So this was a fun little site to stumble onto in Google image search – I love it when a gem like this is thrown my way. It's called fromoldbooks.org, and it's just what it sounds like it would be: some guy scans cool-looking stuff from old books, and puts it up on a website. I'm quite glad that that's his passion...it fits very nicely with my passion for finding cool-looking stuff from old books out on the internet without having to get up off the couch and find a bunch of old books to look through! (Actually spending time looking through a stack of dusty old volumes does sound like a nice afternoon, but usually when I need a good image it's not when I would have that kind of time.) Here's some more examples:
(That one's from Alice in Wonderland...very timely with the new movie and everything!)So let me tell you what a gold mine this is: the guy Liam who runs the site, is very meticulous about indexing each image with keywords and information on what book it comes from, and the entire site is searchable. All the scans are very hi-res. And he just asks that you let him know if you find his images interesting or useful!
Like the first picture in this post, the site has many specimens of typography to explore. Of course there are the wonderful typefaces and ornaments in the old books on any subject, but the site includes a sizeable collection of old books that are about typography and printing.
One other thing I enjoyed: in all his thoroughness, Liam has included the text accompanying most of the images. I found the caption to this image pretty amusing:
"Hark! the sea is crying to me in pain!"
And, I'll leave you on that melodramatic note.
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