E-MailLa caricature: revue morale, judiciaire, littéraire, artistique, fashionable et scénique – digitized
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 Le 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 Le 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 Paul Gavarni, Henry Monnier, Hippolyte Bellangé and Victor Adam contributed to the journal.
La caricature: revue morale, judiciaire, littéraire, artistique, fashionable et scénique
Further Reading
- Bellanger, Claude [Hrsg.]: Histoire générale de la presse française, 2. Band, Paris 1969
- Blum, André: La Caricature politique dans la monarchie de Juillet, in Gazette des Beaux Arts 62.1920, S. 257-277.
- 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)
- Kerr, David S.: Caricature and French Political Culture 1830-1848. Charles Philipon and the Illustrated Press, London 2000
- Max, Hubert: Die Satire in der französischen Publizistik unter besonderer Berücksichtigung des französischen Witzblattes. Die Entwicklung von den Anfängen bis zum Jahre 1880, München 1937 (Zeitung und Leben, Band VII)
- Unverfehrt, Gerd [Hrsg.]: La Caricature. Bildsatire in Frankreich 1830 - 1835 aus der Sammlung von Kritter, Göttingen 1980
