[PEAKE (Richard Brinsley)]. - Lot 86

[PEAKE (Richard Brinsley)]. Costume caractéristique de France; d'après des des desseins faits par un artiste dernièrement revenu du continent; avec des descriptions appropriées. - The Characteristic costume of France; from drawings made on the spot, with appropriate descriptions. London: William Fearman, 1819. - In-4, 299 x 233: viii, 37 pp, (3 ff. last blank), 19 plates. Long-grained red half-maroquin with corners, gilt fillets, ornate spine, untrimmed (V. Champs). Colas, 2297. Second edition, the first bilingual French-English edition, of this beautiful costume book featuring 19 color aquatints out of text depicting various popular scenes: Landing of English travelers at Calais. - Dieppe fishermen and fishwives. - La Diligence parisienne. - Introduction to a French inn. - A group in Calais. - Peasants in Abbeville. - Figures in St Denis. - Itinerants on the Boulevards. - The grimactor. - Inside a café. - Parisian strollers. - A street in Paris. - Palais Royal. - A game table. - A street in Paris. - The catacombs. The morgue. - A view of a market. A tour of Versailles. These engravings first appeared in 1816. They were engraved in aquatint by Robert Havell from drawings by playwright Richard Brinsley Peake (1792-1847). Contrary to Colas' statement, all plates bear the date 1819. A very fine copy bound by Victor Champs. Some wear to binding, one corner slightly dulled.