ACKERMANN'S COSTUMES OF THE UNIVERSITIES OF OXFORD AND CAMBRIDGE - Tecno-Libro

From his Repository of the Arts at 101 The Strand, London, the Anglo-German engineer, printer and entrepreneur Rudolph Ackermann (1764-1834) published numerous lavishly illustrated books on literature, art, fashion and architecture. His shop, one of the first in London to be lit by gas, provided up-to-date information about the latest fashions, and became a popular haunt for sophisticated members of the upper classes. in 1814 and 1815 he published two-volume histories of the Universities of Oxford and Cambridge, each beautifully illustrated with many hand-coloured lithographic prints. The text was written by William Combe (1742-1823), a professional miscellaneous writer, and the colour plates were engraved by John Samuel Agar (1773-1858) based on original watercolour portraits by Thomas Uwins (1782-1857). The chapters on academic dress give a valuable snapshot of the academic and official dress in use at both Oxford and Cambridge at the beginning of the nineteenth century, as well