FUMEURS ET PRISEURS. - Il ne faut pas croire que tous les chinois s'abrutissent avec de l'opium, non une foule de gens et surtout dans la bonne société, font consister le souverain bonheur a fumer et a priser une certaine feuille dont l'aspect est assez désagréable, mais dont le goût est fort repoussant - comme cette feuille se récolte sur une plante nommée nicotine on a été naturellement porté à l'appeler tabac.

Item Information

Title:
FUMEURS ET PRISEURS. - Il ne faut pas croire que tous les chinois s'abrutissent avec de l'opium, non une foule de gens et surtout dans la bonne société, font consister le souverain bonheur a fumer et a priser une certaine feuille dont l'aspect est assez désagréable, mais dont le goût est fort repoussant - comme cette feuille se récolte sur une plante nommée nicotine on a été naturellement porté à l'appeler tabac.
Title (alt.):
SMOKERS AND SNUFFERS. One must not believe that all Chinese who smoke opium become idiots. There is a great number of men, mainly from the better classes of society, who are constantly smoking or snuffing a certain leaf, which looks disagreeable enough but also smells in quite a repelling way. Since this leaf grows on a plant called nicotine, it is only natural to call it tobacco.. Charivari
Description:
The image is referring to opium-hashish smoking, described in detail in Thomas de Quincey's book "Confessions of an English Opium Eater" (1828 translated by Musset into French). Hector Berlioz's (1803-1869) "Symphonie Fantastique" appeared shortly after publication of the book and was supposedly inspired by it. Baudelaire also mentions repeatedly the consumption of wine and opium at artists' meetings in Paris.
Donor:
Trustman, Benjamin A., Trustman, Julia M.
Lithographer:
Daumier, Honoré, 1808-1879
Date:
1844
Format:
Drawings/Illustrations
Location:
Brandeis University Libraries
Collection (local):
Benjamin A. and Julia M. Trustman Collection of Honoré Daumier Lithographs
Subjects:
Tobacco
Pipes (smoking equipment)
China
France--History--Louis-Philip, 1830-1848
Extent:
1 lithograph, b&w, 25 x 36.5 cm
Link to Item:
http://hdl.handle.net/10192/1548
Terms of Use:
Copyright restrictions may apply. For permission to copy or use this image, contact the Robert D. Farber University Archives and Special Collections Department, Brandeis University Libraries. The following credit line must be included with each item used: Benjamin A. and Julia M. Trustman Collection of Honoré Daumier Lithographs, Robert D. Farber University Archives & Special Collections Department, Brandeis University.
Contact host institution for more information.
Place of origin:
Paris
Notes:
2nd state.
Published in: Le Charivari, October 24, 1844.
Notes (acquisition):
Donated by: Benjamin A. and Julia M. Trustman, 1959.
Identifier:
LD1203