De gli habiti antichi, et moderni di diverse parti del mondo libri due (On the clothing, ancient and modern, of diverse parts of the world, two books) 

Cesare Vecellio, author 

Christoph Kreiger, woodcuts 

Damiano Zenaro, printer 

1590 CE, Venice, Venetian Republic (present-day Italy) 

Printed book with woodcut illustrations, possibly rebound, bound in calf over specked paper 

covered boards with gilt title and decoration 

GT509 .V4

Have you ever wished to travel without leaving your room? Books like this one, called costume books, were made precisely for this reason. Travelers would document places, people, and customs they saw while abroad and turn them into books for “armchair travelers” to read at home. This costume book by Cesare Vecellio is an early example of this trend, in which the author sought to record customs and clothing from ancient and modern places. Rather than accurate representations of foreigners from distant lands, these images should be read as reflections of the Venetians’ view of the hierarchy of Italian society and the world. 

Ivy D’Agostino 

See a copy of this book in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art.