Free Vintage Illustration of a Victorian "Gentleman"

The illustration above is the coarse, comic character Sir Harry of Nonsuch House from the satire Mr. Sponge's Sporting Tour, published in 1853. Mr. Sponge was the creation of Robert Smith Surtees, a sportswriter and author who had tried his hand at law before inheriting Hamsterley Hall in Durham and retiring into the life of a "gentleman of leisure."

Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats

Serendipity! I posted earlier today about Thackeray illustrating his own work in The Virginians, and then lo, as I was perusing the Webbity, I learned that Similarly Famous Dead British Author T.S. Eliot illustrated one of his works - Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats (first published in 1939).  You know, the children's book that the musical Cats is based on? Here's the front, which you can click on to see in greater detail:

And here's the tuchus, which you can also click on for a better gander:

Whimsical, fun stuff. But wait! It gets better. Because the book was reprinted a few times, and the 1982 edition?  Illustrated by Edward Gorey.


This is as big an image as I could get, but clicking on it will take you to the Amazon listing, where you can see some of the illustrations from inside this edition and mebbe buy it, if you likey. I likey.

Free vintage illustration of Thackeray's The Virginians title page

Click on the image above to view and download the full-size version

Today I prettied up the text from the title page of the first edition of William Makepeace Thackeray's The Virginians. Thackeray's novel was illustrated by ... Thackeray! Who doesn't love a multitasker? Unfortunately, I haven't been able to fer-sure find any of Thackeray's illustrations besides the one on the title page; the Gutenberg site has the full text of the novel stripped of images, and the other editions I've seen online don't ID who or where the illustrations are from. Sigh.

Want to read it (for free) on your Kindle? Click on the book below:

  

Free vintage illustration of several dog breeds

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This illustration comes from the front of the 1901 book All About Dogs by Charles Henry Lane. The little fellow on the bottom right is quite a character. The illustrations from the book are by R.H. Moore.

Free vintage illustration of foxhound

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The first dog that my husband and I adopted was a foxhound mix, thus my affection for the image above, which is a foxhound named "Marksman" from the 1901 book All About Dogs by Charles Henry Lane. The illustrations from the book are by R.H. Moore.

Free vintage Illustration of Lady Bradshaigh

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For my first free illustration, I've chosen an engraving of Lady Bradshaigh (1705-1785). Isn't she lovely? Lady Bradshaigh, born Dorothy Bellingham, is famous for being the pen-pal and confidante of Samuel Richardson, the author of the first English bestseller, Pamela, or Virtue Rewarded. Lady Bradshaigh lived a remarkable life, which you can read more about here: Ingilby History Page. The illustration comes from the introduction to the Complete Novels of Samuel Richardson, Volume 1, published in 1902. According to notes from the book, it was "engraved by Caroline Watson from an original portrait (1804)."