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

Exciting illustrated edition by 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 the mores, institutions, and follies 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 tales describe everyday life situations, social ambitions, rivalries, intrigues and hypocrisies, showing how human characters manifest through these animal figures -

The work notably critiques vanity, opportunism, 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 behaved as humans, which reinforces the satirical effect and the symbolic force of the narratives -

Grandville & P. J. Stahl - Private and Public Life of Animals - 1867 - J. Hetzel et Cie -
686 Pages.

Good condition of binding, work in red half-leather, marbled boards, ordinary wear, minor defects on the cover (slight loss at the back), headbands and corners worn, edges tinted, spine with raised bands adorned with gold fillets, title and author’s name gilded -

Good interior condition, rare foxing, beautiful vignette on title page, complete edition, revised and enlarged, illustrated with numerous wood engravings in and out of text including a frontispiece engraved after Grandville, interior complete, no gaps, clean text, marbled endpapers in good condition, a pleasant copy -

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