Mastodawn

My 2023–24 exhibition on #maps and #chromolithography is now online at

https://exhibits.oshermaps.org/pageant-of-spectacles/

The exhibition and associated lectures prompted me to write up a long-ish essay on “Mapping, Printing, Color,” which is both part of the exhibition website and available in a separate PDF publication available from

https://digitalcommons.usm.maine.edu/oml_exhibits/13/

#cartography #maphistory #color

Public Domain Image Archive Apr 13

Histioteuthis bonelliana (1851) by Jean Baptiste Vérany, from Mollusques méditeranéens.

Source: Smithsonian Libraries and Archives / Internet Archive

Available to buy as a print.

https://pdimagearchive.org/images/60dc0b5e-2980-4d86-a26c-59e05cffb0c7

#cephalopods #zoology #chromolithography #squid #art #publicdomain

Public Domain Image Archive Jan 16

Argonauta Argo (1851) by Jean Baptiste Vérany, from Mollusques méditeranéens.

Source: Smithsonian Libraries and Archives / Internet Archive

Available to buy as a print.

https://pdimagearchive.org/images/4eab67b4-9820-4435-9d03-806e687bc585

#cephalopods #zoology #chromolithography #squid #art #publicdomain

barefootliam Dec 17

https://www.fromoldbooks.org/OldEngland/pages/v2p280-st-johns-hall/

This #chromolithography example shows the inside of the chapel St. John’s College Cambridge. This picture was made around 1840; later, in 1860, the chapel was demolished & replaced with a Victorian Gothic Revival thing by Sir Gilbert Scott.

At least six colours here i think, so 6 plates, although sometimes they overprinted to get mixed colours.

#fobo #vintageArt #cambridgeUK #chapel #interior #medieval #GIMP #Gimp_3 #GIMP3

barefootliam Dec 5

https://www.fromoldbooks.org/ModerneKunst-13/pages/133-monkey/

The German caption was Prosit Neujahr, which is a toast to the New Year in Austria and parts of Germany

It was startling to see this as a full-page illo in a book 15½×12" (42x30cm). I was tempted to call it “Donald Trump proposes marriage to Nancy Pelosi, but decided not to mention the idea.

#GIMP #fobo #GIMP3 #Gimp_3 #vintageArt #vintageEngraving #chromolithography #monkey #rose #valentinesDay #NewYears #topHat

Public Domain Image Archive Nov 16

Opening flower (1854) by William Sharp, from Victoria Regia, or, The Great Water Lily of America: With a Brief Account of its Discovery and Introduction into Cultivation.

Source: Missouri Botanical Garden / Biodiversity Heritage Library

https://pdimagearchive.org/images/d20c3c1f-c106-4899-9a66-0cf67613ee19

#water-lilies #botanical #chromolithography #plants #lithography #art #publicdomain

barefootliam Nov 11

https://www.fromoldbooks.org/Casabo-LaCivilizacion-2/pages/596-scevola/

A Roman soldier, Gaius Mucius Scaevola, famous for his bravery in the siege of Rome.

[it’s actually a gruesome story so details are on the Web page if interested]

This is (i think) a chromolithograph, printed (in Barcelona in 1881) from multiple plates, one per solid colour. A clean scan and easy for #GIMP to process.

#fobo #vintageArt #chromolithography #GIMP3 #Gimp_3 #Ro man #romanSoldier #GaiusMuciusScaevola

barefootliam Oct 21, 2025

https://www.fromoldbooks.org/Morris-PicturesqueViews-Vol2/pages/050-drakelowe-hall/

#DrakeloweHall - A rather large English #mansion with a history going back a thousand years, except it was demolished in 1934, and in the 1950s a power plant was built on the site.

Sir Nigel Gresley, steam locomotive designer, was a cousin to the family that lived here.

These chromolithographs are fun to clean up in #GIMP3 - solid colour, no dot screen.

#vintageArt #chromolithography #statelyHome #GIMP #Gimp_3 #fobo #sirNigelGresley #colourEngraving #countryHouse