Les Metamorphoses du jour

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THE VERY RARE FIRST EDITION OF GRANDVILLE'S METAMORPHOSES [1828-1829]. First edition of this famous series of plates, oblong quartos, sixty two (of seventy three) hand coloured lithographed plates with French titles, captions, and imprints (lacking Plates 8, 16, 39, 43, 46, 47, 51, 66, 69, 71, and 72). Without title and Achille Comte's single leaf preface (often lacking). Completely uncut and loosely laid into contemporary blue paper wrappers, very minor marginal browning, damp staining, or spotting to a few places, not affecting images, small margin repaired tear (pl54). With vividly coloured plates, 26 with titles in French, the remainder in French & English. Housed in a blue cloth clamshell case. (367*274 mm). (Vicaire V, cols. 775-780. Ray, The Art of the French Illustrated Book, 132). This famous album, which established Grandville's early style of bitter burlesque, has become rare. Indeed, it is known to many of his admirers only through the greatly inferior volume of seventy wood engraved reproductions published by Havard in 1854... Lust, gluttony, anger, and the other deadly sins are stigmatised, now with the blow of a hammer, now with the thrust of a stiletto; while the foibles and humours of mankind also receive due attention. Throughout the series Grandville's choice of beast-heads is inspired; and the force of his conceptions and the wit of his captions rarely falter.... Perhaps his most terrifying plate is 'Menagerie' (no 67), which shows four prison cells. In the first are complacent commercial offenders, enjoying all the comforts of home; in the second violent criminals, sly or stupid; in the third murderers, one with the countenance of the utmost ferocity; in the forth, political prisoners, quiet and despondent.... Grandville turned to direct political satire in his final plates, but the publication of his onslaughts on church ('Famille des scarabees', No 72) and state ('Une bete Feroce', No 73) was not permitted in France (Ray). This set contains one (Une bete feroce, No 73) of the two particularly rare suppressed plates, containing the Brussels imprint of Borella. Lith. de Langlume. Overall, a superb collection from this extremely scarce edition.