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.
46 illustrations
A narrow stair coils upward through a black field scattered with tiny stars.
Two slender figures stand at the edge of a broad black curve and look towards a great face in the pale moon.
Alternating rays radiate from a dark central field containing a pale triangle and a bold letter-like form.
A small traveller stands before an immense curling black rock or tree form.
Steep gables and narrow towers form a jagged silhouette beside a canal.
Two massive square towers stand on either side of a thin central spire.
Great tree trunks rise above a dense, dark bank and a small stream or path.
Long hanging branches arch over a dark pool.
A great dark wave rises in a smooth arc above a small cluster of buildings.
Dark buildings rise on both sides of a narrow pale waterway.
Two sharply drawn cliff edges recede towards a narrow point in the distance.
A small locomotive and trailing smoke move across a line of tall arches.
A young woman faces forward with long hair falling over one shoulder.
A face emerges from tightly drawn waves beneath two immense rising wings.
A crowned armoured figure rises behind pale hills above a tiny city skyline.
A knight raises his sword before a vast dark winged creature.
Two pale profiles face a small city set low against an otherwise black field.
Three richly patterned worshippers turn towards a haloed figure in a timber-framed setting.
A woman’s sharp profile occupies the lower corner beneath an immense dark wing.
A smaller praying woman stands within the curved wings of a much larger figure.
A young woman faces forward with her hands joined in prayer.
A crowned figure holds joined hands at the centre of an enclosure of great wings.
A frontal armoured figure holds an upright sword with both hands beneath dark wings.
An immense rounded train covered in peacock-eye patterns occupies the lower half of the scene.
A slender pale figure rises from a broad black garment layered with pointed panels and small star-like ornaments.
A dark-haired figure bends over a long pale body stretched across the black foreground.
Two slender figures face one another across a narrow pale space.
A tall woman in a long pale gown stands among small attendants and theatrical objects.
A tall elaborately adorned figure rises above two small attendants beside a great hanging lamp.
A bare-breasted dancer floats above a dark lower field scattered with curling ornaments.
A woman in a dark fitted gown stands beside narrow shelves of jars and bottles.
A seated woman faces an elaborate dressing arrangement with several attendants around her.
A dark-robed woman bends above a small stand holding a severed head.
A kneeling woman raises a severed head towards her face above a black pool.
A standing nude occupies one small framed panel beside a circular diagram filled with divisions and signs.
A large reclining woman arches above a crowd of smaller figures.
A youthful figure stretches or steps beside a tall old man holding a staff.
A young man stands above a seated woman on a curved pedestal covered with words and symbols.
A dark-robed man stands beside a nude woman within a crowded interior of vessels and grotesque figures.
A youthful figure turns away from the viewer while drawing a great curtain aside.
A seated man leans back on a folding chair while small crawling forms gather near his feet.
Contorted bodies arc across the upper scene above a seated figure and dense curling forms.
A small figure bends below an immense oval enclosure of flowing curtains and masks.
A pale standing figure rises above a dark fallen warrior within a symmetrical ornamental design.
A large bird spreads its wings across a tiled room beside an elaborately dressed princess.
A white-robed figure appears deep within a ravine of twisted trunks and dark foliage.
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