David Kunzle - Cham: The Best Comic Strips and Graphic Novelettes, 1839–1862

CHAM

Introduced and translated by

DAVID KUNZLE

University Press of Mississippi / Jackson

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Copyright 2019 by University Press of Mississippi

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Manufactured in China

First printing 2019

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Names: Kunzle, David, author of introduction, translator.

Title: Cham : the best comic strips and graphic novelettes, 18391862 / introduced and translated by David Kunzle.

Description: Jackson : University Press of Mississippi, [2019] | Includes bibliographical references and index. |

Identifiers: LCCN 2018039262 (print) | LCCN 2018045537 (ebook) | ISBN 9781496816191 (epub single) | ISBN 9781496816207 (epub institutional) | ISBN 9781496816214 (pdf single) | ISBN 9781496816221 (pdf institutional) | ISBN 9781496816184 (cloth : alk. paper)

Subjects: LCSH: Cham, 18191879Criticism and interpretation. | LCGFT: Comics (Graphic works) | Illustrated works.

Classification: LCC NC1499.C475 (ebook) | LCC NC1499.C475 C49 2019 (print) | DDC 740.92dc23

LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2018039262

British Library Cataloging-in-Publication Data available

To Marjoyrie, for the joy of her inexhaustible good humor

CONTENTS

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

S earching for Cham was at the start a lonely task. In recent years, I was pleased to discover a blog entirely devoted to Cham, run by French author and historian Rodolphe Trouilleux, to whom I am much indebted; Trouilleux, who lives in Meudon, is engaged in collecting Cham correspondence, which he kindly shared with me; he also opened his voluminous archive and added important biographical details. The self-portrait of Cham, age twenty, on the first page of this volume, signed by his father, was kindly provided by Trouilleux.

Auction catalogs show Cham letters, often illustrated, scattered all over the place. They remain elusive, with access obstructed in one case by the refusal of the illustrious Parisian art auctioneer, Drouot, to act on my inquiries and forward a written request from me regarding access to an important cache of letters from Cham to Gustave Mac, Paris Chef de Sret, which Drouot sold in 1993. For some repositories of Cham letters and drawings, see p. 556.

In addition to Trouilleux, a small group of generous Chamistes has recently emerged. Bernard Mamy in Orange made his rare collection of original magazines available to me, seconded by the energetic and inquisitive Michel Kempeneers; they run the Cartonnages Romantiques blog, cartonnagesromantiques.blogspot.com, which includes a partial inventory of Cham illustrations.

In the Isle de No, in Gers, the ancestral Chteau No (i.e., Chams former family estate) was kindly opened for me in 2015 by Edouard Laporte, the then-president of the Association Fils de lIsle de No, who showed me important archival material, notably a set of sixty hitherto unknown or unused handwritten and signed letters from Cham to his family. My trip to the Isle de No was kindly authorized by the mayor, Mr. Dison, and facilitated by Jean-Louis Donnadieu, biographer of Chams grandfather, who with his wife gave me generous hospitality as well as information about the No family.

In Angoulme, with its great Cit Internationale de la Bande Dessine et de lImage (CIBDI), the librarians kindly showed me two Cham manuscript drafts for picture stories that figure here, with their kind permission. Bande Dessine enthusiasts (the BD-istes) Thierry Groensteen, French doyen of comics studies, Gerald Gorridge, and Thierry Smolderen were very helpful. In London Julia Langbein made available her PhD thesis on one of Chams specialties, the Salon parodies; in Toulouse, Camille Filliot showed me her PhD thesis on the Bande Dessine au sicle de Tpffer, which I was able to consult only after my own manuscript was almost complete. My conversations with Langbein and Filliot were quite enlightening. My labors in Paris were embellished, this year as in so many past years, by the hospitality of Annette and Michel Melot, in whose caricature library I always usefully rummaged. I also owe a debt to Rosalind Boehlinger, my other gracious host in Paris. Some other debts are indicated in the notes. I profited once again, most gratefully, from the creative and meticulous editing of Becca Wilson; her industry and patience with my computer illiteracy were beyond compare. I also appreciate the thorough index she produced for this book. Her expert knowledge of French also proved very useful. My research assistant Ryan Hughes was also most efficient and helpful in handling the management of my computer.

Fig. 0.1. Paul Bernay, caricature of Cham with Bijou, front page of Le Hanneton, October 10, 1867.

I am most grateful to UPM Director Craig Gill, who believed in this monumental project from the start and agreed to its being housed as spaciously as I had hoped. His editorial staff Lisa McMurtray and Shane Gong Stewart, and copyeditor Debbie Upton have shown exemplary devotion to the project and patience with the numerous changes I needed to make during production. All helped the longtime star of Le Charivari and French caricature to shine forth again at last.

Designer Pete Halverson's excellent layout included many difficult, patiently negotiated modifications. Andrew Perrine of UCLA did some expert cleaning up of foxing where most needed.

Finally, in memoriam, special thanks to the beloved, ever generous late Marianne Gourary of New York who bequeathed to me her entire collection of Tpffer first editions, together with some Cham first editions including the rarissime colored Monsieur Lajaunisse reproduced here.

INTRODUCTION

L ong ago, I argued that Cham was more popular in his own time than Honor Daumier. I here want to substantiate and refine that surprising claim. Let us be clear: I did not of course claim that Cham was