Handbills
I have so far found several sets of handbills. Click on any name or image to go to the right page.
Blédine
1930? Six large (5½" x 8⅜") colored advertisements for Blédine nutriments offering an illustration and a text for a fable of La Fontaine. $48 from Bertrand Cocq, Calonne Ricouart, France, Sept., '18. Twelve further advertisements for €21.25 through Ebay from Eric Leneuf, Talant, France, July, ’21, including “The Fish and the Shepherd Playing the Flute”; “The Crow Wanting to Imitate the Eagle”; “The Woodcutter and Mercury”; “The Robbers and the Ass”; “The Cook and the Swan”; and “The Lion Subdued by the Man.” Four extras for €11.77 from bill2100 through Ebay, March, ’21. Six extras for €12.41 from chromosetcollections through Ebay, Jan., ’21. Three more extras for €8.75 from maconlection through Ebay, Oct., '22.
Blédine seems to have offered the right food for infants after mother's milk, perhaps something like cream of wheat. They also produced Blécao. These are very nicely colored illustrations. As so often, the French seem to want children to act out their fables, even if they lose some of their meaning in the process. I wonder, for example, if the TB fable does not lose its significance when the "bear" surprising the travelers is a costumed child. The text on some of these pages overflows onto the verso among the advertising. These are not really "cards," either in size or paper stock, but they are closer to trade cards than they are to most advertisements.
Paul Colin for Lesbroussart & Fils
1930? Two black-and-white handbills by Paul Colin presenting FG and “The Old Man and the Three Young Men.” Stamped by Lesbroussart & Fils in Beauvais. 7¾” x 11”. No publisher acknowledged. Planche #2008 (“Old Man”) and #2016 (FG). $6 each from Bertrand Cocq, Calonne-Ricouart, France, Sept., ’20.
Someone must have produced a lot of handbills to make these in the 2000’s! These images replicate large Colin posters in the collection and also a book of Colin posters, “La Fontaine en Images.” I love Colin’s work! Does something of the fox’s face get lost in FG? Does some other artist create these black-and-white designs on the basis of Colin's work, or might he do that himself?
Imageries Réunies de Jarville-Nancy
1935? Thirty stapled handbills of La Fontaine’s fables printed by Imageries Réunies de Jarville-Nancy. Heavy paper featuring a framed text on the left half and an image on the right half. Each verso is plain except for a stamped advertisement for Roger Schilling, Coiffeur, in Tours. €40 from Librairie Traits et Caractères, Sens, France, through ABEbooks, April, ’21.
Several things are unusual about this collection. It is understandable that the vendor labelled it as “Imagerie d’Epinal,” since it is definitely in that category; I believe that it may be a competitor to Epinal. The most unusual feature is the stapling together of these thirty handbills. I had been tempted to catalogue it as a book. Lastly, I find the diversity of style and quality surprising. GA reminds me of Paul Colin, who was already famous in 1925. Typical and typically colorful is FS. Surprisingly creative in its composition is DW. Perhaps not as well executed is “The Kite and the Nightingale” – though a quick check finds this very illustration on a trade card posted for the fable as presented on a prominent La Fontaine website! Perhaps also not as skillfully done, though wonderfully conceived, is “The Monkey and the Cat.” These handbills have lasted well these 85 years! Heavy stock. The images seem to be identical with the fifteen that appear in the pamphlet by the same publisher “Fables de La Fontaine, Album No. 2,” for which I have guessed the same date. The vendor dates these about 1905.
Marie-Rose, Mort des Poux
1950 "Les Fables Célèbres." Two thin-paper handbills illustrating four fables of La Fontaine and advertising La Marie-Rose, "La Mort Parfumée des Poux!" 5" x 7½". $3 each from Mme Denise Debuigne, Rennes, France, May, '03. One illustrating TB, apparently earlier, for $5 from the same source, May, '05. FG from Marie-Rose for $6 from Bertrand Cocq, Calonne-Ricouart, France, Sept., '20.
"Handbill" is my best guess as to what these two very lightweight sheets are. The first presents FC, TH, LM, and MM, while the second has WL, "Le Laboureur et ses Enfants," GA, and OF. I never thought of using fables to advertise medication to kill lice! One should use La Marie-Rose on one's children every Thursday, so that one can send proper children to school. The quips on the back touting the virtues of La Marie-Rose are a riot! The earlier handbill illustrating TB proclaims that Marie-Rose Lotion is not greasy and does not stain. It wards off the insects that bring all sorts of diseases!
Click on any handbill to see it enlarged.
Orange and Black
1935? Two handbills, executed in mostly orange and black, depicting LM and "Fortune and the Young Child." $6 each from Bertrand Cocq, Calonne-Ricouart, France, Sept., '20.
The artist here has the usual difficulty in depicting a lion. This lion ends up to be more like a human being in his face as well as his body. Elements of these two apparently monochrome handbills may have also had colors that have faded.
Pan Maltine
1933 Two handbills of La Fontaine fables illustrated by M. Lemainque: 2P and "Le Gland et la Citrouille." 5⅜" x 7⅜". Printed by Louis Bellenand et Fils, Fontenay-aux-Rises, Advertisement on verso. €2.59 each from la fee chinette through Ebay, Sept., '22.
Dragees are candy-like. Would we call them "dietary supplements" now, 90 years later? Both of Lemainque's illustrations are pointed and engaging. The human pots are fun! There is a clever printer's seal at the top right of the image side of the handbill.
Paris-Vêtements
1920? Two large (10½" x 8⅛") sheets presenting each two fables (WL and WC; LM and DS) in four colors. Paris-Vêtements. $20 from Bertrand Cocq, Calonne Ricouart, France, Sept., '18.
Thin paper and vivid color mark these pages. It is hard to imagine where in life they would show up, since they are neither as hardy nor as small as a card. No artist or printer seems to be acknowledged. Both have suffered a tear in the upper right corner as one views the image side.
Vermifuge Lune, Marie-Rose, Galet, Pastilles Liberia
1930? Six handbills offering fable texts and illustrations with advertising on the verso. Three advertise Vermifuge Lune: WC (#13), “Oyster and Litigants” (#22) and MM (#24. $5 each from Mme Denise Debuigne, Rennes, France, May, '05. One, including an extra copy, presents FC (#12) and advertises Marie-Rose, a “Lotion Végétale Parfumée.” Two present GA (#10) and “The Worker and His Children” (#30) and advertise “La Lessive Galet” and “L’Eau de Javel à L’Ancre.” These three for $6 each from Bertrand Cocq, Calonne-Ricouart, France, Sept., 20. Printed by Imageries Réunies de Jarville-Nancy. Three (#5, 13, 15) printed for Pastilles Liberia for £20 each from amgarchive through Ebay, May, '22.
I had not known that "worms" were such a fear for mothers in 1930. Lune seems to have had a long run, to judge from Pinterest exemplars of their two and three dimensional advertisements. WC may be the most engaging of the three Lune illustrations, with its monkey servants. It is this handbill asks for 5, not 6, francs per box of Lune. Dewormers, detergents, and nit-removers! Fables take us into a very concrete human world! See other Marie-Rose handbills here. Notice the contrasting color work on the two versions of #13, WC.
Individual Handbills
1930? Colored handbill displaying DW with La Fontaine's text. #9. Verso is an advertisement for Léon Tisserand dealer of shoes, Dijon. 5½" x 8". Printed by Imageries Réunies de Jarville-Nancy. €3.45 from croquette999 on Ebay, Sept., '23.
This is a lovely rendering of the DW scene, nicely conceived and well colored. The pudgy guard-dog tells an alluring story to the starving wolf, who listens at leisure.
1930? Handbill offering La Fontaine's "The Thieves and the Ass" in four panels. Gaze Unita. Printed by Delrieu in Paris. 5¼" x 7½". €10 from wickedthing through Ebay, Oct., '23.
This is a lively presentation of La Fontaine's I 13 by "Unita Gauze" with its advertising for medicinal uses. The artist signs the last panel with something like "RJ." The size of a handbill like this makes me wonder how it would have been used and distributed.
1935 Two identical handbills featuring AD and “Les Deux Voyageurs.” Three colored panels with the two fable texts. “Le Printemps est l’ami des enfants.” No. 116bis. Liege: Éditions Gordinne. Printed by George Lang. About 10½” x 8”. $5 from Bertrand Cocq, Calonne-Ricouart, France, Sept., '20.
On the first two illustrations the colors do not quite match the lines. Is it unusual to have a fable from La Fontaine paired with one from Florian? I presume that the “Printemps” in question here is the department store. On the web, I find posters advertising their delivery service but I find no handbills.
1950? Handbill with nine panels illustrating "The Fox and the Goat." Extensive advertising on verso. Laboratoires Valda. Signed "Robichon." 7⅜" x 9⅜". $5 from Bertrand Cocq, Calonne-Ricouart, France, Sept., '20.
Valda seems to be offering liquid, paste, and tablets, especially for ailments of the throat. The texts accompanying the nine panels are literally La Fontaine's version, but without acknowledgement. I find such presumption surprising! I notice that La Fontaine's version is different from many in this respect: the two jump in together."En toute chose il faut considérer la fin." The illustrations are heavy on red, brown, orange, and green. The narrow left margin shows some sloppy handling by the printer.