The Saint-Aubins' 'Book of Arses': The Livre de Caricatures tant bonnes que mauvaises
Lead Research Organisation:
Queen Mary University of London
Department Name: History
Abstract
"The project focuses on the Livre de Caricatures tant bonnes que mauvaises (1740-1775), a volume of
drawings by three Saint-Aubin brothers, who referred to it as their livre des culs ('book of arses'). Many drawings are crudely scatalogical; others, witty and cerebral. The work sheds light on political satire and caricature, popular and elite culture, public and domestic spheres, the sociability of laughter, and cultures of collecting in eighteenth-century France. The project will make the volume available through a digitised edition, and provide an in-depth and contextual analysis of it, drawing on an international and cross-
disciplinary group of scholars.
The project focuses on the Livre de Caricatures tant bonnes que mauvaises (1740-1775), a volume of
drawings by three Saint-Aubin brothers, who referred to it as their livre des culs ('book of arses'). Many drawings are crudely scatalogical; others, witty and cerebral. The work sheds light on political satire and caricature, popular and elite culture, public and domestic spheres, the sociability of laughter, and cultures of collecting in eighteenth-century France. The project will make the volume available through a digitised edition, and provide an in-depth and contextual analysis of it, drawing on an international and cross-
disciplinary group of scholars.
"
drawings by three Saint-Aubin brothers, who referred to it as their livre des culs ('book of arses'). Many drawings are crudely scatalogical; others, witty and cerebral. The work sheds light on political satire and caricature, popular and elite culture, public and domestic spheres, the sociability of laughter, and cultures of collecting in eighteenth-century France. The project will make the volume available through a digitised edition, and provide an in-depth and contextual analysis of it, drawing on an international and cross-
disciplinary group of scholars.
The project focuses on the Livre de Caricatures tant bonnes que mauvaises (1740-1775), a volume of
drawings by three Saint-Aubin brothers, who referred to it as their livre des culs ('book of arses'). Many drawings are crudely scatalogical; others, witty and cerebral. The work sheds light on political satire and caricature, popular and elite culture, public and domestic spheres, the sociability of laughter, and cultures of collecting in eighteenth-century France. The project will make the volume available through a digitised edition, and provide an in-depth and contextual analysis of it, drawing on an international and cross-
disciplinary group of scholars.
"