Le Costume Historique. Cinq Cents Planches:

Trois Cents en Couleur, Or et Argent, Deux Cents en Camaieu.

Types Principaux du Vêtement et de la Parure.

by M. A. Racinet 

First edition, in French, five volumes.  Paris:  Librairie de Firmin-Didot et Cie, 1888  

Hardback is overall in GOOD condition.

• Three-quarter vellum covers with marble paper and gilt ruling. 
• Boards show some wear, smudges, bumps, chips, scuffing, warping, edgewear.  Corners are worn, with exposed board.  See photos.
• Spines are largely missing.  See photos. 
• Bindings are fragile and partially disbound.  Covers are off some volumes; some sheets are loose. 
• Pastedowns and feps are tanned, chipped, and loose, with some moderate foxing and staining.
• Illustrations are bright and clear, plates have marginal age-toning.  
• Interior is gently age-toned, exhibits marginal toning, scattered foxing, some rough edges, edgewear, a few closed tears, chips in the margins. 
• Inside pages are free of writing and intentional marks. 
• Text block edges have shelfwear, are foxed, some edges unopened. 
• PS2025.1112

7 5/8 x 8 5/8 inches

First edition.  Five volumes of this six-volume set (Volume 4 absent) chronicling costume and domestic objects through world history.  Text in French.  Illustrated with ~400 plates in color and duo-tone, some of which are double plates.  Contemporary three-quarter vellum and marble paper boards.  With the exception of Volume I, still intact, bindings are partially disbound, with covers off, some pages loose, and spine strips missing.  Interiors show fragile condition to some text pages with chipping at page edges.  Plates generally Very Good.  Condition overall, accounting for missing Volume IV (Plates 201-300), is Good.

A work of reference by Auguste Racinet (1825-1893) on the history of costume -- civil, religious, and military, -- which also covers the history of jewelry, ornaments, and hairstyles.  Chromolithographic plates are the work of Ambroise-Firmin Didot (1790-1876) and company, and the end product is an encyclopedic resource and fount of artistic inspiration in the fields of fashion and illustration.  Arranged by Nation, region, and period, the work includes a general introduction, index of plates, glossary and bibliography.      

Please see photos. More photos available upon request.

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