DAUMIER Honoré, Les Robert Macaire
DAUMIER, Honoré (1808-1879) and Charles Philipon (1800-1802)
Les Robert Macaire [Caricaturana].
Paris: Chez Aubert, 1836-1838.
Folio. One hundred hand-coloured lithographed plates; publishers catalogue bound at back. Original publisher’s blue cloth, title stamped in gilt on front cover. A fine copy
First edition with the plates in their coloured state. Very rare in the publisher’s binding.
"Les Robert Macaire remains Daumier's best-known work. Baudelaire chose it for specific discussion in his essay on French caricaturists and Carteret accorded it a place in his bibliography. Its contemporary popularity was immense. As an album it was published by Aubert in an edition of 2500 copies, a far larger number than for any other series. Yet so persistent was the demand that 6000 two-volume sets of reduced copies, called Les cent-et-un Robert Macaire, were published in 1839." (Ray).