Description:
A rare suite of all 30 plates in both hand-coloured and uncoloured states.Total of 91 etchings: 1 set of 30 hand-coloured plates and 2 sets of 30 uncoloured plates, plus portrait of Sardou.The etchings by A. Guillaumot Fils (Auguste Etienne Guillaumot Jr.) were made from theatrical costume designs by Eugene Lacoste and Draner for productions of the comic opera Les Merveilleuses (The Lady Dandies) (1873) by Sardou. The costumes were based on contemporary prints from the Revolutionary era.Suites of the second edition with 30 etched plates, following the first with only 20 plates in 1874. The Merveilleuses is set in Revolutionary France during the period of the Directoire, 1789-1804, where Royalist Parisian society is led by the Incroyables and Muscadins, ridiculous fops and dandies, and Merveilleuses, outrageous women wearing classical Roman- and Greek-inspired robes in see-through fabrics. Title page in black and red, 2pp preface, table of plates, 2pp letter by Victorien Sardou, 12pp description of… Read More