While the paper used in this sketchbook was produced in France during the sixteenth century, the attribution of the drawings of insects, animal and flowers within is the subject of some debate due to the uneven quality of execution among the sheets, which suggests more than one hand was involved. Some of the studies correspond to engravings in the Altera Pars of Crispijn van de Passe's Hortus Floridus, 1614-17. Many of the plates can be directly connected with drawings by Le Moyne in the British Museum (an album of fifty drawings from ca. 1585) and the Victoria and Albert Museum (and album of 59 drawings from the 1560s).
The folios bear two numbering systems, an earlier one in pen and brown ink (followed in the list of folios attached to this record) and a more recent one in pencil (indicated in brackets).
Watermark: On leaves with drawings, a fragment of an eagle (in gutter; not in Briquet); on interleaved sheets and endpapers, a pot with the initials BB surmounted by a crown (similar to Briquet 12701: Auquainville, 1573), a bunch of grapes, and a hand with a crown (similar to Briquet 10972: Navarrenx, 1545).
The subjects include a number of familiar flowers, insects, and small animals, among them borage, strawberries, hazelnuts, lizards, bees, and butterflies.
Hofer, Philip, 1898-1984, former owner.
Kraus, Hans Peter, 1907-1988, former owner.
Morgan, Henry S. (Henry Sturgis), 1900-1982, donor.
Paley, William S. (William Samuel), 1901-1990, donor.
Paley, William S., Mrs., donor.
Salomon, Richard, 1884-1966, donor.
Salomon, Richard, Mrs., donor.
Stern, Anne Bigelow, donor.
Ryskamp, Charles, ed. Eighteenth Report to the Fellows of the Pierpont Morgan Library, 1975-1977. New York : Pierpont Morgan Library, 1978, p. 279.
Denison, Cara D. French Drawings, 1550-1825. New York : Pierpont Morgan Library, 1984, no. 107.