[SCHEFFER, Jean-Gabriel] J.S-; PIGAL; &c

Recueil des Scènes Familiéres, et de Société de Paris

Paris: n.p. [Chez Martinet], 1824. Item #06683

An Extraordinary Survival of Restoration-Era Paris
Thirty-Six Brilliant Hand-Colored Lithographs of Parisian Society by Jean-Gabriel Scheffer

[SCHEFFER, Jean-Gabriel]. J.S -, PIGAL, &c., &c. Recueil des Scènes Familiéres, et de Société de Paris. Paris: Chez Martinet, 1824.

First and only edition, complete. Folio (13 1/2 x 9 7/8 inches; 343 x 251 mm.). Five parts bound in one volume. Thirty-six superb hand-colored lithographed plates, most signed “J.S.”, several with the imprint “Chez Martinet, Lith. de Villain”; all numbered and captioned, each retaining its original tissue guard. Printed on fine wove paper watermarked “J. Whatman 1823.” Some occasional light foxing, small paper-fault (1 3/8 x 1/2 inch) on blank lower corner of plate 13. A couple of the pates have small expert marginal repairs. Plates 22 through 36 have the blind stamped monogram "J.S." in the lower blank margin.

Contemporary half tan calf over marbled boards, expertly and sympathetically rebacked to style, smooth spine ruled in gilt. An exceptional copy, the hand-coloring remarkably vivid and unfaded throughout, the impressions fresh and strong. A rare survival in wholly uncut state.

An extraordinarily scarce collection. The rarity of complete copies is readily explained by the mode of publication. Issued serially in five fragile lithographic fascicles intended for a fashionable contemporary audience rather than permanent preservation, the work seldom appears to have survived beyond the first three parts. The final two sections are of exceptional rarity, suggesting either a smaller original issue or a markedly lower survival rate.
The first three parts, comprising twenty-one plates, are the portion almost invariably encountered today and apparently represent the extent of the Yale copy. The Lipperheide copy likewise contained only thirty-four plates. We have located only one institutional copy worldwide, at Yale University, and no complete example has appeared at auction within at least the last thirty-five years. We know of only one other complete copy, in a private collection. The present example therefore appears to be the only other complete copy extant. Not in Colas, Hiler, OCLC, or RLIN.

A wonderfully observant visual chronicle of Restoration-era Parisian life, recording with wit, elegance, and understated satire the manners, flirtations, anxieties, vanities, and social rituals of the emerging bourgeois society of the 1820s. The scenes capture intimate interiors, promenades, courtship rituals, domestic tensions, cafés, theaters, fashion, and fleeting social embarrassments with a distinctly modern psychological sensibility.

Scheffer’s lithographs stand at the intersection of costume study, caricature, and genre observation, anticipating the great Parisian social satirists of the July Monarchy, including Paul Gavarni, Henry Monnier, and ultimately Daumier. Unlike overt caricature, however, these plates derive their charm from restraint: glances, gestures, posture, and social nuance carry the humor. The result is a remarkably sophisticated portrait of fashionable Paris immediately following the Napoleonic era.

Jean-Gabriel Scheffer (1797–1876), the Swiss-born painter and lithographer, studied under Regnault and moved within the circle of Corot, Aligny, and Léopold Robert. Beginning in 1822, he regularly exhibited at the Paris Salon while simultaneously producing finely observed lithographic suites for the celebrated publisher Martinet, one of the principal disseminators of hand-colored Parisian costume and society prints during the Restoration period. Scheffer’s lithographs—usually signed simply “J.S.”—remain among the most refined and elusive examples of early French color-plate social satire.

The present work was produced in collaboration with the lithographer Villain and the publisher Chez Martinet, whose productions are now recognized among the most visually appealing survivals of early nineteenth-century Parisian popular imagery. The use of fine Whatman paper, combined with rich contemporary hand-coloring, gives the plates exceptional luminosity.

Première Partie:
1. 8 heures du soir - signed J.S.
2. 8 heures du matin - signed J.S.
3. Comme on l'écoute - signed J.S.
4. Que je vous y'reprenne... - signed J.S.
5. La Confidence - signed J.S.
6. Il m'a fait des traits ma chère! - unsigned
7. Faut lui répondre... signed J.S.

Seconde Partie:
8. Derniers instans d'une demoiselle - signed J.S.
9. Dépêche-toi donc, n'y aura plus de places - unsigned
10. Dieux! si un homme me battait! - unsigned
11. ´A-ton été bien sage? - unsigned
12. Un Cabinet - le dîner dans une heure - signed J.S.
13. Ça serait joli en blouze... - signed J.S.
14. Surtout n'allez pas la compromettre - unsigned

Troisieme Partie:
15. ´A-ton une tournure? - signed J.S.
16. Le jour de la blanchisseuse - signed J.S.
17. La fin de Décembre - signed J.S.
18. Me soupçonner, moi!! - signed J.S.
19. A belle l'air gamain! - signed J.S.
20. D'ou diable sait-elle tout cela? - signed J.S.
21. On ne passe pas sans payer - signed J.S.

Quatrième Partie:
22. De l'Eau de Cologne...du Vinnaigre!!!
23. Elle est pour l'amour platonique...
24. Es-tu encore fache?
25. Eu ne veux jamais m'ecouter!
26. Jolie Personne! L'air fille.
27. Il n'y a pas de danger.
28. Il est sané.

Cinquième Partie (all signed J.S.):
29. Eh bien....adieu!....Adieu.
30. A qui etes vous, Monsieur?
31. Tu l'ennies avec moi!
32. Vous plaisez vous ici?
33. J'ai trop peur!
34. Nous partirons bien tard.
35. Paresseuse!!! (unsigned).
36. Non, non, Monsieur...

Lipperheide 3684 (with thirty-four plates).

Price: $12,500.00