Originally published in France between 1876 and 1888, Auguste Racinet’s Le Costume historique was the most wide-ranging and intelligent study of clothing ever published. Covering the world history of costume, dress, and style from antiquity through the end of the 19th century, the great work—“consolidated”in 1888 into 6 volumes containing nearly 500 plates — remains, to this day, completely unique in its scope and detail.