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.
36 illustrations
Seated and cloaked figures line a narrow ledge against a sheer wall.
A hooded figure sits on a broad stone ledge above an open landscape, with a staff beside the lowered hands.
A seated man in a turban and pale robe rests one hand on his knee.
A seated figure with a soft halo holds one hand near his chest while the other rests low beside his folded legs.
A seated man holds a curved instrument or staff beside his body while lifting one hand among hanging leaves.
A seated woman cradles a pale bird while turning her face towards it.
The two travellers stand beside seated and reclining figures under trees, with pale ground separating the group from the deeper shade.
Two robed figures sit at a rocky cliff while a pale crescent hangs above the distant sea.
A seated robed traveller gazes at a standing woman surrounded by large pale winged figures.
A cloaked figure sits among rough rocks and small gathered creatures.
A seated man looks towards a pale standing figure in an ornate interior.
A line of robed travellers appears to move through pale clouds above a seated meditator and distant landscape.
A pale fierce-faced figure sits before an immense halo of pink flames.
A large pale downward-pointing triangle fills the centre of a dark petalled ring.
A man sits in a wooden chair beside a smoking vessel, looking upward into a field of pale, drifting forms.
A pale seated figure bends within an oval field of smoky darkness, one large wing sweeping upward beside the body.
A dark column forms the vertical stroke of an illustrated initial beside a seated figure reflected in water.
A seated figure raises one hand towards a great pale shape within the dark field.
A darkly dressed man sits beneath a suspended vision of a pale woman held by another male figure.
A woman’s pale arms curve above an immense dark skirt beneath a high, stacked headpiece.
A tall seated skeleton appears within a narrow cliff-like enclosure above a densely packed mound of pale bodies.
Two figures dance close together beneath a round moon hanging among curled branches.
A nude seated figure twists before two pale pyramids beneath a blue sky.
A seated pale figure turns towards a shadowed face at the lower edge of a broad triangular field.
Dark birds perch among curling branches above a pale seated figure and a low animal-like body.
A seated man raises his hands and turns from a table as pale figures gather in the darkness beyond.
Oval portrait frames break the regular grid of this nine-image montage.
The fifth plate brings together figures seated at small tables, a central portrait and pale draped forms.
Two figures sit close together on ruined stone steps while a tall pale apparition stands before them.
A small child sits on mushrooms with pipes held to the mouth.
A pale-gowned woman sits alone in an ornate chair beside dark rock formations.
A pale veiled figure stands beside a seated woman who covers her face with both hands.
A dying man lies beside a seated visitor while a woman kneels in the foreground.
Three views of men in pale cloaks with broad dark stripes fill a plain background.
A small man sits with knees drawn up amid a broad field of tiny pale flowers.
A small dark head rests upon a vast pale seated form enclosed by broad sweeping shadows.
27 plates
22 plates
4 plates
24 plates
10 plates
10 plates
