Category Archives: old illustrations

Famous Travels circa 1902

Posted on November 21, 2016 by

Following are some illustrations from the book ‘Famous Travels’,  edition 12 of the twenty volumes of the Young Folk’s Library, published in 1902.  Imagine reading this book at that time, with stories by Charles Dickens, Washington Irving, R. W. Emerson, … Continue reading →

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Nouveau Petit Larousse Illustre-Dictionnaire Encyclopedique 1956

Posted on March 26, 2016 by

I love these illustrations from the 1956 edition of the French Larousse dictionary. They are so detailed and colorful!

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Once upon a time, people believed in Unicorns.

Posted on March 24, 2015 by

Once upon a time, for nearly two thousand years, everybody believed in unicorns. Aristotle, Pliny the Elder, and Julius Caesar were all believers. If people did not believe, we have no way of knowing because they didn’t leave evidence of … Continue reading →

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Gorgeous c.1911 paintings of “The Women of the Bible”

Posted on September 28, 2014 by

These intriguing and colorful paintings of women come from an old edition of The Women of the Bible: A Portrait Gallery by Margaret E. Sangster (The Christian Herald, 1911). I can’t help but be drawn to each woman’s eyes – the … Continue reading →

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Hendrik Willem Van Loon, author of “The Story of Mankind” & winner of the very first Newbery Medal

Posted on August 18, 2014 by

Hendrik Willem Van Loon was a Dutch-American historian, journalist, and award-winning children’s book author. From the 1910s to his death in 1944, he wrote dozens of books, illustrating them himself. The Story of Mankind is his best-known work; it won the first-ever Newbery Medal in … Continue reading →

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Peter Pan by Sir James Barrie illustrated by Roy Best

Posted on July 31, 2014 by

Originally posted on redbudart:
Roy Best was an American illustrator with a long career as a painter of pin-up girls. He attended the Art Academy of Cincinnati and the Art Institute of Chicago, while working on railroad construction crew to…

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Trendy Beetles

Posted on May 24, 2014 by

I’ve been on Tumblr a lot lately, mostly posting images to draw people to my Etsy shop where I’ve been selling digital images for a few years. It hasn’t really increased sales yet, but I don’t mind because I am … Continue reading →

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The Waite-Smith Tarot Card Deck

Posted on February 28, 2014 by

This set of cards was designed in 1909 by the great authority on the Tarot and revered mystic Arthur Edward Waite with the help of artist Pamela Coleman Smith. The two met at a meeting of The Hermetic Order of … Continue reading →

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German Art Nouveau… Jugendstil from ‘Der Moderne Stil’

Posted on February 9, 2014 by

Imagine my delight when a friend asked me if I wanted a box of old German books and in it was  ‘Der Moderne Stil’ published by Von Julius Hoffman Jr. in Stuttgart, Germany. The book was full of  pictures of modern … Continue reading →

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Celebrating Diversity with Representative Types

Posted on January 25, 2014 by

There is beauty in diversity, beauty in patterns and beauty in old dictionary illustrations!

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