The glorious harbinger of a new society (or a strange and disastrous Masquerade.)
BERTALL (pseudonym of Charles Albert d'Arnoux.)
The Communists of Paris.
Paris: Édouard Blot and son for Buckingham and Co in Paris and London and J. M. O'Toole and Son in Dublin, [1873.]
4to (317 × 230 mm.), pp. [88], 40 hand-coloured lithographed plates. A few leaves very lightly thumbed. Original green cloth, gilt, some wear to corners and spine, gilt darkened, upper hinge cracked but firm. A good copy.
First edition. A superb series of plates depicting the communards of the 1871 insurrection, an event welcomed by Marx as a 'glorious harbinger of a new society' but referred to Bertall here as 'that strange and disastrous Masquerade.' Included are images of the barricades, the female petrol bombers (les Pétroleuses), a communist 'Zoave', the Minister of War etc. Bertall was editor of the Pairs Soir and editor and illustrator of the satirical Grelot during the commune.
Colas 312.
£200.00
US$397.16*
* Given as a guide only. Based on an exchange rate of £1 = US$1.985799 for the day 25 July 2008 but liable to fluctuate.
25 July 2008