Le Géneral Tom Pouce. Dans Le Petit Poucet

Paris: Maison Martinet, Haulecoeur Frères, rue du Coq 15, 1845. 7.5" x 11.5" hand-colored lithograph on 10.5" x 13.5" white mount, printed text under image, signature on verso. A scarce lithograph picturing various scenes in a French production of Charles Perrault's Le Petit Poucet (little thumb), featuring Tom Thumb (the stage name of Charles Sherwood Stratton).

The central image shows Tom thumb being transported in a horse-drawn carriage. The eleven hand-colored vignettes show Le Petit Poucet in a variety of situations from the show, such as sitting in a pot, a basket, an ogre's boot, and a wooden shoe; being fed like a baby; boxing; and riding horseback in the guise of Napoleon.

Stratton was discovered in 1842 at the age of five by showman P.T. Barnum and given the stage name of General Tom Thumb, becoming a popular attraction at the American Museum in New York. As a performer, he sang, danced and imitated famous persons, touring the world until his death in 1883 at the age of 46.

Notes in pencil on verso read as follows, "Kenneth W. Dow, Prince Muret House, St. Augustine, Florida.", with signature. Also, "C235." Dow was a St. Augustine, Florida philanthropist and collector who created a museum of historic homes and donated his art collection to the Museum of Arts and Sciences.

REFERENCE: Tom Pouce in Le Petit Poucet, vaudeville-féérie at expositions[dot]bnf[dot]fr.

CONDITION: Good, lightly soiled, crease across title margin.