Happy New Year to those of you who like to celebrate such things (not really into it myself  – it was 2009……now its 2010…so what??!). Anyway, onto more interesting matters. Regular readers might know that I am a fan of vintage book-plate art. I am also a lover of Jungendstil – the the German interpretation [...]

First off, any apologies for the distinct lack of posts on here in an excessively long time. Real life getting in the way and such…Anyway, back to normality so will be posting a lot more in the coming months. As you may know, I am a great  believer in the potential of using public domain [...]

Regular readers may know that I am a great enthusiast of the Big Apple.  The images I have for you today are taken from the 1939 publication New York City Guide. The book was one of many published by the Federal Writers Project; a U.S. government initiative established by Predident Roosevelt in 1935 with the [...]

No introduction should be neccessary for regular readers of this blog to the work of Arthur Rackham – one Englands greatest illustrators. The images I have for you today are not as familiar to us as his more celebrated and well known coloured illustrations. They are taken from a 1907 publication Land of Enchantment  – [...]

These fantastic hand coloured wood-cuts are taken from the 16th Century astronomy text Astronomicum Caesareum by Petrus Apian. Taking several years to produce at  his private print shop in Ingolstadt the book is unusual in that it contains twenty one illustrations with moving parts (so called “volvelles“). These are primarily planetary equatoria (paper wheels designed [...]

Bookplates, also refered to as ex-libris [Latin for "from the books of..."], are small decorative labels which indicate the owner of a book. They generally appear inside the font cover and often feature a motto, crest, or motif representing the owner. Their usage can be traced back as far as the 14th century however their [...]

Warwick Goble was a Victorian illustrator who enjoyed his greatest success during the early decades of the 20th century when there was a great demand for colour plate illustrations. One of his earliest commissions was for H G Wells War of the World’s in 1898. His specialisms however, were fairy tales and exotic stories of [...]

J. J. Grandville was the pseudonym of  French caricaturist and illustrator Jean Ignace Isidore Gérard. His early carreer consisted of regular contributions of highly satirical political caricatures for a series of Parisian periodicals. He garnered a great deal of popularity for this work but following the reintroduction of censorship of caricatures in France in 1835, [...]

Frank Cheyne Papé was a British illustrator of the “Golden Age” of book illustration. Born in 1878, there appears to be very little information available to us about his life and work. We know that his first work was around 1908. This early coloured work was similar in style and maybe influenced by artists of the 1890′s [...]

Sorry for the lack of posts recently – I’ve been rather busy with other stuff so have neglected the blog somewhat. Anyway, today I have some amazing illustrations from a 1915 publication entitled ‘Researches Into Chinese Superstitions’ by Henry Doré. This appears to be a multi volume work and these particular illustrations are taken from [...]