Disappearing libarry books!

October 1, 2006 11:06 PM

Dear artists/collagers/librarians, I have a two-part question, and the first part is a doozy: I'm looking for a specific book of copyright-free clip art/etchings & I don't know the title. The second part: recommend your favorite books of copyright-free etchings!

Specifically, I'm looking for a particular book of copyright-free clip art/etchings. It's a very thick book (~300+ pages) with thousands of images, devoting whole pages to beetles, for instance, as well as to fish & undersea creatures, printmaking equipment, early machines, architecture, the human body from bone structure to fully clothed, etc.

Almost all the images are monotone: black & white etchings from the 18th & 19th centuries (I think). Towards the latter part of the book whole scenes show up, rather than a page full of 50 winged insects.

The book itself (not jacket) is off-white (or tan, or khaki?), about 1.5x wider than it is tall, probably something like 8"x12", & not an oversized book. In my old library it was a reference book in the clip art & copyright-free images section (I'd call them, but last time I was back, it was missing from the shelves!).

Part 2: If there are any similar books of illustration-style etchings that you really like (& that are public domain), tell me about 'em! I'm looking for old-style etchings (like this), not the silhouettes or more recent-looking drawings that the Dover clip art collection mostly features. (I'm mostly looking for bizarre plants & animals, as well as medical illustrations.)

posted by soviet sleepover to media & arts (5 comments total)

A couple of possiblities: Heck's Pictorial Archive of Nature and Science (the cover's not the same but that doesn't mean anything) or maybe Harter's Picture Archive for Collage and Illustration ?
posted by iconomy at 11:31 PM on October 1, 2006

Could it be The Complete Encyclopedia of Illustration, by J.G. Heck? My edition no longer has the dust cover but I recall it was tan. 600+ pages, ~9.5" wide x 11.5" tall. It contains 18-19th century engravings of all subjects you mentioned as well as entire scenes (the last several plates are scenes of whale fishing).
posted by jamaro at 12:19 AM on October 2, 2006

Oops. Make that ~11.5 wide x 9.5" tall. It's wider than it is tall.
posted by jamaro at 12:28 AM on October 2, 2006

I'm sure pretty it's Hecks you are after (does the book have a purple cover?). If that's not the exact bok, you'll need to slide on over to Dover Publications. They're pretty much the fountainhead of copyright-free printed matter. Otherwise any decent-sized bookstore in your area (looks like there are numerous Borders books in Austin) will have a good selection to choose from.
posted by Chrischris at 5:55 AM on October 2, 2006

I think neither of the suggestions are precisely it, but I wouldn't be surprised if it's another J. G. Heck collection. Thanks!
posted by soviet sleepover at 9:29 AM on October 2, 2006