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BABIES by Béatrice Fontanel

BABIES

History, Art, and Folklore

by Béatrice Fontanel & Claire d’Harcourt

Pub Date: May 1st, 1997
ISBN: 0-8109-1244-9
Publisher: Abrams

In the Middle Ages, it was believed that a concoction of herbs boiled in white wine could aid conception, and a garlic clove was used for an early version of the home pregnancy test. According to a Paris police report, of 21,000 babies born in 1780, 19,000 were sent away to wet nurses outside the city. Fontanel, a French children's book author, and d'Harcourt, a book designer and illustrator, have gathered these and a host of other fascinating tidbits in this gallimaufry of art and history. From conception through infancy, no aspect of babyhood escapes attention. The colorful images range from HonorÇ Daumier's print of a pregnant woman overcome with a craving to bite a passing baker, to a 19th- century Japanese print of lounging pregnant women, the fetuses in their rounded bellies visible as though by sonogram, to photographs of early four-wheel baby carriages. A delight to look at and browse through.