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.
98 illustrations
A woman in a white dress and rose-coloured drapery stretches her hands towards a star in a deep blue sky.
Two women in dark eye masks turn within a dense frame of curling leaves and flowers.
Broad layered petals rise from a dark water surface surrounded by leaves.
Large pale swans crowd the woodland scene around a woman with flowing hair and clothes.
Miyuki and Komagawa exchange fans as tokens of their promised love after meeting during a summer boat trip in Kyoto.
An astonished young man approaches a richly dressed woman standing at a flower-covered doorway.
A standing figure raises a wand above a table carrying a cup, blade, staff and pentacle.
A young woman leans into an embrace beneath a canopy of flowers.
A child rides a pale horse beneath an immense sun with a human face.
A standing man holds a tall staff wound with flowers, drawing the attention of a gathering beside him.
Three figures raise cups together among flowers and fruit beneath the numeral III.
Three women gather around the thread of life in a reproduction of Paul Thumann’s Three Fates.
A young woman bends among flowers beside a slender tree, holding a small gathering of blossoms.
A tall male figure and a pale-robed woman raise their arms among curling red and dark forms.
A serpent coils among flowering plants while faint winged figures fly above a valley.
A crowned woman sits among winged figures carrying flowers against a pale open background.
A seated woman bends over a small infant amid long curved stems and blue flowers.
A green-clad young woman reaches towards a plainly dressed traveller on a woodland path.
Three winged spirits spring around a tall flowering stem against an almost empty pale field.
A richly dressed fairy presents a great peacock-topped dish while three plain travellers watch.
A dark-haired winged figure hovers beside a sleeping woman in a pale yellow dress.
A child sleeps beneath patterned covers in a garden-like setting of trees and small flowers.
A small winged figure emerges among broad flowers, patterned leaves and long diagonal strands.
A young woman faces forward with her hands joined in prayer.
A dark architectural opening contains a radiant face above a round emblem with another sun-like face.
A crowned warrior stands on an ornate pedestal with a raised sword and a large inscribed shield.
A single crowned figure combines masculine and feminine features beneath contrasting wings.
A slender visitor in an elaborate ruff stands with a fan and a long cane among fantastic flowers.
A small animal leans over the top of a deep well while another stands far below near the water.
Rows of four-petalled flowers, crosses, wheels and hooked designs fill a narrow plate.
A long-haired woman holds a flower stem beside her face with a closed book beneath one hand.
Dense decorative lettering surrounds a woman and small mythic figures within a narrow leafy frame.
A pale seated deity rests upon a lotus throne within a radiant multicoloured halo.
A pale smiling face sits beneath a crown of small discs, flowers and hanging ornaments.
Crowned shields contain letters, flowers and geometric devices across Plate V.
A cross and tall candles rise above vessels, flowers and a richly ornamented frontal.
Birds and small animals inhabit an intricate field of curling foliage.
Large flowers, lobed leaves and swelling seed-like forms interlock across a pale textile ground.
A richly robed figure stands beside a pale flowering screen overlooking open water.
An elongated pale face appears among flowers, small figures and intricate ornamental forms.
Two richly patterned figures turn in opposite directions within a garden of immense flowers.
A long-haired figure sits within a radiant circular halo above flowers and breaking waves.
Two elongated figures hold baskets and flowering forms above a small heap of fruit.
A pale profile appears beneath a richly ornamented helmet with a great curved plume.
A young woman raises one arm among flowering branches in a densely worked garden.
White bell-shaped flowers rise from a long dark stem beside a small child in a broad hat.
Two small figures lean together where a great web stretches between hanging plants.
Tiny winged figures stand and peer between large dark berries and densely veined leaves.
48 of 98 shown
27 plates
22 plates
4 plates
24 plates
10 plates
10 plates
