[A fine set of the Costumes of China, Austria, Great Britain, the Russian Empire and Turkey, including the Punishments of China and the Military Costume of Turkey, all being the very rare deluxe issue with the backgrounds of each plate fully coloured] by [COSTUMES] - Octavien DALVIMART (1770-1854); Thomas Charles WAGEMAN (1787-1863); Antoine Francois Bertrand DE MOLEVILLE (1746-1818); William Henry PYNE (1769-1843); William ALEXANDER (1767-1816); George Henry MASON (1770-1851) - 1819

London: For William Miller by Bulmer [but Thomas McLean], 1819. 7 volumes, imperial quarto. (14 1/4 x 10 inches). 358 hand-coloured etched, stipple engraved and aquatint plates (including three illustrated titles), with the backgrounds entirely in watercolour. Titles and text in English and French. Contemporary uniform navy blue straight-grain morocco, covers elaborately blocked and tooled in blind and gilt, spines with semi-raised wide bands in six compartments, lettered in gilt in the second and fourth, the others with a repeat decoration in gilt, edges gilt

Very rare complete set of the deluxe issue, with the added watercolour backgrounds to each plate, in a beautiful contemporary binding.

The set comprises the following volumes: 1) Octavien Dalvimart. The Costume of Turkey. London: Printed for William Miller... by William Bulmer and Co., 1804. Title and text in English and French. Illustrated title with hand-coloured vignette, 60 hand-coloured plates. 2) Thomas Charles Wageman. The Military Costume of Turkey. London: Thomas McLean, 1818. Illustrated title with hand-coloured vignette, hand-coloured frontispiece and 29 hand-coloured plates. 3) Antoine Francois Bertrand de Moleville. The Costume of the Hereditary States of the House of Austria. London: Printed for William Miller... by William Bulmer and Co., 1804. Title and text in English and French. 50 hand-coloured plates. 4) William Henry Pyne. The Costume of Great Britain. London: Printed for William Miller... by William Bulmer and Co., 1808. Illustrated title with hand-coloured vignette, 60 hand-coloured plates. 5) William Alexander. Costume of the Russian Empire. London: Printed for William Miller... by William Bulmer and Co., 1804. Title and text in English and French. 73 hand-coloured plates. 6) George Henry Mason. Costume of China. London: Printed for William Miller... by William Bulmer and Co., 1804. Title and text in English and French. 60 hand-coloured plates. 7) George Henry Mason. Punishments of China. London: Printed for William Miller... by William Bulmer and Co., 1804. Title and text in English and French. 22 hand-coloured plates. Although maintaining the William Miller imprints on the titles, this set was published by Thomas McLean, who had acquired William Miller's original plates in 1818 from publisher John Murray (who had taken over Miller's premises and stock in 1812). A printed note inserted into some extant examples of McLean's 1818 Military Costume of Turkey advertise remaining copies of Miller's original work. It is believed that McLean's successful sale of these remaining copies prompted him to re-issue the full set of seven volumes in 1819 or 1820, as here. See Abbey, Travel 373 and 533 for a lengthy discussion of the publication history of McLean's issue. However, the existence of this deluxe issue with fully coloured backgrounds is unknown to bibliographers, including Lowndes, Allibone, Abbey, Colas, Lipperheide, Tooley, etc. The present deluxe issue, on thick paper, include much more detailed and beautiful hand colouring than the regular issue, and with added contemporary watercolour backgrounds behind the hand-coloured stipple-engraved figures, and with ink rules around each plate. The landscapes and interiors, not found on the regular issue, are all carefully executed with evident care taken to ensure that colouring, architecture and general ambiance is appropriate for the subject of each plate. Such deluxe editions are believed to have been done by the publisher for presentation; that we have been unable to locate contemporary advertisements for this issue being offered for sale would seem to support that theory. This extraordinary set with provenance to John Allnutt, a wealthy Clapham wine merchant, whose noted art collection was sold by Christie Manson and Woods in 1863. The only comparable set we have found on the market, with fully coloured plates and in a contemporary binding, was the Atabey set, selling for £10,755 in 2002.

Dalvimart: Abbey, Travel 370; Blackmer 444; Colas 782; Wageman: Abbey, Travel 373; Blackmer 1125; Colas 2059; Abbey, Travel 71; Colas 2112; Tooley 333; Pyne: Abbey, Life 430; Colas 2447; Tooley 388; Alexander: Abbey, Travel 245; Colas 702; Mason Costume: Abbey, Travel 533; Colas 2009; Tooley 320; Mason Punishments: Abbey, Travel 532; Colas 2010; Atabey 314;.