ABSTRACT
Grandville's image presents illustration as a game of cat and mouse that takes place on multiple fronts: writer and illustrator; writer, illustrator, and publisher; writer, illustrator, publisher, and the public. The artist's metaphorical use of the owl, mouse, and cat suggests that it is the owl that commands the players. The illustrator in Grandville's image may be an artistic imitator, but he is inventive and sly. He uses the pencil as a means to insert himself into the cultural field and to disrupt the writer's hegemony. Monkey/jester recalls many of the artist's earlier self-portraits in which the monkey represents Grandville's form of parody and caricature as well as his trademark animals. The rivalry between Grandville and Balzac encapsulates this shift and the ensuing charged relationship between illustrator and writer. In a delicate game of cat and mouse, Balzac and Grandville define themselves against their visual and verbal other, staking claim to the book and the portrayal of nineteenth-century society.
