La Caricature

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The journal La Caricature was founded in Paris in 1830 by Charles Philipon and also edited by him; it was published weekly by Aubert publishing house. Before the first regular issue went on sale on 4 November 1830, a trial issue, the "Numéro-Modèle"  -  which is very sought-after  today -  was published, together with a lithograph by Grandville. The individual issues of Caricature consisted of four text pages and were sold together with two, in most cases colourized, lithographs.
In comparison to Charivari which, from 1832 onwards, was also published by Philipon, La Caricature was printed on higher quality paper and produced with greater effort; furthermore its orientation was more political and anti-clerical than Charivari. With regard to content the periodical represented republican interests and was critical of French politics of the era i.e. of King Louis-Philippe.
The periodical La Caricature was published for four years and ten months from 4 November 1830 until 28 August 1835; in total 251 individual issues were produced including 524 lithographs. Its print run went up from an initial 850 to over 1000 copies, even though the yearly subscription was expensive, the 52 Francs amounting to 10% of the yearly income of a worker. Following the enactment of the so-called Septembre 1835 laws press freedom was further restricted and thus Philipon was forced to cease publication.
Some of the most eminent illustrators of La Caricature were Honoré Daumier and Grandville but also artists such as Bouquet, Traviès, Desperret and Adam Victor contributed to the journal.

Weiterführende Literatur scroll to top

  • Bellanger, Claude (Hrsg.), Histoire générale de la presse française, 2. Band, Paris 1969
  • Blum, A., La Caricature politique dans la monarchie de Juillet, in Gazette des Beaux Arts 62.1920, S. 257 ff.
  • Bosch-Abele, Susanne, La caricature (1830 - 1835), Katalog und Kommentar, Weimar 1997 [2 Bände]
  • Gardes, Jean-Claude (Hrsg.), Les revues satiriques françaises, Brest 2011 (Ridiculosa, 18)
  • Unverfehrt, Gerd [Hrsg.], La Caricature. Bildsatire in Frankreich 1830 - 1835 aus der Sammlung von Kritter, Göttingen 1980