LANTÉ (Louis-Marie) - GATINE (Georges-Jacques) - LA MÉSANGÈR - Lot 64

LANTÉ (Louis-Marie) - GATINE (Georges-Jacques) - LA MÉSANGÈRE (Pierre de). Galerie française de femmes célèbres par leurs talens, leur rang ou leur beauté. Paris: L'éditeur, 1827. - In-folio, 331 x 246 : (73 ff.), 70 plates. Half dark green long-grained morocco with corners, gilt fillet, ornate spine with false nerves (early 20th century binding). Brunet, III, col. 795. - Vicaire, III, col. 854 and IV, col. 1362. - Colas, no. 1765. - Lipperheide, no. 1077. First edition and first print run of this magnificent gallery of famous women from the 12th to 18th centuries, from Hermengarde, daughter of the Count of Anjou, to Sophie Arnould in the opera Pyrame et Thisbé. It comprises 70 plates featuring full-length portraits of each of these women, engraved on copper by Gatine and carefully colored after drawings by Lanté. Each engraving is accompanied by a short note written by Pierre de La Mésangère (1761-1831), a worldly abbé turned elegant jack-of-all-trades, who was editor of the Journal des dames et des modes for thirty years. A fine, well-established copy from the early 20th century. Spine lightly lightened, small split on one spine, a few freckles on the plates, traces of a leaf and a paper clip on the false title.