Sunday, October 25, 2015

The underground world, 19th C

Interior of an iron mine.

From The underground world, by Thomas Wallace Knox, Hartford, 1877.

(Source: archive.org)
Interior of an iron mine.
From The underground world, by Thomas Wallace Knox, Hartford, 1877. Original title is a real description (not too much to say: "The underground world : a mirror of life below the surface, with vivid descriptions of the hidden works of nature and art, comprising incidents and adventures beyond the light of day")


Thomas Wallace Knox (1835 - 1896) was a journalist, author, and world traveler, known primarily for his work as a New York Herald correspondent during the American Civil War. As an author, Knox wrote over 45 books, including a popular series of travel adventure books for boys.

Knox was well known for his written attacks on William Tecumseh Sherman and his Union soldiers, which reintroduced into the public debate the issue of Sherman's sanity. His work was controversial as he published important information pertaining to the Vicksburg Campaign. Knox was acquitted on spy charges but found guilty of disobeying orders


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Falling in of a mine.

From The underground world, by Thomas Wallace Knox, Hartford, 1877.

(Source: archive.org)
Falling in of a mine. Amazing illustrations like the trapper boy and "children picking up", old women at work... incredible work conditions on the industrial revolution
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Sections of an English coal mine.

From The underground world, by Thomas Wallace Knox, Hartford, 1877.

(Source: archive.org)
Sections of an English coal mine.
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Miners descending a shaft.

From The underground world, by Thomas Wallace Knox, Hartford, 1877.

(Source: archive.org)
Miners descending a shaft.
From The underground world, by Thomas Wallace Knox, Hartford, 1877.

This book can be purchased via amazon, link provided, BIO text is mostly copy pasted from wikipedia (couldn't find more info about this Book but complete title provides a very good approach). I do recommend visiting archive.org where is scan is hosted, link here

Sunday, October 18, 2015

The Liber chronicarum, 15th C



The Liber chronicarum, (image source from provided ebay link) a universal history compiled from older and contemporary sources by the Nuremberg doctor, humanist, and bibliophile Hartmann Schedel (1440–1514), is one of the most densely illustrated and technically advanced works of early printing. It contains 1809 woodcuts produced from 645 blocks. 


The Nuremberg entrepreneur Sebald Schreyer and his brother-in-law, Sebastian Kammermeister, financed the production of the book. Michael Wolgemut and his son-in-law Wilhelm Pleydenwurff executed the illustrations in around 1490, a time when their workshop was at its artistic peak and the young Albrecht Dürer was just completing his apprenticeship there. 

The views of towns, some authentic, some invented or copied from older models, are of both artistic and topographical interest. This brilliantly colored copy, owned by Schedel, contains valuable additional matter, such as Erhard Etzlaub's map of the road to Rome. Along with the rest of Schedel's library, the book became part of the library of Johann Jacob Fugger, which in 1571 came into the possession of Duke Albrecht V of Bavaria.


This Chronicle is probably the most sophisticated printed book published before the year 1500 because of its use of different graphic layouts that integrate text and image in more varied ways than anything that had previously been attempted. 




Wikimedia has a lot of illustrations in three categories: one, two, three; a few of which also appear above.




Monday, October 12, 2015

Central European costume, 19th C




No caption. Shepherd on stilts.

From Central European costume part 2 (Miscellaneous engraved plates of Central European costume and fashion, collected and pasted into scrapbooks)

(Source: archive.org)
Shepherd on stilts.
From Central European costume (Miscellaneous engraved plates of Central European costume and fashion, collected and pasted into scrapbooks)
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Fish sellers.

From Central European costume part 2 (Miscellaneous engraved plates of Central European costume and fashion, collected and pasted into scrapbooks)

(Source: archive.org)
Fish sellers.
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Woman from Tatenberg.

From Central European costume part 2 (Miscellaneous engraved plates of Central European costume and fashion, collected and pasted into scrapbooks)

(Source: archive.org)
Woman from Tatenberg.
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People from Störort.

From Central European costume part 2 (Miscellaneous engraved plates of Central European costume and fashion, collected and pasted into scrapbooks)

(Source: archive.org)
People from Störort.
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Cook.

From Central European costume part 2 (Miscellaneous engraved plates of Central European costume and fashion, collected and pasted into scrapbooks)

(Source: archive.org)
Cook.
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From the Nuremberg area.

From Central European costume part 2 (Miscellaneous engraved plates of Central European costume and fashion, collected and pasted into scrapbooks)

(Source: archive.org)
From the Nuremberg area.



Found this jewel at archive.org this weekend, original digitalization was done by Glasgow School of Art. Not too much information, the web only provides very basic info like the number of pages (70) and… the camera used for this job (canon 5D) ¿? Well… investigation this time has not provided more data (not even the Author’s name).

Only text provided by the web is “Miscellaneous full-colour engraved plates of Central European costume and fashion, collected and pasted into scrapbooks”.