Puck, 1877-07-11 · page 9 of 20
Puck — July 11, 1877 — page 9: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This is a 12-panel satirical narrative about a duel involving French political figures. The main character is identified as "M. Adolphe Gustavc Victor," described as "painfully short-sighted." The cartoon mocks a dispute over whether Victor should use a "bound" (lace) or "cock" (rooster) as his weapon—apparently a humorous disagreement over dueling terms. Panels show the seconds negotiating, selecting a tree as the dueling ground, and placing Victor according to "the rules of the game." The satire appears to ridicule both French honor culture and Victor's practical disadvantage due to his poor eyesight. The final panels show the actual duel, with Victor's nearsightedness making him ineffectual, ultimately sparing his opponent from harm. The joke targets both aristocratic pretension and physical comedy.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
PUCK. A DUEL IN FRANCE. 1. M, Adolphe-Gustave: Victor Robin :t is very short 2. Which is the reason why he took this highly re. 3. Whence a duel. | | sighted painfully short-sighted, in fact. “Had he taken me for a hound spectable but choleric gentleman for a letter-bos, alache, a cochon—the insult might have been } J—but a letter-r-r-r-box!” 4. Bat when the mom of M. Adolphe-Gustave: seconds are pleased to long consultation over the infirmity of their principal been weighing on jn the short-sighted Adolphe-Gustave-Vietor fire hi weapon? | 7. So Adolphe-Gustave-Vietor is placed according | | to the rules of the game. spirit. The blood of an adversary shall_not be upon his 10, Now at least they are safe. The word is given. 11, But not Adolphe-Gustave-Victor is of a generous 2. And he does. head. He will fire in the air. | comicbooks.com