A spider, annoyed by a swallow which was catching all the flies, plans to catch the swallow in its web, but is shown to be deluded when the swallow carries off both the spider and the web; illustration of a fable. Etching by D. Stoop, 1665.

View from a balcony overlooking a garden, with a bowl of tulips on the balustrade and the swallow's nest visible under an arch

The moral of the fable, according to Ogilby (op. cit., p. 151) is: "Jews, Turks, and Christians, severall tenets hold, / Yet most one God acknowledge, and that's gold, / Parent of love and hate, in peace or war / Strength and craft may, but thou much more by far."

[London] : [John Ogilby], [1665]

1 print : etching ; image 21.9 x 17 cm

Bears number: 60

Wellcome Collection 39719i