PHILIPON. GRANDVILLE. DAUMIER. FOREST. DESPERET. - Lot 108

PHILIPON. GRANDVILLE. DAUMIER. FOREST. DESPERET. *La Caricature*, a newspaper... Second and third years Paris, published by Aubert, August 1832–December 1833. In-4 (34.5 x 25.5 cm), 45 issues: 93–127 (excluding no. 121) and 152–162. Contemporary light brown half-basane leather, smooth spine decorated with gilt fillets, gilt title (binding slightly rubbed, wormholes at the jaws, a few foxing spots, water stains, and discoloration; plates 240–241 missing). A collection of 45 issues of Charles Philipon’s newspaper *La Caricature*, published between 1832 and 1833, a period marked by the newspaper’s fierce opposition to the regime. Philipon and his artists were repeatedly subjected to seizures, legal proceedings, fines, and prison sentences. The collection is illustrated with lithographs—sometimes two or three per issue—some of which are in color. It includes several compositions representative of *La Caricature*’s political satire, notably *The Hunt for Liberty* by Grandville and Eugène Forest, *Chimera of the Imagination* by Daumier, and *The Animal Kingdom: Natural History Cabinet* by Grandville and Forest. The collection offers several examples of the use of the pear as a satire of Louis-Philippe, a recurring motif in the newspaper: it appears notably in *La reconnaissance est la vertu des rois* by Auguste Desperet (in which the sovereign is depicted as a crowned pear kicking Laffitte), as well as in *Chimère de l’imagination*, where Daumier ironically depicts a “child with a pear-shaped head.” Founded and edited by Charles Philipon, *La Caricature* was one of the leading illustrated satirical newspapers of the July Monarchy. Published in Paris by Aubert from 1830 to 1835 for its first series, it brought together some of the most important caricaturists of the era, notably Honoré Daumier, Grandville, Henry Monnier, Decamps, and Traviès, while Honoré de Balzac was among its literary contributors. A fine example from the period.