14 - Military UNIFORMS. MONTIGNY (by). Military Uniforms, featuring intaglio engravings of the uniforms of the King’s Household and all the regiments of France, as well as the flags, standards, and pennants, along with the dates of their creation and various illustrations of drills for both the cavalry and the infantry. Drawn and engraved by Sieur de Montigny. Paris: published by the author, 1772. 12mo, marbled calfskin, decorated spine, gilt edges. (19th-century binding, in the style of the time).

Military UNIFORMS. MONTIGNY (by). Military Uniforms, featuring intaglio engravings of the uniforms of the King’s Household and all the regiments of France, as well as the flags, standards, and pennants, along with the dates of their creation and various illustrations of drills for both the cavalry and the infantry. Drawn and engraved by Sieur de Montigny. Paris: published by the author, 1772. 12mo, marbled calfskin, decorated spine, gilt edges. (19th-century binding, in the style of the time). A precious collection of the uniforms of Louis XV’s armies in period colors. First edition of this “very beautiful, extremely rare, and complete set” (Colas), drawn and engraved with a burin by Claude-Antoine Littret de Montigny (1735–1775). A second edition was published by Chéreau in 1773. Entirely engraved, the work consists of a title page, 2 folios of preface, 2 folios of table of contents, and 175 plates, including four equestrian portraits of the king and his grandsons, 170 numbered plates of uniforms (two of which bear the number 140), and one unnumbered plate on vexillology. Each plate includes a caption describing the uniform, the regimental standard, or the regimental equipment, along with its date of creation. One of the copies in which the title page and the plates—mounted on tabs—were colored and highlighted with gouache at the time. A label pasted to the title page indicates the price of the work in uncolored, colored, or bound editions. This volume is also a treatise on fencing and horsemanship, as the author took care to include in his plates the principal movements used in these two disciplines. A fine, high-quality copy (despite slight foxing on 3 pages). Very rare in such fine condition. Colas, no. 2137 Glasser, 331–333 Lipperheide, no. 2298 Vinet, no. 2238 Cohen, 735 Brunet, III, 1867.