JOB. Dress of French troops at all times. Armées de Terre et - Lot 63

JOB. Dress of French troops at all times. Armées de Terre et de Mer. Paris, Martin, Combet & Leroy, 1900-1904. 48 fascicules (325 x 250 mm), 4 ff. and 4 pl. each. In ff., partly uncut, issue covers for the first and last years, general cover for the other two, green reptile-skin imitation box. Rare complete collection of 192 color plates of French uniforms drawn by Job. This periodical publication appeared in 48 issues, each containing 4 plates, reproducing Job's watercolors in colored zincography. The accompanying texts were written by members of the Sabretache, a society founded in 1891 to promote a taste for military history, notably through uniformology, vexillology and historical figurines. Only the issues of the last three years are numbered from 1 to 36, and the accompanying plates are also numbered in this way. The 48 plates of the first year are presented under captioned serpents. Jacques Onfroy de Bréville (1858-1931), known as Job after his initials, joined the army because his father refused to let him attend the École des Beaux-Arts. He became an illustrator and caricaturist, not without passing through the school in question, and retained an immoderate taste for the military. The last three issues contain a double suite of black and color plates, with the exception of issue no. 23, September 1903, which contains only the color plates. Several ephemera have been preserved with this collection: 2 subscription bulletins from the publisher (nos. 1 and 2 of 1900), 3 notices to subscribers, one of which includes binding rates (nos. 1 and 12 of 1900, no. 25 of 1904) and two supplement sheets answering subscribers' questions (nos. 26 and 27 of 1904). The first and last year's issue covers have been preserved, as well as that of no. 23 (September 1903), i.e. 25 covers. Spines of covers browned or missing, first and last pages of the first 12 issues browned, some foxing, captioned serpente of plate no. 2 missing. An interesting copy preserved uncut in its original box. (Colas, no. 1549.