Words and Pictures From Old Books

Scrollwork Border from page 227, from Libro Nuovo [The New Book] (1561), added on 14th Jan 2012

liam@holoweb.net (Liam Quin) — Sat, 14 Jan 2012 11:18:00 GMT

This sixteenth century engraved border was made by Palatino, an engraver and calligrapher of the early sixteenth century.

227.---Alphabetum Indicum., from Libro Nuovo [The New Book] (1561), added on 14th Jan 2012

liam@holoweb.net (Liam Quin) — Sat, 14 Jan 2012 11:18:00 GMT

I am not sure which alphabet is intended to be depicted here.

I also made a separate image with just the scrollwork border.

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888.---Octagonal Border with starbursts., from New Specimen of Cast-Metal Ornaments and Wood Types (1840), added on 7th Jan 2012

liam@holoweb.net (Liam Quin) — Sat, 07 Jan 2012 01:17:00 GMT

A vintage border that would look well with Christmas or holiday items.

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General Sullivan's House, from Harper's New Monthly Magazine, Vol. LXXIII. (1886), added on 23rd Dec 2011

liam@holoweb.net (Liam Quin) — Fri, 23 Dec 2011 10:14:00 GMT

I thought this picture would make a good Christmas Card! It shows the New England house of a wealthy lawyer from the 18th century, snow-covered in a wintry December.

John Sullivan was a lawyer in Durham, New Hampshire. He had his own militia, and in 1774 one Paul Revere famousy rode up to his house in Durham; Sullivan raised his army along with other terrorist insurgents, and went down the river to Portsmouth, where they brutally killed the govenor of the fort there, as part of the uprising in the colonies stll known in America as a “war of independence”.

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yyy, from Pictures of old books (2003), added on 17th Dec 2011

liam@holoweb.net (Liam Quin) — Sat, 17 Dec 2011 06:15:00 GMT

This atlas, shown here closed and sitting on a table, is much larger than it appears: it weighs fifty pounds! It is bound in full leather with brass to protct the corners, and with brass clasps to hold it closed.

I also took a photo of the book open to a 1664 map of the world. The book was (rather unexpectedly) in the guest lounge of a hotel in Tokyo; I do not own a copy of it.

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893.---Border with Freemasonry Symbols., from New Specimen of Cast-Metal Ornaments and Wood Types (1840), added on 15th Dec 2011

liam@holoweb.net (Liam Quin) — Thu, 15 Dec 2011 12:21:00 GMT

This border, frame, or cartouche, was on an engraved block for sale in the 1800s; it shows the sun and moon, an eye withrays coming out of it, the set-square (on the right-hand pillar) of and dividers (left) of the Masons, and a bee hive and bees (out of strength came forth sweetness, perhaps); the frame might have been used for an invitation card.

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887.---Men Skating At Night., from New Specimen of Cast-Metal Ornaments and Wood Types (1840), added on 13th Dec 2011

liam@holoweb.net (Liam Quin) — Tue, 13 Dec 2011 12:54:00 GMT

Five men are skating on a frozen pond at night, leaving trails in the ice. They smile. They are wearing top hats and eighteenth-century dress. One of them carries a cane. In the background, wintry trees.

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Nova Totius Terrarum Orbis Tabula, from Pictures of old books (2003), added on 9th Dec 2011

liam@holoweb.net (Liam Quin) — Fri, 09 Dec 2011 11:57:00 GMT

Atlas open to what looks like a redrawing of Frederik de Wit’s “Nova Totius Terrarum Orbis Tabula” of 1670. The map measures over four feet on a side (1.2 x 1.8 metres), but this book has a reduced-size copy.

The book is leather-bound with brass clasps, and was a 1971 fac simile of the Atlas of the Great Elector presented in 1664 by Johann Moritz, Prince Of Nassau-Siegen, to Frederick William, Elector of Brandenburg, called the Great Elector, 1620-1688. The fac-simile itself weighed about fifty pounds and ha a wooden stand!

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168.---German Gothic Initials (J to Q), from Letters & Lettering: A Treatise With 200 Examples (1921), added on 15th Nov 2011

liam@holoweb.net (Liam Quin) — Tue, 15 Nov 2011 01:21:00 GMT

Figures 167 to 169 show a more elaborate but an excellent and typical variety of this form of capital, which is one of the most beautiful and distinctive of Gothic letters. Shorn of its fussy small lines the main skeleton is eminently virile; and, though extremely difficult to draw, it cannot be surpassed for certain limited uses. (p. 140)

There is no letter I; use the J instead.

See also A-H for links to individual letters in the first plate.

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The Eagle., from Bible Animals (1877), added on 12th Nov 2011

liam@holoweb.net (Liam Quin) — Sat, 12 Nov 2011 09:57:00 GMT

“Though thou shouldest make thy nest as high as the eagle.”—Jer. xiix. 16.

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97.---Roman Soldiers., from Old England: A Pictorial Museum (1845), added on 3rd Nov 2011

liam@holoweb.net (Liam Quin) — Thu, 03 Nov 2011 07:37:00 GMT

Three Roman soldiers are shown: one with a round shield and two short spears or arrows, one with a tall shield obviously for riot control, and a long spear or javelin, and one seated on the ground.

[...] the mailed soldiers have laid down their shields and javelins (Fig. 97) to mingle in that common worship which made the Roman and the Barbarian equals.

See Fig. 91 for the full text.

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The End., from Lucille (1882), added on 15th Oct 2011

liam@holoweb.net (Liam Quin) — Sat, 15 Oct 2011 11:40:00 GMT

A cold stone tomb is inscribed with the words “THE END.” A garland of flowers is draped over the tomb alnog with a quiver; a bow and a sword are in the foreground, with a cross hanging from a necklace.

It is a fitting engraving for the end of the poem and the end of the book, and I shall not spoil the story by explaining why.

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Bookplate with Crest, from The Antiquities of England and Wales (1783), added on 9th Oct 2011

liam@holoweb.net (Liam Quin) — Sun, 09 Oct 2011 01:33:00 GMT

This bookplate seems to have had the owner’s name cut off, perhaps when the book was sold. It features an heraldic crest with a fleur-de-lys and a chief ermine in a bearing with a lion en passant (or rampant/) on the top.

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Costumes 1550--1580., from The National and Domestic History of England Vol 2 (1878), added on 24th Sept 2011

liam@holoweb.net (Liam Quin) — Sat, 24 Sep 2011 01:11:00 GMT

A coloured print from 1878, showing how people dressed in the second half of the sixteenth century. From left to right we have:

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96.---Roman Standard Bearers., from Old England: A Pictorial Museum (1845), added on 18th Sept 2011

liam@holoweb.net (Liam Quin) — Sun, 18 Sep 2011 10:06:00 GMT

Two Roman men, with long curly hair and skirts, adopt feminine poses, one holding a stick with a carved eagle on it, universal symbol of despotism, and the other has a banner with SPQR, the Latin that supposedly meant “The Senate and the People of Roman” but was actally an early social networking Web site.

See Fig. 91 for text from the book referring to this picture.

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93.---Roman Galley., from Old England: A Pictorial Museum (1845), added on 16th Sept 2011

liam@holoweb.net (Liam Quin) — Fri, 16 Sep 2011 12:00:00 GMT

An 1840s woodcut representing a Roman coin found in Britain; this coin shows a galley with cox and three (or six) oarsmen, or rowers. Counter to current practice, the rowers face forward. See Fig. 94 for an extract from the book.

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London Bridge in 1694, from London (1872), added on 11th Sept 2011

liam@holoweb.net (Liam Quin) — Sun, 11 Sep 2011 11:47:00 GMT

The old London Bridge shown in this wonderfully emotive engraving was lined with houses all along, a remarkably unsafe construction that did not survive.

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Croquet in the Moonlight, from London (1872), added on 9th Sept 2011

liam@holoweb.net (Liam Quin) — Fri, 09 Sep 2011 10:58:00 GMT

People dressed in Victorian formal attire are playing croquet on the lawn, seemingly at night since the moon is visible.

Although the book I have used this engraving to illustrate a scene in an extract by Anthony Trollop, there doesn’t seem to be anything there about croquet.

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Dark Passion Flowers, from Lucille (1882), added on 27th Aug 2011

liam@holoweb.net (Liam Quin) — Sat, 27 Aug 2011 12:07:00 GMT

Flowers, some open and some closed, and leaves, and goth swirls.

It wanted but two rosy hours
From the noon, when they pass’d through the thick passoin flowers
Of the little wild garden that dimpled before
The small house where their carriage now stopp’d, at Bigorre.

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The Old Ruined Abbey, from Lucille (1882), added on 27th Aug 2011

liam@holoweb.net (Liam Quin) — Sat, 27 Aug 2011 12:06:00 GMT

Between trees and over thick undergrowth we see the ruins of an ancient stone abbey, with the sunset shining through the mullioned windows.

The day had been sullen; but towards the decline,
The sun sent a stream of wild light up the pine.
Darkly denting the red light reveal’d at its back,
The old ruin’d abbey rose roofless and black.

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