Flanerie par le dégel (A Walk in the Snow)

 

Honore Daumier - A Walk in the Snow

Honore Daumier (1808-1879), Flanerie par le dégel (A Walk in the Snow), , lithograph, 1841, published in LA CARICATURE (Deuxième Publication) in 1841, then in an album ÉMOTIONS PARISIENNES in 1842.  Daumier Register 724, fourth state (of four). Plate number 40 from the series ÉMOTIONS PARISIENNES.  With the initials HD lower left. A  sur blanc impression. In very good condition, with margins, 11 1/2 x 8, the sheet 12 3/4 x 9 1/2 inches.

A fine impression, with rich black inking and strong contrasts. The sur blanc impressions were made for collectors, in limited numbers (often less than 100); the wove paper is of a higher quality than the newsprint in which the lithographs ordinarily appeared, and there is no lettering verso (which shows through in the newsprint impressions).

Here is the translation of the lettering, from the Daumier Register:

Original Text:
Flanerie par le dégel.
– Po..po..polisson !
– De quoi !.. de quoi !.. puisque j’vous dis que j’visais Gugusse… est y embêtant c’grand là !
– J’irai me plaindre à tes Pa..pa..parents… et au Co.. co.. commissaire !.. et nous verrons voir !
– Ah ! tu veux voir toi !… attends j’te va boucher l’autre fenêtre !

Translation:
A stroll in the thaw.
– Ra..ra…rascal!
– Not at all, since I am telling you that I aimed at my friend Gugusse.
– I will complain with your pa..pa..parents and the po..po..police and we will see then…
– Oh, you want to see!… well, just you wait and I will punch you in your other eye as well!

$200