The Frenchwoman of the Century. Fashions--Manners--Usages

London: John C. Nimmo, 1886. First Edition. Cloth. Very good +. Eugen GAUJEAN, engravings. Publisher's note: 300 copies printed for England and 200 copies for America. Quarto; xxii, 273 [1]pp; stamped violet-blue cloth over board, color illustrated cover, gilt-stamped spine; top edge gilt, others untrimmed; watermarked paper; 10 color engraved plates inserted with tissue guard, including frontispiece, plus other color illustrations in text; light scuff to head and tail of spine and corners, light cover soiling, age-toning of untrimmed edges; very good plus. First edition. A discourse on the French woman's fashions over the 19th century to the present day of publication (1886), and the fashions of her surroundings. Much of the text is lighthearted and some quite humorous. Intriguing chapter names include: Small Talk in the Van, Nymphs and Merveilleuses, Our Goddesses of the Year VIII, The Grand Coquettes of the First Empire, The Mirror of Fashions Under the Restoration, Romantic Elegances, Lionesses and Fasionables, Echoes of Bon Ton and of the Life of Fashion in 1850, Parisian Women Under the Second Empire, and Female Contemporaries.