[UNIFORMS OF THE KINGDOM OF THE TWO SICILES]. Armata di terra e di mare di S. M. il Re delle Due Sicilie Francesco I. S.l., 1830. - Fort in-8, 250 x 180 : 444 plates. Ivory moiré silk, wide gilded rocaille frame on boards with red velvet pieces, gilded arms mosaiced in red, blue and white between boards, smooth spine adorned with a crown and three gilded fleurs-de-lys, ivory moiré silk lining framed by a double gilt fillet with small fleur-de-lys spandrels, crowned numeral in center, vellum endpapers, gilt edges, red morocco flap folder and slipcase (period binding, modern folder and slipcase). Superb and unique collection of army uniforms for the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies, produced for King Francis I (1777-1830). The volume comprises 444 original watercolors, some enhanced with gold or silver, depicting the uniforms of the army and navy of the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies during the reign of Francis I (1825-1830). They depict full-length, front or back views of officers and soldiers in various types of uniforms: ordinary, large, winter, summer, etc. They include a title plate, an ensign plate and six accessory plates. A number of figures were later captioned in pencil. Some leaves are stamped on the reverse with the inscription "Commissario di Guerra - Diodati". Giambattista Diodati had taken part in the Napoleonic campaigns of 1813-1815. He served until 1848, when he was appointed Commissario di Guerra, and was awarded the St. Helena Medal in the 1860s. Extraordinary binding produced for the king in the year of his death. The boards of the binding bear the Bourbon-Sicilian coat of arms, and the lining the crowned numeral F; the title page and first leaf are adorned with the cross of the Constantinian Sacred and Military Order of St. George, whose Grand Master was the King of Naples. Son of King Ferdinand I and Marie-Caroline of Austria, Francis of the Two Sicilies (1777-Naples, 1830) twice held the government of the state with the title of vicar general (alter ego). First in 1812, when Lord William Bentinck imposed an English constitution on Sicily, and again in 1820, during the uprising in Naples and Palermo. On his father's death in 1825, he ascended the throne at the age of 48, but reigned for only five years. Popular because he had professed liberal ideas as Crown Prince, he nonetheless pursued a conservative policy. From the Gustave de Ridder collection, inscribed in ink "Pour Mr. D. G. de Ridder" on a paper mounted at the head. A Paris notary, Gustave de Ridder (1861-1945) amassed an impressive collection devoted to the history of military costume. He bequeathed most of it to the Cabinet des Estampes de la Bibliothèque Nationale, including some 3,200 collections previously unavailable. An exceptional and unique copy in a luxurious moiré silk binding, very well preserved. Provenance : François I. - Gustave de Ridder.