A large group of original parts from Eckert and Monten’s magnificent series illustrating the military costumes of Europe, containing over 80 exquisitely-executed hand-coloured lithographs depicting the uniforms of the German army.

A truly monumental work, the series was issued between 1838 and 1843, ultimately numbering 48 parts, containing 384 plates. Considered to be one of the greatest works of its type, the illustrations provide a wonderfully detailed rendering of military life, as well as military costume, in nineteenth-century Europe, with each vivid, meticulously hand-coloured plate - often literally shimmering due to the additional use of albumen - depicting soldiers within typical settings, including battlefields, barracks, town and country.

The present volumes cover the troops of Prussia, Bavaria, Hessen, Frankfurt, Hamburg, Reuss, Hohenzollren Hechingen, Schaumburg Lippe, Schwarzburg Sondershausen, Sachsen Meinungen, Lippe Detmold, Baden, Braunschweig, Oldenburg, Hannover, Nassau, Sachsen Coburg Gotha, Saxony, Mecklenburg Schwerin, Holstein, and Hessen Cassel.
(Colas 935; Lipperheide 2120).