ANONYME Les Français peints par eux-mêmes.- Paris. 4 volumes.- Province. 3 volumes- Le Prisme. 1 volume.

Carteret, III, 245-251; Vicaire, III, 794-803; Ray, 227.

First edition.

A copy of which all volumes were printed by Schneider et Langrand (except for the Prisme, which was printed by Rignoux). Launched in 1839, in the form of 422 issues, the publication comprises five volumes for Paris, three for La Province, as well as Le Prisme, distributed as a bonus to subscribers.

Carteret believes that "cette publication est la plus importante des éditions Curmer, l'éditeur avait mis tout en œuvre pour réussir". Publisher Léon Curmer called on a brilliant array of authors for this publishing venture: Balzac, Théophile Gautier, Gérard de Nerval, Pétrus Borel, Jules Janin, Henry Monnier, Charles Nodier, George Sand, etc., who, according to their qualities, gave the texts the form of short stories, journalistic investigations or more simply portraits, often caustic, of professions or easily recognisable "types".

This collection, a veritable fresco of contemporary society, is the most important achievement of all the "physiological literature" in vogue. The series of monographs, from the first, "The Grocer" by Balzac, to the last, "The Corsican", remains the unrivalled record of a gigantic social survey.

Carteret and Vicaire give details of the slight differences in print runs, due to a succession of printers in the production of this very fine text. Finally, Vicaire concludes that : "En absence de preuves matérielles, il me semble donc difficile d'établir d'un façon certaine la part qu'a eue, à l'origine des la publication des Français, chacun des imprimeurs dont on trouve les noms soit sur les titres, soit sur les couvertures de livraisons, soit à la fin du texte, à savoir : Everat et Cie., Décourchant, Rignoux, Schneider et Langrand".

The details of this copy correspond well to that described by Carteret for volume I with the two redone plates (Femme à la mode, and Le Maître d'études). The article on the Canut (Province, volume I) is present in the first printing and occupies pages 281 to 288: "The notice of the Canut, sheet 36, printed on pages 281 to 288, is rare in this first text because it was modified and reprinted by mistake on pages 285 to 292 following a scene that took place in Lyon, in the shop of the bookseller Nourtier" (Carteret). Appropriately, the title changes slightly from volume IV in Paris to the last volume in the provinces, where we now find the addition: "Encyclopédie morale du Dix-Neuvième siècle".

"Les Français peints par eux-mêmes was Curmer's most ambitious undertaking, far surpassing even Paul et Virginie in extent and complexity. When its 422 part-issues, which appeared several times a week, reached completion in eight volumes, they included over 400 plates and about 1500 smaller wood engravings… Gavarni was beyond comparison the leading artist of Les Français peints par eux-mêmes. His designs for the first three volumes established both the form and the style of the book's illustrations" (Ray).

An exceptional copy

This copy is complete with the 8 frontispieces, the map, the 406 plates and the portrait of Napoleon. All the plates (except the portrait of Napoleon) and the frontispieces have been finely coloured in the period and enhanced with gum arabic; the map has been printed in colour.

All the great artists of the time contributed to this monumental illustration, including Daumier, Gavarni, Grandville, Johannot, Mali, Monnier, Traviès and others.

Among the contributions is Charles Nodier's amusing article for L'Amateur de livres: "L'amateur de livres est un type qu'il est important de saisir, car tout présage qu'il va bientôt s'effacer. Le livre imprimé existe déjà depuis quatre cents ans au plus, et il s'accumule déjà dans certains pays de manière à mettre en péril le vieil équilibre du globe… A considérer l'amateur de livres comme une espèce qui se subdivise en nombreuses variétés, le premier rang de cette ingénieuse et capricieuse famille est dû au bibliophile. Le bibliophile est un homme doué de quelque esprit et de quelque goût, qui prend plaisir aux œuvres du génie, de l’imagination et du sentiment" (Charles Nodier, volume III, p. 202).

Occasional foxing.

A very fine copy, with the coloured plates, preserved in its beautiful rocaille-style binding.