81 - [COSTUMES] BRIDGENS, Richard. Sketches Illustrative of the Manners and Costumes of France, Switzerland, and Italy.

[COSTUMES] BRIDGENS, Richard. Sketches Illustrative of the Manners and Costumes of France, Switzerland, and Italy. First edition and first printing of this superb album of 50 finely hand-colored plates. A copy with fine American provenance and one of the most charming collections of picturesque costumes from the early 19th century. London, Baldwin, Gradock & Joy, 1821. In-4 (255 x 325 mm), mahogany half-maroquin with corner pieces, smooth spine decorated with gold and silver fillets, black leather title label. Unpaginated (approximately 100 pages), 1 black title vignette, 50 plates—including one fold-out and the illustrated title page—engraved on copper and hand-colored. In English. Spine re-bound and corners restored; covers rubbed; some foxing and slight fading from the plates. First edition and first printing of the 50 copper-engraved and hand-colored plates. The English architect and illustrator Richard Bridgens (1785–1846) captured on the spot the local customs, small trades, and traditional attire he encountered during his travels through Europe. His engravings paint a vivid portrait of France (a pilot from Dieppe, Parisian lemonade and flower vendors), Switzerland, and especially Italy (street scenes, Roman trades, a carnival scene, and the large fold-out plate depicting a funeral procession). Six plates feature 33 types of local headdresses and hairstyles. One amusing plate illustrates the typically Italian “speaking with one’s hands.” The accompanying explanatory notes are attributed to John William Polidori (1795–1821), Lord Byron’s famous physician and an author considered the father of the vampire story (*The Vampyre*, 1819). Engraved bookplates by American bibliophiles John Nolty (1851–1930), a New York printer and president of the Evening Post, and Bernardine Murphy (1904–1968), a philanthropist and papal countess; another bookplate on the inside back cover, depicting a Cupid holding a bunch of grapes with the monogram “K.F.” stamped on a red faux-leather octagon. A charming copy.