Monnier, Henri

Monnier, Henri (äNrē` mônyā`), 1799–1877, French lithographer and writer. His work became popular (c.1825) when he illustrated La Fontaine's Fables with pen drawings. He wrote and illustrated three series of Scènes populaires (1830, 1835, 1862), books of satiric sketches about the people of his day, in which he introduced the imaginary characters Mme Gibou and M. Joseph Prudhomme. Their history was continued in his best-known work, Mémoires de Monsieur Joseph Prudhomme (1857), a collection of cartoons, with some text. Some of his numerous plays also concerned themselves with these characters.