Stebbing: La Cigale et la Fourmi, 1905

Item — Box: CFC Postcards Box 5

Identifier: CFC2021.0113.1-7

Staff Only

Scope and Contents

From the Collection:

The Carlson Fable Collection is a gathering of primary fable materials at Reinert Alumni Memorial Library at Creighton University. It grew out of the personal collection of fable materials gathered by Rev. Gregory Carlson, S.J. and was given to the Creighton Libraries in 1996. There are more than 10,000 books and approximately 8,000 artifacts in the collection.

From plates to stamps, from cards to whiskey decanters, from toys to posters, you'll find just about anything you can imagine here. Please explore all that is to offer here in my fables Catalogue of Objects.

This is the largest online catalog of fable related objects on the internet. Many are from Aesop's Fables but you will find La Fontaine, Velazquez and Krylov also represented in this collection.

Dates

1905

Extent

7 Cards : Complete set of five photographic postcards presenting "La Cigale et la Fourmi," VBC Series Number 3045. Stebbing Photographic Studios.

Language of Materials

French

Additional Description

Abstract

The story here follows La Fontaine but stresses the emotional experience of the cicada. It is hard to be sure of the order of the cards. I presume the sequence runs like this: (1) The lovely cicada sings before the ant requesting food. (2) With trembling hand, she then asks out of her poverty for charity and compassion. (3) But asking this neighbor is useless. (4) "You have sung well, but you have not amassed things as I have. You will have to dance." (5) Poor cicada, abandoned! How sad! There is extensive pink coloring of these black-and-white pictures. I wonder how that was done. Stebbing follows up with a sequel, "Revanche de la Cigale," VBC Series #3046, using the same characters, actors, and setting.