Le Courrier français (1884–1913)

Le Courrier français

Cover of 15 February 1906
Year founded	1884
Final issue	1914
Country	France
Language	French

Le Courrier français was an illustrated weekly founded and edited by Jules Roques. It appeared from 1884 to 1914.

Under the direction of Jules Roques, the Courrier français became the most representative satirical organ of the time. Notable writers included Maurice Bouchor, Raoul Ponchon, Georges Montorgueil, Hugues Delorme and Jean Lorrain. Illustrators included Adolphe Willette, David Ossipovitch Widhopff, Jean-Louis Forain, Jules Chéret, Hermann-Paul, Henri Pille and Pierre Jeannot. The magazine included sections on literature, fine arts, theater, medicine and finance.

Until 1895 the newspaper represented the light and sarcastic spirit of fin de siècle Paris, and welcomed elite illustrators who met every evening at the Rat Mort café in Montmartre. From 1885 Jules Roques welcomed the Incohérents. Raoul Ponchon published his famous "rhymed Gazettes" there, satirical and light pieces on news items. Henri Pille presented the manners of the time from a middle-aged viewpoint. Adolphe Willette, responsible for illustrating most of the cover pages, was a lover of Montmartre and finely depicted Pierrots and Harlequins.

From 1887 Jules Roques, Adolphe Willette and other artists organized the famous masked balls of Le Courrier. These were not designed as venues for showing off amusing costumes, but as meetings of groups of symbolic figures, illustrating a theme that was planned and announced in advance. These balls helped to revive the Paris Carnival, which had been interrupted after the Franco-Prussian War of 1870, the Siege of Paris and the bloody suppression of the Paris Commune. The preparatory drawings published in the Courier for these balls encouraged female participants to dress very lightly, which explains the success of the events.