![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibVLsfdrcVg-EqiO4mb3s-sz0J4WpjI06ZzKXCL7aitgv8TAwia9RNjjD8PzdtANzxdD9KSAg7ZI8AF4pdVLutr4y5OUyiKW6fEyKc9KWmlxJremD9ZV6hAL42C5J1Uq8bqayqZEymdorY/s320/BuschDieBrille001.jpg)
on the left original pencil drawing by Wilhelm Busch (1870)
on the right printed (wood cut) version of Münchener Bilderbogen (1870)
In the exhibition and the catalogue (only available in French Wilhelm Busch, de la caricature à la DB) the fact is stressed that Wilhelm Busch was influenced by the new photographic medium and that he - unlike most of his colleagues - did not solely use long shots, but that he included also close ups in his picture stories. Examples can be found in Die Fliege (1861), Der Schnuller (1863), Max und Moritz (1865). Every time he uses the close up for a clear narrative purpose, namely to make some small but important elements bigger: for instance the crushing of an irritating fly under a foot.
So, Busch used close ups long before cinema (Grandma's Reading Glass of 1900 is often acclaimed to have used for the first time a close up in a short film narrative). Nevertheless it would still take a long time before the insertion of such close ups became a regular practice in various comics.
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiU1gqpbyJOR6vUHYKCpmca7LyoMobAlBJHj3zv_zOg-OhfT1OX2EBsTm71hLXnYp-xWlZT6sJEzk4IEzbiomoGlymKLZo6b4h57OGFQaXc89yiVqkTO5x7UUSp8R0UXkySkwBvD_uOjM5E/s320/BuschDieSchmuller003.jpg)
Der Schnuller (1863)
More information and visuals on a website about Wilhelm Busch
Hans Joachim Neyer (ed.), Wilhelm Busch, de la caricature à la DB, Oostkamp: Stichting Kunstboek, 2009.