An item in our Ernest Bell Library.
French postcard – anti-vivisection
It is quite unusual that there is no society / charity mentioned on the back. There is a monogram – but no signature. Whoever created this did it purely for the sake of the animals.
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LE MARCHÉ AUX CHIENS
et ses tristes épaves.
Les pourvoyeurs des laboratoires de vivisection s’y procurent les pauvres bêtes destinées aux expériences les plus cruelles.
Cette enfant symbolise la douleur d’une fillette qui a vendu sans savoir à qui,et qui est renseignée trop tard.
Que tous ceux qui vendent leur chien sachent bien,avant de le livrer,qui l’achète et ce qu’il compte en faire.
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Approximate Translation –
THE MARKET TO SELL DOGS
and its sad wrecks.
Providers to vivisection laboratories procure for them poor animals, destined for the cruelest experiments.
This child symbolizes the pain of a young girl who sold her dog without knowing this, and who realized too late.
All those who sell their dogs, please know well before delivery who buys them and what they intend to do.
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Artist – not yet known – monogram ‘CF’ – ( we cannot identify it in ‘Dictionary of monograms 1’ – by Franz Goldstein, Ruth Kähler, Hermann Kähler Walter de Gruyter, 1999 )
Date – not yet known – ~ 1917(?) under the monogram
Publisher – none given
Condition – battered – bruised – stained.
The old card is in a sorry state – but the image & the message are very powerful.
The blood red hand of a vivisectionist reaches down to take possession of a dog which has been procured for a vivisection laboratory.
A girl tries to rescue the dog. The procurer pushes her away.
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Our 3 Main Projects
The Henry Salt Archive is one of our, almost completed, projects.
The Humanitarian League is our Hong Kong registered charity.
The Ernest Bell Library was conceived in 1934.
There are currently more than 3,000 items in the collection.
We will complete the cataloging of the collection as & when adequate funds are available.
“I have little doubt that the proposal for the establishment of an Ernest Bell Library, which would specialize in humanitarian and progressive literature, and so form a sort of center for students, will meet with a wide response.”
Henry S. Salt – writing in September 1934.
