Charles Henry Coster was an American scholar born in 1897. He graduated from Harvard University in 1920 and from the Columbia University Law School in 1923. The same year he met his future wife Vincenza (Byba) Giuliani in Florence, where he served as vice-consul. He wrote articles and books on late-Roman and Byzantine history. He died in Florence at the age of 79 on March 3, 1977.
The collection includes 75 gelatin silver prints depicting monuments in Libya. Most of them show Greek and Roman ruins, as well as landscapes and views of cities and archaeological sites. The photos were taken by Charles Henry Coster between April and May of 1935 during the trip he took together with Bernard Berenson, Nicky Mariano, and his wife Vincenza (Byba) Giuliani.