Words and Pictures From Old Books

257.---Harrowing and Sowing (Bayeux Tapestry.), from Old England: A Pictorial Museum (1845), added on 9th July 2026

liam@holoweb.net (Liam Quin) — Thu, 09 Jul 2026 03:09:00 GMT

Here we see a man leading what looks to me more likea horse than an ox, which in turn is pulling a harrow made of a rectangular frame with spikes in it; behind follows another man, bearded, sowing seeds.

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The Royal Porter dressed for an event, from Moderne Kunst in Meister-Holzschnitten Band XIII (1897), added on 7th July 2026

liam@holoweb.net (Liam Quin) — Tue, 07 Jul 2026 08:04:00 GMT

Ein Fest am Kiserlichen Hofe zu Berlin

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Border with cherubs, arrow piercing hearts, flowers and leaves, from La Vie Parisienne (1863), added on 15th June 2026

liam@holoweb.net (Liam Quin) — Mon, 15 Jun 2026 02:11:00 GMT

This top-piece is a sketch-like drawing from a double-page spread in an article about an English couple visiting France. We see two winged cherubs standing facing one another either side of a pediment on which rests an arrow pierving two hearts. The boys have loin-cloths. One is carrying perhaps a stick, the other holding a bow. The festoons that curve down and away from the boys’ feet are in the form of chains, with magnets or horseshoes at the end.

I did not see a credit for a specific artist.

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Emperor of Germany Three Days at the Pope’s Gate, from Wonderful Prodigies of Judgement and Mercy (1685), added on 10th June 2026

liam@holoweb.net (Liam Quin) — Wed, 10 Jun 2026 02:41:00 GMT

The woodcut illustrated the Emperor of Germany, King Henry IV, waiting barefoot in the snow for three days along with his wife and son, outside Canossa Castle in italy, to beg the Pope for forgiveness—so incredibly elevated in power and corrupt were the Popes of the time. This was in the year 1077.

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At the Wine Festival, from Moderne Kunst in Meister-Holzschnitten Band I (1887), added on 31st May 2026

liam@holoweb.net (Liam Quin) — Sun, 31 May 2026 02:29:00 GMT

The title given to this painting, Moselblümchen, can refer to a swet blend of wine from the Mosel region in Germany, or it can refer to a traditional folk dress worn at wine festivals in the same region. It could also refer to flowers found in the Mosel Valley (little flower from the Mosel region), or to the woman herself, or perhaps all of these at once.

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Mazeppa , from Moderne Kunst in Meister-Holzschnitten Band I (1887), added on 30th May 2026

liam@holoweb.net (Liam Quin) — Sat, 30 May 2026 12:16:00 GMT

A naked young man (a piece of black cloth hiding his loins) is tied to the back of a horse which appears to be about to try to roll over onto its back, presumably in an effort to rid itself of its burden. In the background a large black bird, a raven with a pointy beak, is diving and the boy or youth on the horse looks up a it worriedly.

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Lions in a Cage, from Moderne Kunst in Meister-Holzschnitten Band I (1887), added on 24th May 2026

liam@holoweb.net (Liam Quin) — Sun, 24 May 2026 03:26:00 GMT

This engraving, after a painting by Paul Friedrich Meyerheim (1842 – 1915) shows a lioness lying down resting her head on the back of a lion, with the bars of a cage door visible in the background.

Meyerheim was known for painting lions, and today his paintings sell at auctions for tens of thousands of pounds / euros / dollars.

The engraving was done by Richard Brend’amour of Düsseldorf.

There is also a close-up of the lions face as a separate image.

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Lion Face, detail from Lions in a Cage, from Moderne Kunst in Meister-Holzschnitten Band I (1887), added on 24th May 2026

liam@holoweb.net (Liam Quin) — Sun, 24 May 2026 03:26:00 GMT

A detail from Lions in a Cage showing just the face of the lion.

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Initial Letter W With Demon and Woman and Crescent Moon, from Moderne Kunst in Meister-Holzschnitten Band III (1890), added on 20th May 2026

liam@holoweb.net (Liam Quin) — Wed, 20 May 2026 05:10:00 GMT

A decorative initial, vignetted, inhabited: a drop cap.

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Hexenschlaf (Witch’s Sleep, or, Burning a Witch), from Moderne Kunst in Meister-Holzschnitten Band III (1890), added on 12th May 2026

liam@holoweb.net (Liam Quin) — Tue, 12 May 2026 01:53:00 GMT

The title of this painting, Hexenschlaf, refers to the idea that witches went into a lethargic state and became insensitive to pain during torture.

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Front Cover, Volume Three of Modern Art, from Moderne Kunst in Meister-Holzschnitten Band III (1890), added on 11th May 2026

liam@holoweb.net (Liam Quin) — Mon, 11 May 2026 01:27:00 GMT

The front cover of Moderne Kunst, Volume 3, is very ornate and rather large. It bears, in the very middle, the text Moderne Kunst in Meister-Holzschnitten (Modern Art in Master Woodcuts) in gold letters with ornate initials. But above are two female angels with wings and trumpets resting on a pediment styled after classical architecture and with a shield between them (Germany?) and, beneath, two cherubs, winged naked boys, one with a scroll and one with a canvas, the whole contained in an ornate border of scrollwork and gold leaf with a man’s head at the top, perhaps the publisher (Richard Bong).

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Harvest-time, from Moderne Kunst in Meister-Holzschnitten Band III (1890), added on 10th May 2026

liam@holoweb.net (Liam Quin) — Sun, 10 May 2026 02:44:00 GMT

A plainly-dressed girl holds a hay-fork in this black-and-white engraving of a painting, probably a watercolour. There is a frame featuring wild roses and asters around the picture; in places the flowers intrude into the frame.

The engraving (by M. Weber) is of a painting by William Charles Thomas Dobson, and is entitled here In der Erntezeit, or, In [during?] the harvest.

Just the border as a separate image

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Penrhyn Castle, from Picturesque Views of Seats of the Noblemen and Gentlemen of Great Britain and Ireland Vol 2 (1870), added on 6th May 2026

liam@holoweb.net (Liam Quin) — Wed, 06 May 2026 01:46:00 GMT

Penrhyn Castle is actually an early nineteenth century rebuild on the site of a much older building, and is in more or less the style of a Norman castle on steroids.

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Jesus with raised hand: holy admonition, from Imitation of Christ (1855), added on 2nd May 2026

liam@holoweb.net (Liam Quin) — Sat, 02 May 2026 01:47:00 GMT

A holy Christian figure, as indicated by the halo, probably Jesus, with one finger raised, and badly-drawn feet. He looks very Western, and clean-shaven.

This is another detail from a full-page border from Darboy’s 1855 edition of the Imitation of Christ.

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owl from full-page border, from Imitation of Christ (1855), added on 1st May 2026

liam@holoweb.net (Liam Quin) — Fri, 01 May 2026 01:51:00 GMT

This line-drawing of an owl looks startlingly modern, with eyes wide as if in surprise, body twisted, wings spread for takeoff. It was in the bottom-left corner of a full-page border from Darboy’s 1855 edition of the Imitation of Christ.

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Angel with thurible from full-page border, from Imitation of Christ (1855), added on 29th April 2026

liam@holoweb.net (Liam Quin) — Wed, 29 Apr 2026 10:22:00 GMT

This angel is on one knee, his flowing hair bound with a circlet, his wings behind him. He holds one end of a chain in his left hand and the other in his right; from the right end of the chain dangles a thurible, or censer. These are used in Orthodox, oman Catholic and high Anglican churches to burn incense, with the smoke supposed to represent prayers going up to heaven (where the angel should already be, so maybe this is a fallen angel).

This is a detail from a full-page Christian border.

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Coucy Castle, Bird’s Eye Drawing with labels, from A Textbook on Ornamental Design (1901), added on 24th April 2026

liam@holoweb.net (Liam Quin) — Fri, 24 Apr 2026 10:51:00 GMT

The original drawing of Coucy Castle was reproduced in the book on drawing with the parts labeled with letters; this version of the castle drawing retains those letters.

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Full-page border with flowers, vines, figures, from Imitation of Christ (1855), added on 22nd April 2026

liam@holoweb.net (Liam Quin) — Wed, 22 Apr 2026 02:56:00 GMT

This full-page border is made from dense black-and-white line drawings (actually an engraving). It includes Mary with baby Jesus, Jesus, an angel spreading incense (oddly), a pyramid with sun rays (at top middle), a bird, a dragon or crocodile, an owl with wings spread wide (at lower right), all embedded in vines with seeds and flowers.

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2113.---James I.’s Cradle. (From a Print inNichols’s Progresses.), from Old England: A Pictorial Museum (1845), added on 15th April 2026

liam@holoweb.net (Liam Quin) — Wed, 15 Apr 2026 02:03:00 GMT

This engraving shows the finaely carved oak cradle in which the infant James lay. It is still kept at his mother’s house, Stirling Castle.

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A giant wooden statue of a warrior with shield and sword, from Der Rattenfänger von Hameln: Eine Aventiure (1890), added on 12th April 2026

liam@holoweb.net (Liam Quin) — Sun, 12 Apr 2026 04:09:00 GMT

Perhaps we are in the medieval city of Hamelin here; our dauntless protagonist seems perhaps startled by the statue, which is twice as tall as he is. In the background an archway in a stone wall leads to an alley with closely-packed houses along it.

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