The Costume of the Kingdom of Holland, At the Beginning of the Nineteenth Century

London: printed by J. Barfield for Colnaghi and Co, 1810. First London edition. Hand-colored allegorical frontispiece (bound after the title) and 20 hand-colored engraved plates by Lodewijk Gotlieb Portman after J. Kuyper and others. [vii], [40], [1] pp. Folio. Contemporary marbled boards. Some wear to extremities, internally fresh and bright. First London edition. Hand-colored allegorical frontispiece (bound after the title) and 20 hand-colored engraved plates by Lodewijk Gotlieb Portman after J. Kuyper and others. [vii], [40], [1] pp. Folio. A rare English edition of this popular work on the costumes and customs of Holland, a fine copy. Originally (truncated) published from 1803-05 with a total of 16 plates, the present edition has been expanded to twenty plates plus the allegorical frontispiece. The plates are dated between 1803-1807 and carry the imprint of both Maaskamp and Colnaghi, except for the plate 1, which bears the name of Maaskamp only. The letterpress explanatory text is in English while the plates are captioned in Dutch and French.

An important study from the nascent era of European nationalism, the work presents an aspect of Holland which, according the "Explanation" at front, "as yet lies entirely uncultivated. This is the representation of National-dress, together with a proper description of the Customs, Morals and Characters, which stand in a near connection with them ... This Province, which is always interesting, is so much the more of importance on a small spot of ground, which produces greater variation in this point, than almost all the quarters of the world beyond Europe...."

An English-language edition was published in Amsterdam in 1808, however the present London edition is far more scarce; we locate only a single institutional copy in North America and none in Europe. Tooley 312; cf. Colas 1681; cf. Hiler 557 (Inventory #: 305802)