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Actualités, by Cham, Le Charivari, ca. 1849-1859

 Item — Box: 1, Folder: 77

Scope and Content:

From the Collection: The Helen Farr Sloan’s political cartoon collection (1802-1950) contains a variety of prints of political cartoons, illustrations, and caricatures from several different magazines. The collection contains pages from magazines, pages from books, and other prints that were not a part of a publication. The magazines featured include Puck, Judge, Vanity Fair (British, 1868-1914), Vanity Fair (American, 1913-1936), Harper’s Weekly, Gil Blas, Le Charivari, Truth, The New Yorker, The Illustrated London News, The New York Herald, and The Sun. There are other series included like Treagar’s Black Jokes and Le Gens de Paris. There are works from publishers like S.W. Fores, Currier & Ives, and J.Sidebotham. Also included are works by Rowlandson, which are individually published.

The first series contains cartoons from Puck magazine. Its materials are pages and covers from the magazine including the fronts and backs of the pages. The artists that are included are Frederick Burr Opper, Frederich Graetz, Bernhard Gillam, J.S. Pughe, James Albert Wales, and Samuel Ehrhart.

The second series contains cartoons from Judge magazine. The materials are pages and covers from the magazine and include both the fronts and backs of the pages. The artists that are included are Thomas Worth, Bernhard Gillam, Victor Gillam, and Grant E. Hamilton.

The third series contains cartoons, caricatures, and portraits from Vanity Fair (British, 1868-1914) and Vanity Fair (American, 1913-1936) magazines. The materials for the British magazine include the one-sided caricatures and cartoons featured in the publication. The material for the American magazine contains a portrait on the front and a table of contents on the back of the page. The artists that are included are Carlo Pellegrini (Ape/Singe), James Tissot (Coïdé), Thomas Nast, Leslie Ward (Spy), and William Henry Cotton.

The fourth series contains cartoons from Harper’s Weekly magazine. The materials include the front and back side of pages from the magazine. The artists that are included are William L. Sheppard, Charles G. Bush, Thomas Nast, and A.B. Frost.

The fifth series contains cartoons, caricatures, and illustrations from various magazines and publications. The artists and their publications include Théophile Steinlin, from Gil Blas, Sulpice Guillaume Chevalier (Paul Gavarni), from Le Gens de Paris, Thomas Rowlandson, William Summers, from Tregear’s Black Jokes, Charles Williams, William Elmes, George Cruikshank, Isaac Robert Cruikshank, Jules Joseph Georges Renard (Draner), Charles Robinson, from The Illustrated London News, Thomas Worth, Richard F. Outcault, from the New York Herald, Helen E. Hokinson, from The New Yorker, Charles Amédée de Noé (Cham), from Le Charivari, Sydney B. Griffin, from Truth, Oscar Cesare, from The Sun, and William Bruns.

There are a wide variety of themes and events covered in the cartoons and illustrations throughout the collection. There are numerous presidential elections covered including the elections of 1806, 1880, 1884, 1888, 1892, and 1900. The 43rd and 54th Congresses are both represented within cartoons in the series. Other events that are shown in cartoons in the collection are the Chicago World’s Fair/World’s Columbian Exposition, the Spanish-American War, Reconstruction, and the Kansas Exodus. There are also many representations of the Democratic, Republican, Greenback, and Citizens parties as well as Tammany Hall. Other themes included are immigration, Jewish communities, social ambition, weather problems, voting rights, the gold standard vs. free silver debate, diseases, family roles, plantations, white supremacy groups, Communism, financial issues, militaries, pic-nic societies, King George IV’s court, political corruption, and social events and issues. A large number of the cartoons included in the collections are products of their times and therefore many include racist language and depictions. The transcriptions and metadata associated with each cartoon is described as is for the purpose of providing the easiest access to the collection and does in no way reflect the views of Wilkes University or its archive department.

Dates

  • Created: ca. 1849-1859

Creator

Access:

Anyone may access these political cartoons.

Extent

1 items

Language of Materials

From the Collection: English

Type of Material:

Political cartoon

Condition Note:

Fair. The material has yellowed with age and has tears along the edges.

Measurements:

13.5 x 10.5 in

Title:

Actualitiés

Description:

The cartoon by Cham for Le Charivari shows a scene of the Emperor Faustin Soulouque, the Emperor of Haiti, and the fictional character Ourika, drawn in a racist and exaggerated way. The magazine ran in Paris from 1832 to 1937. It printed political cartoons and caricatures until 1835 when it had to switch to only caricatures that were not political due to a new law. This cartoon is commenting that Emperor Soulouque wanted to sue Le Charivari for defamation so he could get money to give to a woman. Le Charivari did a lot of cartoons mocking Emperor Soulouque. They also did a few claiming they were only criticisms and like this cartoon, would exaggerate his reactions.The emperor is wearing a hat, a long jacket, collared shirt, dark pants, and boots. Ourika is wearing a crown, earrings, and a long dress. Emperor Soulouque is holding a paper out towards the person at the desk and pointing at it, while Ourika is standing behind him angrily. The desk has a plaid tablecloth and a pot for ink on it. There is someone in a jester’s costume sitting at the desk holding a quill over some papers. He looks shocked at the paper Emperor Soulouque is holding. The window behind them says, “Bureau Du Charivari.” The artist’s name, Cham, was a pseudonym for the French cartoonist and caricaturist Charles Amedee de Noe. He would attend painting workshops before focusing on work as a cartoonist. He published art books, wrote comedy plays, and did work for Le Charivari for thirty years.

Location:

France; Haiti

Transcription:

There is a caption printed below the image, “L’Empereur Souloque[sic] désirant se procurer des fonds donner des étrennes à l'Impératrice Ourika, intente un procès en diffamation au Charivari et lui demande dix mille francs de dommages-intérêts.” This translates to, “Emperor Soulouque, wishing to obtain funds to give a gift to Empress Ourika, sues the Charivari for defamation and asks her for ten thousand francs in damages.”

Repository Details

Part of the Wilkes University Archives Repository

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