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a drawing of a soldier in uniform stands in front of a line of soldiersan old picture of a man in a uniform with a swordan old picture of a man in uniform holding a swordan old picture of a man in uniform standing in front of a line of soldiersa painting of a man in uniform standing next to a swordan old picture of a man in uniform with a riflea close up of a book with a red cover on a white surfacea close up of a book on a table with a white backgroundan old picture of a man in a military uniform with a drum
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734 - HOFFMANN (Nikolaus). The Paris National Guard. Sl [Paris], 1…
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Estimate €6,000 - €7,000
Sale commission
Description
HOFFMANN (Nikolaus). The Paris National Guard. Sl [Paris], 1789. Folio (41 x 31 cm), 7 engraved and watercoloured plates, generally bearing the signature H. f. [Hoffmann fecit] and the date 1789, loose sheets in a double case of red long-grain morocco with corners, smooth spine (Honnelaître). An absolutely rarest set, the subjects of which were most likely captured at the very moment of the formation of the Paris National Guard in the second half of 1789. A native of Darmstadt, Nikolaus Hoffmann (c. 1740–1823) lived in Paris and Versailles between 1775 and 1808. Commissioned to design the uniforms of the French army for Landgrave Louis X of Hesse-Darmstadt, who was passionate about military costumes, he also had some of his watercolours engraved and published in very small numbers. Rare and never truly systematic, these collections differ significantly from one copy to another, making them a particularly complex and sought-after body of work. The final plate also bears the signature ‘by his most humble and most obedient servant Hoffmann’, and the note ‘All the uniforms may be found at the author’s, Cloître Saint-Honoré, Maison des Enfants de Chœur’. Each plate (35 x 21 cm) is mounted on a double-leaf sheet of supple green cardboard with a perforated flap. Not listed in Colas (who, in his entries 1458 and 1459, describes seven collections by Hoffmann). It is possible that some plates described in Glasser, pp. 196–199 (Military Costumes of France, with subjects from the Paris National Guard) correspond to this series, though this cannot be confirmed with certainty. A fine copy.
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About the sale MONTIGNAC – 31st BOOK SALE – Day 2 of 4 – Nos. 550 to 1084
Auction location
Auction time 08/20/2026 at 11:00 AM
Pictures credits: Contact the Auction House
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