Charles Philipon was one of the most important French press barons of the early 19th century, as well as being a brilliant caricaturist. In his biographical note for Nadar's Pantheon, he boasted ,"I drove my team grandly - lithography and engraving, albums and illustrated books, newspapers and prints. I sold picture books by the hundreds of thousands, albums by the million, prints by the billion; thus promoting a taste for drawing, popularizing Parisian arts and making French artits into household names..." (NAF 24281 fol. 370).
He founded in chronological order, La Caricature, Le Charivari, and Le Journal pour rire, which Nadar joined in May, 1849, then Le Journal Amusant and Le Petit Journal pour rire which Nadar was put in chrage of in 1855. As a journalist, Nadar also wrote the "Story of the Month" column in Le Musée Français-Anglais, which was launched that same year. A skilful talent scout, Philipon came up with the title of a long, flattering article about the inauguration of Nadar's Boulevard des Capucines studio: "Nadar the Great." Nadar appreciated him greatly, both for his flair for media and for his good nature.
Upon his death, Nadar wrote a long piece, whose last line is heavy with meaning: "Ch. Philipon died of hypertrophy of the heart. His heart was too big, the doctors said. They were right."