Illustration et dissimulation dans Les Mystères de Paris : enjeux de l’édition illustrée

This article considers the importance of illustrated editions of Eugène Sue’s Mystères de Paris (1842-1843), and of the Rouff edition (1885), illustrated by Tofani, in particular. The methodological implications of analysing non-textual material are considered by way of introduction, before the analysis turns to the importance of scene selection, the way in which illustrations are used to euphemise the text, the sexualisation of the image and the role played by elliptical captions. The illustrations analysed reject and subvert our expectations of a medium often assumed to be synonymous with clarity, revelation and explanation. This acute sensitivity to the limits and inadequacies of the medium anticipates the self-reflexive, playful if not parodic inclination of the later mystères urbains.