[DESCERPZ François] Recueil de la diversité des habits, qui sont de présent en usage, tant es pays d’Europe, Asie, Affrique, & Isles sauvages.

Alden-Landis, 564/72 ; Colas, 2496 ; Rahir, 654 (bound with Songes drolatiques de Pantagruel) ; Mortimer, French, 453 ; Vinet, 2084 ; see Lipperheide, Aa5 (Ältestes gedrucktes Trachtenbuch) mentioning  editions of 1562, 1564 and 1567 ; Brunet IV, 1147; Fairfax-Murray, French, 478 ; Borba de Moraes II, 259.

Second edition of a famous and extremely rare collection of engravings. The first known work on costumes.

This collection of admirable woodcuts was first published in Paris in 1562 with the text printed in civilité type.

It is the very first work ever devoted to costumes, with over a hundred illustrations of clothing from around the world. Under each engraving are four verses describing the outfits or customs associated with each country. « Desprez’s 121 engravings illustrate clothing worn by indigenous peoples from around the world, accompanied by quatrains describing the clothing habits of each ».

Published at the time of the great maritime explorations, researchers were particularly fascinated by the inhabitants of recently explored foreign lands. They were interested not only in the geography, scientific specimens and natural resources of the countries they discovered, but also in the customs and clothing of unknown peoples. Desprez’s 121 engravings illustrate clothing worn by indigenous peoples from around the world, accompanied by quatrains describing the clothing habits of each.

Just as early travelogues mixed observation and folklore in their descriptions of natural history—giving rise to mythical creatures and all kinds of hybrids—the outfits presented here are a strange mixture of documentation and fantasy. They include costumes worn by European dignitaries (knights, gentlemen, monks, etc.) from France, Spain, Switzerland, Venice, Flanders, Turkey, Hungary and Russia, as well as costumes worn by peoples from North Africa, Egypt, Arabia and Persia. Among the most exotic peoples are the Brazilians, Indians, and “savages”. The suite is also dotted with engravings of fantastical characters, notably illustrating the Bishop of the Sea, the Monk of the Sea, the Standing Monkey, and the Cyclops (pages D4v-D6r).

François Desprez was a craftsman known as a “boursiers”, a profession that involved drawing patterns, not only for embroidered motifs (on clothing and purses, hence the term) but also for engravings. He was a merchant and publisher of prints, engraver and illustrator in Paris in the second half of the 16th century. He was close to certain Parisian printers and booksellers, such as the Protestant Richard Breton, alongside whom he appeared in a trial in 1559, and the printer Jean Leclerc. In the early 1560s, he settled in the Rue Montorgueil neighbourhood, among many ‘paper image makers’, i.e. publishers and merchants of prints.

« Among the more remarkable subjects may be the Scots and the Brazilians. Another reference to America is with Le Singe Debout (found near Peru). There are also three grotesque figures resembling those in the Songes Drolatiques de Pantagruel, which was also published by R. Breton in 1565 » Fairfax Murray.

« The plates of the Brazilian man and woman are of the greatest importance for the history of Brazilian iconography. They are one of the first likenesses of the Brazilian Indian, and are evidently very faithful » Borba de Moraes II, 259.

In the third edition of 1567, Desprez’s name appears as publisher, although spelled Des Prez, and Mortimer suggests that he may have been both the artist and the author.

The work is described by Colas as: ‘This collection is extremely rare and is the first known collection relating to costume; it contains American types’.

The beautiful engravings « are unsigned, but Destailleur points out their similarity to those decorating the Songes drolatiques de Pantagruel, published in 1556 by the same publisher » (Colas). It is not surprising that researchers believe that Desprez is also the author of the Songes drolatiques de Pantagruel (1565), a series of grotesque woodcuts inspired by the paintings of Bosch and Brueghel and published, like this book, by Richard Breton. Rahir’s copy was in fact composed of these two series bound together (Pantagruel 1565 and Recueil 1564).

An extremely rare edition missing in important libraries such as the JCB.

Restoration to the binding, corner of folio D4 torn off without affecting the text but generally a fine copy.

Provenance: John L. Nevinson (book plate).