[Russia] - Lot 224

[Russia] HOUBIGANT (Armand Gustave) Moeurs et costumes des Russes, représentés en 50 planches coloriées, exécutées en lithographie. Paris, Treuttel et Wurtz; Impr. de Firmin Didot, 1821. Small oblong folio, [3] ff. (fx-title, title, warning), 20 pp. (text), 50 plates. Contemporary black Russian half-leather, smooth spine, gilt title, Ecoles de Lille price mark on upper board (binding worn, plates loose, soiling and stains; 2 plates brought from another ex. and shorter margins). Very rare. Beautiful and important suite of 50 lithographed plates by Lasteyrie or Bellangé, finely hand-colored at the time. While much of it is devoted to Russian games and amusements, it also shows various aspects of their daily life in the early 19th century, from picturesque scenes, including costumes, to laborious activities... We see a wedding, a christening, the game of babki, mountains of ice cream (known as "Russian"), a frozen edibles market... Based on compositions by French illustrator A.-G. Houbigant (1790-1863), heir to Grasse perfumer François Houbigant. Some plates bear the author's initials at the bottom of the scenes. Second edition conforms to the first published in 1817. Lipperheide 1352, Colas 1496 (for the 1817 edition).