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London: Published under the superintendence of the Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge; Charles Knight & Co., no. 22 Ludgate Street. Dimensions: Sheet: 34 x 41.8 cm: Image: 28.7 x 38.3 cm. J. & C. Walker, Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge Charles Knight & Co.; Charles Knight (British, 1791 – 1873) – publisher. J & C Walker (British firm, fl. 1820 – 1895) Walker, John (British, 1787 – 1873) Walker, Alexander (British, 1797? – 1870) Walker, Charles (British, 1799? – 1872) Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge (SDUK) (British firm, 1826 – 1846)
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Oval cartouche in the upper-left corner, with tall “s”: Plan | OF | PARIS | and | SUBURBS | With all the Cross Streets | Before | THE REVOLUTION. || No indication of the makers. Dimensions: Sheet: 32.5 x 44.3 cm; Image: 28.5 x 41.3 cm.
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Upper right: Galignani's | PLAN OF PARIS | 1827 || in oval frame: Sauve sculpt. Bottom, under the frame: le Plan écrit par Lallemand. […] Gravé par E. Collin. Rue de la Harpe № 45. Dimensions: 36.5 x 46.5 cm. Armand Joseph Lallemand (French, c. 1810 - 1871) – cartographer. Charles-Étienne Collin (French, 1770 – 1840) – engraver. Étienne Collin II (French,1790 – 1852) – engraver. John Anthony Galignani (Italian, 1796 – 1873) – publisher. William Galignani (Italian, 1798 – 1882) – publisher.
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Top right: EASTERN DIVISION OF | PARIS. | Containing the Quartiers | {5 lines in italic} | Published under the Superintendence of the Society for the | Diffusion of Useful Knowledge || Bottom left: WESTERN DIVISION OF | PARIS. | Containing the Quartiers | {4 lines in italic} | Published under the Superintendence of the Society for the | Diffusion of Useful Knowledge || The map is framed, but there is no lettering beneath the frame to identify the cartographer, engraver, and publisher. However, we can attribute it to William Barnard Clarke (British, 1806 – 1865) and John Shury (fl. c. 1814-1844). The publisher is either Baldwin & Cradock or Chapman and Hall. Dimensions: Sheet: 40 x 60.8 cm; Image: 40 x 53.5 cm.
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Top right: EASTERN DIVISION OF | PARIS. | Containing the Quartiers | {5 lines in italic} | Published under the Superintendence of the Society for the | Diffusion of Useful Knowledge || Bottom left: WESTERN DIVISION OF | PARIS. | Containing the Quartiers | {4 lines in italic} | Published under the Superintendence of the Society for the | Diffusion of Useful Knowledge || Under the frame: Drawn by W. B. Clarke, Archt. […] Published by Baldwin & Cradock, 47 Paternoster Row, A April 1st, 1834. [...] Engraved by J. Shury || Dimensions: Sheet: 40.8 x 57 cm; Image: 38.7 x 52.5 cm. Contributors: William Barnard Clarke (British, 1806 – 1865) – artist. John Shury (fl. c. 1814-1844) – engraver. Baldwin & Cradock (London) – publisher. Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge (SDUK) (British firm, 1826 – 1846).
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Top right: EASTERN DIVISION OF | PARIS. | Containing the Quartiers | {5 lines in italic} | Published under the Superintendence of the Society for the | Diffusion of Useful Knowledge || Bottom left: WESTERN DIVISION OF | PARIS. | Containing the Quartiers | {4 lines in italic} | Published under the Superintendence of the Society for the | Diffusion of Useful Knowledge || Under the frame: Drawn by W. B. Clarke, Archt. […] London: Published by Chapman and Hall, 186, Strand. April 1st, 1834. [...] Engraved by J. Shury || Dimensions: Sheet: 40.8 x 57 cm; Image: 38.7 x 52.5 cm. Contributors: William Barnard Clarke (British, 1806 – 1865) – artist. John Shury (fl. c. 1814-1844) – engraver. Chapman and Hall (London) – publisher. Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge (SDUK) (British firm, 1826 – 1846).
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WESTERN DIVISION OF | PARIS. | Containing the Quartiers | {4 lines in italic} | Published under the Superintendence of the Society for the | Diffusion of Useful Knowledge || Under the frame: Drawn by W. B. Clarke, Archt. […] Published by Baldwin & Cradock, 47 Paternoster Row, April 1st. 1834. Dimensions: Sheet: 40.5 x 34.5 cm; Image: 39 x 28.8 cm. Contributors: William Barnard Clarke (British, 1806 – 1865) – artist. John Shury (fl. c. 1814-1844) – engraver. Baldwin & Cradock (London) – publisher. Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge (SDUK) (British firm, 1826 – 1846).
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EASTERN DIVISION | OF | PARIS. | The Arrondissements are defined by colour | and numbered. || London, Edward Stanford 6 Charing Cross. | Published under the Superintendence of the Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge. || Dimensions: Sheet: 43.5 x 35.5 cm; Image: 39.5 x 30 cm. Contributors: Edward Stanford (British, 1827 – 1904) – cartographer, engraver, publisher. Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge (SDUK) (British firm, 1826 – 1846).
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In pictorial frame: A PLAN of | the CITY of PARIS. || Under the border: Published by I. Stockdale Piccadilly 1800 || Dimensions: Sheet: 29 x 34.5 cm; Image: 22.7 x 25.9 cm.
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Top: THE ENVIRONS OF PARIS. || Bottom centre: Published by Baldwin & Cradock, Paternoster Row, | Under the Superintendence of the Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge. | March 1st. 1832. || Bottom right: J. & C. Walker sculpt. || Dimensions: Sheet: 34.7 x 40.5 cm; Image: 30 x 37 cm. Contributors: J & C Walker (British firm, fl. 1820 – 1895) Walker, John (British, 1787 – 1873) Walker, Alexander (British, 1797? – 1870) Walker, Charles (British, 1799? – 1872) Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge (SDUK) (British firm, 1826 – 1846)
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Title: PARIS | Tel qu'il est Aujourd'hui | OR | PLAN OF PARIS | At the Present day. 1800 | From a Drawing deposited in the Archieves of the National Library at Paris | Menzies sculpt. || Contributor: Menzies, John (British, fl. c. 1792 – 1851) – engraver. Ref: Gallica.
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PLAN OF PARIS & THE SURROUNDING COMMUNES | SHEWING THE FORTIFICATIONS & ALL MODERN IMPROVEMENTS. || Lettered above the image with title, and below with production detail: "Day & Son, Lithrs to the Queen"; and production detail above: "Drawn & Engraved by B.R. Davies: / 16 George Str Euston Squ London", and on top right: "Weekly Dispatch Atlas, 138 Fleet Str". Dimensions: 47.5 x 65.4 cm. Contributors: Day & Son; William Day (British, 1797 – 1845) – lithographer, printer. Davies, Benjamin Rees (British, 1789 – 1872) – artist, engraver.
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Four maps 34 x 47.5 cm each. Include insets of Versailles, Fontainebleau, Saint Cloud and St. Germain en Laye. Lithograph by Edward Weller after a map drawn and engraved by John Dower. "These maps originally appeared in the Weekly Dispatch newspaper from 1856 to 1862. They were reissued between 1863 and 1867 by Cassell, Petter and Galpin and then published collectively as Cassell's Atlas. The plates were acquired by G.W. Bacon & Co., and reissued in 1876 under the title Bacon's New Quarto Atlas ... of the Counties of England, and many times since under various titles." [WorldCat]
Dimensions: 34 x 47.5 cm each.
Contributors: Weller, Edward (British, 1819 – 1884) – lithographer. Dower, John Crane (British, 1791 – 1847) – artist, engraver. Dower, John James (British, 1825 – 1901) – artist, engraver (son of John Crane Dower). -
Lithography on paper by Charles Fichot (French, 1817 – 1903), published in a supplement to the Illustrated London News of July 6, 1867.
The construction on the foreground is the International Exposition of 1867 (Exposition universelle d'art et d'industrie de 1867). Dimensions: Sheet: 130 x 58 cm; Image: 118 x 43 cm. -
Description by British Museum (1865,1111.2128): "Two designs, side by side. [1] A dandy (probably a portrait), florid, whiskered, and bearded, steps jauntily from the pavement, hand extended, saying: Ah! my dear fellow — How are you? Devilish glad to see ye!— He holds a closed umbrella, ferrule erect, and wears a long tight-waisted coat to the heels, unbuttoned, tight pantaloons and spurred boots. In the middle distance, another dandy grasps the hand of a friend on horseback. Behind are houses with shop-fronts. A man raises his hat to a lady who curtseys. [2] The same dandy steps from the roadway onto the pavement, his handkerchief to his nose; he stoops, trying to conceal himself from a dandy cantering past in a cloud of dust, his eye-glass to his eye. He is without gloves, extraordinary for a dandy, and his trousers are strapped over pumps; he says: Con-found it! — Didn't expect to meet Him!! The street is otherwise empty; against the (large) houses are scaffolding and a tall ladder." Lettered with title, text within image including production details: 'Ego. delt / Etched by G. Ck / Pubd by J Fairburn Broadway Ludgate Hill August 18 1826'. Dimensions: Sheet: 25.5 x 36 cm, Image: 21.7 x 33.8 cm. Catalogue raisonné: A. M. Cohn (1924): № 1001, p. 262.: "A wretched plate. Difficult to believe G. C. had anything to do with it." — Bruton. Value.— £1.
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Hand-coloured etching by Thomas Rowlandson, printed on May 30, 1810, in London; № 20 from the series The Caricature Magazine or Hudibrastic Mirror Vol. 2. Description by Metropolitan Museum (59.533.978): "Guests of a dinner sit at a long narrow table in a magnificent room with an ornate ceiling. Two men and a young woman serve wine, one drawing a cork, the others spilling wine over the guests. Another waiter spills soup in an elderly guest's face. A woman and a little girl with a begging dog play tambourine and triangle at left." Inscribed in plate lower left: "Rowlandson Del."; bottom centre: "A TABLE DHOTE, OR FRENCH ORDINARY IN PARIS." Our copy is lacking the publication details: "Pub.d May 30. 1810 by Tho.s Tegg 111 Cheapside, London." and similar to the copy in Boston Public Library (18_03_000394). Dimensions: Sheet 27 x 40.5 cm; Image: 23.5 x 35 cm. Contributors: Thomas Rowlandson (British, 1756 – 1827) – artist. Thomas Tegg (British, 1776 – 1846) – publisher.
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Hand-coloured etching by an anonymous British artist, printed on May 26, 1829, in London. Description by British Museum (1868,0808.8988): "O'Connell, in wig and gown, walks to the left from the massive door of a small stone building, stooping, and holding his handkerchief to his right eye. He wails: 'O, my poor Seat! my poor Seat! my poor Seat! I'd have given any thing for a seat.' In the doorway (right) stands Peel, saying with wary blandness: 'What good can weeping do you Dan.—I'm sure I did as much as I could!!' Above the large knocker on the plank door is 'Knock & Ring'. There is a projecting bell, above a placard: 'NB. Jews or Proselytes desirous of Obtaining Seats in the House may Knock and Ring at this Door.' One corner of "the House", a small stone shed, is depicted. O'Connell is walking towards a strip of water, across which is a mountain, with a board pointing 'To — Clare'. Comment by BM: "Catholic Emancipation raised high hopes among Jews; the first Bill, after a petition from Jews in Liverpool, was introduced 15 Apr. 1830, but Jewish Emancipation did not become law till 1858." Inscription under the frame with title, "A. Sharpshooter fec", text within image and publication line: "Pub. by G. Humphrey, 24 St. James's Street May 26 1829". Size: 37.5 x 26 cm.
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Two images printed on one sheet of van Gelder wove paper. Owner's stamp 'LvM' on verso.
Dimensions: Paper: 46.7 x 31 cm; top Mon bourgmestre: 11 x 9 cm plate, 9 x 7.5 cm image; Bottom Le modèle: 13.5 x 8.5 cm plate, 10 x 7 cm image.
Catalogue raisonné: Arthur Hubschmid (1977): 341 & 342; Rouir 425:4 & 517:7.
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Etching and drypoint, signed in pencil by the artist under the plate; 2nd state. Pasted on a sheet of blue paper. Fragment of "La messe de Gnide". Owner's stamp 'LvM' on verso.
Dimensions: Blue paper: 32 x 27 cm; Laid paper: 30.7 x 22 cm; Image: 12.5 x 4 cm.
Catalogue raisonné: Arthur Hubschmid (1977): 364; Graphics irreverent and erotic (1968): 59; Rouir: 508.
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Aquatint finished by a drypoint on wove paper; printed by R. Taneur, depicting young woman in bar Folies Bergère in Paris. Signed in plate under image: "Félicien Rops | AUX FOLIES-BERGÈRE | L'Artiste. — Imp. R. Taneur. Owner's stamp 'LvM' on verso.
Dimensions: Paper: 26.7 x 17.6 cm; Plate: 17.5 x 11.5 cm; Image: 13.5 x 8 cm.
Catalogue raisonné: Graphics irreverent and erotic (1968): 125.
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Photogravure after a pastel drawing by F. Rops. Monogrammed in the plate 'FR'. Owner's stamp 'LvM' on verso.
Dimensions: Paper: 26 x 20 cm; Plate: 25 x 18 cm; Image: 21 x 14.5 cm.
Catalogue raisonné: Arthur Hubschmid (1977): 543; Graphics irreverent and erotic (1968): 156.
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Etching and drypoint on wove paper, depicting a woman with a face mask on her buttocks. Monogrammed in the plate 'FR'. Owner's stamp 'LvM' on verso.
Dimensions: Papaer: 22.2 x 18.5 cm; Plate: 17.5 x 13.3 cm; Image: 15.5 x 12 cm.
Catalogue raisonné: Arthur Hubschmid (1977): 448; Graphics irreverent and erotic (1968): 106; Rouir 648.
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Two prints on laid paper, one in an earlier state, published under the name Niederkorn. Owner's stamp 'LvM' on verso.
Dimensions: Paper (1): 31 x 22.3 cm; Paper (2): 46 x 33.8 cm; Plate: 31 x 22 cm; Image: 25.5 x 17.5 cm.
Catalogue raisonné: Arthur Hubschmid (1977): 318; Rouir 954:3 and 954:5?.
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Etching and drypoint on wove paper, depicting Athena with an awl on her helmet and holding a shield with Medusa head. Owner's stamp 'LvM' on verso.
Dimensions: Paper: 38.7 x 26.5 cm; Plate: 31 x 18 cm; Image: 24.5 x 14.5 cm.
Catalogue raisonné: Arthur Hubschmid (1977): 317; Graphics irreverent and erotic (1968): 41.
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Etching on wove paper, depicting an old woman trying to thread a needle. Signed in plate: "Felicien Rops, 76 Septembre". Owner's stamp LvM on verso.
Dimensions: Paper: 51.9 x 35 cm; Plate: 27.5 x 21 cm; Image: 23.5 x 16 cm.
Catalogue raisonné: Arthur Hubschmid (1977): 358; Graphics irreverent and erotic (1968): 54.
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Drypoint on wove paper, depicting a woman in a hat with a ribbon lettered "ACADEMIE", carrying in her hand a male head in spectacles on a plate. Monogrammed "FR 83", inscribed: LA MODERNITÉ. — Imp. Eudes.; in pencil on verso."L'ARTISTE" – OCT. 1886 | (PRUD'HOMME ONTHOOFD) E 332-V". Owner's stamp 'LvM' on verso.
Dimensions: Paper: 27.2 x 17.8 cm; Plate: 19.7 x 14 cm; Image: 18.5 x 13 cm.
Catalogue raisonné: Rouir 767:5; Arthur Hubschmid (1977): 405; Graphics irreverent and erotic (1968): 72.
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Soft-ground etching on laid paper. Inscribed on plate: "Le dessous de cartes d'une partie de whist" [The underside of a game of whist]. Owner's stamp 'LvM' on verso.
Dimensions: Paper: 26 x 20 cm; Image: 24 x 17.7 cm.
Catalogue raisonné: Arthur Hubschmid (1977): 43; Graphics irreverent and erotic (1968): 273.
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Etching on laid paper, depicting a kneeling groom with his head between the spread legs of a bare-breasted woman in a veiled hat. Inscribed on plate: Un groom a tout faire. Owner's stamp LVM on verso.
Dimensions: Paper: 24.4 x 15.8 cm; Image: 12 x 7.5 cm
Catalogue raisonné: Arthur Hubschmid (1977): 662.
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Sanguine print on toned China paper pasted on cream wove paper sheet, depicting a dressed-up man trying to copulate with a hanged sow. Inscription on top of the plate: "Ne faites pas aux truies ce que vous ne voudriez pas qu'on vous fit", and below: "Visection" (sic.). Owner's stamp 'LvM' on verso.
Dimensions: Paper: 26.8 x 20.6 cm; India paper: 21.5 x 16.2 cm; Image: 19.3 x 14.2 cm.
Catalogue raisonné: Arthur Hubschmid (1977): 661; Graphics irreverent and erotic (1968): 42.
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"In the olive grove", etching on laid paper. Signed on the plate and inscribed "L'olivierade Monaco, 76" (sic.). Owner's stamp LvM on verso.
Dimensions: Paper: 44 x 30.5 cm; Plate: 40 x 27 cm; Image: 35 x 24.5 cm.
Catalogue raisonné: Arthur Hubschmid (1977): 323; Graphics irreverent and erotic (1968): 323.
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A woman from Antwerp or a servant, another title "Laitière anversoise"; 2nd state. Etching on wove paper. Owner's stamp LVM on verso.
Dimensions: Paper: 24.4 x 15.8 cm; Image: 12 x 7.5 cm
Catalogue raisonné: Arthur Hubschmid (1977): 343.
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Etching on laid paper, monogrammed in the plate and inscribed "Au Lac Siljan, Août 1874". Owner's stamp LVM on verso.
Dimensions: Paper: 47 x 34 cm; Plate: 24 x 19 cm; Image: 21 x 14 cm.
Catalogue raisonné: Rouir 858:5; Arthur Hubschmid (1977): 320.
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A young woman playing a four-string musical instrument with a bow (kokyū). Series: Assortments of Beauties Accomplishments [美人芸盡] (Bijin gei-zukushi). Utagawa Kunisada [歌川 国貞]; a.k.a. Utagawa Toyokuni III [三代歌川豊国] (Japanese, 1786 – 1865). Signed: Kochoro Kunisada ga [香蝶楼 国貞画] in a red double gourd cartouche. Publisher: Ibaya Kyūbei [伊場屋久兵衛] (Japanese, 1804 – 1851); seal: Hanmoto, Kyū [板元久] (Marks 19-040 | 126e) Date seal: Bunsei 12 (1829). Censors' seal: Kiwame. Size: Fan print (uchiwa-e).
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Pictorial album of 41 etchings, incl. two portraits, by various engravers after Achille Devéria, printed on India paper (after letters) and pasted on thick wove paper, bound with tissue guards in half calf over marbled boards bordered gilt, spine decorated gilt, marbled endpapers; base paper and tissue guards are substantially foxed, images mostly intact. The title page and the subscription page are bound-in at the beginning and at the end, respectively. Title page: (in ornamental frame): COLLECTION | DE VIGNETTES | POUR LES ŒUVRES | DE | J.-J. ROUSSEAU | GRAVÉES | PAR MM. FORSTER, LAUGIER, LEROUX, MULLER, ETC. | D'APRÈS LES DESSINS DE DEVÉRIA. | (pasted over) ÉPREUVES CHOISIES, SUR PAPIER DE CHINE. | {publisher’s device} | A PARIS, | CHEZ DALIBON, LIBRAIRE | DE S. A. R. MGR LE DUC DE NEMOURS, | Palais-Royal, galerie de Nemours. | M DCCC XXV. | Under the frame: Le portrait de Mme de Warens étant terminé, nous y avons joint trois vignettes pour former la quatrième livraison. — Le portrait de | J.-J. Rousseau avec deux vignettes en formera une aussi ; de cette manière le nombre des livraisons reste le même. || This collection was published by Dalibon the same year as the 25-volume Rousseau's Œuvres completes. Related persons: Jean-Jacques Rousseau (French, 1712 – 1778). Mme de Warens: Françoise-Louise de Warens [Louise Éléonore de la Tour du Pil] Swiss, 1699 – 1762). S.A.R. Mgr Le Duc de Nemours: Prince Louis of Orléans, Duke of Nemours [Louis Charles Philippe Raphaël d'Orléans] (French, 1814 – 1896). Contributors: François-Denis Dalibon (French, 1794 – 1853) – publisher. L'Imprimerie de Rignoux (Paris); Thomas-François Rignoux (1781 – 1863?) – printer. Achille Devéria (French, 1800 – 1857) – artist. Engravers : François Forster (French, 1790 – 1872) Jean Nicolas Laugier (French, 1785 – 1875) Jean Marie Leroux (French, 1788 – 1871) Henri Charles Müller (French, 1784 – 1845) Herbert König (German, 1820 – 1876) Louis Jean Désiré Delaistre (French, 1800 – 1871) Jean Louis Toussaint Caron (French, 1790 – 1832) Pierre Michel Adam (French, 1799 – 1853) Ferdinand Sébastien Goulu (French, 1796 – 1848) Jean-François Pourvoyeur (French, 1784 – 1851) Jean Baptiste Touzé (French, fl. 1810 – 1830) Narcisse Lecomte (French, 1794 – 1882) Louis Hercule Sisco (French, 1778 – 1861) Edme Jean Ruhierre (French, 1789 – fl. 1826) Auguste Thomas Marie Blanchard (French, 1819 – 1898) François Manceau (French, 1768 – after 1837) Gabriel Louis Lacour-Lestudier (French, 1800 – 1849) Fulley [Frilley?] Jean Jacques Frilley (French, 1797 – after 1850) Philippe Joseph Augustin Vallot (French, 1796 – 1870) Etienne Devilliers (French, 1784 – after 1844) Jean Bosq (French, fl. c. 1801 – 1844) Zachée Prévost (French, 1797 – 1861) Jean Baptiste Guyard II (French, 1787 – 1831/32) Antoine François Gelée (French, 1796-1860) Constant Louis Antoine Lorichon (French, 1800-1856?) Antoine Joseph Chollet (French, 1793 – after 1848) Adrien Migneret (French, 1786 – 1840) Alfred Johannot (French, 1800 – 1837) Arnold Jéhotte (French, 1789 – 1836) Hippolyte Prudhomme (French, 1793 – 1853) Achille Lefèvre (French, 1798 – 1864) Pierre Pelée (French, 1801 – 1871) Antoine [Tony] Johannot (French, 1803 – 1852) Pierre Joseph Tavernier (French, 1787 – after 1845) Leclerc (?) Levasseur (?)
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Pictorial album of 20 hand-coloured wood engravings by Firmin Gillot after Alfred Grévin; numbered 1 to 20, bound with tissue guards in half-brown cloth over marbled boards, publisher's gilt-lettered blue wrappers preserved, purple-blueish endpapers. Front wrapper (gilt on blue): LES FILLES D'EVE | ALBUM | DE TRAVESTISSEMENTS | PLUS OU MOINS | HISTORIQUES | Par A. GRÉVIN | — | PARIS | AUX BUREAUX : DU JOURNAL AMUSANT, DES MODES PARISIENNES | DE LA TOILETTE DE PARIS ET DU PETIT JOURNAL POUR RIRE | 20. Rue Bergère. || ; Henri Plon's imprint to back wrapper. Contributors: Grevin, Alfred (French, 1827 – 1892) Gillot, Firmin (French, 1820 – 1872) Plon, Henri (French, 1806 – 1872) Ref.: Metropoliten Museum.
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An uncut fan print shows a young woman holding a basket on a landscape background with hills and pines under a rising sun. Haruo Shirane: "Under the luni-solar calendar, the New Year coincided with the beginning of spring, making it the most important observance of the year for the aristocracy. In the Heian period, New Year ceremonies extended from New Year’s Day (Ganjitsu) to the Day of the Rat (Nenohi), which usually fell on the seventh day of the First Month, when courtiers went out to the fields (no), pulled up small pines, and gathered new herbs (wakana) as a prayer for long life. This ritual gradually spread to the provinces and to commoners, eventually resulting in the New Year practice of the gate pine (kadomatsu), in which a pair of small pines was placed at the gate of a house. A popular Heian-period painting topic representing the First Month was “prayers on the Day of the Rat” (Nenohi no asobi), which depicted the auspicious scene of pulling up small pines in a spring field. Both young herbs and gathering young herbs, particularly at Kasuga Field, became major poetic topics for the First Month, appearing in both the spring and celebration (ga) books of the Kokinshū (Collection of Japanese Poems Old and New, ca. 905). By the Kamakura period, the observance of the Day of the Rat had been abandoned at the imperial court, but the custom of gathering and eating young greens continued as the annual ceremony known as the Seven Grasses (Nanakusa). Note: The Heian-period ritual of pulling up the roots of small pines (komatsu ) on the first Day of the Rat derives from the homonyms ne (rat) and ne (root). Pulling up roots was auspicious, since it implied lengthening the year. The rising sun (hinode) was considered an auspicious sight, particularly at the beginning of the year". [Haruo Shirane, Japan and the Culture of the Four Seasons. Nature, Literature, and the Arts. — Columbia University, NY, 2012]. Title: Gathering of the young herbs on the Day of the Rat [子の日乃若菜] (Nenohi no wakana). Series: Three elegant sources of light [風流三光の内] (fūryū sankō no uchi); meaning the sun, the moon and the stars). Artist: Utagawa Kunisada [歌川 国貞]; a.k.a. Utagawa Toyokuni III [三代歌川豊国] (Japanese, 1786 – 1865). Signed: Toyokuni ga [豊国 画] in a yellow toshidama cartouche. Publisher’s seal: Izuzen (Marks: seal 06-029 | U103b) Date and double nanushi censor seals: Mera and Watanabe, Kaei 6 (1853). A similar theme can be found in Kunisadai's triptych published in about 1844 (HARA SHOBO):
豊国三代「豊歳子日若菜摘ノ図」