Grandville

SCENES DE LA VIE PRIVEE ET PUBLIQUE DES ANIMAUX

1842 · 57102 — Paris: J. Hetzel et Paulin 1842. First Edition. large 8vo. pp. 4 p.l. 386 6; 2 p.l. 390 6. with half-titles. 201 wood-engraved plates incl 2 additional titles numerous head & tailpieces initials & vignettes by Brévière & others after designs by Grandville. All Edges Gilt. Bound in leather backed dark green pebbled cloth. A little light foxing but a very good clean copy. Brivois pp. 364 - 370. Vicaire VII 406 - 416 Ray 194. Originally issued in parts. this is the first book edition. "The moving force behind this book was its publisher P.-J. Hetzel who himself contributed many chapters under the pseudonym of P.-J. Stahl Through Grandville's animals Hetzel and his colleagues offered a witty and telling commentary on contemporary politics and personalities. Bouchot described the result as the best satire on French manners during the middle of the century recalling "the anger to which it gave rise the outbursts of laughter it provoked and the lawsuits of which it ran the risk." These allusions pass largely unnoticed today but Grandville's animals remain as amusing as ever thanks to the wit and verve of his compositions. The types and situations he depicts are indeed "of every period and every country." "The final plate shows the artist at the zoo of the Jardin des Plantes. He is sketching the visiting creatures who in turn are peering at cages containing Hetzel Balzac Jules Janin and other authors of the Scènes de la vie privée et publique des animaux. It should be noted that the engravings for this book are by Brévière the one craftsman whose renderings of his work Grandville refused to criticize." Ray Carteret III 553. Ray The Art Of The French Illustrated Book 1700 to 1914 194 citing incorrect number of plates. J. Hetzel et Paulin unknown books