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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 Display of Manuscripts on Reading Desks.

Title Page

Summary of the Law, in gold

11. Seal of Gusion.

A genteel wheelchair in Paris

Cherub with grin and cloven hoofs

Fig. 86.—Curves.

Decorative clip-art Victorian border, antique green

Front Cover, Art of Decorative Design

Plate XVIII.—Stylized Chinese Dragon

Plate XIV—Chinese Dragon

Sir Isaac Newton

Plate XXIV.—Knowledge Is Power

Title Page

And then began a murder, grim and great

53.8.—IHS

Gibeon

Cupid with a Butterfly

December Night (Dezembernacht)

Dark Passion Flowers

The Irmin Column in the Cathedral of Hildesheim

Taymouth Castle

Rustic postcard border of interleaved twigs and vines

Armillary Sphere, Scanned Version

Old Bologna (1850s)

Isaak Newton [Portrait of Sir Isaac Newton]

Battle in the Sacred Linden Groves

Historiated decorative initial capital letter M in Blue

Initial letter V with a mermaid

Title Page, Bohemia Part Two

Front Cover, Bohemia Part Two

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

Battle of Knights

Full-page border of repeated vine leaves

Votivkirche, Vienna

Full-page border with hearts and moons

Avenue of Sighs

Christmas Still Life

The Seranade

Floriated initial capital letter “S”

A schoolroom in Tunisia

Llanthony Priory, Valley of the Honddu

The giants tore up trees

Free clip-art: Victorian border of twigs and leaves

Dark brown fantasy watercolour border

Adrift from The Snow Queen

initial letter R with small girl

The Magical Circle of King Solomon

Leicester Hospital, Warwick

Scheuerfest - Spring Cleaning

Title Page

Scrollwork Border from page 227

Monroe Colliery Co.

Mellon’s Baby Food with baby and roses

Names of Angels and Days (overview)

Chaldee Woman

Front Cover

Rustic floral border with trellis and grapevines

2.—Stonehenge. – Restored Plan.

Peasant Girl of Pays de Vaud—Type.

Land of the Semites. Desert and Caravan.

Cheerful double-page spread vintage colour border

Portrait of King Henry the Eighth

Cheerful full-page vintage colour border

Engraving of smiling urchin boy carrying sack and vegetables

Nazareth, Palestine

Decorative clip-art Victorian border, Black and White

Klara Küry as Maya in The Greek Slave

Full-page border with roses, black and white

The thoughts of my spirit seek you

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

Portrait of Erasmus of Rotterdam

A Reminiscence

Ornate Victorian Border

The Virgin Mary

Cherub playing a grand piano

Auf dem Weihnachtsmarkt (At Christmasfest)

Wandering Minstrel

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

Christmas Mass

Choirboy singing from balcony pulpit

Seal of Coin of Libra

Seal of Coin of Libra (Obverse)

Seal of Coin of Virgo (obverse)

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

Seal of Coin of Leo (obverse)

Seal of Coin of Leo

Seal of Coin of Virgo

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

Vorfrühling - Early Spring

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

Title Page, Error’s Chains

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

Ancient Druidic Worship at Stonehenge, England

Front Cover

Gods of our Saxon Ancestors.

Knight, Death and the Devil (1513)

Cholmondeley Castle

Frontispiece: Alnwick Castle

Front Cover, Morris, Picturesque Views

Early Victorian Border from Book Cover

Deer Skeleton from 18th century engraving

Title Page, Osteographia

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

[Ancient] Greek Marble Mosaics 1: Olympia

Crusaders conquor Jerusalem

Murder in the Castle

My Dearest Child (My Love)

Victorian vine-leaf page border

Angel of the New year

Saint Bonaventura as a Monk

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