It is a well known fact that censorship of the press during Daumier’s time was very rigid, and that Daumier was arrested for offending the Government by publishing prints in LA CARICTURE which drastically ridiculed the King and his Ministers. The owners as well as the artists of LA CARICATURE and later on also of the CHARIVARI were constantly pursued by the law, resulting in the example, shown below:

The censor, by instruction of the Ministry of the Interior (i.e. the Police), prohibited a print to be published in the CHARIVARI edition of November 4, 1835. The print had previously been presented to the authorities for acceptance, but the message of the prohibition came so late to the printer, that no replacement could be found.

Therefore the CHARIVARI decided not to show any lithograph at all, but instead published an explanatory note for the surprised subscriber (see photo below), who did not find the daily caricature on the third page of his newspaper as usual.

We hope you enjoy the ridiculing comment offered here by Philipon, who in writing sarcastic remarks demonstrates the feebleness of the censorship system.

 

Header of LE CHARIVARI edition of Nov.4, 1835

Philipon’s explanatory text