This is one of twelve lithographs Honoré Daumier made for the journal "Le Boulevard" in 1862. Earlier that year, Daumier had lost some prestige with magazine editors. Charles Philipon, publisher of the satirical journal "Le Charivari" and an early champion of Daumier, had stopped publishing Daumier's prints entirely, claiming that readers were no longer interested in his work. The overwhelmingly positive reception of Daumier's prints for "Le Boulevard" restored his prestige in the publishing world. The subject of this lithograph is taken from the Madeleine-Bastille route of the Omnibus "Imperiale," a public horse-drawn conveyance in Paris. The image depicts a heavyset woman getting onto a crowded bus to the evident aggravation and alarm of the passengers. The quote beneath the lithograph reads, "Un zeste, un rien…et l'omnibus se trouve complet" (A skinny nothing…and the bus is filled). This lithograph couples elements of caricature with brilliant draughtsmanship. Daumier precisely models the figures on the bus with detailed shading. This impression, printed on deluxe paper, was made for "Artists’ Recollections" (Souvenirs d'Artistes), a special collector's album of Daumier prints.