Scènes de la vie privée et publique des animaux

First edition, admirably illustrated with 201 plates and 120 vignettes by Grandville. This first volume correctly has the first third of the work printed on tinted paper while the rest is on white paper, a characteristic of the first printing; most copies are from a second printing as the leaves are also white like the rest of the work. Moreover, Hetzel's publisher's preface, usually absent, is present here before the prologue. Most copies begin directly with the prologue. The frontispiece of volume 1 has been placed facing p. 32, the engraved half-title entitled Scène de moeurs serving as frontispiece; this half-title is often absent from most copies. The frontispiece and engraved title of volume 2, as well as an engraved half-title also entitled 2e partie have been preserved without the title page of the second volume which has not been bound in this copy. These 2 half-titles, in the first volume Scène de moeurs, in the second volume 2e partie are very often absent from copies.
Near-contemporary half red shagreen bindings with corners. Spines with raised bands with 3 decorated compartments, gilt title and volume number. Separation fillets on boards. Combed edges, echoing the pattern of the endpapers. Signs of rubbing. On the upper board of volume 1, a 2 cm area exposing the cardboard. Superb freshness of the paper, completely free from foxing.
Handsome copy.
This famous publication needs no introduction, a satire of contemporary Parisian society under the Second Empire, an enterprise due to Hetzel, who under the pseudonym Stahl signed several texts and commissioned texts from the most famous writers of the time: Balzac, Musset, Sand, La Bedollière... The last chapter recounts the imprisonment of the various writers who can be seen in enclosures at the Jardin des plantes, where we see Grandville from behind drawing them. One of Grandville's great works of imagination, full of verve and fantasy.