Two satirical poems by Thomas de la Borde. [Paris]: [Veuve Hardy press?], 11 Rue des Canettes. February 1898. French.
Single sheet. The poem "Vive l'Armée – A Bas les Traitres" [Long Live the Army – Death to the Traitors] appears in the upper portion, with an illustration (signed in print "Ludovic") depicting a French soldier shaking hands with a Russian soldier, and a German soldier in the background gesturing "Stop." In the lower portion of the sheet is the poem "Mort et Testament de Dreyfus" [Dreyfus's Death and Last Will and Testament], "announcing" the death of Alfred Dreyfus from the unconstrained consumption of "incriminating documents," as Dreyfus delivers his last will and testament, titled "Death to France." A number of similar sheets with humorous poems by Thomas de la Borde – some accompanied by illustrations or musical scores – are listed in the catalogue of France's National Library. The present illustration was published roughly a year earlier next to a different poem which had been written on the occasion of the visit to Paris of the Russian Czar and the renewal of the Franco-Russian alliance.
Approx. 55X36. Good-fair condition. Fold lines. Stains. Tears and punch holes to edges and fold lines.