Bøker i Dover Pictorial Archive-serien

The splendid engravings in this historic book combine beautiful images of roses, butterflies, tulips, caterpillars, and other specimens of plant and insect life in elegant full-page compositions. Representing a notable achievement from a great age of floral painting and the engraver's art, they reach across the centuries to us with undiminished freshness and appeal, revealing the most delicate nuances of natural forms with a scientist's eye for precise detail.These fine works represent not only a high point in the history of botanical and zoological art but also an important advance in scientific knowledge as well. The artist, Maria Sibylla Merian (1647-1717), was one of the first observers to comprehend and record the metamorphoses of insects, most notably the emergence of the butterfly from its caterpillar and chrysalis phases. Her Erucarum Ortus, whose engravings were originally published in the years 1679-1717, was a substantial contribution to the science of entomology and helped lay the foundations for Charles Linnaeus's later work in the classification of plant and animal species.This edition combines all 154 original engravings from her three-volume work on the insects of Europe. Students and lovers of the natural sciences as well as those of the arts and crafts will find these dazzling works a rich source of information and delight. Graphic artists, textile designers, and others will find it a versatile and royalty-free design resource that will earn a treasured place on their library shelves.Dover (1991) republication of 154 engravings from Erucarum Ortus, Alimentum et Paradoxa Metamorphosis, 1718.

Here is a rich selection of floral and foliate motifs, reprinted from a rare German collection of the late nineteenth century. Included are 124 royalty-free stylized designs that will add a note of decorative panache and natural beauty to almost any graphic project.Buds, blossoms, stalks, and foliage are depicted in a simple and attractive style reminiscent of the woven fabric patterns of the early northern Renaissance. Ideal for many practical uses--stenciling, leatherwork and metalwork, fabric painting, textile design, and more--the motifs are also valuable simply for design inspiration. At just pennies apiece, they constitute a low-cost resource that artists and crafters will want at their fingertips.Dover (1991) republication of 124 illustrations from Blatter und Blümen für Fläche-Decoration: Eine Vorlagensammlung für Zichen-, Webe-, und gewerbliche Fortbindunsschulen, Fabrikanten und Musterzeichner, published by E. Twietmeyer, Leipzig, 1885.

A painter whose father was an engraver and publisher of the same name, Matthäus Merian (1621-1687) published this remarkable group of unusual and highly imaginative animal illustrations. This copyright-free collection includes a large and fascinating selection of engravings that illustrate scientific specimens and legendary creatures―all meticulously reproduced from an extremely rare eighteenth-century edition.Carefully arranged into six major divisions (quadrupeds, snakes, mollusks and crustaceans, fish, birds, and insects), approximately 1,300 copyright-free images include realistic and fanciful portrayals of a varied array of real animals, in addition to such imaginary creatures as unicorns, dragons, basilisks, harpies, griffins, and other mythical beasts. Identifying captions in Latin accompany many of the illustrations. Commercial artists, illustrators, and craftspeople will find a host of uses for these lovingly detailed engravings: as book and magazine illustrations and as attention-getting graphics ideal for enhancing flyers, brochures, newsletters, and any number of other print projects. Art lovers and antiquarians―anyone with an interest in the art and ideas of an earlier era―will enjoy browsing through these wonderful antique images. Dover (1998) republication of 123 plates from the work published by R. & G. Wetstenios, Amsterdam, 1718.

Some of the most ingenious and attractive modern motifs. 746 designs.

One hundred plates of royalty-free Gothic designs, meticulously reproduced from rare 19th-century engravings. Many are floral and foliate designs rendered from panels, capitals, borders, brackets, friezes, grotesques, and other decorative elements.

Over 150 motifs reflecting the intricacies of Celtic design, ideal for use in graphics layouts, needlework designs, and art projects. Includes animal, floral, and abstract motifs clearly drawn for sharp reproduction.

Wondrous panorama of the animal kingdom, with detailed reproductions of over 600 rare engravings: mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians, fish, crustaceans, insects, some plants--all identified. Royalty-free illustrations for designers and craftspeople. Excellent sourcebook for students of natural history.

The 4,260 individual designs collected here represent the 900-year-old tradition of Japanese family crests. This unabridged republication of the catalog originally compiled around 1913 by the Matsuya Piece-Goods Store in Tokyo contains a translation of the original Foreword plus a new Introduction by Fumie Adachi and a new English Index.

An ancient art form dating back to cave paintings in the Paleolithic age, silhouettes were extremely popular during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, when they served as an inexpensive form of portraiture, capturing the essence of the subject with a minimum of detail.Now today's crafters, designers, artists, and illustrators can take advantage of the silhouette's eye-catching power with this splendid sourcebook, meticulously compiled by Carol Belanger Grafton. Included are over 1,700 charming, royalty-free silhouettes--culled from a number of rare sources--ideal for use in a broad range of graphic projects. Posters, signage, magazine and book illustration, advertisements, brochures, and flyers are just a few of the potential uses for the illustrations in this convenient archive.Choose from a wide array of subjects: animals portrayed in assorted poses, children playing and reading, couples embracing, views of the human profile, people working, painting, biking, and playing musical instruments; and many more. All appear in striking forms that emphasize the silhouette's power to make a simple but bold graphic statement.Dover (2000) original publication.

155 traditional folk art decorations: fruit and floral centerpieces, borders, wreaths, children in peasant garb, much more. For needlework, crafts, artistic uses. Royalty-free.

Women's fashions during the second half of the nineteenth century offered a delightful display of styles reflecting English, French, and American tastes. This comprehensive treasury of more than 900 crisp black-and-white illustrations―arranged chronologically and dated by year―provides a rich pictorial record of clothing styles from that period. Suitable for a wide variety of graphic projects, these cuts will especially appeal to artists and illustrators in search of finely rendered images of authentic Victorian fashions. Selected by graphic artist Carol Belanger Grafton from such vintage sources as Harper's Bazar, La Mode Illustrée, Peterson's Magazine, Godey's Salon de la Mode and Frank Leslie's Ladies' Magazine, the cuts brim with clear detail and old-time flavor as they record a wealth of evolving styles―from ornate gowns of the mid-1800s, widened by hoop skirts and elaborately enhanced with ribbons, ruffles, laces, and bows, to turn-of-the-century fashions that produced leg-o'-mutton sleeves, narrowed skirts, diminished bustles, and high-necked bodices (except for evening wear, which exhibited a more daring neckline).Here, for copyright-free use, are hundreds of elegant dresses accented with intricately embroidered designs, shirtwaists featuring lace inserts, and row upon row of tiny pleats, tightly laced undergarments, wide-brimmed hats topped with feathers, flowers, and ribbon; beaded handbags, magnificent parasols, fur-trimmed capes, and much, much more.An invaluable reference to period clothing styles for designers, illustrators, and costume historians, this magnificent archive―with its entertaining glimpse of the fashions of yesteryear―will also delight casual browsers and lovers of Victoriana. Original Dover (1999) publication.

Add a touch of Old World flavor to projects with 265 charming designs incorporating florals, wildlife, and human figures in folk costumes.

Republished unabridged from the final comprehensive edition, this work contains the largest single-volume collection of classical art motifs ever compiled. It reproduces material from Greek and Roman, medieval European, Islamic, Renaissance, baroque, and early nineteenth-century art, architecture, and design--in all, presenting artists, crafters, and students with more than 3,000 designs.Featured design elements include networks, Gothic tracery, geometric designs, akanthos leaves, lotus ornamentation, animal ornamentation, grotesque figures, fret bands, chains, interlacements, rosettes, undulations, spirals, link borders, cresting borders, finials, crockets, gargoyles, foliations, panels, repeated ornaments, and hundreds of other elements. Other plates show decorated pottery vases, religious utensils, weapons, furniture, lamps, jewelry, and other artifacts, in addition to heraldic motifs and ornamental letters.

Culled from a rare 19th-century source, these 124 black-and-white illustrations capture the lavish devices and grand sweep of European Baroque design. This collection is populated by elaborate architectural ornaments, decorative motifs, and border elements.

More than just a five-digit grasping appendage, the extraordinary human hand is capable of a virtually infinite range of expression. Here are over 1,100 images of hands, specially assembled by a noted graphic designer in response to the growing demand for inexpensive and royalty-free art depicting hands.Chosen for diversity and style as well as usability, these images were carefully culled from thousands of pages of nineteenth-century European and American books and periodicals, some of them very rare. Many of the images represent the height of the wood engraver's art--and as artists and designers know, for many purposes wood engravings are far superior to photographs.Here are large hands, small hands, lovely hands, and ugly hands. There are hands resting and active and hands writing, sewing, demonstrating scientific experiments, using tools, performing magic tricks, applying first aid, playing parlor games, and even casting hand shadows on the wall. Hands are displayed to demonstrate palmistry, anatomy, and sign language, or are simply poised to reveal superb form and dignity. In response to the enormous demand, hands with pointing fingers appear in an abundance of sizes, shapes, and shades, and are more or less stylized or realistic to suit every need.A glance through this magnificent collection will suggest a multitude of royalty-free uses to any artist, designer, or crafter, including collage, decoupage, and advertising art. Whenever the decorative, expressive, or symbolic potential of a hand is needed, you will want to turn to this inexpensive yet comprehensive treasury.Dover (1985) original publication.

An inexpensive source of inspiration and striking graphics for art and craft projects, this compilation features more than 175 authentic, royalty-free motifs: sinuously intertwined patterns, mythological animals, dragon-slaying heroes, much more.

476 easy-to-reproduce spots of authentic period apparel from rare issues of the "Fashion Service Review" suits, dresses, coats, hats, shoes, swimwear, tuxedos, evening gowns, handbags, undergarments, and more.