Clip Art Books

On a scale of 1 to 5 stars, this books deserves 6 stars. I have looked at many of the Dover Pictorial Archive books and this one is truly exceptional. From the cover, I was expecting more gargoyles. But it contained excellent drawings of medieval architectural ornamentations. For example, one page will show a drawing of the relevant part of a building, eg. a gable on a building at Oxford Univ., and then the facing page will show drawings of close ups of the most interesting ornamental elements on the building and sometimes the sideviews of those elements. Lots of leaf and floral elements as was common then. It even cites the buildings. This is a true must-have book for especially wood artisans who want to do some fancy work.

"Racinet's Full-Color Pictorial History of Western Costume," by Auguste Racinet, is a marvelous collection of illustrations that record trends in European clothing. The cover and title page boast that the book contains 92 plates showing over 950 costumes from the Middle Ages to 1800. The copyright page notes that this book is a selection of plates from the 6-colume "Le Costume Historique" published in 1888.

Depicted are costumes from France, Spain, Italy, Russia, and other nations. Many different types of people are depicted: soldiers, clergymen, nuns, noblewomen, peasants, etc. The plates of military dress are particularly interesting; in addition to showing knights' armor and other clothing, the illustrations also show many different weapons. Horses in regalia are shown in addition to human figures. Also depicted are musical instruments.

The pictures include both individual figures and scenes depicting costumed figures in social interaction. Some famous people, like Elizabeth I of England, are depicted. There are some really colorful and ornate items, like elaborate ladies' headdresses. I really liked the illustrations of kilted Scotsmen. Along the way are some curious sights, such as a bizarrely dressed and masked Venetian penitent. Overall, this book is a marvelous and educational visual feast.

This book was, one again, everything I hoped it would be. One thing, it is more of a 'magazine' type book, but still has fabulous pictures in it. I love all the differnt looks of the letters and have used one of the letters as a tattoo! It has fabulous desigs that are much more unique than the run-of-the-mill tribal art or celtic art designs. This book is great!

A great book filled with wonderful art. I haven't seen such clear and clean art giving samples of so many classic designs. I have been hired to design a logo with the romance and authentic look of the early Heraldic designs. This book has been very very helpful.

i bought this book on a whim, and consequently spent hours in front of the Xerox machine making my own stationery with it! Lots of neat/"retro"/wacky/elegant black-and-white illustrations of, you guessed it, women's heads. Very stylized. Tons to choose from. A+!!

I bought this book as an inexpensive, handy artists' reference on cats. I'm very happy with it. The book's title, front cover designs, and back cover description do a good job of telling you what to expect. It definitely answers my need for permission-free art to help me do my own cat sketching and painting.I could tell right away I'd found a treasure-trove, and with 381 designs I know I will be using the book for a long time! I thought I would be mainly interested in the realistic styles - for the fur detail, perspective, anatomy, etc. - but quickly became inspired by the whimsical, cartoony, and sketchy moods /styles, too. This is a beautiful,useful book. A real creativity booster, and fun to just look at!

Though my book arrived semi beat up in the mail, the images in it are good for reproduction, and I am pleased with them.

You can find romance all the way from Adam and Eve and the snake, through the Crusades, to the Civil War and Gay Nineties. No matter what drawings you seek, youth or old age, innocence or passion, it is likely to be in this collection.

OLD FASHIONED SILHOUETTES is a nice little book that explains how to cut silhouettes.
It is a fun craft and the book is a great help.

Booklet full of oriental designs. It is perfect for what I want. I wanted patterns that could be implemented in the backgrounds of my scrapbooking of our trips to China.