Lawyers and Justice

by Honoré Daumier

English (translation)Original French

Genres: Law, Art

125 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1971

About the author

Honoré-Victorin Daumier

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Honor%C...

Reviews

[Joselito Honestly and Brilliantly · Rating 4 out of 5]

For about two weeks I’ve been eyeing this among a huge pile of coffee table books marked “reserved” in a local bookstore selling second hand books. Every day that I pass by with it still there gave me hope that maybe it will end up being returned to the display shelves so I can finally purchase it. Then one afternoon it finally happened. Two guys were sorting out the pile, throwing those which they’ve decided to buy in a big carton box and leaving the rest in a corner. In the maze of confusion I lost track of this book, as I was trying to follow it only from a distance, not coming too near for fear that these guys who have reserved these books might detect my interest in it and decide to beat me into it (I knew they were from another second hand bookstore and that they were buying the pile not to be read by them but for resale).

The agony lasted for about an hour. My heart jumped a bit when I saw this copy among the rejected ones. I immediately grabbed it.

This is a collection of lithographs/sketches of Honore Daumier said to have been prepared “with burning hatred” between 1845 to 1848 showing “the countless types of excited lawyers, the mocking, unrelenting and slumbering judges, and the exasperated litigants.” An indictment of the practice of law at that time but not without humor.

[sologdin · Rating 2 out of 5]

perhaps contributes a bit too much to the cynical interpretation of attorneys and the profession. that said, comical at times. am ambivalent about the actual drawings.