"Passing Young Girls" from The Complete Works of Béranger

Art Historical Context

"Passing Young Girls" is a wood engraving created in 1836 for the illustrated edition of *The Complete Works of Béranger*, published byier & Perrotin in Paris. The image pairs with verses by the celebrated French songwriter Pierre-Jean de Béranger and features designs by the inventive illustrator J. J. Grandville, whose lively caricatural style brought a touch of whimsy and social observation to many literary projects of the period. Engraved by the skilled English wood-engraver John Thompson, the print measures just over eight by five inches, making it well suited to the intimate format of a popular songbook. Wood engraving allowed fine lines and tonal gradations to be cut across the end-grain of boxwood, producing crisp images that could be printed alongside text in large editions. This technical advance helped turn illustrated volumes such as Béranger’s into affordable cultural objects enjoyed by a growing middle-class readership. Acquired by the Metropolitan Museum in 1959 as part of the Elisha Whittelsey Collection, the print exemplifies how nineteenth-century book illustration merged poetry, satire, and everyday imagery—here centered on women—to reflect the social themes that made Béranger’s songs so widely loved.

About the Artist

Pierre Jean de Béranger|John Thompson|J. J. Grandville|Fournier & Perrotin (French|French) · 1780 | –1857 |

French, Paris 1780–1857 Paris|French