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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.

The Seranade

A schoolroom in Tunisia

Llanthony Priory, Valley of the Honddu

11. Seal of Gusion.

initial letter R with small girl

Dark brown fantasy watercolour border

Adrift from The Snow Queen

Decorative clip-art Victorian border, antique green

The giants tore up trees

Leicester Hospital, Warwick

Shuerfest - stubborn stains

Sir Isaac Newton

Monroe Colliery Co.

Title Page

Mellon’s Baby Food with baby and roses

53.8.—IHS

Front Cover

Rustic floral border with trellis and grapevines

Dark Passion Flowers

Peasant Girl of Pays de Vaud—Type.

Chaldee Woman

Cheerful double-page spread vintage colour border

Cheerful full-page vintage colour border

Engraving of smiling urchin boy carrying sack and vegetables

Historiated decorative initial capital letter M in Blue

Nazareth, Palestine

Klara Küry as Maya in The Greek Slave

Full-page border with roses, black and white

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

The thoughts of my spirit seek you

Portrait of Erasmus of Rotterdam

A Reminiscence

Full-page border with hearts and moons

Ornate Victorian Border

Wandering Minstrel

Floriated initial capital letter “S”

Auf dem Weihnachtsmarkt (At Christmasfest)

Seal of Coin of Libra

Seal of Coin of Libra (Obverse)

The Magical Circle of King Solomon

Seal of Coin of Leo (obverse)

Seal of Coin of Virgo

Vorfrühling - Early Spring

Front Cover

Ancient Druidic Worship at Stonehenge, England

Gods of our Saxon Ancestors.

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

Title Page, Error’s Chains

Cholmondeley Castle

Frontispiece: Alnwick Castle

The Virgin Mary

Front Cover, Morris, Picturesque Views

Title Page, Osteographia

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

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

Deer Skeleton from 18th century engraving

My Dearest Child (My Love)

Angel of the New year

Decorative clip-art Victorian border, antique brown

Saint Bonaventura as a Monk

Vignette: crucifix with skull and prayer book or bible

Summer Evening

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

Sir Christopher Hatton

Atrolabe: scientist and boy

Full-page border with bird, flowers, ivy

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

Collection of alms at the funeral of don Álvaro de Luna

Eagle Tower, Caernarfon

They Crossed the Delaware in Safety

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

The figures of the Divine Letters

William Herbert, Earl of Pembroke

Corner Bookcase Ornament

Decorative initial (drop cap) D

The Blizzard in America; Dead Boy in the Snow

Choral Recital with the organ

Front Cover, Le Musée Artistique et Littéraire

Purple Victorian Vine-leaf Border

Cartouche With Cherubs

Full-page portrait border with nameplate space

Monseigneur Dabart, bishop of Périgueux and of Sarlat.

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

Through Woods and Fields

German Coaching Inn

Knight, Death and the Devil (1513)

Fountains Abbey

Early Victorian Border from Book Cover

View of St. Paul’s Cathedral from the Thames

Front Cover

Mr. Edison’s New Phonograph

John Bunyan’s Cottage

Colophon with full-page border

Victorian vine-leaf page border

Frontispiece: Why has your tree no flowers while ours are pink?

The Rain Fairy

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