RARUS'S GALLERY

Costumes Russes. Musee cosmopolite et Musee de costumes [Suites de planches de costumes des differentes nations modernes publiees. Costumes Russes]. 37 hand-colored plts. Tous ces costumes sont dessines par P. Comba d’apres nature, graves sur acier par les premiers graveurs, et colories a l’aquarelle retouchee. Ils sont imprimes sur beau papier velin dans un format qui permet de les joindre aux beaux ouvrages de librairie. Сюита «Русские костюмы» из 37 раскрашенных от руки в издательстве Aubert литографий, как независимая, отдельная часть, входящая во всемирноизвестные серии костюмов разных наций: Musee cosmopolite и Musee de costumes [Galerie Royale de Costumes] на толстой веленевой бумаге. Сюита издавалась без титульного листа. Paris, chez Aubert, 1842-1863. В красном шагреневом переплете с тиснением золотом на крышках и корешке. Инкрустации из разных цветов кожи, бордюры, муаровые форзацы, обрез — «художественный крап». Формат: 27x21 см. Произведение переплетного искусства. Very fine copy!

The invention of lithography at the end of the eighteenth century led to its widespread use by publishers beginning in the 1830-s. Aubert, in Paris, was one of many nineteenth-century firms employing this media to supply an eager public with inexpensive images of travels, fashions, politics and topical events. A print from 1833 shows the storefront of Aubert Editeur surrounded by men and women viewing the crowded arrangement of images on display. Aubert published magazines as well as albums of individual prints related by theme. Fashion illustrations and costumes from around the world were part of his repertoire. This group of prints [Series of engraved plates depicting the costumes of the world] is from two of the firm's publications, Musée Cosmopolite and Published from 1842 to 1848, Galerie Royale de Costumes included over 250 lithographs of people wearing regional dress. Musée Cosmopolite was published from 1850 to 1863 and included according to Colas 468 engravings of costumes from North Africa, Russia, America and various European countries. Beautiful set of coloured engraved costume plates, depicting costumes from all over the world. The plates were published separately. On top the name of the country is printed, together with the series number, on the bottom is printed Musée cosmopolite followed by a publication number. The plates are engraved after the designs of several artists: Algiers: Compte Calix, d'Hastrel, Camino, etc.; Germany: Sharles, Girardet, Leleux and Belin; America: d'Hastrel, etc.; Belgium and Holland: Verveer; Spain and Portugal: Valentin, Blanchard, Belin, etc.; France: Compte Calix, Laurens, Maurice, etc.; Italy: Compte Calix, Pingret, Lafon, etc.; Russia: Comba, etc.; Sweden, Norway, Denmark: Verveer; Switzerland and Tirol: Sharles, Girardet, Leleux and Belin; Turkey, Egypt, Greece: Girardet, Laurens, Garin, etc. The engravers were Portier, Guerdet, Geoffroy, Ferdinand and Lallemand. Many of the plates were also published in the Galerie royale de costumes, with the same publisher.

Each image was sold separately and sheets from different regions were put together into albums without any accompanying text. These publications served as encyclopedic albums of costume; the illustrations of Costumes Russes account for only a small fraction of the peoples represented. The images of Russian peoples present the characteristic features of their dress, particularly women's and children's headdresses, within the context of established fashion illustration poses. Stylistically these prints differ little from the illustrations of fashionable Parisian clothes that Aubert was also publishing at the same time.

Аналогичный экземпляр в переплете работы А. Шнеля описан под №66 в Антикварном каталоге Акционерного о-ва «Международная книга». Ленинград. Собрание редких и ценных изданий из библиотеки Максима Екимовича Синицына. Л., 1930, 28 стр., 8 л.л. илл. Choix de Beaux livres provenant de la bibliotheque de M. S… «Mejdounarodnaya kniga», section des livres anciens, Leningrad, 1930. Lipperheide 68; Colas 2161.