Years before（早在数年前）/jɪəz bɪˈfɔː/ a local museum acquired a travelling photographer’s album, a dealer had described it as faithful to（忠实于）/ˈfeɪθfəl tuː/ aristocratic life. Curator Mara Ives was now preparing it for a neoclassical（新古典主义的）/niːəʊ'klæsɪk(ə)l/ gallery, where its opulent（华丽的）/'ɒpjʊl(ə)nt/ frames and painted splendour（华丽）/'splendə/ would introduce a show about nineteenth-century aesthetics（美学）/iːs'θetɪks/. The catalog was due for submission（即将投稿）/djuː fə səbˈmɪʃən/, yet the album in question（所涉及的）/ɪn ˈkwestʃən/ named every sitter as a noble. Mara rejected the catalog introduction because she found a studio ledger filed under the name of（以……的名义）/ˈʌndə ðə neɪm əv/ “Costume Accounts.”

The ledger listed outfits rather than（而不是）/ˈrɑːðə ðæn/ identities. One customer paid to pose as a baron（男爵）/'bær(ə)n/; others selected earl（伯爵）/ɜːl/, duke（公爵）/djuːk/, viscount（子爵）/'vaɪkaʊnt/, duchess（公爵夫人）/'dʌtʃɪs/, or countess（伯爵夫人）/'kaʊntɪs/. A Russian backdrop was alternately billed as “czar（沙皇）/zɑː/” and “tsar（沙皇）/zɑː/,” while two robes offered the guise（伪装外表）/gaɪz/ of an emir（埃米尔）/e'miːə/ or sheikh（谢赫）/ʃeik/. Most clients belonged to the urban bourgeoisie（资产阶级）/,bʊəʒwɑː'ziː/ and could masquerade（假扮）/,mɑːskə'reɪd/ as nobility for one afternoon. The studio had sold theatrical rank, not proof of ancestry.

The next page helped account for（解释）/əˈkaʊnt fɔː/ visual details. Beside a mirrored dresser（梳妆台）/'dresə/, the hairdresser（美发师）/'heədresə(r)/ could beautify（美化）/'bjuːtɪfaɪ/ a sitter with a fresh haircut（新剪的发型）/'heəkʌt/, elaborate hairdo（发式）/'heəduː/, hairpiece（假发片）/'heəpiːs/, hairpin（发簪）/'heəpɪn/, hairspray（定型喷雾）/'hɛrspre/, or towering headdress（头饰）/'heddres/. A rented tiara（冕状头饰）/tɪ'ɑːrə/, bracelet（手镯）/ˈbreɪslət/, or earring（耳环）/'ɪərɪŋ/ appeared under jewellery（珠宝）/'dʒuːəlrɪ/ supplied by a nearby jeweller（珠宝商）/'dʒuːələ/. These accessories explained repeated objects across portraits without establishing that their wearers owned them.

The most troubling notes described bodies. Retouchers were told to hide a freckle（雀斑）/'frek(ə)l/ or pockmark（痘疤）/'pɒkmɑːk/, ask a nervous client not to grimace（做怪相）/'grɪməs/, soften sunburn（晒伤）/'sʌnbɜːn/ or suntan（晒黑）/'sʌntæn/, and make a dumpy（矮胖的）/'dʌmpɪ/ or scrawny（骨瘦如柴的）/'skrɔːnɪ/ figure look conventionally proportioned. One instruction replaced meagre（消瘦的）/'miːgə/ with slender; another treated obesity（肥胖）/ə(ʊ)'biːsɪtɪ/ as a defect to erase. Such labels gave no basis for（没有……的依据）/nəʊ ˈbeɪsɪs fɔː/ identifying anyone. They revealed the studio’s standards rather than the sitters’ names, so Mara preserved them only as evidence of retouching practice.

When director Elias Venn joined her, Mara showed him the ledger. It contained one complaint that called a promoter deceitful（欺骗性的）/dɪ'siːtfʊl/ and a moralist hypocritical（虚伪的）/,hɪpə'krɪtɪkl/, but neither entry pointed to a numbered portrait. Elias asked, “So the costumes were deceit（欺骗行为）/dɪ'siːt/, and each person was an impostor（冒名顶替者）/ɪm'pɒstə/?” Mara answered, “We cannot postulate（假定）/'pɒstjʊleɪt/ that. Some clients may have tried to beguile（欺骗）/bɪ'gaɪl/ viewers, but an ingenuous（天真的）/ɪn'dʒenjʊəs/ customer might feign（假装）/feɪn/ grandeur for amusement. Visible camouflage（伪装）/'kæməflɑːʒ/ does not reveal sincerity（真诚）/sɪn'serətɪ/.” “Then how do we describe the pretence（假装）/prɪ'tens/?” Mara said, “Without turning it into falsity（虚假）/'fɔːlsɪtɪ/. We should not call every staged image bogus（虚假的）/'bəʊgəs/, every untruth（假话）/ʌn'truːθ/ calculated, or every sitter a hypocrite（伪君子）/'hɪpəkrɪt/.”

In light of（鉴于）/ɪn laɪt əv/ the ledger, they rewrote each entry instead of（而不是）/ɪnˈsted əv/ guessing a biography. The revised display called the series a set of unreal（虚构的）/ʌn'rɪəl/ identities and treated any noble name as a supposition（猜想）/,sʌpə'zɪʃ(ə)n/, not a fact. Each final caption stated whether the title came from the ledger, the dealer, or an earlier curator; the wording did not presuppose（预先假定）/priːsə'pəʊz/ lineage. The display not only corrected the record but also let visitors compare props with account numbers. This fidelity（忠实性）/fɪ'delɪtɪ/ to visible evidence kept the photographs intact without preserving the dealer’s sham（假象）/ʃæm/.