An almost complete run (lacking only the final issue, No. 49, published after a year-long pause in January 1876) in 48 issues of the French newspaper with large caricatures and illustrations to the covers, most in full color, 4 pp. each. Folio (20 x 13 1/2 inches). Cloth-backed floral-decorated boards with title label affixed to spine. Some minor abrasions and edgewear to boards; interior with some scattered foxing, light chipping, a few issues with some minor creasing, spine splitting; overall good. Paris: Bureau du Journal, 1874-1875.

A near-complete collection of 48 out of 49 total issues published of the rare French newspaper edited by Louis de Semein. Published weekly, the issues of Le Polichinelle feature large, usually colorful caricatures and illustrations to the front page. These illustrations feature the work of artists including A. Schill, Bull, G. LaFosse, E. Cottin, H. Giraudon, and Ladreyt. Some of the images are illustrations or cartoons, while others are caricatures of political and noteworthy figures such as Hippolyte de Villemessant, Edmond Tarbé, Sophie Croizette, Marie Desclauzas, Louis-Joseph Buffet, Casimir Périer, Hélène Petit, and Joseph Vautrain.

In a letter from the editor in the premiere issue, de Semein writes, "[Polichinelle] donne son nom à un journal qui flagellera les ridicules de notre époque, mais sans jamais se hasarder sur ce terrain brûlant que l'on nomme: la politique. Polichinelle désire surtout que sa feuille devienne une sorte de Courrier du dimanche non politique...Le Polichinelle tâchera de distraire ses lecteurs en leur parlant de la littérature, des théâtres, des nombreux et divers incidents de la vie parisienne et, en un mot, de tout ce qui aura eu lieu dans l'espace de huit jours....nous nous servirons d'un excellent moyen: amuser le lecteur!"

The initial goal of the newspaper may have been to not be political, but the cover of issue number 14, from April 10, 1874, states that their cover image was removed due to censorship. A second time, with issue number 19 from June 21, 1874, the cover image was again censored, this one specified by the publication as bein a portrait of Mlle. Bartholette, a dancer at the Porte-Saint-Martin Theater. At the end of its publication, the subtitle was changed to "Satirique & Financier". The newspaper was sold along rue de Croissant, a noteworthy center of left republican and socialist publications in the 19th century. Along this same street was were Honoré Daumier worked, and where publications such as Le Siècle, La Marseillaise, La Mère Duchêne, L'ami du Peuple, La Patrie en Danger, Le Cri du Peuple, La Fédération, La Social, Le Père Duchêne, Le Grelot, and Le Mot d'Ordre were all printed and/or distributed.

A rare French historical newspaper from the period in Paris directly following the Paris Commune; as of June 2026, OCLC locates only three holdings of this journal worldwide, with only one copy in a North American institutional library.

Book ID: 53575

Price: $4,500.00