Discover historical illustrations by subject, artist and book.
Creation and rebellion in Blake’s illuminated plates.
Norwegian fairy tales illustrated by Kay Nielsen.
Four colour drawings from a 1908 Gnostic text.
From the dark wood to Paradise with Gustave Doré.
Ethelwynne Quail’s visions of the spirit world.
Art Deco studies of fear by John Vassos.
20 illustrations
Tall trunks fill the narrow image with closely repeated vertical lines.
Virgil approaches the crowded gateway of a dark city while Dante waits near the ferryman and boat, separated from his guide by the open foreground.
The two cloaked travellers are surrounded by winged figures carrying raised hooks and poles across a rocky bank.
A red-bearded gnome leads a brightly dressed procession through a dark woodland lane.
Pale monumental figures loom within a dark oval, one broad draped body facing outward while another appears in profile at the side.
Three enormous faces and a sickle loom above a dense stand of corn.
A richly dressed youth stands beside a thin bearded worker and a crowded loom.
A pale figure bends towards the ground beneath larger faces and clustered bodies.
Two small figures lean together where a great web stretches between hanging plants.
A narrow mechanical device projects a wide fan of fine marks in the upper drawing.
Thin stems carry open star-shaped blooms above a dense cluster of round leaves.
A heavy rounded flowerhead bends above serrated leaves and several smaller buds.
A crouching woman presses close to a large horned figure with long arms and a patterned body.
A sombre castle and its reflections occupy a narrow vertical composition.
Several figures stand or sit around a stone-lined working area beneath low tiled roofs.
Two immense shaggy men loom over a small woman caught between them.
Several figures sit and stand around a vase crowded with flowers and leaves.
A broad human figure braces both hands beside a large chair while a tiny table and plant stand nearby.
A long-haired woman bends towards lotus blossoms beneath a crescent moon.
A pale figure stands within a bright doorway, one hand raised towards the surrounding darkness.
27 plates
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10 plates
