This satirical and well-made newspaper filled with
numerous illustrations spared no authority figure. Because
of their rebellious turn of mind, Napoléon Aubin and
his printer were incarcerated during the Rebellions. A
famous journalist, Aubin was also a drawer, a composer, a
playwright, a scientist and the author of fairy tales and
poems. He founded seven newspapers and magazines while
collaborating on many others. He published a juicy utopia in
the Fantasque, "My trip to the moon [free
translation of French]", in 1839. In 1840, he
acquired the first lithographic press in Québec City.
He used it for his engravings and for his 1841 portrait from
one of Théophile Hamel's first paintings. The
periodical's title and the libertarian maxim are below the
harlequin cartouche: "I obey or command no one, I go
where I want, do what I want, am what I can and die when I
must [free translation of French]".
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Napoléon Aubin
(1812-1890), Le Fantasque, Québec, 1 August
1837 to February 1849, 21 x 15 x 2,2 cm, Montréal,
Bibliothèque nationale du Québec. Photo Robert
Derome.
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