Armée Russe

Luxurious hand coloured edition of this monumental record of all Russian army uniforms. A fresh example of a work which very rarely appears on the market.

This extensive work on the Russian military was sold for 125 Francs on its publication in 1856 but this quickly rose to 200 Francs thanks to the book's scarcity. In his famous catalogue of rarities, Solovev priced the book at an impressive 275 rub and described it a a 'Luxurious edition [...] a great rarity complete'.

Dedicated to the Russian Tsar, the military costumes include plates of the Tsar and his four sons as well as numerous regiments, all with fine hand-colouring. Ironically, Pajol commanded the French cavalry in Crimea (against Russia), while his father, Comte Claude-Pierre Pajol (1772-1844), was a Napoleonic general who led the French advance guard into Moscow.

Although Colas follows Vinet in stating that the 29 numbered plates, which include the title dedication, are on 22 leaves, the fact that there is a plate 21bis brings the actual total to 23 leaves.