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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.

Fig. 37. — Tunnel in the Catacombs of Rome

Fig 36. — A staircase of the catacombs

One Bay of the “Angel Choir,” Interior, Lincoln Cathedral

11. Seal of Gusion.

Initial letter I with Transitional Capital

Title Page

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

Decorative clip-art Victorian border, antique green

Her mirror was the smooth water of the tide pool

Front Cover

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

Sir Isaac Newton

Front Cover

Franciscan Monk Going Down Staircase

God and my Divine Right: Royal Crest

53.8.—IHS

Endpaper: gold leaf with central British royal coat of arms

An Egyptian Priest and Scribe

An Owl in the Pope’s Council

Dark Passion Flowers

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

A Display of Manuscripts on Reading Desks.

Title Page

Armillary Sphere, Scanned Version

Summary of the Law, in gold

A genteel wheelchair in Paris

Cherub with grin and cloven hoofs

Historiated decorative initial capital letter M in Blue

Plate XXIV.—Knowledge Is Power

Plate XIV—Chinese Dragon

Title Page

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

Fig. 86.—Curves.

Front Cover, Art of Decorative Design

Plate XVIII.—Stylized Chinese Dragon

Full-page border with hearts and moons

And then began a murder, grim and great

Gibeon

Cupid with a Butterfly

Floriated initial capital letter “S”

December Night (Dezembernacht)

The Irmin Column in the Cathedral of Hildesheim

Taymouth Castle

Free clip-art: Victorian border of twigs and leaves

Rustic postcard border of interleaved twigs and vines

Old Bologna (1850s)

Isaak Newton [Portrait of Sir Isaac Newton]

The Magical Circle of King Solomon

Initial letter V with a mermaid

Battle in the Sacred Linden Groves

Title Page, Bohemia Part Two

Scrollwork Border from page 227

Front Cover, Bohemia Part Two

Battle of Knights

Full-page border of repeated vine leaves

Names of Angels and Days (overview)

Votivkirche, Vienna

Avenue of Sighs

Christmas Still Life

2.—Stonehenge. – Restored Plan.

The Seranade

A schoolroom in Tunisia

Llanthony Priory, Valley of the Honddu

Portrait of King Henry the Eighth

Dark brown fantasy watercolour border

initial letter R with small girl

Adrift from The Snow Queen

Decorative clip-art Victorian border, Black and White

The giants tore up trees

Leicester Hospital, Warwick

Scheuerfest - Spring Cleaning

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

Title Page

Mellon’s Baby Food with baby and roses

The Virgin Mary

Monroe Colliery Co.

Rustic floral border with trellis and grapevines

Land of the Semites. Desert and Caravan.

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

Peasant Girl of Pays de Vaud—Type.

Chaldee Woman

Front Cover

Decorative clip-art Victorian border, antique brown

Cheerful double-page spread vintage colour border

Cheerful full-page vintage colour border

Engraving of smiling urchin boy carrying sack and vegetables

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

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 N from XIV. Century No. 1

The thoughts of my spirit seek you

Portrait of Erasmus of Rotterdam

A Reminiscence

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

Wandering Minstrel

Auf dem Weihnachtsmarkt (At Christmasfest)

Ornate Victorian Border

Decorative initial (drop cap) D

Christmas Mass

Choirboy singing from balcony pulpit

Purple Victorian Vine-leaf Border

Seal of Coin of Libra (Obverse)

Seal of Coin of Libra

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

Seal of Coin of Leo

Seal of Coin of Leo (obverse)

Seal of Coin of Virgo (obverse)

Knight, Death and the Devil (1513)

Seal of Coin of Virgo

Vorfrühling - Early Spring

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