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University of Oldenburg Archive: Mushroom Book

John — Wed, 20 Aug 2008 15:32:28 +0000

The University of Oldenburg has digitized and made available a wonderfully extensive collection of old children’s books, mostly from the 19th century. I came across the collection a couple of years ago when I was researching an old German children’s picture book a colleague had come across. The title was vague enough to begin with, but even with a fairly accurate (if overly literal) translation I could not find any information. Finally I came across the Oldenburg site, and was very pleased with the extent of titles and images available. I found the book, too, one out of about 400 titles they have scanned and posted.

Oldenburg’s images are not the highest quality. For about 20 euros they will sell you a CD of a title with higher resolution images, which is not a bad deal if you need (or want) them. Most books available for free online will yield usable images of between 800 and 1500 pixels, though, so many people will be perfectly happy with what is available. The images are dirty rough though, and need a lot of cleaning. I here have pulled the images from this 1876 guide to mushrooms. In the GALLERY I have posted two versions of each image: the original and then a copy I have played with to remove the age toning and brighten and sharpen th colors. The originals were not great, so the results are spotty and not great quality, but they give a good idea of what you can find in the Oldenburg archives if you root around. All are cropped to remove the waste area.

Remember, these are artistic renderings from a 130 year old book, so do not use the names or the pictures as a guide to what is or is not edible.

Title: Allgemein verbreitete eßbare und schädliche Pilze mit einigen mikroskopischen Zergliederungen und erläuterndem Text zum Gebrauche in Schule und Haus
Author: Wilhelm von Ahles
Artist: ?
Publisher: Schreiber (?)
Date Published: 1876

The full book is available at the UNIVERSITY OF OLDENBURG

Edited versions of the images are here in the GALLERY.

Following are a few samples of the images:

Agaricus arvensis

Agaricus campestris

Agaricus deliciosus

Agaricus emeticus

John R. Neill: The Marvelous Land of Oz

John — Wed, 20 Aug 2008 14:49:06 +0000

The Oz books have, of course, gone though countless reprintings and adaptations. As with some other books, I was surprised that the images were not more readily and freely available online. This, the second book in the series, introduces many of the major characters who appear throughout the rest of the books. It also revises the history of Oz a bit, re-casting the Wizard in a less flattering light and changing the history to get Ozma (Tip) into the framework.

The entire text of the book (no illustrations) online at Project Gutenberg. Links to the the full text of the first 15 books in the Oz series are available through Gutenberg as well HERE.
Title: The Marvelous Land of Oz: Being an Account of the Further Adventures of the Scarecrow and Tin Woodman and Also the Strange Experiences of the Highly-Magnified Woggle-Bug, Jack Pumpkinhead, the Animated Saw-Horse and the Gump
Author: L. Frank Baum
Artist: John R. Neill
Publisher: Reilly & Britton
Date Published: 1904

All the images are available for download at full resolution in the GALLERY.

"Tip stood the figure up and admired it"

"The boy stretched himself upon the grass"

"'It's the fashion here,' said the soldier"

"'Don't you believe her, Your Majesty!' cried Jack"

"The Saw-Horse rocked and rolled over the fields"

"The faces looked upon the astonished band with mocking smiles"

"The Stranger removed his hat with a flourish"

"The mice hide themselves in The Scarecrow's straw"

"Seated within the throne was General Jinjur"

"This cast a gloom over the entire party"

"The Gump soared swiftly and majestically away"

"His axe fairly flashed among the jackdaws"

"Glinda searches the records"

"The Tin Woodman plucks the rose"

"The Griffin sprang through the wall of the tent"

"The Scarecrow as Royal Treasurer"

Little Red Riding Hood – Retold

John — Wed, 20 Aug 2008 14:24:36 +0000

A fun little retelling of this childhood classic. This was one of a series put out by M. A. Donohue & Company in the early 20th century, none of which indicated authorship or gave credit to an artist. Others in the series included Peter Rabbit, Chicken Little, The Three Bears, and other popular stories of that type. I have also scanned and reproduced here the endpapers, which include all the character from the different stories in a forest together.

Granny doesn’t get eaten. The woodman is homeless. Little Red Riding Hood climbs on top of the canopy bed and fall asleep there. A few things were changed for this telling. I have included at the end of the gallery full scans of the book so the text is viewable as well.

Title: Little Red Riding Hood – Retold
Author: unattributed
Artist: unattributed
Publisher: M. A. Donohue & Company
Date Published: 1921

Following are some samples form the book. There are 27 in all, not including the unedited scans of the full text. I have edited them a bit to brighten the tones and eliminate some aging and other small flaws. All the images, large format JPEG and available for free download, are in the gallery.

Her grandmother, who was very fond of her, made her a little red cloak and hood

Where does your Grandmother live?

when the grandmother saw his wicked face, she jumped out of bed and ran.

The better to eat you with!' cried the wolf, and leaped out of bed; but he became entangled in the bedclothes...

When the wolf found he could not reach her, he got back into bed again. It was very quiet in the little house for some time.

"And the next day Grandmother had the nicest tea party"

Sample Page of Full Text - Unedited

My Days & Nights on the Battle-Field by “Carleton”

John — Wed, 20 Aug 2008 12:57:52 +0000

This is one out of two or three Civil War era books I have scanned images from, each of which has a small number of nice black and white drawings. Days and Nights has eight full page illustrations, all of which I have put in the gallery and linked to using the images below. I have done a bit of touch up as the images were quite age toned and spotted.

This book was written and published during the United States Civil War as an attempt to explain and describe the “Great Rebellion.” “Carleton” was the pen name of Charles Carleton Coffin. These images are from the 2nd edition (1864), although the book went through many subsequent editions and publishers. It is considered a Civil War classic and remains in print to this day. The entire book (this edition in fact) is digitized at Google Books HERE.

Title: My Days and Nights on the Battle-Field: A Book for Boys
Author: “Carleton”
Artist: Various, or unattributed.
Publisher: Ticknor and Fields
Date Published: 1863 (1864)

The Dying Patriot

The Great Mistake

Capture of Fort Henry

Charge of Lauman's Brigade at Fort Donelson

Shiloh Church

In Front of the Batteries

Spiking the Guns

Naval Engagement at Memphis

Michigan State University Map Library

John — Tue, 19 Aug 2008 15:39:40 +0000

Most Libraries have map collections of one sort or another. Some, such as the Library of Congress (LOC), have digitized such a vast number that it seems as though you could never browse through them all. The LOC is also so big as to be unwieldy at times, and they archive their images in an assortment of formats which are sometimes cumbersome to download and convert in to a more easily readable form.

Smaller collections such as Michigan State University’s are often more focussed, and when you are lucky they even offer good sized images. I say “smaller” when in fact, to quote their website:

“The Map Library houses a collection of general and thematic maps and atlases for every area of the world. The collection consists of approximately 212,000 sheet maps, 14,000 folded geologic maps, and 4,000 atlases, gazetteers and other reference aids including wall maps, globes, CDs and Internet-accessible resources. The collection is especially strong in Michigan, United States, Canada, Africa, Asia, and Latin America, though all areas are collected at some level. Specialized collections include 19th-21st century Michigan county atlases and plat books; a small Braille map and atlas collection of U.S. states and continents; and Michigan Flood Insurance Rate Maps. The sheet map collection includes maps from the 17th to 21st centuries. A major portion of the sheet map collection consists of United States Geological Survey and U.S. Department of Defense products received through government depository programs. Many foreign topographic maps series are also collected, acquired by purchase and through Library of Congress map exchange programs. Other maps include foreign and domestic city and road maps, and maps from magazine subscriptions such as Petroleum Economist and National Geographic. Most supplementary maps from books in the Main Library are also housed in the Map Library.”

Too frequently when you discover a good archive all you can see are small thumbnails, or zoomable images which cannot be downloaded. Here though, although only a miniscule portion is digitized, those maps that are available are great quality and offered as a quick download in JPEG format as a link on the zoomable Zoomify Viewer page. This is the kind of user friendly map page that I wish more collections would offer.

I came across their Online Map Collection when I was cataloging and uploading my own African maps from various atlases. Following are some samples from their African collection. I have somewhat smaller images here, but on their site you can get them at their full scale.

Map of Africa, Mitchell 1867

Africa, J. H. Colton 1876

Afrique (Africa), Lamirault 1886

Afrika Politische Übersicht (Africa - Political Overview), Meyers 1892

Aquatorial-Afrika (Equatorial Africa), Meyers 1892

Ober-Guinea und West-Sudan (Upper Guinea and Wester Sudan), Meyers 1892

Algerien, Marokko und Tunis (Algeria, Morocco and Tunis - Tunisia), Meyers 1892

Agyptenin Darfur und Abessinien (Egypt Darfur and Abyssinia), Meyers 1892

Map of Africa, I. F. Andreevskago 1890

Africa Population, J. G. Bartholomew 1913 / J. M. Dent & Sons

Africa Religions & Missions, J. G. Bartholomew 1913 / J. M. Dent & Sons

Africa - Political, J. G. Bartholomew / Meiklejohn 1922

Five Hundred Fascinating Animal Stories

John — Sun, 17 Aug 2008 16:18:53 +0000

64 illustrations of fish, birds and mammals.

I found this tattered and broken book in a lot of old books sorted into moldy and decrepit boxes. The book was not salvageable and many plates were missing, but those remaining were free of any major defects or stains. The illustrations of the fish, birds and mammals are not the best quality, but I was able to get good scans without having to any major editing or restoration, and the range of species was good enough for me to make an album out of it.

Title: Five Hundred Fascinating Animal Stories: With Numerous Colored Plates
Author: Alfred H. Miles
Artist: Various.
Publisher: The Christian Herald
Date Published: 1895

The images in the gallery are in the order of fish, birds, and then mammals. Below are some representative images, linked to the gallery page where you can download various high resolution sizes at no cost.

Lobster

Searobin

Sawfish

Blowfish

Moonfish

Crab

Eel

Shaft Tailed Bunting

Emeu Wren

Parrot Finch

Pine Grosbeak

Linnet

Crested Malimbus

Orangutan

Aardvark

Fox Terriers

Polar Bears

Giraffes

Elephants

Phiz: The Posthumous Papers of the Pickwick Club

John — Sun, 17 Aug 2008 15:40:00 +0000

As with some other images, I was surprised that good quality reproductions of images by Phiz (Hablot Knight Browne) were not more readily available for free. Being public domain and all, and having existed for almost 200 years, one would think they would be easier to find. He illustrated a number of Charles Dickens’ works, and although I found some samples on the internet there are few if any complete collections. This is a start, at least.

The Posthumous Papers of the Pickwick Club, AKA The Pickwick Papers, was published serially in 1836-1837, and the first complete edition soon followed. I must confess that I have never read the complete book. The chapters are related, but reflecting their origin the are able to be read and enjoyed individually to a degree.

There is a good biography of Phiz at The Victorian Web.

These images are from a late 19th century reprint, although there were seemingly hundreds of editions produced from the mid 19th century and on (I’m sure someone has tallied them all). The entire book (an early 20th century edition) is digitized at Google Books HERE.

Title: The Posthumous Papers of the Pickwick Club
Author: Charles Dickens
Artist: Phiz
Publisher: Chapman and Hall
Date Published: 1836

Below is a sampling of the images I have made available for free in the GALLERY. There are 43 image in total, all available for download at no cost in various high resolution sizes.

Frontispiece

Vignette Title Detail

Winkle Soothes the Refractory Mare

The Fat Boy Awake

Wardle and His Friends Under the Influence of The Salmon

The Unexpected Breaking-Up the Seminary of the Seminary for Young Ladies

Pickwick in the Pound

The Goblin and the Sexton

The Red-Nosed Man Discourseth

The Ghostly Passengers in the Ghost of a Mail

The Rival Editors

Weller and his Friends Drinking to Mr. Pell

Virginia Frances Sterrett: Tanglewood Tales

John — Sun, 17 Aug 2008 14:28:18 +0000

Nathaniel Hawthorne (1804-1864) rewrote six famous classic Greek myths for this book, first published in 1853. It followed by a year his equally famous A Wonder-Book for Girls and Boys. These two books were among his last works and were aimed specifically at a younger audience. The stories in this edition include:

The Minotaur
The Pygmies
The Dragon’s Teeth
Circe’s Palace
The Pomegranate Seeds
The Golden Fleece

Sterrett (1900-1931) died tragically young from tuberculosis. During her short career she illustrated this book as well as works such as “Old French Fairy Tales” by Comtesse de Segur, and “Arabian Nights.” Some of these other illustrations (which may not be in the public domain) can be found off this site HERE.

Many volumes of the book are digitized on line with the full text available. This edition is available at Archive.org and Google Books also has some texts digitized. There are also sites with Sterrett’s images available, although often for a fee. I have made reproductions available for sale HERE, although you may download them for no cost in the gallery by using the link below.

As always, the images are free to download in a range of high resolution sizes.

Title: Tanglewood Tales
Author: Nathaniel Hawthorne
Artist: Virginia Frances Sterrett
Publisher: The Penn Publishing Company
Date Published: 1921

Antaus and the Pygmies

Ariadne and Theseus

Cadmus and the Dragon

Europa and the Bull

Harmonia

Jason and Medea

Medea and the Snakes

Proserpina and the Sea Nymphs

Proserpina in Pluto’s Palace

Proserpina in Pluto's Palace

The Golden Fleece

Ulysses in Circe's Palace

The Second Book of History – Atlas Included

John — Sat, 16 Aug 2008 15:35:40 +0000

This is fairly common but often sought after school book or primer first published in 1832. It is a sequel to “First Book of History, by the Author of Peter Parley’s Tales” which was for younger students. It went through at least 30 or 40 editions before 1850, which in this case meant printings, and often there was little to differentiate between editions. These images are from the Eleventh Edition , copyright 1835 and printed in 1836.

The text is full of woodcuts or a similar type of engraving. These images are small illustrations primarily showing figures in the national dress of various countries,as well as people from English and British history.

The maps are, unfortunately, the weakest part of this book. They are woodcuts or likely some other type of engraving. They are beautifully rendered, but they were bound facing each other with no tissue guards, as this was an inexpensive textbook for children. The result is a great deal of shadowing or bleeding from adjacent maps, resulting in a ghost image on each page. I have not tried to correct for this.

A feature I find particularly nice about these maps is the mountains. A light black, the detail is sort of lost in the background until you take a very close look.

Title: The Second Book of History, Including The Modern History of Europe, Africa, and Asia
Author: “Designed as a Sequel to the ‘First Book of History, by the Author of Peter Parley’s Tales.’”
Artist: Illustrated by Engravings and Sixteen Maps
Publisher: Charles J. Hendee
Date Published: 1836 (1835)

Image Gallery

Map Gallery

A. F. Lydon: Life & Adventures of Robinson Crusoe

John — Sat, 16 Aug 2008 13:59:56 +0000

Robinson Crusoe certainly ranks up there as one of the favorite books for publishers to reissue with new illustrations. The adventure, the scenery, and the familiarity with the story seem to guarantee an audience no matter the era. Daniel de Foe wrote the book in the early 18th century (1719), and I don’t think anyone knows how many editions there have been, nor how many well known illustrators have taken on the challenge of presenting the material in a new light over the subsequent 290 years.

Google has digitized many versions, although none with good illustration reproductions of course. You can, however, browse the various editions to get an idea of the different illustrative styles. HERE is a Google Books example from 1831, a Cochrane and Pickersgill edition, where the entire text is accessible.

Alexander Frank Lydon (1836-1917) was a British artist who produced a lot of natural history work, including parrots, other birds, and fish among much else. His prints and books with his work show up frequently on eBay at fairly reasonable prices. Here is a list of current Lydon items for sale there.

Grooombridge put out this edition in the mid 19th century and I believe it went through at least a few printings over a number of years, but I am not certain. The images below will link to the gallery where all the illustrations from the book are available for free in various high resolution sizes. I have edited and cleaned up most of them.

Title: The Life and Adventures of Robinson Crusoe
Author: Daniel de Foe
Artist: A. F. Lydon
Publisher: Groombridge and Sons
Date Published: circa 1865

Robinson Crusoe with his dog and gun

Robinson Crusoe leaves home and is shipwrecked

Robinson Crusoe by means of a raft saves many useful articles from the ship

Robinson Crusoe erects a post on the shore

Robinson Crusoe taking a survey of the Island

Robinson Crusoe awakened from sleep by his parrot

Robinson Crusoe at dinner with his little family

Robinson Crusoe frightened by a goat in a cave

Robinson Crusoe rescuing Friday from the savages

Robinson Crusoe and Friday attacking the savages

Robinson Crusoe surprising the three Englishmen

Friday teaching the bear to dance

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