The first volume contains an introduction to the collaborative project, sponsored by the Museo del Prado and the Centro de Estudios Europa Hispánica, to describe the "ideal copy" of Stirling's Annals of the artists of Spain, the first book on art history to be illustrated with photographs. The essays of this interpretive volume provide a comprehensive examination of the Talbotype images of the Annals, and the book's significance. Also included are a catalogue raisonné of the photographic plates in the Annals Talbotypes volume, and a census of bound editions copies of Talbotypes illustrations to the Annals of the artists of Spain. The second volume is a reconstruction of the volume that William Stirling presented to selected friends, family, fellow Hispanophiles, and libraries in 1848. Technically it is not a "facsimile" volume based on facsimile reproduction, but one created through digital reconstruction of the Talbotype images using Adobe Photoshop, which allowed barely visible images to be recovered, tones to be modified, and lost portions reintegrated by taking parts from different copies of the same image.

In conjunction with this project, an exhibition of the original Talbotype images was held at the Museo del Prado, Madrid, May 18-Sept. 4, 2016, "in the half-light of Gallery D"--See colophon.

Includes bibliographical references (volume 1, pages 335-352) and index (volume 1).