Gay wrote two separate collections of fables. The first, a group of fifty short poems, was originally published as

Fables, By Mr Gay

, in March 1727 and achieved such immediate popularity, being reprinted three times in its first two years, that it led him to work on a second. Gay completed this second collection of sixteen longer poems, just before his death in 1732, but it was not published till six years later, when his friend and literary executor, the Duke of Queensberry saw it through the press as

Fables, By the late Mr Gay, Volume the Second

, in September 1738. The two collections of fables were very different in tone. Where the first was playfully, even ironically, moral, the second was more indignantly satiric and overtly political. They were frequently reprinted (separately) in…

3853 words

Citation: Gordon, Ian. "Fables". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 02 November 2004 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=5232, accessed 19 March 2024.]

5232 Fables 3 Historical context notes are intended to give basic and preliminary information on a topic. In some cases they will be expanded into longer entries as the Literary Encyclopedia evolves.

Save this article

If you need to create a new bookshelf to save this article in, please make sure that you are logged in, then go to your 'Account' here

Leave Feedback

The Literary Encyclopedia is a living community of scholars. We welcome comments which will help us improve.