[Russia]. [ROCKSTUHL (Aloïs Gustav), GILLE (Florent A.)]. [7 - Lot 232

[Russia]. [ROCKSTUHL (Aloïs Gustav), GILLE (Florent A.)]. [78 Lithographs from the Tzarskoe-Selo Museum or Collection of Arms of His Majesty the Emperor of All the Russias"]. [St. Petersburg & Karlsruhe, Velten, ca. 1835-1853]. In-folio (51 x 35 cm.), [10] ff. 78 plates. Contemporary brown half-chagrin with corners, 5-ribbed spine, gilt title and gilt foxing, gilt fillet on boards (slight spotting, corners slightly dulled, some foxing, marginal splits on some plates). Very rare. Designed by Florent A. Gille, curator of the collection and head of the 1st department of the Imperial Hermitage, in collaboration with court painter Aloïs Gustav Rockstuhl (1798-1877), this work was published in only 55 copies. It was the first arms catalog in Russia. A handsome set of the first thirteen issues, comprising 78 lithographed plates in black after compositions by Aloïs Gustav Rockstuhl, accompanied by the first ten issue leaves containing explanations of plates I to LX. Le Musée d'armes rares, anciennes et orientales, de Sa Majesté l'Empereur - Nicolas Ier - is an album presenting weapons and ammunition from the Imperial collection at the Tsarskoye Selo Arsenal. The plates were published in thirty issues of six, between 1835 and 1853. The 78 plates in this copy illustrate weapons and armor from the Imperial collection, including European and Oriental swords and helmets, the armor of Charles the Bold, a German suit of polished steel and an Italian shield, a 16th-century French helmet and an ancient Persian shield. Brunet, II, 1598; Lipperheide 2409; Vinet 2064-2064bis.