One of the first 50 copies on Japanese paper (no. 20), with an original signed watercolor.
Henri Bouchot (1849–1906), art historian, historian and curator, was one of the great figures of the Cabinet des Estampes at the Bibliothèque nationale, where he served successively as librarian and then curator. He notably produced a Guide du lecteur et du visiteur du Cabinet des Estampes de la Bibliothèque Nationale, published in 1895, which remains, despite the profound transformations of the collections and research tools since, an essential landmark in the history of the department and its scholarly use.
With L’Épopée du costume militaire, Bouchot put his erudition at the service of a subject where history, iconography and national memory converge. The work, illustrated by Job, unfolds a vast panorama of the French military uniform, in which Job’s watercolors draw notably on contemporary sketches brought back by Bouchot himself from the Army of the Vosges, in which he had served.
A fine copy.
Rubbing to the covers and corners.