Fancy Ball Dress -

London: Printed by Englemann, Hullmandel or Lefevre for W. Spooner, 1831. Mansion's Fancy Ball Dress Complete with Thirty Magnificent Hand Colored Lithographs of the Highest Quality Depicting the Costumes of Europe and Russia MANSION, aka André Léon Larue. [Fancy Ball Dress]. [London: W. Spooner, 1831-32]. First edition. Large folio (18 3/8 x 12 3/8 inches; 467 x 314 mm. Image size 10 1/8 x 8 inches; 258 x 203 mm.). Thirty magnificent hand colored lithograph plates, all heightened with gum arabic, depicting the regional costumes of Europe. The plates were variously printed by Engelmann & Co., C. Hullmandel, Lefevre & Co., and Meifred, Lemercier & Co. All plates mounted on heavy gray paper and captioned in manuscript. All plates with tissue guards. First plate with small offset from leather bookplate, some light marginal foxing, generally not touching the images. Bound ca. 1835 in three-quarter maroon morocco over marbled boards, ruled in gilt. Front cover with rectangular maroon morocco label decoratively bordered and lettered in gilt. Spine with five shallow raised bands decoratively tooled in gilt, marbled endpapers. With the small leather bookplate of French genealogist Gustave Chaix d'Est-Ange (1863-1923) on first blank leaf and his small circular acquisition label dated "12-12-36" on final blank leaf. A superb example of this exceedingly rare and very beautiful costume book. According to Hiler twenty-seven of the color lithographs are by Mansion, one by R.W. Buss, & two are unsigned. These magnificent plates show the costumes of Europe and Russia, but particularly beautiful are those of some of the Cantons of Switzerland. André Léon Larue aka Mansion (1785-1834) was a French Nineteenth Century Artist who is well known for his Costumes of the Royal Navy & Marines (1831-1833), Officers of the British Army (1833-1836), Fancy Ball Dress (1831-1832) and Letters upon the Art of Miniature Painting (1823). Rare: OCLC & KVK locate just one copy in libraries and institutions worldwide: Harvard University Library (MA, US). This exceptionally rare suite of plates when issued, was reviewed by The Spectator where it was described as following on from a series of superb costumes "entitled "Fancy Ball Dresses," of which we have had occasion to speak in terms of admiration, and with whose style most of our readers are familiar, having seen the plates in the prire shop windows for these few months past. The same clever artist (who is a Frenchman, by the way) has commenced a new series of female costumes, denominated "National Ball Costumes," which are got up in the same splendid style of colouring, and are equally distinguished for richness of effect and costliness of materials and ornament. (The Spectator. 3rd December 1831, pp. 20-21). The Plates: 1. Ragusa (L.M.) 2. France Loire Interieure (L. Mansion) 3. North Holland (L. Mansion) 4. Illyrian (L. Mansion) 5. Poland (L. Mansion) 6. Alps (L. Mansion) 7. Spain Catalonia (L. Mansion) 8. Neapolitan (L. Mansion) 9. Saxony (L. Mansion) 10. Tyrolian (L. Mansion 1831) 11. Upper Carniola (L. Mansion 1831) 12. France Provence (L. Mansion) 13. Caucasus (L. Mansion) 14. Greece (L. Mansion) 15. Archangel Russia (L. Mansion) 16. Hungary_Nograd (L. Mansion) 17. Switzerland - Canton of Lucerne 18. Grecian Archipelago; Milo 19. Hungarian (L. Mansion) 20. Wallachia (L. Mansion) 21. Villa Badissia Naples Province de Matera (L. Mansion 1832) 22. Spain - Murcia (L. Mansion 1832) 23. Finland (L. Mansion) 24. Asiatic Turkey Diarbekir (L. Mansion) 25. Russia Novgorod (L. Mansion) 26. Corfu (L. Mansion) 27. Tartary _Tchouvache (L. Mansion) 28. Spain - Madrid (L. Mansion) 29. Tyrol_ Zillerthal (L. Mansion) 30. Persia (L. Mansion) Bobins II, 489; Hiler, p. 567; Not in Colas or Lipperheide.