Sketch-book containing tracings of male figures from an Italian drawing-book, copies of illustrations in Costumes of the Ancients by Thomas Hope, London, 1809, and in Dresses and Decorations of the Middle Ages by Henry Shaw, London, 1843; also copies of subjects from two 15th century South German tapestries, of sculptures by Donatello, Nicola Pisano and Nicolò di Pietro Lamberti (Nicolò Aretino), and other studies. On pages 82, 83 are dated notes, in the artist's hand, of his movements and works executed between 1856 and 1861. 324 pages of tracing paper, quarter-bound in green leather, gold tooled, canvas boards. Inscribed on the fly-leaf 'Edward Burne Jones' and in another hand '24 Russell Place Fitzroy Square W.' Inscribed throughout by the artist with notes, some in Italian.
Some of the tracings from Thomas Hope's Costumes of the Ancients have been liberally interpreted and appear more Pre-Raphaelite than classical. Burne-Jones's admiration for the classical profile led him to search for a model with similar features like Augusta and Millie Jones and the girl who features in The Lament and Amor of 1865.