COMPREHENSIVE ILLUSTRATED HISTORY OF THE CORSET, ONE OF ONLY 80 LARGE FOLIO COPIES NOT FOR SALE, INSCRIBED BY THE AUTHOR, WITH “ALBUM” OF 15 SEPARATE PLATES

LIBRON, Fernand and CLOUZOT, Henri. Le Corset dans l’Art et les Moeurs du XIIIe au XXe Siècle. Paris: F. Libron, 1933. Large, thick folio (11 by 15 inches), original gilt-lettered cream wrappers, uncut and partially unopened, original glassine wrapper, original faux alligator slipcase. $4000.

Limited first edition, number L of only 80 copies not available for sale (from a total edition of 880), of this erudite history of “the artifices that women employ in order to support and perfect their fragile beauty,” with numerous fashion plates (12 in color), facsimiles and in-text illustrations on nearly every page. Inscribed on the half title, “Hommage de l’auteur a Madame C. Capaldi, sa dénoncé collaboratrice, Paris le 20 Mai 1937, F. Libron,” and accompanied by 15 separate plates from the “Album” laid in.

Written some years after the heyday of corsetry by Fernand Libron, president of the Chambre Syndicale des Fabricants de Corsets, and Henri Clouzot, conservateur of the Musee Galliera (better known today as the Musee la Mode et du Costume), this monumental costume book pays special tribute to Ernest Leoty’s very scarce Le Corset a Traverse les Ages (1893), which includes detailed cutting paterns and technical information for the tailor who specializes in making corsets. “A corset is somewhat similar to an umbrella in its construction. When the umbrella is raised, the fabric tautens. The ribs are reinforced with metal tips, to which the fabric of the umbrella is sewn. These tips hold the fabric in a tautened condition while the umbrella is in use. It is the same with a corset” (O.Y. Dalziel). Text in French. Accompanied by 15 loose engravings, listed in the index of illustrations under the heading “Album.” Hiler, 544.

Book and plates fine, spine panel of original glassine perished, slipcase only slightly rubbed. A fine copy.