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Vintage Pictures, Engravings and Extracts From Old Books

Over 4,400 free images from old, rare, antique and vintage books. High-resolution images for sale. Mastodon M

Berlin’s Victory Avenue in Winter

Souls on the Acheron River

On Vacation (Auf Urlaub)

11. Seal of Gusion.

Tea-Roses (Iheerosen)

Faith and Devotion

Johannes Kepler (1571‒1630)

Decorative clip-art Victorian border, antique green

Dedication: art deco scroll in floral border

The dream they had laid out in their lives was over

King Ixion naked on the burning wheel

Sir Isaac Newton

Front Cover, by Klimsch

Weeping child

Winged monster of the night

53.8.—IHS

The Fairy Court

Template: knight and castle

Frontispiece: Hindoo Temple at Goruckinath

Dark Passion Flowers

clipart: initial letter E from beginning of 16th Century

clipart: initial letter D from beginning of 16th Century

clipart: initial letter C from beginning of the 16th Century

Armillary Sphere, Scanned Version

The man in the iron mask.

932.—Salisbury

Destruction of Printing Presses in Mayence

Historiated decorative initial capital letter M in Blue

Chapterhead: angel, or truth breaking free

Chapterhead for Opening of Chapter One of Homer’s Odyssey

Front Cover, Homer’s Odyssey

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

Withdrawal from Troy

Title page from Homers Odyssey

Inside the Imperial Palace, Delhi

Full-page border with hearts and moons

Pentagram of Solomon

Decorated. Stoke Golding. Leicestershire.

257.—Harrowing and Sowing (Bayeux Tapestry.)

Floriated initial capital letter “S”

The Royal Porter dressed for an event

Border with cherubs, arrow piercing hearts, flowers and leaves

Emperor of Germany Three Days at the Pope’s Gate

Free clip-art: Victorian border of twigs and leaves

At the Wine Festival

Mazeppa

Lions in a Cage

The Magical Circle of King Solomon

Lion Face, detail from Lions in a Cage

Initial Letter W With Demon and Woman and Crescent Moon

Hexenschlaf (Witch’s Sleep, or, Burning a Witch)

Scrollwork Border from page 227

Front Cover, Volume Three of Modern Art

Border with flowers

Harvest-time

Names of Angels and Days (overview)

Penrhyn Castle

Jesus with raised hand: holy admonition

owl from full-page border

2.—Stonehenge. – Restored Plan.

Angel with thurible from full-page border

Coucy Castle, Bird’s Eye Drawing with labels

Full-page border with flowers, vines, figures

Portrait of King Henry the Eighth

2113.—James I.’s Cradle. (From a Print inNichols’s Progresses.)

A giant wooden statue of a warrior with shield and sword

Front Cover, Pied Piper of Hamelin

Decorative clip-art Victorian border, Black and White

Into the cellar, into the dungeon!

Chilren on the beach, with full-page border

Sounding the irons

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

London Driving

The founding of Paris

Thomas William Crackfort is cut into six pieces

The Virgin Mary

Decorated Initial letter C with holly

Old College, Warwick Lane, London

Portrait of Sir Christopher Wren

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

He blew out his lantern

Haunted Chest of Drawers

Decorative clip-art Victorian border, antique brown

Man with hand in darkness

Christmas Choir

Bibury, Arlington Row

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

In the Forest Cathedral

Full-page border, hillside path through ruined castle

Ornament with Roses

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

Danaë

Barefoot boy guzzles beer

Family with barefoot boy

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

Lady Justice (Justitia)

The Dragon of Putrefaction

castle medallion with ribbons

Decorative initial (drop cap) D

Strawberry Season (Erdbeerenzeit)

Córdova: The Door of the Mosque

Chiquon and Cochegrue, from Count Dracula

Purple Victorian Vine-leaf Border

Cupid’s Hunting Fields

The Catapult, Painted by E. J. Poynter, R.A.

Don Quixote in his Study

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

Reconciled

Queen Dagmar of Denmark

An Orphan Family’s Christmas

Knight, Death and the Devil (1513)

Bookplate without name

Art Nouveau Bookplate

Effect of the League

Early Victorian Border from Book Cover

Three Queens

Chapel of St. John’s College, Cambridge

Coucy Castle, Bird’s Eye Drawing

[Ancient] Greek Marble Mosaics 1: Olympia

87.—Designs for Window Heads

Constantinople Firemen

Initial letter J with piper and rats

Victorian vine-leaf page border

Imploring the moon from th castle courtyard

Prisoner Chained in the Dungeon

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