Description

PUBLICATION DETAILS: Image are 7 ¼”w x 8 ¾”h, ooriginally on   8” w by 12 ½” h sheet, but most are trimmed smaller. Most margins are at least one inch.  All have a thin double-line frame. At top center on all: Politique des Femmes.  At lower center on all except as noted: Par Gavarni.  Gavarni’s name can also be seen in reverse on most of the images.  The publisher is Banger at various addresses.  The printer is d’Aubert & C^ie. [Company].  The text verso includes the name of the newspaper, Le Charivari, in which the images were published.  The date the image was drawn can be determined from numbers on some of the images. French text verso.
 
LITHOGRAPHS: [Paragraph numbers shown relate to our image number, not to plate number.]
 
[1]Elimination à huis Clos.  Upper right: [Number] 1.  Gavarni’s name can be seen in reverse on the image followed by the number 39.  
 
[2] Protocoles.  At lower left: Gavarni.  Upper right: [Number] 9.  Gavarni’s name can be seen in reverse on the image preceded by the number 39. Narrow margins.
 
]3] Un Plenipotentiaire.  Upper right: [Number] 12.  Gavarni’s name can be seen in reverse on the image. Side margins ½”. Top margin ¾”. Bottom margin 1”.
 
[4] Discussion du Budget.  Upper right: [Number] 14. Gavarni’s name can be seen in reverse on the image. Edges slightly irregular and toned.
 
[5]La paix a tout prix.  Upper right: [Number] 15.
 
]6] Abdication.  Upper right: [Number] 16.  Gavarni’s name can be seen in reverse on the left image, and the number 40 can be seen at the right.
 
[7] Le grand lever.  Upper right: [Number] 18.  The number 40 c Gavarni’s name can be seen in reverse near the bottom center. Fold lines lower right corner. Edges toned.
 
GAVARNI: Paul Gavarni was the nom de plume of Sulpice Guillaume Chevalier (born 1801 or 1804 in Paris; died 1866), a, water colorist and lithographer.  He began life as an engineering draftsman, but turned his attention to caricature and   began a series of lithographed sketches in which he portrayed the most striking characteristics, foibles and vices of the various classes of French society. He was first known for his amusing drawings of costumes, which appeared in the La Mode.  Most of his best work appeared in Le Charivari, an illustrated newspaper published in Paris from 1832 to 1937 (Wikipedia)…
 
LE CHARIVARI:  The group offered here was published in Le Charivari.   At first, Le Charivari published caricatures, political cartoons and reviews.  However, in 1835 the government banned political caricature, and Le Charivari began publishing satires of everyday life       (Wikipedia).
 
IMPACT OF LONDON TRIP: Gavarni intended to stay clear of serious political subjects; however, his last work, published mostly in the weekly paper L’Illustration, reflects the bitter attitude he developed during a trip to London in 1847.  He had returned from London deeply impressed with the scenes of misery and degradation which he had observed among the lower classes in that city.  That trip resulted in his drawings strongly condemning working-class conditions there.  In 1857 he published the series entitled Masques et visages in one volume, and in 1869 his last artistic work, Les Douze Mois, was published posthumously.  He had produced some 4000 lithographs for satirical journals and fashion magazines, out of a lifetime total of 8,000 drawings, watercolors, and lithographs (Wikipedia).
 
CONDITION: Images in verygood condition.  Margins vary in size, but most are one-inch or more beyond the double-line frame that surrounds the image.