Galerie Francaise de Femmes Célèbres de Louis-Marie Lanté, Pierre de la Mésangère - 1827: par leurs Talens, leur Rang or leur Beauté

Very good copy of one of Louis-Marie Lanté's most popular costume books

First edition from 1827. (It was re-issued in 1832 and 1841.)

Complete with all 70 fine fashion plates of the French women from history known for their talents, rank or beauty

There are queens, princesses, duchesses, mistresses, muses, fictional characters, salon hostesses, maids of honour and even witches from the 13th to the 18th century. The elegant full-length portraits show the rich costumes of the subjects and include armorial gowns, fancy dress costume for a masked ball, opera and ballet costumes, etc.

Among the celebrities are soprano singer Sophie Arnould, ballet dancer La Camargo, writer Madame de Sevigne, Louis XIV's mistresses Duchess de la Valliere and Mlle. de Fontagnes and his queen Maria Theresa of Spain, Mary Stuart of Scotland, Henry VIII's second wife Anne Boleyn, fictional heroine Euriant of Savoy, Petrarch's muse Laure de Noves, famous beauty La Belle Paule, famale scholar nun Heloise d'Argenteuil, royal spy Isabelle de Limeuil, exorcist and witch Leonora Galligai, salon hostess Ninon de l'Enclos, etc.

Biography of the subject of each plate by Pierre de la Mésangère, editor of the long-running Parisian fashion magazine Journal des Dames.

Louis-Marie Lanté, 1789-1871, was a French painter, a pupil of Vaudoyer, and exhibited at the Salons from 1824 to 1838. He was the most prolific artist for Pierre de la Mésangère's famous Journal des Dames et des Modes for which he drew 1,466 fashion plates in watercolor from 1814 to 1829, many engraved by Georges-Jacques Gatine. He also drew suites of regional and historical costume plates including Ouvrieres de Paris 1816-1927, Costumes of Caux 1827, Costumes of Hamburg 1827, etc. All his books are very rare.

Georges-Jacques Gatine, 1773-c.1841, was a French engraver and etcher who specialized in costume plates and worked extensively with Lanté.

The plates include: Hermengarde, Héloïse, Jeanne de Sancerre, Marguerite de Beaujeu, Marguerite de Flandre, Laure de Noves, Laure de Noves (dite la Belle Laure), Anne Dauphine d'Auvergne, Suivante de la Dauphine d'Auvergne, Isabeau de Bavière, 1e Suivante d'Isabeau de Bavière, 2e Suivante d'Isabeau de Bavière, Jacqueline de la Grange, Dame de la famille des Ursins, Euriant (femme du comte de Nevers), Marie d'Anjou, Isabelle d'Ecosse, Marie de Hainaut (femme de Louis Ier), Dame de la cour de René d'Anjou, Michelle de Vitry, Agnès Sorel, Anne de Bretagne, La Reine Claude, Eléonore d'Autriche, Marguerite de Valois, Marguerite de France, Dame de la cour de François Ier, Jeune Personne du temps de François Ier, Françoise de Foix (Comtesse de Châteaubriand), La belle Féronière, Diane de Poitiers, La belle Paule, Louise de Savoie, Marie d'Angleterre, Fille d'honneur de Marie d'Angleterre, Anne de Boulen, Anne de Pisseleu (Duchesse d'Estampes), Catherine de Médicis, Mademoiselle de Limeuil, Elisabeth (fille de Henri II), Marie Stuart, Louise de Lorraine, Marguerite de Lorraine, Marie Touchet, Demoiselle en masque (règne de Henri III), Renée de Rieux Châteauneuf, Lingère (règne de Louis XIII), Marguerite de France, Gabrielle d'Estrees, Eleonore Galigai, Dame de la cour de Henri IV, La Marquise de Verneuil, Charlotte-Marguerite de Montmorency, Marion de Lorme, Ninon de l'Enclos, Marie de Hautefort, La Duchesse de Longueville, Madame de Sevigne, Madame de Grignan, Marie Therese d'Autriche, Mlle. de La Fayette, Mlle. de la Valliere, Madame de Montespan, Mlle. de Fontanges, Madame de Maintenon, La Duchesse de Maine, La Duchesse de Bourgogne, Mlle dOrleans, La Camargo, Sophie Arnould.

Original green cloth binding with gilt title on spine, gilt tooling on boards, cloth fraying along hinges, stained and worn on boards, yellow endpapers, AEG. Some spotting to text pages and tissue guards, but all plates in very good condition with delicate and fresh handcolour, many highlighted with gold, very slight age toning to a few plates.

Provenance in ink on half title: "Ellen M. Gifford 1885. After her death passed to Simeon E. Baldwin of New Haven, (Governor of Connecticut). 1927 at his death passed to his grand daughter Charlotte G. Benfield, Birmingham, Mich."

Very good copy of a rare title.