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Pictures, Engravings and Extracts From Old Books

Over 4,200 free images from old, rare, antique and vintage books. High-resolution images for sale.

Taymouth Castle

Rustic postcard border of interleaved twigs and vines

Old Bologna (1850s)

11. Seal of Gusion.

Isaak Newton [Portrait of Sir Isaac Newton]

Battle in the Sacred Linden Groves

Initial letter V with a mermaid

Decorative clip-art Victorian border, antique green

Front Cover, Bohemia Part Two

Title Page, Bohemia Part Two

Battle of Knights

Sir Isaac Newton

Full-page border of repeated vine leaves

Votivkirche, Vienna

Avenue of Sighs

53.8.—IHS

Christmas Still Life

A schoolroom in Tunisia

Dark Passion Flowers

Llanthony Priory, Valley of the Honddu

Dark brown fantasy watercolour border

initial letter R with small girl

Armillary Sphere, Scanned Version

The giants tore up trees

Adrift from The Snow Queen

Leicester Hospital, Warwick

Historiated decorative initial capital letter M in Blue

Scheuerfest - Spring Cleaning

Mellon’s Baby Food with baby and roses

Monroe Colliery Co.

clipart: initial letter S from late 15th century printed book

Title Page

Chaldee Woman

Full-page border with hearts and moons

Front Cover

Peasant Girl of Pays de Vaud—Type.

Rustic floral border with trellis and grapevines

Floriated initial capital letter “S”

Cheerful full-page vintage colour border

Cheerful double-page spread vintage colour border

Free clip-art: Victorian border of twigs and leaves

Engraving of smiling urchin boy carrying sack and vegetables

Nazareth, Palestine

Klara Küry as Maya in The Greek Slave

The Magical Circle of King Solomon

Full-page border with roses, black and white

The thoughts of my spirit seek you

Portrait of Erasmus of Rotterdam

Scrollwork Border from page 227

A Reminiscence

Cherub playing a grand piano

Auf dem Weihnachtsmarkt (At Christmasfest)

Names of Angels and Days (overview)

Choirboy singing from balcony pulpit

Wandering Minstrel

Seal of Coin of Libra (Obverse)

Portrait of King Henry the Eighth

Seal of Coin of Libra

Seal of Coin of Virgo (obverse)

Seal of Coin of Virgo

Decorative clip-art Victorian border, Black and White

Vorfrühling - Early Spring

Ancient Druidic Worship at Stonehenge, England

Front Cover

Clip-art: calligraphic decorative initial capital letter B from XIV. Century No. 1

Title Page, Error’s Chains

Gods of our Saxon Ancestors.

Cholmondeley Castle

Clip-art: calligraphic decorative initial capital letter N from XIV. Century No. 1

Frontispiece: Alnwick Castle

Front Cover, Morris, Picturesque Views

Skeleton sitting on a tree stump and waving, from 18th century engraving

Free clip-art: Victorian border of brown twigs and green leaves

Title Page, Osteographia

Deer Skeleton from 18th century engraving

Crusaders conquor Jerusalem

Decorative initial (drop cap) D

Murder in the Castle

My Dearest Child (My Love)

Saint Bonaventura as a Monk

Vignette: crucifix with skull and prayer book or bible

Summer Evening

Clip-art: calligraphic decorative initial capital letter D from XIV. Century No. 1

Sir Christopher Hatton

Atrolabe: scientist and boy

Full-page border with bird, flowers, ivy

Knight, Death and the Devil (1513)

Collection of alms at the funeral of don Álvaro de Luna

Eagle Tower, Caernarfon

They Crossed the Delaware in Safety

Early Victorian Border from Book Cover

The figures of the Divine Letters

William Herbert, Earl of Pembroke

Sir Philip Sidney

[Ancient] Greek Marble Mosaics 1: Olympia

Corner Bookcase Ornament

The Blizzard in America; Dead Boy in the Snow

Choral Recital with the organ

Victorian vine-leaf page border

Front Cover, Le Musée Artistique et Littéraire

Cartouche With Cherubs

Visit the full list of Recently added images and of the most popular images.

Borders and Initials

Decorative Initials and Drop Caps: A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T Th U V W X Y Z
See all initials, or all alphabets, or the Decorative borders and frames

Holiday Images

Curious Old Texts, Slang and Dictionaries

A Provincial Dictionary by Francis Grose (1790); 66 regional proverbs.
Dictionary of Phrase and Fable by E. Cobham Brewer (1894); over 17,000 entries! New 2008-02-15.
Smiley's Recipe and Housekeeping Guide, historical recipes transcribed and annotated by CatamountClyde Studios.
Canting Dictionary by Nathan Bailey (1736), a dictionary of the slang of the underworld, of thieves, gypsies and vagrants. Text complete
Dictionary of the Canting Tongue by Francis Grose (1811)
Musa Pedestris: Three Centuries of Canting Songs and Slang Rhymes [1536-1896] edited by John S. Farmer, 1896.
The Nuttall Encyclpædia, by the Rev. James Wood (1907) (over 14,000 entries)
Oratio Dominica, or, The Lord’s Prayer in over a hundred Languages, Versions and Characters (Scripts) by Dan Brown (1713). I have scanned every page, and also an insert folded in the back, so this book is complete.
Dictionary of Proverbs by Nathan Bailey, 1721. The whole book in text and images (complete)
The Grammar of Heraldry, by Samuel Kent 1718. I have typed the first chapter on how to Blazon, etc., and will do more if requested.
Universal Etymological English Dictionary, edited by Nathan Bailey, 1736. A little under 500 entries, but very incomplete; this is a transcription I started in 1991. It is a different book than the dictionary containing the Canting Dictionary.
The Itinerary of John Leland the Antiquary edited by Thomas Hearne, 1745. 122 page images including cover and title page; I have started to transcribe names that appear in the text.
More wonderful old texts at words.fromoldbooks.org

The Pictures: Woodcuts, Engravings & Clip art

Pictures of Old Books