Strelitz

John Rennie / Skirving
JOHN RENNIE Scottish civil engineer

Stephen Hales, Medical
STEPHEN HALES churchman who opposed the drinking of spirits and made valuable medical discoveries

Jan Willem De Winter
JAN WILLEM DE WINTER Dutch Admiral of the Napoleonic Wars. Threw himself into support for the French Revolution before a return to Holland

Sultan Selim III
SELIM III - a keen reformer, he angers vested interests with his ideas, is deposed in 1807 and murdered by strangulation after a years imprisonment

Richardson / Highmore
SAMUEL RICHARDSON English novelist and printer, seen with a book in his hand

Richardson / Ink Drawing
SAMUEL RICHARDSON English novelist and printer as a young man

Richardson / Chamberlin
SAMUEL RICHARDSON English novelist and printer

Bishop Benjamin Hoadly
Benjamin Hoadly, Bishop of Winchester

St Petersburg Castle
St Petersburg: Oranienbaum Castle, built by Peter the Great in 1714

Jean Armour Burns
JEAN ARMOUR BURNS wife of the Scottish poet, Robert Burns, with one of her grandchildren

Chippendale Bed 1761
An elaborately ornamented state bed by Thomas Chippendale

Time Smoking a Picture
Father Time stares glumly into a dark painting as his scythe accidentally rips the canvas: a satire on the contemporary admiration for artworks darkened by time

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