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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.

Old Bologna (1850s)

Isaak Newton [Portrait of Sir Isaac Newton]

Initial letter V with a mermaid

11. Seal of Gusion.

Battle in the Sacred Linden Groves

Title Page, Bohemia Part Two

Front Cover, Bohemia Part Two

Decorative clip-art Victorian border, antique green

Battle of Knights

Full-page border of repeated vine leaves

Votivkirche, Vienna

Sir Isaac Newton

Avenue of Sighs

Christmas Still Life

The Seranade

53.8.—IHS

A schoolroom in Tunisia

Llanthony Priory, Valley of the Honddu

Adrift from The Snow Queen

Dark Passion Flowers

The giants tore up trees

initial letter R with small girl

Dark brown fantasy watercolour border

Armillary Sphere, Scanned Version

Leicester Hospital, Warwick

Scheuerfest - Spring Cleaning

Historiated decorative initial capital letter M in Blue

Mellon’s Baby Food with baby and roses

Monroe Colliery Co.

Title Page

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

Land of the Semites. Desert and Caravan.

Front Cover

Rustic floral border with trellis and grapevines

Full-page border with hearts and moons

Peasant Girl of Pays de Vaud—Type.

Cheerful double-page spread vintage colour border

Floriated initial capital letter “S”

Cheerful full-page vintage colour border

Engraving of smiling urchin boy carrying sack and vegetables

Nazareth, Palestine

Free clip-art: Victorian border of twigs and leaves

Klara Küry as Maya in The Greek Slave

Full-page border with roses, black and white

The thoughts of my spirit seek you

The Magical Circle of King Solomon

Portrait of Erasmus of Rotterdam

A Reminiscence

Scrollwork Border from page 227

Christmas Mass

Auf dem Weihnachtsmarkt (At Christmasfest)

Wandering Minstrel

Names of Angels and Days (overview)

Seal of Coin of Libra

Seal of Coin of Libra (Obverse)

Seal of Coin of Leo (obverse)

Portrait of King Henry the Eighth

Seal of Coin of Virgo

Vorfrühling - Early Spring

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

Gods of our Saxon Ancestors.

Decorative clip-art Victorian border, antique brown

Front Cover

Title Page, Error’s Chains

Ancient Druidic Worship at Stonehenge, England

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

Cholmondeley Castle

Front Cover, Morris, Picturesque Views

Frontispiece: Alnwick Castle

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

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

Deer Skeleton from 18th century engraving

Title Page, Osteographia

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

Crusaders conquor Jerusalem

Murder in the Castle

My Dearest Child (My Love)

Decorative initial (drop cap) D

Saint Bonaventura as a Monk

Vignette: crucifix with skull and prayer book or bible

Purple Victorian Vine-leaf Border

Summer Evening

Sir Christopher Hatton

Atrolabe: scientist and boy

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

Full-page border with bird, flowers, ivy

Collection of alms at the funeral of don Álvaro de Luna

Eagle Tower, Caernarfon

Knight, Death and the Devil (1513)

They Crossed the Delaware in Safety

The figures of the Divine Letters

William Herbert, Earl of Pembroke

Early Victorian Border from Book Cover

Sir Philip Sidney

Corner Bookcase Ornament

The Blizzard in America; Dead Boy in the Snow

[Ancient] Greek Marble Mosaics 1: Olympia

Choral Recital with the organ

Front Cover, Le Musée Artistique et Littéraire

Cartouche With Cherubs

Victorian vine-leaf page border

Monseigneur Dabart, bishop of Périgueux and of Sarlat.

Full-page portrait border with nameplate space

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