Although Jean-Honoré Fragonard was a talented etcher in his own right, he, like most successful painters of his day, relied on highly skilled professional printmakers to reproduce his work in etching and engraving. Indeed, Fragonard knew that the creation and dissemination of these reproductive prints would make his work known throughout Europe. (Not only was The Souvenir advertised for sale in two French journals in 1786 and 1787, but it was also shown in the Paris Salon, a public biennial exhibition held at the Louvre, in 1787.) This impression is an early state of the print that Nicolas Delaunay made before adding lettering at the bottom with the title, a dedication, and his address.