Browse Exhibits (5 total)

Exceptional Artwork

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This project began as a way to understand the text of the fable, but I quickly realized that for many versions of the story, the illustrations were at least as important as the text. I have tried to provide some sort of image for every variation in the collection, though most have only small, low-quality woodcuts. A handful have really excellent art which I thought bore special mention. For the visual folks out there, I've created an exhibit of the five best pieces of artwork in the collection. 

Fables in Verse

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This exhibit examines variations on the fable which are told in meter and rhyme. Many of these versions are very similar, but their differences are interesting and important. 

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Readers

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Readers are textbooks designed for use in a formal school setting. Because they must engage with a very young audience and often have a secondary purpose (IE teaching vocabulary words), they often have the most interesting variations on the story. 

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Unusual Versions

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This collection highlights the five most interesting or unusual variations I found in no particular order. One is a modern spoof, one appears to be a very old spoof, one is a rather cynical Romanian version with spoof-like elements, and the other two are primarily unusual for their choice of setting.  

Very Old Versions

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"The Town Mouse and the Country Mouse" is an extremely old story, older than many stories in the Bible, for example. The scope of this collection means that the vast majority of variations of the fable will come after the 19th century. I have placed all variations that predate the 19th century in a separate collection, which introduces them chronologically. Many later versions in this collection simply borrow from the older versions discussed here.