Illustrirtes Familienbuch zur Unterhaltung & Belehrung häuslicher Kreise, V Band (page 2/3)

Front Cover, Family Book

The copy of this book that i have is bound is bound in black, with gold lettering on the spine. The size i have given is approximate. [$]

Title Page, Family Book Vol 5

The title page has at least five different lettering styles, and also includes a vignette, a small illustration, a Paddle steamer on stormy seas. [more...] [$]

Paddle steamer on stormy seas

This vignette, with irregular sides, is engraved on the title page. It shows a steam-powered paddle-boat that’s also fitted with masts for sails, funnel belching smoke, with a amaller sailing boat in the foreground. The paddle steamer is listing heavily, so the boat in the foreground could be a lifeboat. In the background [...] [more...] [$]

Cividale: Il Ponte Del Diavolo

The Devil’s Bridge in Cividale del Friuli

This bridge over the River Natisone was built in the 1440s, supposedly by the devil, who wanted the soul of [more...] [$]

The Old Bachelor

Der alte Junggeselle — Il vecchio celibe [more...] [$]

Votivkirche, Vienna

A neo-Gothic cathedral built starting in 1856 in Vienna, in Austria. [more...] [$]

The Seranade

A flautist on the rooftops in the moonlight! He is standing on top of a wall to play outside someone’s bedroom window, watched i think by a cat. Despite the text reproduced below, i am not certain he is meant to be a young man, but perhaps his formal cap and long-tailed [...] [more...] [$]

Old Bologna (1850s)

A montage in the style of a vintage postcard. [more...] [$]

Rustic postcard border of interleaved twigs and vines

This is just the borders (internal and external) from a montage of engravings of Old Bologna. it would make a great template for a postcard with a vintage vibe, or you could use it to frame family photographs maybe. [more...] [$]

Faith and Devotion

We see a nun, hooded and with a long robe, at the foot of a grand spiral staircase, perhaps in an abbey or cathedral. She holds a rosary, a string of beads with a cross on it, in one hand, and her other arm is stretched out as if she is about to dip it into a bowl that’s half-way up the wall in an arched doorway.

Through the entrance we see a tall candle and a crucifix, and perhaps a prayer stool.

The caption is Frömmigkeil Pielà, which is a German phrase combining religious piety (the first word) and devotion (the second).

The impression in the book has remains of plate-wash: the areas between the lines of the engraving are grey, darker than the paper, except in the highlighted areas. This was (and remains) a relatively labour-intensive technique, requiring applying a thin layer of ink [more...] [$]

Johannes Kepler (1571‒1630)

Kepler is portrayed in this detailed black and white engraving as a man with black hair brushed back, a receding hairline, and a black beard perhaps starting to grey. He wears a collar with lace edges. [more...] [$]