Fortuné Méaulle

He apprenticed with Joseph Burn-Smeeton (fl.1840-1880), an English-born artist who worked with the French engraver Auguste Tilly (?-1898). Later, he was able to become part of a small, exclusive group of engravers who worked for Louis Hachette; consisting of Charles Laplante, Henri Théophile Hildibrand and Charles Barbant. He did not remain there long, however; being dismissed for "serious misconduct".

He then established his own studio and was one of the first artists to work with Daniel Vierge. Among his most notable illustrations are those made from drawings by François Chifflart for The Toilers of the Sea by Victor Hugo, although Hugo had originally wanted them to be ink wash paintings, concerned that engravings would not match the spirit of his writing. After seeing samples, he was convinced and changed his mind.

The output of Méaulle's studio was large, but of an uneven quality. The bulk of his work involved covers for the illustrated supplement to Le Petit Journal, most of them designed by Henri Meyer.

As a writer, he published books on art, children's books and juvenile fiction, some illustrated by other artists.

• Messieurs et Mesdemoiselles Bébé, carnets d’un papa, Ducrocq, 1887
• Le Robinson des Airs (an imaginary voyage), Ducrocq, 1889
• Délaissée, A. Mame et fils, 1898
• Victor Hugo, 1802-1902, ouvrage pour la jeunesse, Société Française d'Éditions d'Art, 1902