Maurice SAND (1823-1889). Approx. 3,990 original drawings wi - Lot 53

Maurice SAND (1823-1889). Approx. 3,990 original drawings with autograph captions for a History of Costume; most in graphite, some in pen, and 275 watercolors, on tracing paper in various sizes (from approx. 7 x 5 cm to 24 x 17 cm), pasted into 90 bound 27 x 19.5 cm notebooks, arranged in 23 folders, in 5 heavy cloth folders, green nubuck spine. Important unpublished set of drawings for a project on the History of Costume from Antiquity to the 19th century. Maurice Sand worked on this gigantic project for several years, until 1883, six years before his death. He was able to use these drawings to create costumes for the theater in Nohant, and to illustrate his mother's works. This work was never published. In Masques et Bouffons (1860), he supplied drawings of costumes for the Comédie italienne, some of which are shown here. On the covers of each folder, Maurice Sand meticulously drew up a detailed chronology of the periods concerned. Each drawing is carefully captioned. Maurice Sand has sometimes added explanatory notes. I. - Egypt. Chaldea, Assyria. Phoenicia. Persia. Greece, Greek colonies, Etruria and Rome. 8 notebooks, approx. 380 drawings (including 28 watercolors). - Roman Empire. Persia. Scythia. 5 notebooks, 1st to 5th centuries, approx. 215 drawings. - Merovingian period from 490 to 752. 3 notebooks from the 5th to 8th centuries, 30 drawings. - Feudal times from 888 to 1090, 4 notebooks from the 9th to 12th centuries, approx. 170 drawings (including 18 watercolors, and 6 after the frescoes at Nohant and Vic).II. - 13th century. 3 notebooks, 118 drawings (including 17 watercolors). - 1st half of 14th century. 4 notebooks, 73 drawings (6 watercolors). - 2nd half of 14th century. 5 notebooks, approx. 160 drawings (20 watercolors). - 15th century. 3 notebooks, approx. 147 drawings (6 watercolors). - 15th century (continued). 2 notebooks, approx. 110 drawings (16 watercolors). - 15th century (continuation and end). 3 notebooks, approx. 104 drawings (25 watercolors). III. - Sixteenth century. Renaissance. 5 notebooks, approx. 198 drawings (67 watercolors, some watercolors after the "Tapisseries de Boussac" [Lady with Unicorn]). - 16th century (continued). 2 notebooks, 86 drawings (5 watercolors). - 16th century (continued). 9 notebooks, approx. 295 drawings (8 watercolors). IV. - XVIIth century (continued). Louis XIII. 1 notebook, 48 drawings. - XVIIth century (continued). Louis XIV. 5 notebooks, approx. 180 drawings (4 watercolors). - 18th century. Louis XV. 2 notebooks, 48 drawings (one watercolored). - 18th century. Louis XVI. 5 notebooks, approx. 290 drawings (6 watercolors, including one "harpsichord at Nohant"). - Eighteenth century (continued). Revolution. 3 notebooks, approx. 104 drawings (5 watercolors). V. - Nineteenth century. Consulate. Empire. 3 notebooks, approx. 240 drawings (9 watercolors). - XIXth century (continued). Restoration. 2 notebooks, approx. 165 drawings (6 watercolors). - XIXth century (continued). Louis-Philippe. 4 notebooks, approx. 295 drawings, including Lola Montès, Deburau, a Saint-Simonian, etc. (26 watercolors, including the Ioway Indians in Paris in 1845). - 19th century (continued). 1848, Napoleon III. 5 notebooks, approx. 430 drawings, including Émile de Girardin (10 watercolors). - 19th century (continued). 1870-1876... 4 notebooks, approx. 105 drawings, including Thiers (2 watercolors), the last dated 1883. Provenance: Maurice Sand; his daughter Aurore Sand; sale De Maurice de Saxe à George Sand, Me Georges Blache, Hôtel Rameau, Versailles, December 11, 1963, no. 80.