The drawings depict Mahmud II, members of the Ottoman court and officers of the Imperial household, from the grand vizir to valet de chambre; costumes of various vendors, merchants, army officers and religious persons; costumes of peasants from the Balkans and other areas of the Ottoman Empire. Plate 40 depicts a Janizary in service to European ministers smoking a long pipe. Probably executed between 1808 (beginning of the reign of Mahmud II) and 1826 (disbanding of the Janizaries), in Istanbul.
Content: Titles in French below paintings; shorter titles in Italian and Russian on verso.
Citation/reference: Schmitz, B. Islamic manuscripts in the New York Public Library, IV.10; Davis, R.H. A dark mirror: Romanov and Imperial Palace library materials in the holdings of the New York Public Library, 40
