Our upcoming auction of Ancient & Modern Books will open with four illuminated manuscripts from the 15th century, offering a selection of works published between 1481 and 1999. Among the illustrated books, we highlight an extremely rare complete set of 95 plates of caricatural portraits drawn by the painter Louis-Léopold Boilly (1761-1845): "Les grimaces".

Louis-Léopold Boilly was one of the first artists to produce lithographs alongside renowned figures such as Daumier or Philippon. They expressed themselves as caricaturists through this technique, portraying a snapshot of 19th-century society. Caricature became a political language, notably with "Les Poires" by Philippon, which caricatured King Louis-Philippe. He was actually condemned for this.

Boilly, on the other hand, did not tackle political scenes. Instead, he painted an intimate portrait of his generation by capturing the faces of Parisians, which later became his trademark. He observed them with an amused eye and became the enthusiastic chronicler of Parisian life.

Our auction will present a superb collection of 95 beautiful hand-colored lithographic plates, all with their original fabric protections.

BOILLY (Louis-Léopold) [Les grimaces. Paris, lith. de Delpech, 1824-1827].
Grand in-4, demi-chagrin havane, dos à 5 nerfs saillants, auteur, titre et dates dorés, tête dorée, l'ensemble sur onglets, non rogné [Lemardeley]
(nerfs et mors un peu frottés; pl. 65 et 66 tachées hors de la figure; de nombreuses marges de pied ont fait l'objet d'habiles restaurations, visibles seulement en transparence; sur la pl.12 une déchirure restaurée atteint la limite de la figure).

Provenance : Napoléon-Michel-Léon Ney (1870-1928; descendant du maréchal, époux d'Eugénie Bonaparte, descendante du prince Lucien; ex- libris armorié gravé),
qui a probablement commandité la reliure de Léon Lemardeley, relieur actif à Paris et décédé en 1903; Étienne Beauvillain (ex-libris XXe s. gravé sur cuivre par Charles Jouas); un autre, XIXe s
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Letters & Autograph Manuscripts
15 May 2024,10AM30

Ancient & Modern Books
15 May 2024, 4PM

For any further information or to include a lot in our next auctions
Sophie Perrine
+33 1 41 92 06 44 - perrine@aguttes.com