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.
64 illustrations
A woman in a white dress and rose-coloured drapery stretches her hands towards a star in a deep blue sky.
A narrow stair coils upward through a black field scattered with tiny stars.
Two figures lean towards one another within a great dark arch opening onto a deep blue night.
A kneeling woman pours water from two vessels, one into a pool and one upon the ground.
Two small robed figures stand on a rocky height beneath a wide night sky, with uneven ground and distant peaks below.
Nine circular designs combine geometric figures, lettering and monograms.
Five-pointed and six-pointed stars appear beside triangular, circular and rectangular inscribed forms.
A large hexagram encloses the name Michael beneath a Hebrew inscription.
A circular dark field carries the brightest stars of the northern hemisphere, divided by crossing coordinate lines.
White star points fill a circular dark field crossed by coordinate divisions.
Orion occupies the centre of a rectangular star chart, with Taurus, Eridanus and Lepus named in the surrounding field.
The bright points of the Southern Cross appear within a rectangular dark field among smaller stars.
A robed observer looks skyward through an instrument on a terrace furnished with globes and astronomical apparatus.
Planetary orbits surround a central Sun within a rectangular dark field.
Several dark sunspot groups interrupt a densely stippled circular surface.
Numerous bright streaks cross a dark sky above a low horizon.
A dark circular disc is surrounded by a brilliant irregular corona.
Several elongated paths cross one another around a small central solar region.
A banded globe sits within broad, sharply outlined rings against a dark field.
A large telescope tube meets an intricate arrangement of wheels, small tubes, handles and metal fittings.
A circular track and radiating lines pass among figures, animals and named stars on an illustrated constellation map.
An ornamental cross occupies the centre of a wheel encircled by letters, numbers and smaller signs.
The Earth sits at the centre of twelve radial compartments, with zodiac signs around the outer circle.
A circular horoscope is divided into twelve houses containing planetary signs and numerical positions.
The question of a missing dog is written beneath a square horoscope dated 29 August 1646, 5 p.m.
An open hand carries stars, planetary symbols and numbered markings along the fingers and palm.
Two crowned women occupy parallel throne designs, each accompanied by an eagle shield and a long sceptre.
Small groups of circles, crossed lines, stars and spirals are arranged as paired diagrams.
A large bearded face occupies one of four circles marked with the sign of the Sun.
A solitary dark figure sits or leans beside a low horizontal barrier beneath a field of stars.
A large circular figure combines geometric stars with lettered bands and named points.
An upper crowned human figure spreads both arms above a complex descending network of circles.
A man stands on a small rectangular block with arms extended inside a large circle.
A pentagram carries planetary signs and sensory labels around a radiant centre named Sun and Spirit.
A tall blue castle rises from a steep rampart beneath a deep star-filled sky.
Circles, crosses, stars and balances share the numbered field of Plate I, headed as drawn from manuscripts.
Fine rainbow-coloured streams descend from a bright head through a deep blue field scattered with stars and planets.
A curved comet tail sweeps through a black field containing labelled Sun and Earth positions and a curved orbital path.
A radiant Christ bearing a cross appears above groups of saints and angels in a field of stars.
Pale domes, towers and deep arches rise against a blue night scattered with small lights.
Columns frame a raised tomb beneath a dark, star-filled sky.
A robed figure holds an instrument within a landscape of suspended forms and distant lights.
An immense elaborately dressed figure rises above a crowded city of towers and roofs.
A robed female figure stands beside a clock supporting a globe marked with stars.
A pale globe appears within an irregular dark field of stars.
A long-masted ship moves through a river-like band of stars and clouds.
A pale bird flies beside the tangled branches of a great tree.
A small radiant flower-like form glows beside a dark valley beneath an extravagant field of stars.
48 of 64 shown