Box 1

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Inscription: "Addressed to Mlle Fanny Grollier. Brief note at lower margin of recto signed Melanie B."

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Series of 2 April Fool’s Day (“poisson d’avril”) postcards. Two women dressed in 18th-century aristocratic garb, one as a man, one as woman: In one card (untinted), both hold a basket filled with flowers and fish. Divided verso. Stamp and postmark on verso. A doggerel verse printed on the recto of each refers to the pair in the photo as “ces marquis gracieux.”

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Series of two April Fool's Day postcards. A doggerel verse printed on the recto of each refers to the pair in the photo as "ces marquis gracieux".

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Series of 5 postcards number I through V showing an 18th century picnic. The series is highly unusual as the only postcards of the genre documented to date that represent a cross-dressed woman and a man dressed as a man both portraying male roles. Inscription: "Addressed to Mesdemoiselles Bonnet; signed on recto of each card: Henriette."

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Captioned: Le Droit de passage, L'Invitation, Le Beau raisin, Le Goiter, and La Declaration. Same series depicted in cards 329-330.

Scope and Contents Set of four cards with photo narrative of an 18th-century seduction scene. Male impersonator as aristocrat woos a female country girl encountered on a footbridge. The captions recount the tale: “Le Droit de passage,” “L’Invitation,” “Le Beau raisin,” “Le Goûter,” “La Déclaration.” Postage stamp and postmark on recto of each card. Divided verso; notice printed full width indicating “Carte Postale. Tous le pays étrangers n’acceptent pas la correspondence au recto (se renseigner à la poste)....

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Variant edition of L'Invitation.

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Set of three cards with photo narrative of an 18th-century seduction scene. Male impersonator as officer invites a female aristocrat to dance in a studio-set salon. Numbered I, II and X.

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Series of three postcards of a woman dressed in late 18th-century officer's wear reacting to declarations from a woman in a dress and flowered hat. The woman is reciting the traditional French equivalent of 'he loves me, he loves me not' while plucking petals from a flower. Cards numbered I, II and III. Each postcard after the first has a rhyming couplet as a caption on the recto.

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Complete series of five postcards showing a woman dressed as an 18th-century marquis courting another woman dressed as a female aristocrat, ending with a scene of the marquis stealing a kiss.