44 - Wilhelm HESSEN, attributed to.

Wilhelm HESSEN, attributed to. “Uniforms of the Various Troops of the French Republic, circa 1792.” Small quarto, 14 finely engraved plates, gouache-painted, mounted on greenish-colored mat boards and housed in a slipcase Each gouache-painted plate is highlighted with silver and gold. Included as a supplement is a copy of Plate No. 1 from the copy previously in the Brunon collection. Ex-libris from the Marcel Lecomte Library B.E. History: This series appears to have been originally published in Germany. It is listed neither in Glasser’s catalog nor in Colas’s. An identical copy was in the Raoul and Jean Brunon collection, but with captions in German and Plate No. 1—which is missing here—depicting a general in a Royal Army uniform but wearing republican insignia (a tricolor cockade, sash, and tassel). A series of a similar style, consisting of 9 plates and dated 1797—but featuring two figures per plate starting with No. 2 and some different subjects (the Vendée Legion, the gendarmerie)—is held at the Staatsbibliothek in Berlin. It is signed by Wilhelm Hessen, which allows us to attribute our copy to this author.