Representing Asia in Il costume antico e moderno by Giulio Ferrario

Il Costume antico e moderno, published in Milan by Giulio Ferrario between 1817 and 1834, was one of the most impressive editorial works produced in Italy during the first decade of the 19th century. Aiming to offer to the European reading public a comprehensive representation of history, manners and costumes of all the peoples in the world in all times, the Costume reached a larger public, after the first luxury edition, thanks to the many popular editions which quickly followed the first one. A very significant aspect in this monumental work was its impressive and refined iconographic apparatus, which constituted an essential and precious informative complement. The essay focuses on the image of Asia, as it appears in the very opening of the first volume. A careful analysis of this image can help to both identify significant elements concerning the historical and political judgment expressed about the East-West relations and to highlight Costume's theoretical and ideological continuities and discontinuities with the previous age, and particularly with the Enlightenment legacy.