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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.

Antique British Isles Map: Accuratissima Angliae Scotiae et Hiberniae

Hannibal from an old coin

Hannibal Crossing the Rhone

11. Seal of Gusion.

Cylinders, Steam Pipe, Blast Pipe, etc.

Maid in the Forest

Nebuchadnezzar

Decorative clip-art Victorian border, antique green

The Magical Circle of King Solomon, Coloured

Fish-plating of rails

Château Montjardin. Remouchamps.

Sir Isaac Newton

Old Riverside Farm, Závist

Polkerris, Cornwall

Christmas-tide on the Road

53.8.—IHS

Lutterworth.

Cherup ascending

Hush! Central Will Hear!

Dark Passion Flowers

The Grotesque (Le Stryge)

Gargoyle, brighter version

Gothic Window

Armillary Sphere, Scanned Version

Cherub with paintbrush

Cairo, from the East

Inside a feudal castle hall

Historiated decorative initial capital letter M in Blue

Harvest Time

Field Worker

891.—Trapeze artist walking a tightrope or high wire

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

Drawn Picture Frame

Portrait of Włodzimierz Czacki

Schoolwork

Full-page border with hearts and moons

Cherub Facing Right

Spring Song, Frühlingslied

Portrait of Ludwig Knaus

Floriated initial capital letter “S”

Collared Peccary (Tayassin tayassu)

Naked angel with caduceus

Title Page, Musaeum Hermeticum

Free clip-art: Victorian border of twigs and leaves

Front Cover

Alchemical dragons fighting

Alchemy Full Page Border

The Magical Circle of King Solomon

49.—St. Sebald’s Church at Nuremberg.

84.—The Alcazar at Toledo (Begun 1548)

60.—Doorway from Church at Batalha (Begun 1385)

Scrollwork Border from page 227

Haigha and Hatta

The Battle

Give me a Ham Sandwich

Names of Angels and Days (overview)

Map XIX. Ireland

Map XVII. british Isles; Showing places of greatest Historical Interest.

Hymn to the Seasons

2.—Stonehenge. – Restored Plan.

Bless the Lord O My Soul

The front cover, with gold foil

Initial letter capital V with mountain rescue

Portrait of King Henry the Eighth

Helmsman on a Vltava steamer

Title Page

157.—Uncial Gothic Letters. 14th Century.

Decorative clip-art Victorian border, Black and White

Front Cover

The Storming of Jerusalem by Titus

Buddhist Priest of Annam—TYPE

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

Chaldean Slaves

A Christmas-Box From China

Decorative initial letter C with holly and icicles and snow

The Virgin Mary

Indra, God of Atmosphere

The Keep, Walmer

Title Page

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

The Stocks. Monkton

Niccolò Paganini on the Fiftieth Anniversary of His Death

The Engraver

Decorative clip-art Victorian border, antique brown

The Painter

The Novel

Front cover in red and gold

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

The Counsel (a Scotch Terrier)

Frontispiece: Don’t Cry

Tortured with feet to the fire

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

Zeus and Europa

Poppies and Tiger Lillies

Menu Card 1: Court Jester

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

Menu Card 3: Celler Master

Menu Card 2: Chef

Menu Card 4: Waitress

Decorative initial (drop cap) D

Initial Letter I With Art Nouveau Swirls

Venus danced for Apollo

Chapterhead with Boy’s Head

Purple Victorian Vine-leaf Border

Sacrificial Rites of the Ancient British Druids

English Manufacturing

Helen and Paris

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

Title page, The Defence of Guenevere

Front Cover

That wall of stone

Knight, Death and the Devil (1513)

Jesus and Moses

145.—Leading a Horse

Foliated initial capital letter S, coloured

Early Victorian Border from Book Cover

Oval frame, scalloped

Tailpiece with peacock

Front Cover With Alice

[Ancient] Greek Marble Mosaics 1: Olympia

Foliated Initial Letter S

Tailpiece of hunting paraphernalia

Convolvulus Tricolor

Victorian vine-leaf page border

70.—Border of cherubs climbing in trees

Classical full-page border with goddess

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