 L'Assiette au Beurre issue 1; cover designed by Théophile Steinlen. | |
| Format | 25 cm × 32 cm (9.8 in × 12.6 in) |
|---|---|
| Founder | Samuel-Sigismond Schwarz; subsequent directors: André de Joncières & Georges Anquetil |
| Founded | 4 April 1901 |
| Final issue | 1936 |
| Country | France |
| Based in | Paris |
| Language | French |
| ISSN | 2021-0558 |
| OCLC | 1514496 |
L'Assiette au Beurre (literally The Butter Plate,[1] and roughly translating to the English expression pork barrel[2][a]) was an illustrated French weekly satirical magazine with anarchist political leanings that was chiefly produced between 1901 and 1912. It was revived as a monthly for a time and ceased production in 1936.
The magazine's caricature and editorial cartoon content was drawn from a varied cadre of illustrator-contributors of many backgrounds and disparate artistic styles. The content often focused on socialist and anarchist ideas. The first series expired on 15 October 1912. A second series was published between 1921 and 1925 on a monthly basis, eventually becoming a single supplement.
At the time of its founding near the start of the twentieth century, France was divided on crucial issues such as the extension of military service, revanchism (the call of French nationalists to avenge and reclaim from Germany the annexed territories of Alsace-Lorraine), right of association, separation of church and state, freedom of speech, and the emergence of new and radical political and social ideas in France such as revolutionary syndicalism, antimilitarism, anti-clericalism, Proletarian internationalism, feminism and the rise of labour law, which were all subjects of feature in the magazine.
L'Assiette au Beurre is a valuable iconographic testament of the Belle Époque ("Beautiful Era") period in France, characterized by optimism, peace at home and in Europe, new technology and scientific discoveries. Georges Wolinski (killed in the terrorist attack on Charlie Hebdo), indicated in 2011 that his magazine's work was the legacy of L'Assiette au Beurre.[3]
- ^ Everdell, William R. (1997). The First Moderns: Profiles in the Origins of Twentieth-Century Thought. Chicago, ILL: University of Chicago Press. p. 311. ISBN 978-0-226-22480-0.
- ^ Canadian Parliament's Senate Standing Committee on National Finance (1976). Proceedings of the Standing Senate Committee on National Finance. Queen's Printer for Canada. pp. 7–13. OCLC 3249857.
- ^ Allard, Marion (28 January 2011). "Wolinski: " Le désir, c'est encore mieux que le plaisir ! "" [The desire is even better than the fun!]. L'Humanité (in French).