l'Armee Francaise

Lucian Rousselot published his famous series of uniform plates, L'Armée Française - ses uniformes, son armament, son équipement, over a thirty year period between 1941 and 1971. When he undertook this project in 1941, he was faced with the incredible problem of finding art supplies in German-occupied Paris and the story goes that German officers, themselves passionate collectors and uniformologists supplied him!

This series of plates, while probably the best source on the regulation dress of the French Army, only covers selected periods. The 1st Empire, which was Rousselot's passion, is amply covered and the primary focus of the series. The Armies of Louis XV and XVI, the Restoration and the 3rd Empire receive some coverage, but the collector looking outside those periods will have to go elsewhere.

Each plate is in full color, size 32X24 cm folded and 32X48 opened up, with 4 pages of text (in French) included. The originals were hand-printed and have been long out of print. In the late 1950’s and through the 60’s, the earlier plates were reprinted, also by hand, and are virtually indistinguishable from the first printings except for the dates. In 1978 through 1982, the Napoleonic portion was reprinted photomechanically on glossy paper. While these are high quality reproductions, they just don’t have the subtlety and feel of the originals. The coloring is harsher and the black ink drawing is heavier. In 1987 a small Parisian model figures store undertook the reprinting of the rest of the plates but this was never completed.

The question of editions versus reprintings is fuzzy and prints don’t follow the same rules as books. I have chosen to number my “editions” based on dates and not necessarily by publisher. All the plates were originally printed from 1943 through 1971. Plates that carry the correct date of the original printing I label as 1st edition. Plates that have dates from about 1956 through 1970 and the date is greater than the original printing date, I label as 2nd edition, even though they are technically a second or third printing of the original prints. Plates dated 1978 through 1982 (and are photomechanically printed on glossy paper) are clearly reprints and I label them 3rd edition. Plates with dates of 1987 and greater are labeled 4th edition.

Today the full series of 106 plates in good condition and consisting of the printings prior to the 1978 reprints can only be found at antiquarian bookstores or auctions and is quite rare. Most often, the plates come up for sale individually or in groups and the prices range quite considerably depending on which edition is being offered and on the condition of the plate. Also, the plates representing the Louis XV and XVI periods, the Restoration, and the Second Empire are much more difficult to find and thus tend to be more expensive. This is partly because they are from eras considered less important than the Napoleonic period and thus fewer of them were printed and also because they were not included in the 1978 reprinting.