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Vintage Pictures, Engravings and Extracts From Old Books

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

Initial letter I with Transitional Capital

Title Page

Portrait of Ebeneezer Sibly, M.D>, F.R.H.S.

11. Seal of Gusion.

The white horse carried the earth king’s son and the princess over the sea

Her mirror was the smooth water of the tide pool

Front Cover

Decorative clip-art Victorian border, antique green

Front Cover

Franciscan Monk Going Down Staircase

God and my Divine Right: Royal Crest

Sir Isaac Newton

Endpaper: gold leaf with central British royal coat of arms

An Egyptian Priest and Scribe

An Owl in the Pope’s Council

53.8.—IHS

Wooden Church, Greenstead, Essex, A.D. 1013 (as it was in 1748)

A Display of Manuscripts on Reading Desks.

Title Page

Dark Passion Flowers

Summary of the Law, in gold

A genteel wheelchair in Paris

Cherub with grin and cloven hoofs

Armillary Sphere, Scanned Version

Fig. 86.—Curves.

Plate XXIV.—Knowledge Is Power

Title Page

Historiated decorative initial capital letter M in Blue

Front Cover, Art of Decorative Design

Plate XIV—Chinese Dragon

Plate XVIII.—Stylized Chinese Dragon

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

And then began a murder, grim and great

Gibeon

Cupid with a Butterfly

Full-page border with hearts and moons

December Night (Dezembernacht)

The Irmin Column in the Cathedral of Hildesheim

Taymouth Castle

Floriated initial capital letter “S”

Rustic postcard border of interleaved twigs and vines

Old Bologna (1850s)

Isaak Newton [Portrait of Sir Isaac Newton]

Free clip-art: Victorian border of twigs and leaves

Battle in the Sacred Linden Groves

Initial letter V with a mermaid

Front Cover, Bohemia Part Two

The Magical Circle of King Solomon

Title Page, Bohemia Part Two

Battle of Knights

Full-page border of repeated vine leaves

Scrollwork Border from page 227

Votivkirche, Vienna

Avenue of Sighs

Christmas Still Life

Names of Angels and Days (overview)

The Seranade

A schoolroom in Tunisia

Llanthony Priory, Valley of the Honddu

2.—Stonehenge. – Restored Plan.

Adrift from The Snow Queen

Dark brown fantasy watercolour border

initial letter R with small girl

Portrait of King Henry the Eighth

The giants tore up trees

Leicester Hospital, Warwick

Scheuerfest - Spring Cleaning

Decorative clip-art Victorian border, Black and White

Monroe Colliery Co.

Title Page

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

Mellon’s Baby Food with baby and roses

Chaldee Woman

Land of the Semites. Desert and Caravan.

The Virgin Mary

Peasant Girl of Pays de Vaud—Type.

Rustic floral border with trellis and grapevines

Front Cover

Free clip-art: Eighteenth-century Border from Figures pour les Missels

Cheerful full-page vintage colour border

Cheerful double-page spread vintage colour border

Engraving of smiling urchin boy carrying sack and vegetables

Decorative clip-art Victorian border, antique brown

Nazareth, Palestine

Klara Küry as Maya in The Greek Slave

Full-page border with roses, black and white

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

The thoughts of my spirit seek you

Portrait of Erasmus of Rotterdam

A Reminiscence

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

Choirboy singing from balcony pulpit

Auf dem Weihnachtsmarkt (At Christmasfest)

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

Ornate Victorian Border

Wandering Minstrel

Cherub playing a grand piano

Decorative initial (drop cap) D

Seal of Coin of Libra (Obverse)

Seal of Coin of Libra

Purple Victorian Vine-leaf Border

Seal of Coin of Virgo

Seal of Coin of Leo

Seal of Coin of Virgo (obverse)

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

Seal of Coin of Leo (obverse)

Vorfrühling - Early Spring

Front Cover

Ancient Druidic Worship at Stonehenge, England

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

Vintage 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

Quirky Old-Time 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