Lutte Anti-Taurine [French Anti-Bullfighting Broadside]

Paris: Imp. Kossuth for the Ligue française pour la protection du cheval. First Edition. Very good. Undated, ca. 1920. Broadside, 11.75" c 15.5", printed in red and black on newsprint. Lightly toned, old folding creases, a few small stains at corners, rectangular area at upper left lighter than the rest, where a small printed note (now detached, but present) was affixed. Very good. At the top of the broadside is a ca. 6.5" x 10.5" illustration by Madeleine Whitechurch of a horse being gored by a bull, as another bleeding horse looks on. At the bottom right of the illustration is the caption "Voila comment nous recompensons le le plus precieux auxiliaire de la victoire" ("Here is how we reward our most precious ally in victory" - a reference to the role of the horse on the battlefield of the First World War). The remainder of the page is taken up with dense text under the bold heading "Les Courses de Taureax son un danger social" (Bullfighting is a social danger). The text denounces bullfighting as a cruel and barbaric sport, espcially horrific to those who have witnessed the atrocities of war or gone into battle with loyal equine companions, and calls upon politicians and journalist to condemn the sport. The additional printed appeals to French nationalism, noting that the French are now more cruel than the Germans, "who have strictly prohibited this degrading spectacle," and asks (paraphrasing) "Will we allow the whole world to call them more civilized than we are? No! A thousand times no!" The Ligue française pour la protection du cheval still exists and is France's oldest organization for the protection of horses (established in 1850). Rare. Not found in OCLC or BnF.