prominence (1830–1835) Campaign against Louis-Philippe (1830–1832) In the fall of 1830 Philipon, as supporter of the Revolution of July, expected much of the new regime. The first issues of La Caricature contained no political charges. Chief editor and friend of Philipon, Balzac, contributed extensively in this period, signing his articles under various pseudonyms. Anti-clericalism, already present in La Silhouette, persistently manifested itself in both texts and illustrations. The memory of Napoleon still lived. However, the tone changed in late December 1830 to early 1831, when the law of December 4, 1830 that restored stamp duty and censorship of newspapers was criticized by the magazine. The caricatures then maintained their political and satirical character as the new regime became increasingly authoritarian, upending the "age of consensus." According to Philipon, caricatures increased the important influence of artists, as had been the case in England for a long time, exposing "the enemies of our liberties." Philipon expressed his disaffection for the regime in a cartoon, Foam of July, published by Maison Aubert (26 February 1831). Better known as The soap bubbles, it shows Louis-Philippe carelessly blowing bubbles that show the unfulfilled promises of freedom of the press, popular elections, mayors elected by the people, no more sinecures etc. Prosecuted for insulting the king, Philipon would be acquitted eventually. He reoffended a few months later with another lithograph, known as The Cosmetic repair (La Caricature, June 30, 1831), in which the king is represented as a mason, symbolically erasing the traces of the July Revolution. He was again tried by the Assize Court. November 1831 trial "First fruit of France" On trial on 14 November 1831, Philipon, sure to be condemned, defended himself arguing that everything can be made to look like the king, and that he and other caricaturists cannot be held responsible for this resemblance. He illustrated its defense by the metamorphosis by drawing, in four stages, the King's face evolving into a pear. This imagery became a widely used reference and symbol of the revolution, even outside of Paris. The widespread appearance of the pears is well documented by a vast array of people of the times, including William Makepeace Thackeray, Heinrich Heine, Charles Baudelaire, Stendhal, and Sebastien Peyte, who wrote a book titled Physiology of the Pear, collecting puns and spin-offs of the imagery. Victor Hugo in Les Miserables pays homage to the imagery as a young boy sketches an