?Final Price Realized includes Buyer’s Premium added to Hammer Price
Estimate: $ 4,000 - $ 6,000
VARIOUS ARTISTS LE MIRLITON. 1885-1906. Group of bound and unbound volumes. Sizes vary. Paris, vd. Conditions vary, generally B+. Le Mirliton was the name Aristide Bruant gave to his nightclub, which he opened in the old premises of Paris' famed Chat Noir in 1885. In conjunction with the opening, he began to publish a newspaper of the same name. It was filled with lyrics (of songs by Bruant as well as other popular chansonniers ), poetry, cartoons and stories. Politically it sympathized with the oppressed. The newspaper thrived during the early years with contributions from such noteworthy artists as Steinlen, Forain, Ibels and Lautrec. "Toulouse-Lautrec, long a devoted admirer of Bruant and a frequent visitor to Le Mirliton, made his first appearance on the pages of the new journal in December 1886 with a two page reproduction of his painting Le Quadrille de la Chaise Louis XIII a l'Elysee Montmartre" (Turn-of-the Century Cabaret, by Harold B. Segel, p. 53). This was followed in January, 1887, with a drawing for the cover of the newspaper. Although signed by Lautrec the cover drawing is attributed to Treclo, and we believe this to be the first time an original drawing by Lautrec was reproduced for public consumption. Several more drawings by "Treclo" (some of these attributed to Treclau) appear on the cover of the newspaper over the next several months. Curiously, some of Steinlen's earliest contributions to the newspaper also appear under an assumed name, Jean Caillou. As time went on the appearance of the publication became erratic, and it ultimately ceased publication in 1906.
