This third book in the series features another children’s book.
When we lived in Annapolis, Maryland, in the late 1990s, I used to stop into a local antique store on a regular basis. They had some books, mostly newer titles. One day, I went in, and they had a small number of books in the glass counter in the front of the shop – where the owners kept “the good stuff”. They dated from the 18 th and 19 th centuries, not pricy, and I bought them all, including two children’s books from the 1860s. One was covered earlier, and this is the second one, from the same author and publisher. If you thought that the first book was horrific, this one
beats it hands down!
Histoire Comique er Terrible: De Loustic L’Espiegle; Racontée aux petits Français de trois a six ans; par Trim; et Illustrée par Bertall; Paris, Librairie de L. Hachette et Cie, Boulevard Saint-Germain, No 77.
This translates roughly as follows “Comic and Terrible History: The Mischievous Joker; Told to young French people from three to six years old; by Trim; and Illustrated by Bertall; Paris, Librairie de L. Hachette et Cie, Boulevard Saint-Germain, No 77.
There is no date of publication but inside the front cover there is a handwritten note “Bartow,
bought in Paris, 1867.”
The author “Trim” was a pseudonym for Louis G. F. Ratisbonne (1827-1900), a French “man of letters” from Strasbourg. He became the librarian at Fontainebleau and then at the Palais du Luxembourg. He was the author of “some charming fables and verses for children”. Well, you can determine for yourself how charming this children’s book is after you look at the photos below. And for children 3 to 6! While, we understand the morals of the stories, kids 3 to 6 see opportunities!
This book does have a different illustrator. Charles Albert d’Arnoux (1820-1882), known as Bertall (or Bertal, an anagram of Albert) or Tortu-Goth was a French illustrator, engraver, caricaturist, and early photographer. I think that he should have used Tortu-Goth for this book!
The photo of the back of the book, shows other books in the series and the last entry “Les Défauts Horribles” was the subject of the earlier musing.
This awful stunt lingers today. I confess to doing it once, but felt so badly I never did it again.
In the earlier children’s book, the cat came out on top. Sadly, not so this time!
Well – if they can sew the head back on, I’m sure that the ear must have been looked after as
well.
And the last photo clearly demonstrates the importance of cleaning your plate.