Eisen and de La Rue "Nouveau recueil des troupes... Lot 143

Eisen and de La Rue "Nouveau recueil des troupes qui forment la garde et maison du Roy avec la date de leur création, le nombre d'hommes dont chaque corps est composé, leurs uniformes et leurs armes. Drawn from life by Eisen. Dedicated and presented to the King by his most humble and obedient servant and subject, the widow of F. Chéreau. Avec privilège du Roy 1756." Large folio (42 x 28), calf binding with gilt fillet and fleur-de-lys decoration. Ex libris René Lizard Suite of 13 plates, preceded by a frontispiece and dedication. Our copy is in black and white and in very good condition, with a few foxing marks. This suite is extremely rare, unknown to Glasser and listed by Cola at N°947. Boards: 35 x 22 cm outside margins. History As the title suggests, this series presents the Military House of Louis XV at the start of the Seven Years' War. Highly accurate, it is a first-rate source on these troops. All the plates, with the exception of the two devoted to the Musketeers, are the work of painter and engraver Charles Eisen (1720-1778), whose master Jean-Philippe Le Bas produced the engravings here. Philibert-Benoit de La Rue (1718-1780) drew the two plates for Les Mousquetaires. A pupil of Charles Parrocel, he specialized in military subjects. Le Bas, Eisen and de La Rue worked regularly for print publishers including the Chéreau family. The "widow Chéreau" is Géneviève-Marguerite Chéreau (circa 1724 - 1782), daughter of publisher and print dealer Jacques Chéreau. She married her cousin François II Chéreau, also an engraver and publisher. On his death in 1755, she took over the business, which she later handed over to her son in 1768.