Les Enfants de la Providence

Rare first edition comprising a suite of 12 lithographs printed in colour on tinted grounds, numbered 1–12.

This series by the painter and lithographer Charles-Edouard de Beaumont (1821–1888), lithographed by Jaime, addresses the theme of children compelled to work from a very early age, exposed to street trades and itinerant entertainments.

Publisher’s half brown cloth over beige paper-covered boards, title stamped on the upper cover.

Some small tears and rubbing to the cloth spine, light dampstaining to the margins of the boards, occasional foxing, a small black mark to the upper cover.

The suite may be read either romantically or socially; in both cases it conveys a deeply poignant impression, all the more so as such subjects are ultimately seldom represented at a period which, par excellence, was that of child labour and early confrontation with poverty: 1. Match seller. – 2. Shrimp fishers. – 3. Street performers. – 4. Monkey seller. – 5. Performing dogs. – 6. Street singers. – 7. Chimney sweeps. – 8. Shepherd. – 9. Groom. – 10. Cabin boy. – 11. Broom sellers. – 12. Puppets.

Provenance: copy from the celebrated collection of Félicie Meunier d’Hostel, with her bookplate mounted on the front endpapers; subsequently in the library of Paul Gavault (1866–1951), playwright and theatre director.