A census, recording, under the heading of each sestiere, the number of persons in each category of the population (noblemen and women, boys and girls, servants, citizens, artisans, priests, monks, beggars, poor in receipt of alms; general total 148,640), followed by a list of the parish churches with the numbers of the 'capi di casa' (heads of houses) and 'boche' (mouths to be fed in each house). The islands of the Lagoon, such as Murano and Torcello, are not included.

At the top of the first leaf is a damaged inscription ‘Descrittione fatta l’ann[o …] tutte l’anime che si trovano nella citta di Venetia’ (‘The description made in the year … of all the souls to be found in the city of Venice’). The original year date is missing, but ‘1536’ is pencilled on the outside of the back cover and may indicate the missing date.

Under Castello are listed nobles with the numbers of their children, families, massere (female servants), followed by the citizens with their various categories, and the artisans and shopkeepers, men, women, boys and girls. The poor are counted, divided into beggars (118) and those in the ospedali (754), ending with priests, friars and nuns. The total comes to 31,066. There follows a list of thirteen churches, beginning with San Pietro da Castello (the former Cathedral of Venice) and including San Provolo. San Giovanni in Bragora appears in the Venetian dialect as ‘Zuanebragolla’.

Each sestiere has a slightly different composition: San Marco has beggars but no hospitals: Canareggio has both, and also gives, at the end, the number of ‘ebrei’ (1,694), in other words, the Jewish inhabitants of the ghetto; the total population being 34,311. San Polo has nine churches and a population of 11,381. ‘Santa Crose’ has eight churches and a population of 16,777. The Dorsoduro with a population of 31,448 has eleven churches. The Salute and the Redentore, as well as other post-medieval churches, are not mentioned.

At the end is a list of religious houses of monks and nuns, first the friaries including ‘zuanepollo’ (SS. Giovani e Paolo). The Church of the Frari is simply designated ‘I fratti minori’. The booklet ends with a list of houses of monks and nuns.