originally published in 1842 the public and private life of animals is a book of animal centered fables. more than that though it was a vehicle for jj grandville’s renown illustration talents. born Jean Ignace Isidore Gérard, gradville began his career as a ferocious political cartoonist and caricaturist. he fought on the barricades during the revolution of 1830 which dethroned charles x, the last bourban king of the main line. during this period his cartoons appeared in le charivari and le caricature two of the most famous satirical journals of the time. in 1835 the journals he worked for were suppressed by the government of louis-philippe and grandville was forced to find another way of making a living. he chose book illustration and it is in this sphere his fame now rests.

quote from the 1977 english edition of the public and private life of animals:

in the public and private life of animals grandville finds another more traditional means of criticizing society and its effect on individuals. he makes use of the illustrated beast-fable, and applies his well-honed caricaturist’s gift to the combination of human and animal characteristics. the human and animal elements are so finely balanced that the animal disguise becomes a forceful expression of human foibles.

grandville’s original audience was prepared to accept what he did because the convention of the beast-fable was thoroughly familiar to them. it is one of the oldest narrative types, and goes back beyond aesop to be lost in the mists of prehistory. but a still more powerful inducement in getting the nineteenth-century french audience to accept the outrageously anti-naturalistic images grandville created was his own past history as a leading caricaturist. even in times when the demands of naturalism have been most insistent, caricature is allowed a special liberty. what was not permissible in “high art:” was perfectly acceptable if the material was presented as being in some way humorous or satirical. it is no accident that most of the leading fantastic illustrators of the mid-nineteenth century had a grounding in political caricature.

see below for some samples of grandville’s work from this beautiful book (click each for the full sized version.)

hope you enjoyed these, and with tales like the flight of a parisian bird in search of a better government, the sorrows of an old toad, the funeral oration of a silkworm, and the philosophic rat the readin in this book ain’t to shabby either. recommended!