Grandville & P. J. Stahl - Vie privée et publique des animaux - 1867

A fascinating illustrated edition with magnificent engravings by Grandville of this satirical and literary work that uses anthropomorphic animals to represent and critique human society of the 19th century - The book consists of a series of tales, fables and scenes in which different animals embody social types, professions or human behaviors, allowing the authors to draw an ironic and sometimes biting portrait of manners, institutions and the vices of society - Through these stories, the animals live in a world organized like that of humans, with families, professions, administrations and social relations that reflect the structures of political and private life - The narratives describe everyday life situations, social ambitions, rivalries, intrigues and hypocrisies, showing how human characters express themselves through these animal figures - The work notably critiques vanity, ambition, corruption, social pretensions and bourgeois conventions, while revealing the contradictions and absurdities of contemporary society - Grandville's illustrations play a central role in the work, as they give a visual and humorous dimension to the texts by depicting the animals dressed and behaving like humans, which reinforces the satirical effect and the symbolic force of the stories - Grandville & P. J. Stahl - Vie privée et publique des animaux - 1867 - J. Hetzel et Cie - 686 Pages. Good condition of the binding, the work in its red half-leather, marbled boards, wear from use, some minor defects on the cover (slight loss at the back), heads and corners worn, edges tinted, spine with raised bands adorned with gold fillets, title and author name gilded - Good interior condition, rare foxing, lovely vignette on the title page, complete edition, revised and enlarged, illustrated with numerous wood engravings in the text and on plates including a frontispiece engraved after Grandville, complete interior, no missing pages, clean text, marbled endpapers in good condition, a delightful copy - Delivery service guaranteed within a few days –

Estimate:£127.08

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