[Edouart (Auguste), attributed to] 63 fine scissor-work silhouettes, laid down on 21 album leaves, each with 3 silhouette designs cut from black paper, each design c.130 x 60mm., several blank leaves at end, contemporary half morocco album, "Scrap Book" to upper cover in gilt, some wear to spine ends and joints, little rubbed and marked, 4to, [?c.1840].

⁂ Beautifully worked designs attributed in a pencil note on the front free endpaper to French-born silhouettist Auguste Edouart (1789-1861). The subjects are varied, but most designs depict animals, both domestic and exotic, including a pair of ostriches, a vulture in combat with a giant serpent, and a camel being led through a desert pass. The artist shows a flair for humour, with two scenes showing a rider thrown from his horse, and another a man tumbling from a rudimentary bicycle (?or velocipede) while being chased by a truncheon-wielding policeman. Three scenes are inspired by the Orient, and show a hilltop village with pagoda style buildings, travelling merchants with yokes and a Chinese lantern festival. Edouart, who lived variously in London, Bath, Edinburgh, and also toured in the United States, was primarily known as a portrait silhouettist, and is thought to have produced over 5000 likenesses over his career.