Color Aquatint Engravings of Comparative Races of the World & Female National Costumes
New Zealanders, Esquimaux, Pacific Islanders, and California Indian
Rare set of 5 separately published comparative charts, published in Paris in about 1840. Especially notable are the two beautiful color aquatint comparative views of peoples from various countries (Races et des Costumes), one of which focuses on female dress (Tableau des Femmes). The first includes substantial groups of people from Oceania and America. These include New Hollanders, New Zealanders, Sandwich Islanders, also representatives from Polynesia: Nuku Hiva (heavily tatooed warrior), Celebes (Sulawesi), Vaigou (Waigeo), and the Caroline Islands. In America: Esquimaux, Sioux, Plains Indian, Californian Indian (wearing an unlikely tailored purple velvet suit), Greenlander, Osage, Charruas, Paraguayan, Chilean, Patagonian and Mexican. Extensive text in French beneath the images.
The Tableau des Femmes "of the five corners of the world," likewise includes good representation from Oceania and America, including: Sandwich Islander, Caroline Islander, Guamanian, New Caledonian, Pitcairn Islander, Javanaise, Brazilian, a woman from Buenos Aires (Mendoza), and more.
A highly unusual set which combines the work of several publishers, covering diverse topics including the heights of marvels of nature, comparative sizes of highest mountains and longest rivers, comparative heights of the tallest buildings and monuments, and 2 comparative views showing the diverse costumes of different ethnic groups and people from around the world, one of which is devoted to female dress, as described above.
The set includes:
- Tableau Pittoresque Des Merveilles De La Nature Par Perrot, Ingenieur Geographe (Basset)
- Tableau Comparatif De La Hauteur Des Montagnes de la longuer du Cours des Fleuves et de l'Elevation des Principales Chutes d'Eau Dans Les Cinq Parties Du Monde (Monin)
- Tableau comparatif de la Hauteur des Principaux Monuments (Perrot)
- Tableau Comparatif des Races et des Costumes des Principaux des Cinq Parties du Monde (Perrot/Basset)
- Tableau Comparatif des Femmes des Cinq Parties du Monde... et Leurs Costumes Nationaux (Basset)
Rarity
While the individual plates appear occasionally on the market and single examples (or the pair of costume plates) periodically appear in larger atlases, we have never seen an example of all 5 of these maps bound into a single volume or as a set of 5.
Perrot was an engineer and mapmaker.
In 1834, Perrot and French artist, zoologist and entomologist Émile Blanchard Nouveau Manuel complet du coloriste, ou Instruction simplifiée et élémentaire pour l'enluminure, le lavis et la retouche des gravures, images, lithographies, planches d'histoire naturelle, cartes géographiques, peinture orientale, plans topographiques, contenant la description des instruments et ustensiles propres au coloriste, la composition, les qualités, le mélange et l'emploi des couleurs et les différents travaux d'enluminure. This work, published in the compact format of Librairie Encyclopédique Roret of Paris, appears to be directed toward people in charge of print and map coloring studios as well as professional colorists, since the content of the work is relatively technical, generally involving the mixing of colors, and the determination of precisely which color to use in coloring specific prints and maps and book illustrations.