Diogène. Portraits et biographies satiriques des hommes du dix-neuvième siècle. Paris, 10 août 1856-26 avril 1857. (Satirical portraits and biographies of nineteenth-century personalities.)

Item Details

Paris, Amédée Rolland, 1856-57, unbound as issued.

Original, very good condition.

From Pied Oxen Printers' collection of objects related to print and book history.

Very rare complete collection of this satirical weekly newspaper founded by Amédée Rolland and the caricaturist, photographer and writer Étienne Carjat (1828-1906).

36 issues complete. 

12.25 x 17.25 inches (31.1 x 45.1 cm). 

Condition: Very good, especially considering the fragile paper. Even, mild toning as expected. Most signature folds are still intact. A few marginal tears, easily mended, but no significant losses. The caricatures appear bright and fresh. 

Printed in Montmartre, it appeared in 36 numbers published between August 10, 1856 and April 26, 1857. Each number includes a biography of a famous contemporary person, some chronicles and a caricature. All 36 full-page caricatures were by Carjat, wood-engraved by Pothey, or lithographed. Later issues include letters to the readers, theater reviews, advertisements, etc. 

Among the contributors to this journal were Amédée Rolland, who was the editor, Victor Koning, Jules Lermina, Ernest d'Hervilly, Jean du Boys and Charles Bataille.

Étienne Carjat (1828-1906) is primarily known in France as a pioneering 19th-century portrait photographer. He was a contemporary and long-time friend of the better-known French photographer Gaspard-Félix Tournachon, called “Nadar.” Carjat was also an accomplished caricaturist who produced this series of relief-print and lithographic portraits of prominent Parisian actors, composers, artists, authors and politicians of 1850’s Paris. His better known printed portraits include Alexandre Dumas (father and son), Balzac, Nadar, Rossini, Hector Berlioz, Verdi, and George Sand, all appearing in Diogène. His caricatures (and photographs) have been acclaimed for capturing the subjects' personalities with great sensitivity. However, his surviving output was not as extensive or influential as certain contemporaries, including Nadar and Honoré Daumier. His influence can (arguably) be seen in the contemporary caricatures of David Levine (1926-2009), best known for his work for the New York Review of Books. 

The personalities whose portraits are included are: 

Pierre Jean de Béranger (10 August 1856)
Alexandre Dumas (17 August) 
Honoré de Balzac (24 August)
Hippolyte de Villemessant (31 August) 
Louis Veuillot (7 September)
Adolphe Thiers (14 September)
Paul Grassot ( 24 September)
Moïse Polydore Millaud (28 September)
Émile de Girardin (5 October)
Paul de Kock (12 October)
Mademoiselle Rachel [Elisabeth Felix] (19 October)
Horace Vernet (26 October)
Pierre-Joseph Proudhon ( 2 November)
General d'Orgoni (9 November)
M. Théodore Barrière ( 16 November)
M. Adolphe Crémieux ( 25 November)
Nadar (30 November)
Henry Mürger (7 December)
Alexandre Dumas fils (14 December)
Rossini (21 December) 
George Sand (28 December)
François (ou Francis) Ponsard (4 January 1857)
Théophile Gautier (11 January)
Pierre Dupont (18 January)
Auguste Préault (25 January)
Hector Berlioz (1 February)
Auguste Villemot (February 8)
Giuseppe Verdi (15 February)
Charles Monselet (22 February)
Charles Gounod (1 March)
Victor Séjour (8 March)
Louis Gueymard (22 March)
Joseph-Isidore Samson (29 March)
Louis Bouilhet (5 April)
Félicien David (19 April)
Ferdinand Dugué. (26 April)