Octave Uzanne / Paul Avril - L'ombrelle, le gant, le manchon. Illustrations de Paul Avril - 1883

Original edition of this magnificent work by Octave Uzanne, beautifully illustrated by Paul Avril with numerous compositions in a range of different shades printed in the Parisian workshops of Albert Quantin. A testament to the production of luxury books in the last quarter of the 19th century.

Pleasant copy bound in a lovely half-ebony morocco binding with corner decorations, spine with raised bands, and the title and author's name stamped in gold.
Copy on watermarked vellum paper, not justified.

This book, along with L’Éventail given a year earlier, contrary to the often lighthearted and frivolous image it has been given for bibliophiles, is a beautiful and interesting study of these essential ornaments of women's fashion throughout history. Uzanne, who was very disappointed or even marked for life by being considered by too many as 'the gentleman of these ladies with fans, parasols, etc.' (according to Antoine Laporte, bookseller and author of a fierce pamphlet against Uzanne published in 1893), issued a cheap edition in 1892, in pocket format, without illustrations, in which he explained in the preamble that he wished to present these texts to a general readership, not just to aesthetic bibliophiles, so they could be appreciated at their true value. 'This time, I am no longer addressing iconophiles, but those literate individuals who claim to read, learn, and know...'

Octave Uzanne
The umbrella, the glove, the muff
Paris, A. Quantin, Printer-Publisher, 1883
Volume in-8 (27 x 17.5 cm); iv-138 pages. 1 figure, complete.

Very good condition copy. Well-preserved binding, rare corner wear. Fresh interior, untrimmed, without foxing.