Though he himself was a distinguished painter and illustrator, Albert-Charles-Auguste Racinet (1825–1893) is best remembered for two monumental color-plate publications he edited: Le Costume historique (Historic Costume)1 and L’Ornement polychrome (Color Ornament).
L’Ornement polychrome, a visual record in color of ornament and decorative arts from all over the world and throughout history to the end of the eighteenth century, eventually included 220 plates. The first 100 plates (referred to for convenience in the present Dover volume as Series I, although they were not so called until the publication of the second series mentioned below) appeared in ten installments between 1869 and 1873. A first edition of 5000 copies in volume form was published shortly after the completion of the installments, a second edition appearing as early as 1875.2
The original subtitle of “Series I” was: “Cent planches en couleurs or et argent contenant environ 2,000 motifs de tous les styles / art ancien et asiatique / Moyen Age / Renaissance, XVIIeet XVIIIe siècles / Recueil historique et pratique publié sous la direction de M. A. Racinet / l’un des dessinateurs du Moyen Age et la Renaissance, des Arts somptuaires, de la Collection Soltikoff, etc. / avec des notices explicatives et une introduction générale” (100 plates in color, including gold and silver, containing about 2,000 motifs in all styles: art of antiquity, Asia, Middle Ages, Renaissance and the 17th and 18th centuries / Historical and practical collection published under the direction of Mr. A. Racinet, one of the draftsmen of [the books] Le Moyen Age et la Renaissance, Les Arts somptuaires, La Collection Soltikoff, etc. / With explanatory text and a general introduction).3
The first 100 plates of L’Ornement polychrome (“Series I”), in their various editions, were so successful that Racinet later (1885–1887) issued another 120 plates specifically designated as “Deuxième série” (with a reference to the first 100 plates as “1re série”).
The present Dover edition contains all the plates from Series I, with brief new English captions that summarize the French text. The copious material, ranging from Europe to Oceania and from ancient Egypt to just before 1800, is derived from architecture, painting, woodwork, metalwork, leatherwork, textiles and many other art forms. Racinet’s often-repeated purpose in publishing these decorative masterpieces was the encouragement and improvement of the arts of his own day, not only the so-called fine arts but also the commercial arts involved in the designing and selling of manufactured goods. Dover’s reissue of the plates, recognizing their perennial value and appeal, naturally is meant to serve the same purpose. Racinet’s breadth of insight and catholicity of taste, truly enlightened for his day, give his selection a welcome variety and a consistently high standard of excellence; while the consummate skill of his artistic fellow workers and of his printer/publisher, the celebrated Firmin-Didot company, make these plates true works of art in their own right.
Racinet’s color plates were prepared on the basis of old works of art by a number of capable commercial artists, identified in the original editions at the lower left-hand corner of each plate. The following artists are represented in Series I of L’Ornement polychrome:
Bauer: 10, 17, 32, 39, 52, 63, 84, 88.
Daumont: 16, 37, 40, 43, 83.
Dufour & Bauer: 26.
Dufour & F. Durin: 1, 28, 73, 78, 86.
Dufour & Jeanningros: 82.
Dufour & Launay: 45.
Dufour & Laval: 65.
Dufour & Lebreton: 4, 44.
Dufour & Mathieu: 5.
Dufour & Picard: 79.
Dufour & Pralon: 90.
Dufour & Sanier: 6, 29.
Durin, F.: 7, 11, 14, 18, 19, 20, 25, 27, 33, 35, 41, 48, 49, 50, 51, 54, 62, 64, 67, 81, 91, 94, 96.
Gandon & Durin: 3.
Jetot: 9, 13, 15, 31, 59.
Kraatz (Krautz?) & Durin: 58.
Kraatz & Sanier: 72.
Laugier: 21.
Launay: 76, 87, 92, 93, 97, 98, 99, 100.
Lebreton (Le Breton?): 23.
Lebreton & Bailly: 22.
Lemoine: 68.
Leveil: 85.
Ligogue & Pralon: 57.
Painlevé: 12, 38, 42, 47, 53, 95.
Picard: 24, 70.
Pralon: 2, 34, 55, 56, 60, 61, 69, 71, 80.
Sanier, G.: 36, 66, 74, 75, 77, 89.
Sulpis & F. Durin: 8.
Wolfart: 46.