Coming soon: The Aesop’s Fables Collection

As we enter into the summer, our team continues to enhance our virtual collections. Researchers continuously upload images into CAIRN, find more illustrated editions of texts, and perform quality control on the existing collections. At this time, we would like to announce a very special collection that we have in the works – the Aesop’s Fables Collection!

Commonly placed in Ancient Greece during the fifth century BCE, Aesop’s Fables demonstrate the skill of the storyteller through his teachings of morals and life lessons. Aesop was thought to have been a slave in ancient Greece, and the stories based on oral tradition have been passed on for centuries. The Fables are notably known for the anthropomorphizing of animals in order to teach the lessons. For example, page 35 of the 1521 Spanish edition “Libro del sabio [et] clarissimo fabulador Ysopu hystoriado [et] annotado” features two anonymous illustrations that depict animals. From this alone, one can infer the common representation of animals through the fables.

We are excited to launch the Aesop’s Fables Collection on our site, where you can read an introductory essay providing more context, as well as get a snapshot on the 16 editions that we are investigating at the CEMVC. Coming soon, we will connect the page to the CAIRN database which houses all of the metadata and images from the collection. Don’t forget to check back soon for more on the Aesop’s Fables Collection and follow us on Facebook for more updates!