'Rochefort'. Satirical illustration by Faustin Betbeder showing Henri de Rochefort, dressed in red, standing by a brick wall and holding a lamp and a pile of bricks. Hand-coloured lithograph, France, 1870-1871.

Satirical print showing Henri de Rochefort, dressed in red, standing by a brick wall and holding a lamp and a pile of bricks. Print from a set of caricatures, broadsheets and illustrations in ten volumes. Each volume is half-bound in red leather, gold tooled and stamped with imperial emblems, title etc.

Plate 3 from a series entitled 'Les Hommes Du Jour Par Faustin'.

Henri de Rochefort was imprisoned during the period of the French Empire for the libellous content of his newspaper La Lanterne. He was the only member of the extreme left included in the Government of National Defence. The mob demanded it, and, as Favre put it, 'We'd rather have him inside the Government than outside it.' He was appointed President of the Barricades Committee. After 31 October he resigned from the Government in disgust. Instead of standing for election to the Commune he aired his views against Versailles and occasionally against the communards as well, in print.

[Quote taken from Jellinek, F. The Paris Commune of 1871. London, 1937. p. 62]

E.1003-1962