The collection consists of 142 drawings and watercolors by twenty-seven artists who were commissioned by the Century Company to create illustrations for their popular periodicals The Century Illustrated Monthly Magazine and St. Nicholas Magazine, in particular to illustrate stories for children. Most of the drawings have paper labels or production marks in crayon on their versos indicating the magazine, volume number, and projected page number where the images were to appear, the section of the magazine (such as "Open Letters" to the editor or the "In Lighter Vein" departments), prices paid to the artists, and notes such as "Plate wanted," "Blueprint at once," and "Great Haste!" While many prominent illustrators from the era are included in the collection, those represented by the largest number of drawings are Reginald B. Birch (10), Harrison Cady (9), Oliver Herford (22), Charles M. Relyea (47), and I. W. Taber (8).
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