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Discover historical illustrations by subject, artist and book.

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Blake’s Book of Urizen

Creation and rebellion in Blake’s illuminated plates.

Nielsen’s East of the Sun

Norwegian fairy tales illustrated by Kay Nielsen.

Gnostic Spirit Drawings

Four colour drawings from a 1908 Gnostic text.

Doré’s Dante

From the dark wood to Paradise with Gustave Doré.

The Kingdom of the Gods

Ethelwynne Quail’s visions of the spirit world.

Vassos’s Phobia

Art Deco studies of fear by John Vassos.

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64 illustrations

A looping grey cloud above a pointed coloured form containing pink, green, yellow, blue and violet. — Two forms compare mourners whom the authors describe as equally close to the deceased but differently prepared to understand death.
Thought-Forms

An armoured skeletal rider advances upon a pale horse carrying a dark banner with a white flower. — Pamela Colman Smith
An armoured skeletal rider advances upon a pale horse carrying a dark banner with a white flower.
The Illustrated Key to the Tarot: The Veil of Divination

Bose crowds the figures together at a dark opening, with lowered bodies and ready bows suggesting vigilance rather than a grand public escape. — Nanda Lal Bose
Bose crowds the figures together at a dark opening, with lowered bodies and ready bows suggesting vigilance rather than a grand public escape.
Myths of the Hindus and Buddhists

Bose places Yama and Nachiketas in a close encounter divided by a dark opening and the strong warmth of the background. — Nanda Lal Bose
Bose places Yama and Nachiketas in a close encounter divided by a dark opening and the strong warmth of the background.
Myths of the Hindus and Buddhists

Rama draws his bow towards the leaping deer, fixing the deceptive chase at a moment of poised violence. — K. Venkatappa
Rama draws his bow towards the leaping deer, fixing the deceptive chase at a moment of poised violence.
Myths of the Hindus and Buddhists

A winged traveller confronts seated guardians in a dark rocky passage. — Gustave Doré
The standing traveller and the two guardians form a tense group at the threshold.
Paradise Lost: Illustrated by Gustave Doré

A great standing figure presses against two columns while crowds and broken architecture fill the surrounding hall. — Gustave Doré
A great standing figure presses against two columns while crowds and broken architecture fill the surrounding hall.
The Bible Gallery

A rider is caught beneath the branches of a large tree as another armed figure approaches below. — Gustave Doré
A rider is caught beneath the branches of a large tree as another armed figure approaches below.
The Bible Gallery

A great lion sits above a body beside a donkey and a distant traveller on a narrow path. — Gustave Doré
A great lion sits above a body beside a donkey and a distant traveller on a narrow path.
The Bible Gallery

A woman falls from a high opening while riders, raised weapons and animals gather beneath the wall. — Gustave Doré
A woman falls from a high opening while riders, raised weapons and animals gather beneath the wall.
The Bible Gallery

A pale face appears within draped fabric against a dark background. — Photographer not identified
A pale face appears within draped fabric against a dark background.
Talks with the Dead

A pale, irregular form rises beside the seated John Lobb, its bright looping contours standing out against the dark photographic field. — Photographer not identified
A pale, irregular form rises beside the seated John Lobb, its bright looping contours standing out against the dark photographic field.
Talks with the Dead

A mounted skeletal presence sweeps through a deeply shadowed field, with tangled bodies and threatening forms receding into the darkness behind it. — Gustave Doré
A mounted skeletal presence sweeps through a deeply shadowed field, with tangled bodies and threatening forms receding into the darkness behind it.
The Bible Gallery

Saul lies on the ground beside a pale, rearing horse, one hand gripping the upright hilt of a sword at his body. — Gustave Doré
Saul lies on the ground beside a pale, rearing horse, one hand gripping the upright hilt of a sword at his body.
The Bible Gallery

Maurice Maeterlinck appears in a photographic portrait with a facsimile signature beneath it. — E. O. Hoppé
Maurice Maeterlinck appears in a photographic portrait with a facsimile signature beneath it.
Death

A railway line runs horizontally between a bridge and a station, with shaded embankments and Station Road below. — Illustrator not identified
A railway line runs horizontally between a bridge and a station, with shaded embankments and Station Road below.
Life Beyond Death with Evidence

A hovering woman addresses the two robed travellers beside a rocky ledge, with another figure close behind her in the moving air. — Gustave Doré
A hovering woman addresses the two robed travellers beside a rocky ledge, with another figure close behind her in the moving air.
Dante's Inferno

Dante lies across the rough ground at Virgil's feet while pale figures continue moving through the air above them. — Gustave Doré
Dante lies across the rough ground at Virgil's feet while pale figures continue moving through the air above them.
Dante's Inferno

The poets stand beside two exposed heads, one leaning over the other at the surface of the frozen pit. — Gustave Doré
The poets stand beside two exposed heads, one leaning over the other at the surface of the frozen pit.
Dante's Inferno

Two travellers stand before a scattered gathering of figures beneath a steep wooded cliff. — Gustave Doré
Two travellers stand before a scattered gathering of figures beneath a steep wooded cliff.
Purgatory and Paradise: The Vision of Dante

Attendants gather around a great royal bed beneath a canopy topped by a crown. — Illustrator not identified
Attendants gather around a great royal bed beneath a canopy topped by a crown.
The Old Book of Magic

A veiled female apparition stands beside a frightened man who has raised himself in a curtained bed. — Illustrator not identified
A veiled female apparition stands beside a frightened man who has raised himself in a curtained bed.
The Old Book of Magic

A bearded, robed figure holds up a smoking vessel beside a five-by-five tablet of letters and small emblems. — Illustrator not identified
A bearded, robed figure holds up a smoking vessel beside a five-by-five tablet of letters and small emblems.
The Sacred Book of Death: Hindu Spiritism, Soul Transition and Soul Reincarnation

Two skeletons work scythes across fields containing severed heads, hands and growing forms. — Illustrator not identified
Two skeletons work scythes across fields containing severed heads, hands and growing forms.
The Tarot of the Bohemians

Illustrator not identified
J.
Death Defeated: The Psychic Secret of How to Keep Young

A man lies on a low board beneath a pile of heavy stones while a crowd gathers around him. — Illustrator not identified
A man lies on a low board beneath a pile of heavy stones while a crowd gathers around him.
Witchcraft Illustrated

A bespectacled man with a long beard wears a light jacket and a dark bow tie. — Illustrator not identified
A bespectacled man with a long beard wears a light jacket and a dark bow tie.
The Encyclopaedia of Death and Life in the Spirit-World, Volume I

A hooded skeleton holds an hourglass and rests a long scythe against its shoulder. — Illustrator not identified
A hooded skeleton holds an hourglass and rests a long scythe against its shoulder.
The Encyclopaedia of Death and Life in the Spirit-World, Volume I

A radiant woman stands above a veiled figure at the entrance to a rocky hollow. — Illustrator not identified
A radiant woman stands above a veiled figure at the entrance to a rocky hollow.
The Encyclopaedia of Death and Life in the Spirit-World, Volume I

The Angel of Death

W. T. Horton

A woman’s sharp profile occupies the lower corner beneath an immense dark wing.

A Book of Images

A man and woman raise weapons on either side of a coiled dragon. — Matthaeus Merian
A man and woman raise weapons on either side of a coiled dragon.
Atalanta Fugiens

A tall robed figure holds a long upright object while a pale child leans beside him. — Willy Pogány
A tall robed figure holds a long upright object while a pale child leans beside him.
The Tale of Lohengrin

Four coloured cards show the Fool, Juggler, Wheel of Fortune and Death. — Illustrator not identified
Four coloured cards show the Fool, Juggler, Wheel of Fortune and Death.
Witchcraft Magic and Alchemy

A skull with radiating ornament lies between two hourglasses above the epilogue verse. — Illustrator not identified
A skull with radiating ornament lies between two hourglasses above the epilogue verse.
The Crucible of Dreams

A tall, bandaged figure stands in a dark doorway beside a great clock. — Harry Clarke
A tall, bandaged figure stands in a dark doorway beside a great clock.
Tales of Mystery and Imagination

A tall cloaked figure rises through a triangular shadow with one arm extended. — S. H. Sime
A tall cloaked figure rises through a triangular shadow with one arm extended.
The Gods of Pegāna

Armed animal figures move together beneath dark trees and curling branches. — Jean de Bosschere
Armed animal figures move together beneath dark trees and curling branches.
Beasts and Men

A centaur bends beside a small haloed human figure in front of a great black city silhouette. — Boris Artzybasheff
A centaur bends beside a small haloed human figure in front of a great black city silhouette.
The Undertaker's Garland

A small winged child advances before a tall black skeleton with long angular limbs. — Boris Artzybasheff
A small winged child advances before a tall black skeleton with long angular limbs.
The Undertaker's Garland

Into Battle: The Armoured Profile

Harry Clarke

A pale profile appears beneath a richly ornamented helmet with a great curved plume.

The Year's at the Spring

A pale woman lowers her head towards a reclining companion beneath softly drawn drapery. — James Fagan
A pale woman lowers her head towards a reclining companion beneath softly drawn drapery.
The Songs of Bilitis

A dark-clothed figure rests a hand against the face above an open book. — Austin Osman Spare
A dark-clothed figure rests a hand against the face above an open book.
The Book of Pleasure

A pale inverted body fills a narrow dark panel beside rows of signs, small diagrams and letter-like shapes. — Austin Osman Spare
A pale inverted body fills a narrow dark panel beside rows of signs, small diagrams and letter-like shapes.
The Book of Pleasure

Pale bodies and faint faces move through a softly shaded upper field. — Austin Osman Spare
Pale bodies and faint faces move through a softly shaded upper field.
The Book of Pleasure

A reclining body lies on a raised bier beneath sparse palm-like trees. — Gilbert Gaul
A reclining body lies on a raised bier beneath sparse palm-like trees.
A Strange Manuscript Found in a Copper Cylinder

Two pale-faced women advance through a rounded dark opening, one carrying a glowing lantern. — Warwick Goble
Two pale-faced women advance through a rounded dark opening, one carrying a glowing lantern.
Green Willow and Other Japanese Fairy Tales

People slump against stone walls or lie across the paving of a narrow street. — Illustrator not identified
People slump against stone walls or lie across the paving of a narrow street.
Omega: The Last Days of the World

Pale towers and narrow openings rise from an intricately patterned shore. — Edmund Dulac
Pale towers and narrow openings rise from an intricately patterned shore.
The Bells and Other Poems

48 of 64 shown

Gallery: Historical Illustrations & Book Art | Lumitheca