cartoons – Languages across Borders

The book Fleurs, fruits et légumes du jour / par Alfred Le Petit ; légendes de H. Briollet (8001.b.156), published in 1871, recently crossed my desk. A book of whimsical political caricatures, it is composed of 32 plates issued in a portfolio; each plate comprises a title, cartoon (in colour) and a brief satirical rhyme or poem. The subjects are generals, intellectuals and politicians (all men, this being 19^th century France), with a specific focus on the Franco-Prussian war and the Paris Commune of 1871.

Fleurs, fruits & légumes du jour (8001.b.156) - Title page — Fleurs, fruits & légumes du jour (8001.b.156) – Title page

When adding books to the Cambridge University Library catalogue, we are usually able to copy records from other library catalogues. In the case of the record for this book, a previous cataloguing librarian (possibly in UNC Chapel Hill) added the information that “Many plates appear to be based on the anthropomorphized flowers of J.J. Grandville (Les fleurs animées, originally published 1847)”. This is the kind of information that can be useful for people searching the library catalogue (it means that both books will turn up in a keyword search), and it is also an interesting and hopefully worthwhile piece of information for anyone interested in either of these two works. Not only does copying records from other libraries save us valuable time, it also allows our catalogue to reflect other peoples’ research and knowledge. Continue reading “Fruits, flowers and fantastical figures” →

2013 marks the centenary of the birth of French writer and humourist Pierre Daninos, the creator of Major Thompson, the French stereotype of the Englishman abroad, carrying a neatly rolled umbrella, with a moustache, and inevitably wearing a chapeau melon. When Daninos died in 2005 extensive obituaries appeared in the British press. He had published prolifically, and the exploits of Major Thompson sold over a million copies in France, as well as being translated into some 30 other languages.

Yet Cambridge has very few titles in the original French. Clearly previous generations of Cambridge librarians felt that works by Daninos did not merit inclusion in an academic library. Were they correct? Oxford librarians felt slightly differently, and acquired some 20 titles. The British Library has still more, fulfilling its remit to collect works on British culture and on Britain’s place in Europe. Continue reading “To collect or not to collect? The case of Pierre Daninos” →