..Dryden's Fables published 1734

This is a fourth edition of Dryden's Fables by the poet, playwright, and the first Poet Laureate, John Dryden (1631-1700).

It is his translation from the Latin of works of Homer, Ovid's Metamorphosis, Boccaccio, and from the Middle English, several of Geoffrey Chaucer's Canterbury Tales.

It begins with a sixteen page dedication to his patron, The Duke of Ormond, a sadly necessary piece of sycophancy for the talented but impecunious writers of that era.

I'm reminded of Samuel Johnson's definition of a patron in his famous 1755 dictionary: " One who countenances, supports or protects. Commonly a wretch who supports with insolence, and is paid with flattery"

The Duke of Ormond (1610-1688) perhaps doesn't quite deserve this insult. He was a colourful character, a Royalist who served Charles I during the English Civil War, and later Charles II after the restoration of the monarchy. He is buried in Westminster Abbey, as is John Dryden, the latter in Poets' Corner.