ABSTRACT
The publisher Pierre-Jules Hetzel launched a collaborative project, Les scè nes de la vie privé e et publique des animaux, that was designed to showcase Grandville and his trademark animals. Hetzel emphasizes the literary nature of the work, trading on the reputation of the signed writers. Grandville's combined portrait of publisher and writers offers an image of illustrated book publication that centers on the word. The writer, in turn, refuses his assigned position as verbal illustrator and instead presents himself as the author of human, and now animal, scènes. Free to create, Grandville dismisses the writers as potential subject matter, choosing instead to focus his attention on the animals, thereby privileging his own subject matter over writer and text. Collectively, from Franais's final illustration to Les animaux's sales, press reviews, and the artist's peer recognition, Grandville metaphorically and literally caged the writer by rewriting the rules of illustration.
