Fables

John Gay (1685-1732).
Fables... London: Printed by Darton & Harvey for F. & C. Rivington et al, 1793.
(SPL) PR 3473 .F3 1793a

This book features a number of illustrations. In the 18th century, illustrations were not just used as a marketing technique, they also began to reinforce the moral lessons of the stories, rather than merely embellishing the text, as mass reading exploded and it was believed the lower classes needed to be instructed in proper morality.

In this edition, pages 138, 142, and 143 are misnumbered as 140, 144, and 145 respectively. Mistakes such as these were generally less common in the 1700s than in previous centuries, however, because of printers’ and publishers’ greater interest in quality control through such measures as more careful proofreading.