Thursday, December 08, 2005

The Rålamb Costume Book











"The 'Rålamb Costume Book' is a small volume containing 121 miniatures in Indian ink with gouache and some gilding, displaying Turkish officials, occupations and folk types.

They were acquired in Constantinople in 1657-58 by Claes Rålamb who led a Swedish embassy to the Sublime Porte, and arrived in the Library in 1886. The call number is Cod.Rål. 8:o nr 10.

This volume is a variant of the so-called muraqqa-album type, which is rather common in libraries in Europe. They were probably manufactured for European visitors, as precursors of the 19th century 'pittoresque' photos and the present-day folklore postcards."


The Rålamb Costume Book is on display at The Royal Library - National Library of Sweden. [Titles are in the image URL]
See also previous entries: 'Turban Turkey' & 'Hatwear of the Eurostacray'.

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