Old Book Art » History

Varia: A Huge Hodgepodge of Images

John — Tue, 21 Oct 2008 13:58:02 +0000

This is a collection of images shared with me by the man who scanned them from various antique bibles and other old books, including: Mathematical Astronomy by C.W.C. Barlow & G.H. Bryan (1893); Dawn of Astronomy by Sir Norman Lockyer (late 1800’s); Baedeker’s Palestine and Syria (1912); An Illustrated History of the Holy Bible, published by Henry Bill (1871); and The Holy Bible, published by John E. Potter and Company (late 1800’s).

Rather than being organized by the book they come from, they are roughly organized by subject. This is because they were given to me this way by the person who scanned them, William Struse, and I have kept his organization. The images are all public domain and he shared them with me with the understanding they would be offered for free here. He has only thumbnails on his site, and this was an easy way for him to share the larger images with a broader audience. The maximum size of each image varies greatly. I have edited them extensively to clean up the dirt and shadows and to darken, brighten, and otherwise enhance the lines. A lot of text shows through from the obverse side of the leaves, but there was little that could be done about that. I have been working on the captions, but so far have gotten to only about half of them. There are close to 500 images in all.

Within the main GALLERY PAGE for this collection there are 14 separate albums, roughly sorted by subject. They are:

Animals
Birds
Coins
Dwellings
Insects
Jewelry
Maps
Musical Instruments
Plants
Ships and Vehicles
Temples and Priests
Trees
Weapons
Other Images

Below are some sample image from each album. Each thumbnail image will lead directly to that pictures page in the sub-album of the gallery. Keep in mind there are many more images in the gallery than shown here.

ANIMALS

Mole-Rat

Wild Boar

Camels

Egyptian Asses

Egyptian Frogs

Horse

Serpent

Snake

Syrian Bear

Wild Goats

Wolf

BIRDS

Crane

Cormorant

Ospray (Osprey)

Owl

Stork

Vulture

Quail

COINS

Coin of Augustus

Coin of Agrippa

Coin of Macedonia

Denarius of Tiberius

various

DWELLINGS

Arab Huts and Sheep-cotes at Busheir

Tents

Tent and Man with Spear

Egyptian House

Walled City

INSECTS

Egyptian Fly

Hornet

Locusts

Pyramidal Nests of the White Ant

Scorpion

Spider

Turret Nests of the White Ant

JEWELRY

Assyrian Ear-rings

Different Forms of Eastern Crowns

Ear-rings

Egyptian Ring Money

Flambeaux, from Roman Gems

Hhegabs, or Amulets, of Modern Egypt

Khizam, or Nose-jewel, of modern Egypt

MAPS

Acre & Environs

Bethleem, Beit-Lahm

Dome of the Rock, Temple Mount

Environs of the Monastery of Mt. Sinai and of the Jebel Musa

Jaffa

Plan of Babylon

Southern Palestine

MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS

"Dulcimer" or Bagpipe

A Player on the Harp

Double-Flute Players

Egyptian Harp

Modern Egyptian Flute Player

Muse with an early form of lyre

Oriental Instruments of the Drum Kind

Roman Trumpet

Tambourine Players

PLANTS

Cassia

Cinnamon

Ears of Corn

Frankincense

Grapes of Palestine

Lign-Aloe

Melon

Spices - Nutmeg

Reeds

Sweet Cane

Rose of Sharon

Thorn

Buds of Spices - Pepper, Chestnut, catkins, florets, stamens, pistils

SHIPS AND VEHICLES

Ancient Chariot

Ancient Egyptian and Roman Ships

Ancient Egyptian War Chariot

Ancient Rowing Vessels

Camels, a Caravan

Tabernacle

Boats conveying stone and timber

Ethiopian Car, Drawn by Oxen

Turkish Arabah, or Cart

TEMPLES AND PRIESTS

Altar of burnt offering

Altar of Incense

Costume of the High Priest

The Golden Candlestick

High Priests on the day of Atonement

The Holy of Holies and the Officiating High Priest

Interior of the Tabernacle - the veil between the holy places removed

Moses Consecrating Aaron

Aaron with the Scape-goat showing Costume of the High Priest and Levites (scapegoat sacrifice)

Ram's-Horn Blower

Service of Gershonites

Service of the Merarites

Probable form of the Table of Showbread - Priests removing the old and placing the new

The Ark of the Covenant

The Molten Sea

Trespass Offering of the Poor

The Tabernacle in the Midst of the Encampment

TREES

Almond Tree - Amygdalus commums

Bamboo Tree

Commmon Elm - Ulmus Campestris

Date-Palm - Phoenix dactylifera

Fig Leaves

Fruit of Palm

Fruit of the Pinus Pinea, or Stone Pine

Gopher Wood - Cupressus Sempervirens

Sycainore Figs - Ficus Sycamorus

Tree planted by the waters

Wild Date Palm, found in the Sinai mountains

Wormwood - Artemisia absinthium

WEAPONS

Ancient Helmets and Coats of Mail

Ancient Persian Shields and Spears

Ancient Roman Combat

Ancient Swords and Daggers

Archers of Bowmen - bows arrows and shield

Catapulta

Balista prepared for discharge of a stone

Egyptian Fencers

Egyptian Maces and Clubs, Syrian Maces and Clubs

Man in Scale Armor

Ancient Armor, Persian Horseman

Testudo, or Tortoise-Shield

Throwing a Javelin

OTHER

Alabaster Boxes

Ancient Well

Assyrian seal or cylinder of Sennacherib

Assyrian Shoes

Clog Almanac - Raxon Reive Pole

Egyptian Needle-work

Fine Lime-grinding Mill at Cairo

Girl pouring Wine from a leathern Bottle

Mummy Cases and Marble Sarcophagi

Patterns of Egyptian Moasaic

Roman Lantern, Column of Trajan, Roman Flambeaux

Sheepcotes

Various Forms of Ancient Sun Dials

Ur of the Caldees

Use of the Style - From Montfaucon's Paleographia Graeca

Daniel in the Lions' Den

Robert H. Kellogg’s Life and Death in Rebel Prisons

John — Wed, 20 Aug 2008 13:53:04 +0000

Based on the journals of Union Army prisoners, this book was published right after the Civil War. It details the harsh conditions and atrocities of prison life in Andersonville, Florence as well as some details of the war in general. It has 13 full page illustrations, all of which have been edited to correct a lot of age toning and a few tears and spots.

Title: Life and Death in Rebel Prisons
Author: Robert H. Kellogg
Artist: Various
Publisher: L. Stebbins
Date Published: 1867

The full size, high resolution images are all available for free download in the gallery. Each picture below links directly to the page for that image.

The Midnight Storm: Our Miserable Lodgings

Andersonville Stockade

Rebel Mode of Capturing Escaped Prisoners

Prisoners Receiving Rations

Hanging Union Prisoners

Break Away of the Stockade by the Flood

Plan of Hospital, Andersonville

Interior View of Hospital

Plan of Stockade at Florence

Hanging by the Thumbs

View of Libby Prison

Execution of Captain Wirz

Capturing the Responsible Party in the treatment of Union Prisoners

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

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)

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Map Gallery