Caricature

First edition of this album of caricatures by Frédéric-Auguste Bartholdi which he numbered and initialled (copy no. 36, followed by his initial). 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, smooth spine gilt-lettered along its length, 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 mottling to the lower part of the upper board, a few plate tabs slightly split at foot, not affecting the integrity of the binding.

Illustrated with an engraved title-frontispiece, a half-title featuring the head of the Statue of Liberty, and 30 full-page hand-coloured lithographs.

Exceptionally rare copy of Auguste Bartholdi’s caricature album created on board the steamship bound for the United States for the 1876 Philadelphia World’s Fair, where he exhibited part of the Statue of Liberty.

This curious album contains the only caricature of the Statue by Bartholdi ever published: a vignette on the half-title depicting the top of Lady Liberty’s crowned head with her amused eyes emerging above the Atlantic. Moreover, the profits from the album were donated to the Franco-American subscription fund for the statue's construction.

Rare vintage polychrome "Happy Families" card game "The Trades," complete with all 42 cards, 1930s.

Comic portrayal of seven trades: Ramona (heating engineer), Lebouif (cobbler), Lavinasse (innkeeper), Boudingras (pork butcher), Courtepaille (farmer), Potard (pharmacist) and Dubifteck (butcher).

Without its original box, some traces of use, such as rubbed corners, and some foxing spots on the back of the cards. Good general condition.

Amusing vintage game revealing the stereotypes associated with seven trades during the French interwar period. 

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, smooth spine elaborately framed in gilt lentghwise, gilt tooled center of spine, gilt lettered title at head of spine framed in gilt, marbled boards, marbled paper endpapers and flyleaves. Minor brown spots are mainly confined to the 24 pp. of text, with very few on the plates, mainly on the margins and versos.

A rare and famous collection of costumes, genre and entertainment scenes from the French First Empire and Restoration eras, with very wide margins and magnificently hand-colored at the time. A veritable encyclopedia of thrills, pleasures and pageantry, published by Pierre de la Mésangère, leading fashion editor at the turn of the century. This copy includes two versions of plate 39, both of which are extremely scarce.
 

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.

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.

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 mark added by Gosselin to the lower corners of the engravings, in the figure or the bowl, occasionally accompanied by a date.
 
Some foxing, a few rare engravings showing traces of pasted tabs on the reverse. Plate 42 restored without missing. A green stain in plate 11 probably due to the watercolour of the landscape. Twelve plates are trimmed to the plate mark: pl. 12 (12.7 x 19.2 cm), pl. 15 (12.4 x 18.7 cm), pl. 19 (11.9 x 19.8 cm), pl. 29 (11.9 x 19 cm), pl. 30 (12.5 x 19 cm), pl. 39 (12.1 x 18.4 cm), pl. 41 (12.5 x 19.1 cm), pl. 42 (12.5 x 19.1 cm), pl. 48 (11.9 x 18.3 cm), pl. 49 (12.9 x 19.9 cm), pl. 51 (12.5 x 18.4 cm), and pl. 52 (12 x 18.1 cm). Plate 37 is trimmed around the black border (10.8 x 17.6 cm). More pronounced foxing in the margins of plates 4, 28, 30, 31, 35, 44, 45, and 47.
 
A rare and precious complete suite of 52 original costume prints from the Directoire and First Empire periods.

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, smooth spine decoratively tooled and lettered in gilt with a rich ornamentation of repeated floral motifs, marbled paper pastedowns and endpapers, binding signed V[ictor] Champs.

 
Very rare collection in a deluxe edition printed on thick vellum, elegantly bound.

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 Spirit..."]

A self-portrait in black felt-tip pen and heightened with blue pencil represents the illustrator, freshly honored, with his decoration around his neck.

Fold inherent to mailing.

Carlo Rim was a Provençal writer, author of "Ma belle Marseille", a caricaturist, a filmmaker and was notably the friend of Fernandel, Raimu and Marcel Pagnol but also of Max Jacob and André Salmon whom he met in Sanary.