Here is just a handful of Carlègle’s illustrations produced for a 1936 edition of one of Guy de Maupassant’s best stories; the other images are more pedestrian.

Written in 1881, La Maison Tellier tells of the madame of a small-town brothel in Normandy who receives an invitation to her niece’s confirmation from her brother, who knows nothing of her ‘business’. She decides to take her five girls with her, and her regular patrons are taken aback when they discover the establishment is closed without explanation.

Carlègle’s illustrations are a perfect foil to Maupassant’s rather daring tale.

The La librairie des amateurs edition was produced in a numbered print run of 1,200 copies.