LES METAMORPHOSES DU JOUR. WITH AN ORIGINAL PREPARATORY DRAWING

(Grandville)illus. LES METAMORPHOSES DU JOUR. The book together with AN ORIGINAL PREPARATORY DRAWING FOR PLATE III. Texts by various writers. Paris, 1869 (1st was 1829). 3/4 red morocco over marbled boards, with the original wraps bound-in, t.e.g., lxiii + 480pp., 71 hand-colored lithographed plates (Title + 70 plates), plus a profusion of wood-engraved in-text illustrations. Near Fine, inside and out, with the plates very fresh. Offered together with an original preparatory drawing for Plate III "Tu t'entetes a jouer avec Monsieur, tu vois bien qu'il retourne le roi a chaque coup." Pen & Ink over Black Chalk. 5 x 7 1/8 in.; 127 x 182 mm Signed, lower right, "Grandville." The drawing shows the left two thirds of the published plate (the two figures conversing, the fox playing cards, and the table with the cloth and the lamp) in finished form; a female figure is drawn lightly in pencil, seated on the other side of the table, playing cards with the fox. In the published drawing, this figure has been changed, and a fifth figure, to the right, has been added. The design of the lamp has also been modified. In Fine condition. Original artwork by Grandville is uncommon, and a piece showing a stage in the creative development of a work of such fame and importance as Les Metamorphoses is particularly interesting and appealing. $3500.00 Grandville (JEAN-IGNACE-ISIDORE GERARD), 1803-1847, was a caricaturist best known for presenting animals in human form and using them to satirize the French social and political milieu of his period. His reputation was established with Metamorphoses du Jour in 1829, and he went on to illustrate numerous other satirical books, as well as literary classics. He also drew for the humor magazines of the period "Charivari" and "Caricature." His work has continued to influence artists down to the present day.