Introduction

    This page displays a number of cartoons and drawings of Hector Berlioz made by friends and critics of the composer during his lifetime, and published between the 1830s and mid-1860s. Unless otherwise stated, all the images have been scanned from a 19th century biography of Berlioz by Adolphe Jullien in our own collection. Adolphe Jullien was one of the leading champions of Berlioz in France in the late 19th and early 20th centuries; his large-scale biography of the composer, published in 1888, was the fullest study of the composer that had been published to date, and it was lavishly illustrated. One of its distinctive charateristics was its extensive use of contemporary cartoons, and we have consulted this book and other publications to identify the 19th century journals in which the cartoons were first published. Where known to us, we have given the current location of the originals or copies of these cartoons and drawings.

Copyright notice: The texts, photos, images and musical scores on all pages of this site are covered by UK Law and International Law. All rights of publication or reproduction of this material in any form, including Web page use, are reserved. Their use without our explicit permission is illegal.

Cartoon collections

For ease of access the collection is divided into 7 sections arranged by date:

    Collection I    1830s

    Collection II   1840s

    Collection III  1850s

    Collection IV  1860s

    Collection V   1880s

    Collection VI  1890s

    Collection VII  Great Exhibition 1851 in London – French visitors

    See also the page of cartoons from an issue of Le Journal amusant devoted to the performances of Berlioz’s opera Les Troyens in November 1863.

The Hector Berlioz Website was created by Monir Tayeb and Michel Austin on 18 July 1997; 
The Berlioz Cartoons pages created on 14 September 2003; some additions made since. Revised on 1 October 2022.

© (unless otherwise stated) Monir Tayeb and Michel Austin.

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