Antique caricatures, satirical prints and drawings, illustrated newspapers, first edition albums, caricature portraits

Signed autograph manuscript, 6 pages, of Georges Courteline's story Le Phénomène, later published by Flammarion in 1897 in Un client sérieux.

Numerous deletions; one passage does not appear in the printed versions of the text.

Green Bradel boards, author and title lettered in gilt lengthwise on spine. Manuscript on fragments of leaves of lined paper, pasted onto six pages. Some rubbing and soiling to boards, figures in blue pencil written over the text, traces of glue and light soiling to leaves.

Original manuscript of a story full of self-mockery, in which Georges Courteline recounts...

First edition of this album of caricatures by Frédéric-Auguste Bartholdi which he numbered and initialed (copy no. 36). Printed “in small numbers” (Bartholdi Museum), with only six located in institutions (Colmar Museum, BnF, Harvard, UPenn, NYPL, Rutgers University).

Publisher’s blue cloth binding, flat spine gilt-lettered lengthwise, upper board numerously framed in black, anchors and stars stamped in black at the corners, title and date gilt-stamped; lower board numerously framed in black, black stars at the corners and a central anchor, red edges. Slight rubbing to joints, faint...

Complete set of 115 copper-engraved plates with an additional plate (116 plates), all printed on either laid or wove paper, all hand-colored with watercolor. Two entirely different plates 39 follow each other, in first issue: "Les Titus et les cache-folies" was published in the 1817 and 1822 sets, and the other "La Politicomanie" appeared in 1827. This is the most complete series, which also includes the 11 new plates published from 1818 to 1822, numbered 105 to 115.

According to Vicaire, the plates were probably all printed between 1801 and 1822, and only the text preceding the plates was reprinted in 1827.

3/4 long-grained cherry half-morocco...

Rare complete suite of Gavarni’s eighteen lithographs for Les Maris vengés, published in Paris by Aubert in 1837-1838, here expanded to twenty-one sheets by the presence of three plates in two states; the second state is coloured, while the third of these plates also appears in two differently hand-coloured impressions. Eight lithographs are therefore hand-coloured in all.

To complete the series, the collector had to use, for plates nos. 13, 14 and 16, the impressions published in Le...

Original drawing in graphite and blue and pink colored pencils signed by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, on a sheet of watermarked paper "Navarre". Horizontal fold.

One of Saint-Exupéry's quirky characters in a suit and bow tie, spawn from the baroque and overflowing imagination of the Little Prince's author. The writer-aviator-artist very rarely signed his graphic works.




 
 
 

Original drawing with graphite, blue and pink colored pencils signed by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, on a sheet of watermarked paper “Navarre”. Hor­izontal fold, pencil annotation in the upper left margin, very small loss of paper in the lower right margin.

A remarkable caricature signed by Saint-Exupéry, akin to a cartoon character. The writer-aviator-artist very rarely signed his graphic works.

First edition, illustrated with drawings by the author.

A very good copy.

Our copy is further enhanced with a dated original drawing by Georges Wolinski depicting two figures; the first confessing "J'avoue que ma femme me rend heureux", the second replying: "toi aussi ? "

First edition.

Binding inspired by Seventeenth century Cambridge panelled boards, spine with five raised bands framed by double fillets in blind, boards framed by double fillets in blind, outer corners of central frame decorated with small fleurons tools in blind, decorated roll inside central frame, decorated roll in blind on edges, all edges gilt, a corner and edge and lower spine-end slightly rubbed, some chafing on boards, a small hole p. 8 affecting part of a letter.

Very scarce first editions of

Booklet of the "Rabelaisian menu" offered on "diemenche 26 de oiteuvre 1952" [Sunday, 26 October 1952] on the menu of the Parisian restaurant Au Mouton de Panurge, gastronomic headquarters of the Amis de Rabelais et de La Devinière, whose walls were decorated by Albert Dubout, who is also the author of the illustrations featured here. On the final page appear several facsimile signatures of distinguished regulars of the establishment. Our booklet is enhanced by a gift inscription from one of these signatories, Albert Schweitzer: "to Andrée [Eekman, his goddaughter, also the niece of his close...

One of the first collected editions of these seven comic novellas, initially printed separately, by the Sieur de Préfontaine, regarded as a first-rate author by Charles Louandre: "without seeking to diminish in any way the merit of Boileau, without disputing his title as legislator of taste, one may say that Charles Sorel, Furetière, Préfontaine, [...] contributed alongside him and before him to cleansing the French Parnassus."

The first edition of one of the short stories contained in this volume...

First edition, illustrated with in-text and full-page black-and-white and colour drawings by Albert Robida.
Publisher’s original illustrated cloth binding in full green percaline, signed Engel, smooth spine, featuring a large polychrome illustration heightened with gold and palladium by Souze extending across the spine and boards; the original front cover in colour preserved; all edges gilt.
"Ceci qui va suivre sous un titre ambitieux pris simplement comme une étiquette en chiffres, n'est, bien entendu, pas une histoire, ni un tableau, ni un résumé, c'est une série d'esquisses, de croquis à la plume et à la mine de plomb, de portraits familiers de notre Siècle à différentes époques...

Set of 52 original plates, etched and enhanced with watercolours at the time, numbered 1 to 52, mounted in pairs under mats.
 
Leaves in red half calf slipcase (early 20th century), red shagreen boards.
The plates vary in size (10.8 x 17.6 cm to 28.1 x 18.8 cm) and paper stock, as was often the case with La Mésangère's publications. Unbound engraved title on a bifolium, printed separately, absent from most copies. It is replaced here by its identical reprint by Gosselin (1893-1903), on antique watermarked paper and bears the publisher's 'G' mark, characteristic of this reprint a century later. All the plates, however, are in their first edition, without the G...

Original signed drawing in pencil and pink crayon by Antoine de Saint-Ex­upéry, on “Navarre” watermarked paper. Horizontal fold, annotation in pencil in upper left-hand corner, min­ute tears in lower margin.

Precious drawing signed by Saint-Exupéry – the writer-artist very rarely signed his graphic works – of a caricature character, sharing some of the writer's own features.

Album of lithographed plates in third state, first cover printed in 3 tones, black, bistre with gradients and white highlights, followed by 24 lithographs in black on 12 double-sided pages.

Gray half calf binding, smooth spine, some foxing, original soft cover preserved, binding signed by Charles Septier.

Created in 1851, this youthful work influenced by Rodolphe Töppfer's style, is now considered an incunabulum of comic strips.

20 full-page lithographs in black by Gustave Doré, in second state.
Red half oblong Bradel-style cloth binding, smooth spine, black morocco title label, marbled paper boards, beige paper endpapers and flyleaves, corners slightly dulled.

First collective edition of this complete series of 25 original lithographed plates printed on thick vellum.

Mounted engravings, preceded by a title page bringing together three series: Souvenirs de Carnaval (6 plates), Les bals masqués (7 plates), Costumes historiques (12 plates).

Each of these series first appeared in other journals: under the title 'Souvenirs de Carnaval' in Ritner et Goupil, 'Les bals masqués' in La Caricature and 'Costumes historiques' in Charivari.
Engravings in third state according to Vicaire.
Some foxing.

Red half straight-grained morocco Bradel binding...

First edition of Les Hommes d'aujo­urd'hui (33 issues lacking out of 469). Five volumes bound in light blue half-cloth, smooth spines, blue morocco ti­tle labels decorated with double filets, marbled paper boards (4 volumes). The color title pages have been preserved and bound in. Marginal tears without damage to the text (no. 163; no. 165; no. 184, p. 2). Mar­ginal restorations without damage to text on 8 leaves be­tween nos. 214 and 223. Two leaves of no. 224 backed. Mar­ginal tear with some paper missing (no. 345, p.1). Format of quires in the first vol­ume varies; some are trimmed more than others.
First edition of Les Femmes du jour, very rare complete collection...

Autograph letter dated and signed (25 lines in black ink) from the illustrator and caricaturist Sennep, addressed to his friend the Provençal writer, caricaturist and filmmaker Carlo Rim, thanking him while teasing him after having been decorated with the Legion of Honor: "Merci, gros jaloux ! mais, d'abord, je n'ai pas les cheveux aussi blancs ! ensuite, ma cravate est d'un bleu de ciel, qui évoque le ruban des "Enfants de Marie", beaucoup plus que l'ordre du Saint-Esprit..." ["Thank you, big jealous one! but, first, I don't have hair that white! then, my tie is sky blue, which evokes the ribbon of the "Children of Mary", much more than the order of the Holy...