Les Lions

Paris: Chez Bauger, 1842. Jules Platier - Les Lions
A Virtually Unknown Suite of Hand Colored Lithographs

PLATIER, Jules. Les Lions. Paris: Chez Bauger, [1842].

First and only edition. Oblong folio (13 1/4 x 9 11/16 inches; 335 x 246 mm.). Six (of eight?) magnificent hand colored lithographs heightened with gum arabic. First plate with expert and almost invisible restoration to blank lower left hand corner (1/2 x 1/2 inch; 12 x 12 mm.).

Chemised in a quarter black morocco over black cloth boards clamshell case. Spine with five raised bands decoratively tooled and lettered in gilt.

This suite is virtually unknown. There is no record of any other example... It is possible and highly likely that the suite consisted of eight lithographs as there are records of two uncolored prints from this series - numbers 7 & 8 at Le Musée Carnavalet in Paris (see below).

The Cleveland Museum of Art have one uncolored Le Charivari print from this exceptionally rare suite (number 3).

Le Musée Carnavalet in Paris have two uncolored prints titled Le Faux Lion - The False Lion (no. 7) & Le Vieux Lion - The Old Lion (no. 8)

According to OCLC & KVK there are no other examples in libraries & institutions worldwide.

Jules Platier was an artist, active in the 1830s to 1840s and who notably drew a series of caricatures on the various types of male characters called "lions", published in Le Charivari, in 1842.

This series is called The Lions, with: "The false lion", "The low floor lion", "The old lion", "The artistic lion", "the Sunday lion", "The literary lion", etc. He also collaborated with the newspaper La Mode among others.

Jules Platier was a caricaturist and lithographer who published a number of works through the Parisian publishing house established by Charles Philippon and Gabriel Aubert but otherwise little is known of his life and works (see James Cuno, 'The Business and Politics of Caricature - Charles Philipon and the Maison Aubert', Gasette des Beaux-Arts, cvi (1985) pp. 95-112).

"Platier, Dessinateur-lithographe, qui a travaillé surtout entre 1840 et 1855. Une de ses suites: Le Bureau du Commissaire de Police, eut, à l'epoque, un grand succès de popularité." (Grand Carteret. Bibliographie des Artistes Caricaturistes, p. 665).

Jules Platier, Draftsman-Lithographer, who worked mainly between 1840 and 1855. One of his suites: The Office of the Police Commissioner, had, at the time, a great success of popularity. (Grand Carteret. Bibliographie des Artistes Caricaturistes, p. 665).

The Plates:

Plate 1. LE LION LITTÉRAIRE. Le Lion littéraire est le cauchemar des directeurs de théâtres et des rédacteurs de journaux, il a la manie du drame et des nocturnes à 2 voix, il se nourrit de lait et de fromage et passe ses soirées dans les coulisses de théâtres extra-muros, il meurt poitrinaire laissant une foule d'ouvrages inédits.

THE LITERARY LION. The literary Lion is the nightmare of theater directors and newspaper editors, he has a mania for drama and 2-voice nocturnes, he feeds on milk and cheese and spends his evenings backstage at extramural theaters, he dies chest-deep leaving a host of unpublished works.

Plate 2. LE LION EXCENTRIQUE. Il a 40 ans 1500 livres de rente, un faux râtelier et perche dans une mansarde de la rue de la Paix ; il fréquente les maisons de jeux et fait une grande consommation de modistes, son excentricité s'étend aussi sur son langage ; il dit c'est chamant, admiable, étoudissant, il porte corset.

THE ECCENTRIC LION. He is 40 years old with 1500 pounds of rent, a fake rack and perch in a garret on the rue de la Paix; he frequents gambling houses and makes a great consumption of milliners, his eccentricity also extends to his language; he says it's embarrassing, admirable, suffocating, he wears corset.

Plate 3. LE LION DE BAS ÈTAGE. Il est marchand de contremarques, courtier-marron ou professeur de pugilat; sa tournure est athlitique sa chevelure abondante et sa barbe inculte. On le trouve passade du Saumon, boulevard du Temple et à la porte de tous les théâtres; il exerce de grands ravages parmi les écaillères de la rue Montorgueil; du reste il est insolent et porte des chemises de couleur.

THE LOW LEVEL LION. He is a countermark dealer, maroon-broker or professor of fistfights; his figure is athletic, his hair abundant and his beard uncultivated. You can find it on the Passade du Saumon, Boulevard du Temple and at the door of all the theatres; it exerts great ravages among the scales of the rue Montorgueil; besides, he is insolent and wears colored shirts.

Plate 4. LE LION DU DIMANCHE. C'est aux Tuileries ou au jardin des plantes qu'il a placè le théâtre de ses exploits, là le binocle d'une main et le jonc proverbial de l'autre, il se livre à une foule de poses plus ou moins excentriques. Bien différent du véritable lion, notre héros ne sort que le Dimanche, fait cirer ses botles dans un passage et rentre avant minuit pour ne pas payer d'amendes au portier.

THE SUNDAY LION. It was at the Tuileries or the Jardin des Plantes that he set up the theater of his exploits, there with binoculars in one hand and the proverbial rush in the other, he engaged in a host of more or less eccentric poses. Very different from the real lion, our hero only goes out on Sundays, has his shoes shined in a passage and comes back before midnight so as not to pay a fine to the doorman.

Plate 5. LE LION ARTISTIQUE. Il est chevelu, mèlancolique et musard, mais il est laid, sale et vaniteux : ses promenades favorites sont les galeries du Louvre. (Ecole Flamande.) Il se nourrit de farineux tels que lentilles, haricots. Sur ses vieux iours il vend des allumettes chimiques.

THE ARTISTIC LION. He is hairy, melancholic and dawdling, but he is ugly, dirty and vain: his favorite walks are the galleries of the Louvre. (Flemish School.) It feeds on mealy foods such as lentils, beans. In his old days he sells chemical matches.

Plate 6. LE VÈRIABLE LION. De toutes les variétés du Lion celle-ci est la plus belle et la moins nombreuse. Le vrai Lion est menbre du Jockey-Club, le jour on le rencontre au bois, au café de Paris, le soir dans sa loge aux Italiens; il se nourrit de beafsteack de salmis et d'omelettes au rhum, il ne sort jamais le Dimanche. (Voir Buffon.)

THE REAL LION. Of all the varieties of the Lion, this is the most beautiful and least numerous. The real Lion is a member of the Jockey-Club, during the day one meets him in the woods, at the Cafe de Paris, in the evening in his box at the Italians; he eats beefsteak, salmis and rum omelettes, he never goes out on Sundays. (See Buffon.).