DAUMIER, H. - Les Gens de Justice. - Ainsi donc, quoique j'vous avoue, entre nous, qu'cest moi qu'a volé la toquante au pere Jérôme . . . (pl 28)

Second state, with letters. From "Les Gens de Justice". Text below image : - Ainsi donc, quoique j'vous avoue, entre nous, qu'cest moi qu'a volé la toquante au pere Jérôme . . . (- So even if I admit, between us, that I stole Father Jerome's watch, you won't drop my case? - My dear thief, you really don't understand my position... if there were no offenders there would hardly be any lawyers....Now that I know you are guilty, I will work on your alibi…).

Around the mid-1840s Daumier started publishing his famous caricatures depicting members of the legal profession, known as 'Les Gens de Justice', a scathing satire about judges, defendants, attorneys and corrupt, greedy lawyers in general. A number of extremely rare albums appeared on white paper, covering 39 different legal themes, of which 37 had previously been published in the Charivari. It is said that Daumier's own experience as an employee in a bailiff's office during his youth may have influenced his rather negative attitude towards the legal profession.

Known chiefly as a political and social satirist, Honoré DAUMIER (1808-1879) used the printmaking process of lithography, still relatively new at the time, to contribute cartoons and caricatures to French news weeklies.