BRINDESI Jean Elbicei Atika – Musée des anciens costumes turcs de Constantinople.

Atabey, 151; Blackmer, 206; Colas, 446.

First edition.

The beautiful plates and the title page are printed in colours and highlighted with gold, within gold printed borders. The subjects illustrate costumes from the Ottoman court during the reign of Mahmoud II (1808-1839), Elbicei Atika was the name of a museum of costume in Constantinople, originally in the Seraglio armoury. It may be that Brindesi modelled his subjects on exhibits in that museum, or that he was using the name metaphorically. Mahmoud II in ceremonial dress is one of the subjects shown on plate I.

Brindesi’s works are marked by the transition from the Romantic to the Realistic style.

Rarely found complete and in the original publisher’s binding, the Atabey copy was bound by Gruel and shorter, the Blackmer copy was missing a plate.