The most delectable history of Reynard the Fox. Newly Corrected and Purged from all grossness in Phrase and Matter. Augmented and Enlarged with sundry Excellent Morals and Expositions upon every several Chapter . To which may now be added a Second Part of the said History; As also the shifts of Reynardine the Son of Reynard the Fox, together with his Life and Death &c.

London, at the Sign of the Crane in St. Pauls Church Yard: Edward Brewster, 1701. Hardcover. Very Good. 12mo - over 6¾ - 7¾" tall. EB [BREWSTER E?]. 3 parts as 1, 1701, 1681 & 1684, each with independent register. In contemporary speckled calf, raised bands gilt tooling, gilt title to maroon morocco label. Internally, woodcut vignette to tp, 1701, [1], A2-U4, [160 pp includes the leaf of contents & leaf of adverts at rear]. The Second Part: London, 1681, for Edward Brewster, [1], A2-O3, The Shifts of Reynardine the son of Reynard the Fox, London, 1684, for Edward Brewster and Thomas Passenger, [1], A2-X4, (or [8], 160 pp), 75 woodcut illustrations, all signed EB (60 cuts to 1st part, 15 to the 2nd, cut at C1 printed upside down), mainly in black letter, titles & printed margin notes in Roman, occasional printed marginal notes and catchwords trimmed in 1st part, head & foot of spine & board corners neatly strengthened, joints slightly cracked with tissue consolidation, armorial bookplate to fpd (Frederick Arthur Hawker), early ink note to verso fep, title lightly dust soiled, almost invisible paper repair at top edge of A2-3, corner tips of U4 & W1 gone. (182*137 mm). (ESTC T60836. R218371, and R40614. Lowndes, p. 2076. Wing attributes Part I to John Shurley (fl.1680-1702) and registers the 1681 ed. at S3512). Reynard the Fox is a literary cycle of medieval allegorical Dutch, English, French and German fables. The first extant versions of the cycle date from the second half of the 12th century. The genre was popular throughout the Late Middle Ages, as well as in chapbook form throughout the Early Modern period. The stories are largely concerned with the main character Reynard, an anthropomorphic red fox, trickster figure. His adventures usually involve him deceiving other anthropomorphic animals for his own advantage or trying to avoid their retaliatory efforts. His main enemy and victim across the cycle is his uncle, the wolf, Isengrim. While the character of Reynard appears in later works, the core stories were written during the Middle Ages by multiple authors and are often seen as parodies of medieval literature such as courtly love stories as well as a satire of political and religious institutions. The trickster fox, Reynard, is considered to represent the medieval burghers, the lion represents the monarch, the bear represents the medieval landlords, the wolf Isengrim represents the medieval knights, the donkey represents the clerical class, and the small animals (chicken, hare, snail etc) represent the public mass.