1850s 200 Costume Prints GALERIE DRAMATIQUE Dance THEATER Circus BALLET Opera

Description

Offered here are the very rare FIRST TWO VOLUMES of the GALERIE DRAMATIQUE, complete and containing 200 numbered and hand-colored lithographs (Paris: Martinet, 1840s and 1850s) produced by Dollet, Lacauchie, and Lassale.
Some of the individual prints we have handled over the  years and sold for up to US0 per print.  Here are two hundred prints in excellent original condition with contemporary 19th-century hand coloring.  (See photos.)  At just US/print, the wholesale value = US00.  The retail value is far more.  Such volumes are rare because most were broken up in the 20th century so as to sell individual prints to specialized collectors. These volumes deserve the care of a serious collector, library, or museum.
Among the theater stars depicted are those from the OPERA (e.g., Mme Stoltz, Mme Thillon, Mr. Roger, Giulia Grisi, Persiani, Ronconi), BALLET (e.g., Carlotta Grisi, Berthier, Zina Richard, Petipa, Dumilatre, Emarot), and DRAMA/THEATER (e.g., Duprez, Levasseur, Mlle Rachel, Firmin, Albert, Melingue), and CIRCUS (e.g., Mme Gauthier, Mme Laurent, Mme Roussel).  The Danseuses Viennoises are featured as well.
The PROVENANCE of these volumes is also very interesting, as the bookplate indicates that they were found in the library of Henry J. Heinz (1844-1919), the German-American entrepreneur who founded the H.J. Heniz Company.
CONDITION: The volumes  are bound in quarter-leather, and the spine and corners are bumped; interior, however, is clean and lithographs show beautiful contemporary 19th-century hand coloring.  Please see photos and feel free to ask any questions BEFORE bidding.
PLEASE SEE OUR OTHER ITEMS FOR MORE RARITIES RELATED TO OPERA, BALLET, AND THEATER.