Madeleine Vionnet by Kirke, Betty - 1998

City Lights. San Francisco. 1977. FOLIO in Tabloid format. Folded, as issued. 11 issues, complete. (17.7 x 11.4 inches). Very good condition throughout with some very minor rubbing and toning to the edges but still all clean and sound. The set has been very well looked after. Started by Vale with $100 from Lawrence Ferlinghetti and the same amount from Allen Ginsberg, Search & Destroy was a hugely influential recorder of the early Punk scene in America, while also reporting on and interviewing the bands making a name for themselves on the British scene, including Iggy Pop, Blondie, Dead Kennedys, X, Devo, The Ramones, Sex Pistols, The Clash, The Damned, Sham 69, Siouxsie and the Banshees, The Buzzcocks and an article on Vivienne Westwood. Complete sets of the original publications are uncommon.

Very good + copy of the second edition (first with hand-coloured lithographic plates) of Strutt's monumental work on the costume of England, first published with 143 copperplate engravings in 1796.The classic study of English costume illustrated with numerous examples from illuminated manuscripts held in the British Library, the Bodleian, and Harleian collections. Complete with 153 hand-colored plates, 10 more than the first edition, of people, costumes, armour, seals, and everyday objects from the time of the Saxons to the end of the 17th century. With 2 hand-coloured frontispieces, 8 hand-coloured plates of Egyptian, Greek and Roman costumes in the introduction, and 143 hand-coloured lithographic plates of English costume.New improved edition with critical and explanatory notes by James Robinson Planche, Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries. Joseph Strutt (1749-1802) was an English engraver, artist, antiquary and writer famous for his work on the history of English costume and sports. Starting with… Read More

Very good complete copy of this scarce collection of English women's fashions from the 11th to the 19th centuries. With calligraphic and floral frontispiece and 48 mounted hand-coloured lithographs, some heightened with gold, each with caption listing the source of the design, including manuscripts, effigies, tapestries, portraits, prints, literary descriptions, etc. Lacking the list of subscribers, which contained only 171 names, and this must surely have been the extent of the entire issue since copies are extremely scarce.First published in 12 parts, it was published in 1840 in one volume after "obtaining the patronage of the highest rank and best taste in the United Kingdom."The anonymous author, a Lady, had originally collected and drawn the images over a period of more than twenty years without any view to publication. She was however, persuaded to publish in this age of illustrative drawings, as the "Public might not be altogether unwilling to receive them."In half green leather, five raised… Read More

Rare set of 20 parts from the first four series of Leon Sault's fancy-dress or cos-play magazine. Each part (or livraison) with 3 hand-coloured lithographs and 3 lithographs on a particular theme for a total of 118 plates, 58 hand-coloured (missing two plates, Jeune Homme 1:5 and Polonaise 2:5).The designs can be split into allegorical and traditional costumes. Allegorical includes games, the four seasons, the elements (fire, air, snow), winged creatures, fruits and flowers, etc. Traditional includes national costumes of China, Japan, England, Scotland, Scandinavia, Alsace and Brittany as well as French historical costumes from the reign of Henri III, Henri IV, Louis XVI, the French Revolution, Napoleonic, etc.With the popularity of masquerade balls at the court of Empress Eugenie in the Second Empire, demand for unique fancy dress costumes increased. Sault published his fancy dress designs in the magazine L'Art du Travestissements from the 1880s and began selling his unique stage costumes to the… Read More

Complete suite of 380 fashion plates covering six centuries of French costume by the artist Hippolyte Lecomte. With lithographed title page in Volume 1 (Pl. 1), and 379 finely handcoloured plates of French male and female fashion from 1230 to 1820 in three volumes.Volume 1 with plates 1 to 127, 1230 to 1572.Volume 2 with plates 128 to 254, 1572 to 1723.Volume 3 with plates 255 to 380, 1723 to 1820.First Italian edition with the plates newly lithographed by Lorenzo Bianchi and Domenico Cuciniello. The handcolouring is regarded as superior to the original French edition Costumes civils et militaires de la monarchie française, Delpech, Paris 1820. This extensive and important collection testifies to the keen interest in the history of the kingdom of France during the period of the Bourbon Restoration. The plates document the history of French clothes from about 1230 to 1820. Civilian clothes of all social classes are shown together with military uniforms, starting with medieval crusaders in armour and… Read More

Very good + copy of the second edition (first with hand-coloured lithographic plates) of Strutt's monumental work on the costume of England, first published with 143 copperplate engravings in 1796.The classic study of English costume illustrated with numerous examples from illuminated manuscripts held in the British Library, the Bodleian, and Harleian collections. Complete with 153 hand-colored plates, 10 more than the first edition, of people, costumes, armour, seals, and everyday objects from the time of the Saxons to the end of the 17th century. With 2 hand-coloured frontispieces, 8 hand-coloured plates of Egyptian, Greek and Roman costumes in the introduction, and 143 hand-coloured lithographic plates of English costume.New improved edition with critical and explanatory notes by James Robinson Planche, Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries. Joseph Strutt (1749-1802) was an English engraver, artist, antiquary and writer famous for his work on the history of English costume and sports. Starting with… Read More

Very good complete copy of this scarce collection of English women's fashions from the 11th to the 19th centuries. With calligraphic and floral frontispiece and 48 mounted hand-coloured lithographs, some heightened with gold, each with caption listing the source of the design, including manuscripts, effigies, tapestries, portraits, prints, literary descriptions, etc. Lacking the list of subscribers, which contained only 171 names, and this must surely have been the extent of the entire issue since copies are extremely scarce.First published in 12 parts, it was published in 1840 in one volume after "obtaining the patronage of the highest rank and best taste in the United Kingdom."The anonymous author, a Lady, had originally collected and drawn the images over a period of more than twenty years without any view to publication. She was however, persuaded to publish in this age of illustrative drawings, as the "Public might not be altogether unwilling to receive them."In half green leather, five raised… Read More

Rare set of 20 parts from the first four series of Leon Sault's fancy-dress or cos-play magazine. Each part (or livraison) with 3 hand-coloured lithographs and 3 lithographs on a particular theme for a total of 118 plates, 58 hand-coloured (missing two plates, Jeune Homme 1:5 and Polonaise 2:5).The designs can be split into allegorical and traditional costumes. Allegorical includes games, the four seasons, the elements (fire, air, snow), winged creatures, fruits and flowers, etc. Traditional includes national costumes of China, Japan, England, Scotland, Scandinavia, Alsace and Brittany as well as French historical costumes from the reign of Henri III, Henri IV, Louis XVI, the French Revolution, Napoleonic, etc.With the popularity of masquerade balls at the court of Empress Eugenie in the Second Empire, demand for unique fancy dress costumes increased. Sault published his fancy dress designs in the magazine L'Art du Travestissements from the 1880s and began selling his unique stage costumes to the… Read More

Suite of 109 fine plates illustrating native costumes from around the world, copied from 18th century travel books.All copperplates within gold-lined frames under tissue guards, engraved by J. Laroque after a design by Jacques Grasset de Saint-Sauveur. This is an early prospectus with 36 parts and 109 plates showing samples from all volumes of the proposed set: Europe, Africa, Asia and the Americas. The prospectus or "Programme et Plan de l'Ouvrage" appears at the front, and the title page midway through the volume. The complete set was to comprise 48 parts with six plates each in four volumes (288 plates) beginning from 1 August 1792. It was eventually published in 1795-96 in Paris and included some 433 plates in four volumes.The literary part was to be written by Jean-Francois Cornu. The images were copied from 18th century travel books, most notably Captain James Cook's Voyages. There is an element of charming fantasy about many of the images along with the remarkably accurate details. The dancing… Read More

Complete suite of 380 fashion plates covering six centuries of French costume by the artist Hippolyte Lecomte. With lithographed title page in Volume 1 (Pl. 1), and 379 finely handcoloured plates of French male and female fashion from 1230 to 1820 in three volumes.Volume 1 with plates 1 to 127, 1230 to 1572.Volume 2 with plates 128 to 254, 1572 to 1723.Volume 3 with plates 255 to 380, 1723 to 1820.First Italian edition with the plates newly lithographed by Lorenzo Bianchi and Domenico Cuciniello. The handcolouring is regarded as superior to the original French edition Costumes civils et militaires de la monarchie française, Delpech, Paris 1820. This extensive and important collection testifies to the keen interest in the history of the kingdom of France during the period of the Bourbon Restoration. The plates document the history of French clothes from about 1230 to 1820. Civilian clothes of all social classes are shown together with military uniforms, starting with medieval crusaders in armour and… Read More