Skip to main content

This site may be going away; please consider the Donate link above... or LiberaPay:

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.

Descendants of William the Conqueror

Frontispiece: The Barbican, Sandwich

331.—Switches and Crossings

11. Seal of Gusion.

On The Beach

Ludwig Richter-Haus in Loschwitz

An imp or devil or demon laughing and pointing

Decorative clip-art Victorian border, antique green

The Secret Seal of Solomon

St. Ives Bridge

Frontispiece: Portrait of William H. Seward

Sir Isaac Newton

ront Cover

Antique British Isles Map: Accuratissima Angliae Scotiae et Hiberniae

Hannibal from an old coin

53.8.—IHS

Hannibal Crossing the Rhone

Cylinders, Steam Pipe, Blast Pipe, etc.

Maid in the Forest

Dark Passion Flowers

Nebuchadnezzar

The Magical Circle of King Solomon, Coloured

Fish-plating of rails

Armillary Sphere, Scanned Version

Château Montjardin. Remouchamps.

Old Riverside Farm, Závist

Polkerris, Cornwall

Historiated decorative initial capital letter M in Blue

Christmas-tide on the Road

Lutterworth.

Cherup ascending

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

Hush! Central Will Hear!

The Grotesque (Le Stryge)

Gothic Window

Full-page border with hearts and moons

Gargoyle, brighter version

Cherub with paintbrush

Cairo, from the East

Floriated initial capital letter “S”

Inside a feudal castle hall

Harvest Time

Field Worker

Free clip-art: Victorian border of twigs and leaves

891.—Trapeze artist walking a tightrope or high wire

Portrait of Włodzimierz Czacki

Drawn Picture Frame

The Magical Circle of King Solomon

Schoolwork

Cherub Facing Right

Spring Song, Frühlingslied

Scrollwork Border from page 227

Portrait of Ludwig Knaus

Collared Peccary (Tayassin tayassu)

Naked angel with caduceus

Names of Angels and Days (overview)

Title Page, Musaeum Hermeticum

Alchemy Full Page Border

Front Cover

2.—Stonehenge. – Restored Plan.

Alchemical dragons fighting

49.—St. Sebald’s Church at Nuremberg.

84.—The Alcazar at Toledo (Begun 1548)

Portrait of King Henry the Eighth

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

The Battle

Give me a Ham Sandwich

Decorative clip-art Victorian border, Black and White

Haigha and Hatta

Map XIX. Ireland

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

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

Hymn to the Seasons

Bless the Lord O My Soul

The front cover, with gold foil

The Virgin Mary

Initial letter capital V with mountain rescue

Helmsman on a Vltava steamer

Title Page

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

157.—Uncial Gothic Letters. 14th Century.

Front Cover

The Storming of Jerusalem by Titus

Decorative clip-art Victorian border, antique brown

Buddhist Priest of Annam—TYPE

Chaldean Slaves

A Christmas-Box From China

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

Decorative initial letter C with holly and icicles and snow

Indra, God of Atmosphere

The Keep, Walmer

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

Title Page

The Stocks. Monkton

Niccolò Paganini on the Fiftieth Anniversary of His Death

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

The Engraver

The Painter

The Novel

Decorative initial (drop cap) D

Front cover in red and gold

The Counsel (a Scotch Terrier)

Frontispiece: Don’t Cry

Purple Victorian Vine-leaf Border

Tortured with feet to the fire

Zeus and Europa

Poppies and Tiger Lillies

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

Menu Card 4: Waitress

Menu Card 3: Celler Master

Menu Card 1: Court Jester

Knight, Death and the Devil (1513)

Menu Card 2: Chef

Initial Letter I With Art Nouveau Swirls

Venus danced for Apollo

Early Victorian Border from Book Cover

Chapterhead with Boy’s Head

Sacrificial Rites of the Ancient British Druids

English Manufacturing

[Ancient] Greek Marble Mosaics 1: Olympia

Helen and Paris

Front Cover

Title page, The Defence of Guenevere

Victorian vine-leaf page border

That wall of stone

Jesus and Moses

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