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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.

A genteel wheelchair in Paris

Cherub with grin and cloven hoofs

Title Page

11. Seal of Gusion.

Front Cover, Art of Decorative Design

Fig. 86.—Curves.

Plate XXIV.—Knowledge Is Power

Decorative clip-art Victorian border, antique green

Plate XVIII.—Stylized Chinese Dragon

Plate XIV—Chinese Dragon

And then began a murder, grim and great

Sir Isaac Newton

Gibeon

Cupid with a Butterfly

December Night (Dezembernacht)

53.8.—IHS

The Irmin Column in the Cathedral of Hildesheim

Taymouth Castle

Rustic postcard border of interleaved twigs and vines

Dark Passion Flowers

Old Bologna (1850s)

Isaak Newton [Portrait of Sir Isaac Newton]

Battle in the Sacred Linden Groves

Armillary Sphere, Scanned Version

Initial letter V with a mermaid

Front Cover, Bohemia Part Two

Title Page, Bohemia Part Two

Historiated decorative initial capital letter M in Blue

Battle of Knights

Full-page border of repeated vine leaves

Votivkirche, Vienna

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

Avenue of Sighs

Christmas Still Life

The Seranade

Full-page border with hearts and moons

A schoolroom in Tunisia

Llanthony Priory, Valley of the Honddu

initial letter R with small girl

Floriated initial capital letter “S”

Adrift from The Snow Queen

Dark brown fantasy watercolour border

The giants tore up trees

Free clip-art: Victorian border of twigs and leaves

Leicester Hospital, Warwick

Scheuerfest - Spring Cleaning

Mellon’s Baby Food with baby and roses

The Magical Circle of King Solomon

Title Page

Monroe Colliery Co.

Scrollwork Border from page 227

Front Cover

Rustic floral border with trellis and grapevines

Peasant Girl of Pays de Vaud—Type.

Names of Angels and Days (overview)

Chaldee Woman

Land of the Semites. Desert and Caravan.

Cheerful full-page vintage colour border

2.—Stonehenge. – Restored Plan.

Cheerful double-page spread vintage colour border

Engraving of smiling urchin boy carrying sack and vegetables

Nazareth, Palestine

Portrait of King Henry the Eighth

Klara Küry as Maya in The Greek Slave

Full-page border with roses, black and white

The thoughts of my spirit seek you

Decorative clip-art Victorian border, Black and White

Portrait of Erasmus of Rotterdam

A Reminiscence

Christmas Mass

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

Wandering Minstrel

Cherub playing a grand piano

Auf dem Weihnachtsmarkt (At Christmasfest)

The Virgin Mary

Ornate Victorian Border

Seal of Coin of Libra (Obverse)

Seal of Coin of Libra

Seal of Coin of Leo (obverse)

Decorative clip-art Victorian border, antique brown

Seal of Coin of Virgo

Seal of Coin of Leo

Seal of Coin of Virgo (obverse)

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

Vorfrühling - Early Spring

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

Front Cover

Purple Victorian Vine-leaf Border

Ancient Druidic Worship at Stonehenge, England

Gods of our Saxon Ancestors.

Title Page, Error’s Chains

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

Front Cover, Morris, Picturesque Views

Cholmondeley Castle

Frontispiece: Alnwick Castle

Knight, Death and the Devil (1513)

Title Page, Osteographia

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

Deer Skeleton from 18th century engraving

Early Victorian Border from Book Cover

Crusaders conquor Jerusalem

Murder in the Castle

My Dearest Child (My Love)

[Ancient] Greek Marble Mosaics 1: Olympia

Angel of the New year

Saint Bonaventura as a Monk

Vignette: crucifix with skull and prayer book or bible

Victorian vine-leaf page border

Summer Evening

Sir Christopher Hatton

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