This album contains 131 drawings in watercolor on 135 leaves, with album leaves numbered at upper right. A second numbering system is also found on the drawings, at upper right of each sheet, ranging from 3 through 164, with some gaps in the sequence, indicating the drawings were once part of a larger series. Margaret Rosenthal has proposed that the album is the work of an Italian artist from the mid to late sixteenth century. The studies, carefully executed in watercolors, and sometimes highlighted with gold or silver paint, depict a range of regional costumes from Italy and other European countries, as well as examples of costume from Turkey, Syria, Egypt, and elsewhere.
Many of the sheets bear an inscription in Italian identifying the country, region, or city of origin of the costume depicted.
Morgan, J. Pierpont (John Pierpont), 1837-1913, former owner.
Badin, Ludovic, dealer.