The History of Costume

Auguste Racine, History of Costume, published in Paris, 1877.

Albert Charles Auguste Racinet was born in France in 1825. He was a bold scholar-artist who initially trained under his father as a draftsman and lithographer before attending the great school of art, graphics and design – the École de Dessin in Paris. As a painter, he took part in the annual exhibitions of the Parisian salons between 1849 and 1874, showcasing his reproductions of ancient documents, archaeological subjects and projects for stained glass windows. A number of his paintings can still be seen today in The Municipal Museum of Art and History in Draguignan, France.
Le Costume historique was an ambitious publication. It was issued in several parts spanning almost ten years. It consisted of some 500 pictorial plates; 200 double- and treble-tinted lithographs and 300 full-colour chromolithographs. An encyclopaedic work, surveying costume through time, with an emphasis on traditional dress and its relation to local history, custom and social organisation, Le Costume historique is arguably the most famous of the 19th century books on dress. It was also the first fashion book to use colour lithography.