Historical Scientific Illustrations

Vintage illustrations depicting significant historical scientific events, like Arctic explorations, natural phenomena, and early astronomical observations. Monochrome and detailed imagery.

Antarctic exploration illustrated in 'Voyage au pole sud et dans l'Oceanie.' The French ships ASTROLABE and ZELEE under the command of Dumont D'Urville. Plate 28. 1842

Vesuvius during an eruption.

Sir John Franklin's (1786-1847) expedition crossing Back's inlet. From a drawing by Lieut. Back, in Franklin's second expedition to the Polar Sea, 1828.

Antarctic exploration illustrated in 'Voyage au pole sud et dans l'Oceanie.' The French ships ASTROLABE and ZELEE under the command of Dumont D'Urville. Plate 28. 1842

Harbour lighting and experiments with underwater light, carried out by Bazin, Lorient, France, illustration from L'Illustration, Journal Universel, No 1130, Volume XLIV, October 22, 1864.

VISITA AL VOLCAN DÁNTUCO EN ATLAS DE LA HISTORIA FISICA Y POLITICA DE CHILE, 1854. Author: GAY CLAUDIO. Location: BIBLIOTECA NACIONAL-COLECCION. MADRID. SPAIN.

Etching and copper engraving by Louis Joseph Masquelier from 1785 showing a view and map of Agrigent in Sicily, including city layout, surrounding landscape, and topographical details.

Engraving depicting Comet Klinkerfues flying across the night sky, discovered by Ernst Friedrich Wilhelm Klinkerfues. Ernst Friedrich Wilhelm Klinkerfues (1827-1884) a German astronomer. Dated 19th Century

Mt Vesuvius funicular, seen from the summit of the volcanic cone, Campania, Italy, illustration from L'Illustration, Journal Universel, No 1939, Volume LXXV, April 24, 1880.

Mount Vesuvius erupting in 1755, seen from the west, with two small views of the volcano in 1631, and of the volcano's crater in section. Coloured etching by N. D'Oraty.

Vesuvius volcano erupting in 1839 Engraved image from The Penny Magazine, may 1843

Earth's moon seen from Earth. Date: 1702

Astronomy: a meteor shower in the night sky. Mezzotint after H. Robinson, 1783.

Measuring the height of a mountain, Sébastien Leclerc (I), 1669 print print maker: Francepublisher: Paris paper etching planimetry, geometry. mountains

Basalt mound between Cerealto and Altissimo, in Vicentin. A mound of 25-degree diagonal, over layers of vertical and horizontal prisms. Butte basaltique entre Corealto et Altissimo dans le Vicentin. Copperplate engraving by Giuseppe Dall'Acqua from Scipion Breislaks Traite sur la Structure Exterieure du Globe, Treatise on the Exterior Structure of the Globe, Jean-Pierre Giegler, Milan, 1822.

Mount Erebus, Antarctica: the volcano in eruption. Chromolithograph, 1868.

Hunting: nets for catching ground birds. Engraving, c.1762.

View of the Gavinello valley, district of Ronca, Vicentin, northern Italy. The lowest horizontal layer AA is composed of earth and marine sand. On this layer rests a large mass BB of ferruginous black basalt configured in vertical columns. Vue de la Vallee du Gavinello district de Ronca dans le Vicentin. Copperplate engraving from Scipion Breislaks Traite sur la Structure Exterieure du Globe, Treatise on the Exterior Structure of the Globe, Jean-Pierre Giegler, Milan, 1822.

Ideal flora and fauna of the Liassic period including Ichthyosaurus and Plesiosaurus. From 'The Popular Educator' (London, c1855). Engraving.

Engraving depicting applications of the steam engine. Dated 19th century

View of 32.Ma eruption of 15. Junnic Has 1794. View Du Commicentment of La2.a eruption Arrived on 15. Guin 1794..

Stromboli, Giovanni Battista Borra, 1713-1770, Italian, 1750, Black ink with gray wash over graphite on moderately thick, moderately textured, beige laid paper, Sheet: 21 3/8 x 14 15/16 inches (54.3 x 37.9 cm) and Image: 14 5/16 x 9 1/4 inches (36.4 x 23.5 cm), aerial view, clouds, geology, landscape, lava, volcanoes, Campania, Eolie, Isole, Italy, Messina, Napoli, Sicily, Stromboli, Isola, Tyrrhenian Sea, Vesuvius

Whalers hunting a North Atlantic right whale, Eubalaena glacialis, endangered 1, and barnacles 2-5. Baleine, Balenes.Handcoloured steel engraving by Pfitzer from Felix-Edouard Guerin-Meneville's Dictionnaire Pittoresque d'Histoire Naturelle (Picturesque Dictionary of Natural History), Paris, 1834-39.

Engraving depicting the Place de la Concorde lit by a carbon arc lamp during a demonstration by Leon Foucault

Eruption a day, succeeded in the morning of 16 sept. 1804 at six in the morning.

Engraving depicting the Great Comet of 1853. Dated 19th Century

The tail stars of 1742 and 1744, 1744 print The tail stars of 1742 and 1744. The comet of 1744 above a farm at night, smaller in the top left of 1742. At the top a smaller representation of the comet observed with the telescope of Newton in the Observatory in Leiden on February 16, 1744. On the back an abklatsch of another astronomical performance. Northern Netherlands paper comet Leiden

A new chart of the sea coast from the island of Cyenne to the river Poumaron comprehending Surinam Berbice Demerary & Essequebo taken from the latest surveys and observations of the Dutch and English. Depths shown by soundings. Includes 3 coastal profiles. In John Norman's American pilot. Boston : John Norman, 1794.... , French Guiana ,territory Guyana Suriname

Geologist Giambattista Brocchi and artist Giovanni De Min sketching Mount Somma, on the slopes of the volcano of Vesuvius, Naples, Italy. Veins of lava with basalt prisms. Le mont Somma du cote du Sud. Copperplate engraving by Giuseppe Dall'Acqua after Giovanni de Min directed by Giambattista Brocchi from Scipion Breislaks Traite sur la Structure Exterieure du Globe, Treatise on the Exterior Structure of the Globe, Jean-Pierre Giegler, Milan, 1822.

The eruption of Mount Etna in 1669. Etching.

Engraving depicting various applications of the inclined plane. Dated 19th Century

Ancient coral reefs on the ocean floor as visual of geological layers. Korallenbank als Bildstatte geologisches Schichten. Colour printed illustration by Heinrich Harder from Wilhelm Bolsches Tiere der Urwelt (Animals of the Prehistoric World), Reichardt Cocoa company, Hamburg, 1908. Heinrich Harder (1858-1935) was a German landscape artist and book illustrator.

Manner of draining the riverbed of the River Jigitonhonha, Brazil, by an aqueduct to search for diamonds. From John Mawe's Travels in the Interior of Brazil, 1812. Copperplate engraving by Dall'Acqua handcoloured by Laxaretti from Giovanni Battista Sonzogno's Raccolta de Viaggi Piu Interessanti, Milan, 1815.

Explorations performed with hydrostatic machine, 18th Century, engraving.

A 1702 watercolor by Wigerus Vitringa showing whaling activity in polar waters, executed over black chalk.

Bird's eye view of part of the Martian surface, showing the canal-like network Date: 1924

Fumarole or sulphuric gases escaping from Solfatara volcano near Naples. Handcoloured copperplate engraving by J.B. Hoessel from Friedrich Johann Bertuch's Bilderbuch fur Kinder (Picture Book for Children), Weimar, 1802.

The Crater of Mount Etna a few days prior to the Late Earthquake, 1858. 'A violent earthquake has occurred upon the high cone of Etna...it threw down, with a tremendous noise, within the abyss of the great crater half of the mass of the cone; and such a quantity of matter falling down, the compressed air, regaining its elasticity, blew out of the principal crater with great violence, in the form of the densest smoke, all those ashes and sand, mingled with the scoriae, with which the cone was raised up long ago; and this dusty smoke, carried through the atmosphere, was thence driven by the nort

Environs de Soueys Suez. 1. Plan et nivellement des sources dites de Moyse; 2. Vue des sources et des environs.. Prints, Illustrations, Maps. 1809. Rare Book Division. Egypt, Topographic maps , Egypt, Springs , Egypt

North Africans praying for a shipwreck 4, hawking in Barbary 5, and English ships under Lord Exmouth bombarding Algiers in 1816 6. Handcoloured copperplate engraving from Rev. Isaac Taylors Scenes in Africa for the Amusement and Instruction of Little Tarry-at-Home Travelers, Harris and Son, London, 1820.

Historic drawing, 19th century, the volcanic eruption on 8th December 1861, Mount Vesuvius, Bay of Naples, Campania, Italy, Europe

Geology: various kinds of rocks and geological features. Engraving by R. Scott.

The 'Erebus' and the 'Terror' Among Icebergs. Sir John Franklin (1786-1847) British naval officer and arctic explorer commanded the 1845 expedition of the ships 'Erebus' and 'Terror' to search for the North West Passage. All members of the expedition perished. Chromoxylograph from 'The Polar World' by G Hartwig (London, 1874).

The eruption of Vesuvius, in February 1850, Naples, Italy, illustration from L'Illustration, Journal Universel, No 366, Volume XV, March 2, 1850.

An engraving depicting the measuring of the velocity of a bullet. When the shell perforated the first screen, a circuit was broken, and the difference measured the speed penetrated the second screen and broke the second circuit. Dated 19th century

passage through the ice, capt.john ross's òdiscoveryó with, seven whaling vessels june 1818, (70 degrees, 44 minutes north)

North America, west coast of Newfoundland, Cow Head Harbor and White Rock Bay : from French surveys in 1857 & 1881. Relief shown by shading and spot heights. Depths shown by soundings and form lines... Cow Head Harbor and White Rock Bay. Cow Head Harbor and White Rock Bay, Canada , Newfoundland and Labrador ,province , Cow Head Shallow Bay

Geosaurus suevicus, an extinct marine crocodyliform from the Late Jurassic to the Early Cretaceous. Colour printed (chromolithograph) illustration by F. John from "Tiere der Urwelt" Animals of the Prehistoric World, 1910, Hamburg. From a series of prehistoric creature cards published by the Reichardt Cocoa company.

Illustration of the 'Trombes' sailing vessel in hurricane conditions, from 'Les Meteores'. Dated 1869

The tail stars of 1742 and 1744, John de Groot (II), 1744 - 1745 print The comet of 1744 above a farm at night, smaller in the top left of the comet of 1742. At the top a smaller representation of the comet observed with the telescope of Newton in the Observatory in Leiden on February 16, 1744. Northern Netherlands paper engraving comet

Farmers harvesting cochineal beetles, Dactylopius coccus, from Opuntia cochenillifera cactus and roasting and drying the insects to prepare carmine dye, Mexico, circa 1800. Handcoloured copperplate engraving from Bertuch's "Bilderbuch fur Kinder" (Picture Book for Children), Weimar, 1807. Friedrich Johann Bertuch (1747-1822) was a German publisher and man of arts most famous for his 12-volume encyclopedia for children illustrated with 1,200 engraved plates on natural history, science, costume, mythology, etc., published from 1790-1830.

science physics mirage citicens of Verviers seeing a battle in the sky June 1815 colour lithograph 19th century,

Visitors from all over the globe flock to the Great Exhibition at the Crystal Palace. Date: 1851

Geology: comparative heights of mountains. Coloured engraving by S. Hall, 1817.

Cross-section of a lead mine in Derbyshire, showing miners working towards an animal fossil. Lithograph by T. Webster after a sketch by W. Buckland.

Temazcalli or hypocaust lodges, with section showing naked men inside performing a purification ritual in the underfloor-heated house, Mesoamerica. Handcoloured copperplate engraving by Luigi Giarre from Giulio Ferrario's Ancient and Modern Costumes of all the Peoples of the World, Florence, Italy, 1843.

Illustration depicting the Aurora Borealis observed from Orléans. Dated 19th Century

Engraving depicting a zodiacal light observed at Osray, France. Dated 19th Century

Plan of the Battle of Sinope 1853 France. Etching and roulette in black and tinted with watercolor in blue and yellow on paper . Charles Meryon

The Resolution, Captain Cook's ship, in the Antarctic circle. Engraving by B.T. Pouncy after W. Hodges, 1 February 1777.

Sperm Whaling with its Varieties, companion to the Right Whaling in BeheringStraits. Artist: Benjamin Russell, American, 1804-1885

Copper engraving by Jan van der Straet depicting disk lengths from the 'New Discovered' series, showing measurements and geometric objects.

'Workings and Guano deposit on the Chincha Islands; About the Chincha Islands', 1875. From 'Illustrated Travels' by H.W. Bates. Cassell, Petter, and Galpin, c1880, London and Galpin.

Photographie Lunaire: Posidonius-Atlas-Corne Boréale 26 Avril 1898 7 h 9 Lunar Photograph: Posidonius- Atlas- Horn Borialis April 26, 1898 7h 9. Maurice Loewy, photographer (French, 1833 - 1907) and Pierre Puiseux, photographer (French, 1855 - 1928) 1898 A photograph of a lower quarter of the moon over which a thin, translucent sheet of paper has been laid. The over-sheet is labeled with topographic features of the moon. (Verso) lower left, in pencil: "LP.0143.Z"

First balloon crossing of English Channel, 7 January 1785 by Jean-Pierre Blanchard, French inventor, and American Dr John Jeffries from Dover to Guines, 2 hours 30 mins. Chromolithograph c1883. Aeronautics Aviation Ballooning

Engraving showing HMS 'Alert' caught in the ice, against the shore of Cape Beechey during the 1875-1876 British Arctic Expedition. In 1875 the British Admiralty sent Captain George Nares with two ships, HMS 'Alert' and HMS 'Discovery', to make an attempt to reach the North Pole via Smith Sound. The attempt was unsuccessful, but a new 'furthest North' record was set, the coasts of Greenland and Ellesmere Island were charted and much scientific data gathered. Date: 1876

Geography: a halo around the sun, at the Pole. Coloured wood engraving by C. Whymper.

DAMS in River; The art of rendering navigable rivers, in various ways, with other new inventions, and other secrets. View of a River With Several Turns. Dammen Have Been Applied to Strategic Places. Numbered Top Left and Top Right: 10.

Theoretical cross-section of geological formations and terrains: granitic, schistose, carboniferous, Triassic, Jurassic, Cretaceous, Supercretaceous, chysmian, pyroide, and volcanic. Handcoloured steel engraving after an illustration by J. J. Huot from Felix-Edouard Guerin-Meneville's Dictionnaire Pittoresque d'Histoire Naturelle (Picturesque Dictionary of Natural History), Paris, 1834-39.

The crater of Mount Vesuvius, Italy, 1797. Smoke emerging from the volcano, scientists observing from the crater's rim. Copperplate engraving by Wilson Lowry after a sketch by Richard Duppa from Abraham Rees' Cyclopedia or Universal Dictionary of Arts, Sciences and Literature, Longman and Rees, London, 1802.

Iron mines in the Hartz mountains near Clausthal, Germany, and hikers crossing rivers, mountains and glaciers. Handcoloured steel engraving by Pedretti after an illustration by A. Carie Baron from Felix-Edouard Guerin-Meneville's Dictionnaire Pittoresque d'Histoire Naturelle (Picturesque Dictionary of Natural History), Paris, 1834-39.

Table depicting a volcanic counterpart towards the end of the 18th century, vintage engraved illustration. From the Universe and Humanity, 1910.

Eruption of the Gamalama volcano, by Francois Valentyn (Valentijn), 1724. Gamalama is a near-conical stratovolcano that comprises the entire Ternate island in Indonesia. The island lies off the western shore of Halmahera island in the north of the Maluku Islands. An eruption in 1775 caused the deaths of approximately 1300 people

The force which can move mountains: harnessing the atom to vast projects for the benefit of mankind. Showing how the use of atomic explosives could be used on ambitious engineering works, but with no recognition of the dangers created by radioactive fallout and other side effects. Date: 1945

The Magnificient Giant Geyser in Eruption, Upper Geyser Basin, Y. N. P. 1850 - 1930. still image. Stereographs, Photographs. The Miriam and Ira D. Wallach Division of Art, Prints and Photographs: Photography Collection. Wyoming, Yellowstone National Park, Geysers

French physicist Denis Papin's, steamboat being wrecked, 1707 (1870). Artist: Unknown

CADIX (Table XXXX) in: Meyra Universum, i.e. describing the most convenient visions and comments of objects of nature and art all over the earth , vol Petersen, Heinrich Ludwig (1806 1874), Geissler, Friedrich (1778 1853)

Print at the top right labeled: FIG. 23.

Demonstration of the Great Electric Induction Coil at the Polytechnic Institution in London in 1869 by Professor Pepper.

Engraving depicting the Great Comet of 1843. Dated 19th Century

Inventions, 1850 - 1881 print Leaf with 4 performances of Dutch inventions and discoveries: De Telegraaf, the binoculars, the sailing car and the mud mill. A title and a caption under each performance above each performance. Numbered at the top right: No. 38. print maker: Netherlandspublisher: Leiden paper letterpress printing invention, discovery ~ science and technology. (morse) telegraph. binoculars, spy-glass, etc.. sailing-ship, sailing-boat (+ traffic on land). dredge, dredging machine

Typus Montis Aetnae ab Authore Observati Ao. 1637 Athanasii Kircheri e Soc. Jesu Mundus subterraneus, in XII libros digestus; quo divinum subterrestris mundi opificium, mira ergasteriorum naturae in eo distributio, verbo pantámorphon Protei regnum, universae denique naturae majestas and divitiae summa rerum varietate exponuntur, abditorum effectuum causae acri indagine inquisitae demonstrantur, cognitae per artis and naturae conjugium ad humanae vitae necessarium usum vario experimentorum apparatu, necnon novo modo and ratione applicantur, Janssonius van Waesberge, Johannes, 1642-1681, Kircher, Athanasius, 1602-1680, Engraving, 1678, a folded plate, located between pages 200 and 201. Plate identified as Iomus I. 200 at top. Artist and engraver unknown.

Lunar Eclipse, showing the Earth's shadow beginning to pass across the face of the Moon. From The Beauty of the Heavens by Charles F Blount (London, 1845). Coloured lithograph.

Experimentation of Mr. Montgolfier Aerostatic Machine at the Castle of La Muette. November 21, 1783

Mount Vesuvius erupting, Naples, Italy, engraving from a sketch by Adolphe Lertsahd, from L'Illustration, Journal Universel, vol 38, no 982, December 21, 1861.

A meteor shower seen from a balloon over Northern France by Wilfred de Fonvielle Date: November 1867

1825 Carez Comparative Map or Chart of the World's Great Mountains

Sea trout, Salmo trutta trutta 98, charr, Salvelinus alpinus alpinus 99, and fshing methods using manmade rapids on a river to catch salmon in grills and nets. Handcolored copperplate engraving after Jacob Nilson from Gottlieb Tobias Wilhelm's Encyclopedia of Natural History: Fish, Augsburg, 1804. Wilhelm (1758-1811) was a Bavarian clergyman and naturalist known as the German Buffon.

Le premier départ du Géant de Nadar, au Champ de Mars, le 4 octobre 1863.. La Vaulx, Henry de, 1870-1930. Manuscripts, Portraits, Drawings, Prints. 1922. Science, Industry and Business Library: General Collection. Balloon ascensions, Nadar, Felix, 1820-1910, Champ-de-Mars

balloon of Jacques Alexandre César Charles and Marie-Noël Robert ascending from the Tuileries Garden, Paris, France, December 1, 1783 in the first hydrogen balloon flight; inset map shows locations of previous balloon ascensions. by Benoît Louis Prévost, approximately 1735-1804

Senau throwing the probe, seen abeam, vintage engraved illustration.

Bottom contour of the sea between Newfoundland and Ireland, vintage engraving. Bottom contour of the sea between Newfoundland and Ireland, vintage engraved illustration. Magasin Pittoresque 1857. Copyright: xZoonar.com/PatrickxGuenettex 10673907

Equilibrium and movement of the air, c1851. Artist: Unknown

Die Brigg HMS Beagle aus dem Journal of Researches von Charles Darwin, veröffentlicht von Nelson & Sons 1890 / The brig HMS Beagle from Journal of Researches by Charles Darwin published by Nelson & Sons 1890, Historisch, digital restaurierte Reproduktion von einer Vorlage aus dem 19. Jahrhundert, Record date not stated,

Eruption of Vesuvius on June 15, 1974, vintage engraved illustration. From the Universe and Humanity, 1910.

TERNERO ATACADO POR LOS CONDORES CERCA DEL VOLCAN DE SAN JOSE DEL ATLAS DE LA HISTORIA FISICA Y POLITICA DE CHILE, 1854. Author: GAY CLAUDIO. Location: BIBLIOTECA NACIONAL-COLECCION. MADRID. SPAIN.

This illustration of a comet dates to 1902. Comets are cosmic snowballs of frozen gases, rock, and dust that orbit the Sun. When frozen, they are the size of a small town.

Balloon air, coal mine, fire and diving clock, 1850 - 1881 print Leaf with 4 performances of physical affairs: a hot air balloon, a coal mine, fire and a diving clock. Above each performance a title and a six -line verse under each performance. Numbered at the top right: No. 23. publisher: Leidenprint maker: Netherlands paper letterpress printing balloon flight (sport). (flying a) gas balloon. mine. mine (+ coal). on fire, ablaze. diving-bell, bathysphere

Leander Russ illustrated the solar eclipse on July 8, 1842, using watercolor with cover colors, gloss enhancements, and pencil traces.

Various forms of chicken graves at the time of the Druids, England, archaeology, longbed grave, mound, Great Britain, steel engraving, historical illustration 1842

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