Philatelic document - Almanach Vermot 140 ans

Almanach Vermot: 140 years of humor, knowledge and popular traditions The Almanach Vermot, witness to the evolution of mentality and popular culture, is an institution. Specialists in paraliterature have examined it with the utmost seriousness. Created in 1886 by Joseph Vermot, it was inspired by the rural almanacs that emerged after the Napoleonic Wars, such as Le Grand Messager boiteux de Strasbourg. But the origins of the genre go back to the 16th century: from the cities to the countryside, peddling literature developed thanks to the expansion of trade routes. The catalog of the "Bibliothèque bleue" in Troyes is a notorious example; "bleue" in reference to the color of its covers. It featured poetry, fables and tales, short novels, as well as ephemerides and practical guides. For Vermot, the color is red, and the logotype is a swirling phylactery in the shape of a cornucopia. A 384-page volume accompanies readers every day of the year, teeming with anecdotes, tips and tricks for everyday life, proverbs - and above all, jokes. This blend of useful knowledge and light-heartedness is what makes it such a success. After Joseph's death in 1893, his son Maurice took over the publishing business and considerably expanded distribution. Under the direction of Georges Ventillard, the Almanach reached a print run of one million copies a year. Only the Second World War interrupted its publication. Since then, it has been published every year - today by Hachette. Vermot passes on another heritage, that of caricature, satirical imagery and press cartoons. In the second half of the 19th century, the illustrated press experienced a meteoric rise thanks to technical progress. Newspaper layouts changed in favor of columns of text into which images were inserted. The visual identity of the Almanach adapted accordingly. From the very first editions, talented cartoonists contributed, as did some of the great names of 20th-century French caricature - with special mention for Claude Turier and Jacques Faure, successive editors-in-chief until 2014. Today, others perpetuate the Vermot tone, between social satire and a critical eye. The Almanach adapts to different sensibilities, revealing accepted or contested forms of humor, and echoes the great causes driving French society.

Timbre-poste (Offset), document philatélique : Mise en page Valérie Besser d'après photos ©Hachette Livre. Texte : ©Hachette Livre