Cadet Colquitt's Mathematics notebook dates from 1852, when Whistler was a cadet at the United States Military Academy at West Point. Dates mentioned in the album range from June to October 1852. One page mentions a bet by Gracie that the owner of the notebook, Peyton H. Colquitt (1831-1863), would get higher marks for Drawing than Gracie, and be asked to 'draw his piece over' by their drawing master, Robert Walter Weir (1803-1889). Several cadets involved in drawing or annotating this notebook, including Colquitt and Whistler, failed to graduate.

Cadet Colquitt's Mathematics notebook, front cover, The Hunterian

'Oriental head, chemistry experiments, &c', inside cover, & 'Oriental figure, man in a striped cap, &c', p. 1, Cadet Colquitt's Mathematics notebook, The Hunterian

It is not known how Whistler acquired the notebook, but he owned it by 1877, when it was used for notes, including an inventory of his etchings (mostly in the hand of Maud Franklin (1857-ca 1941)).

It is catalogued in MacDonald 1995 (cat. rais.) [more] (cat. no. 98), but with different pagination. This catalogue entry has been corrected and extended.