2,384 Etchings Images: LOC's Public Domain Archive Public Domain Search

2,384 media by topic ∙ page 1 of 24

The surrender of government castle, in March 1782, to the late besiegi...

Print shows members of the old ministry walking out of the "Government Castle" closely followed by a devil, and members of the new ministry marching in. Caption continues: N.B. The old garrison and placemen ar... More

[Four scenes of men and women courting(?) while riding in balloons cap...

Tissandier collection. Public domain photograph of electric motor, free to use, no copyright restrictions image - Picryl description

Adieu Bastille - Public domain historical image

Print shows a man playing a bagpipe, behind him lies a lion on a chain which is draped over his right arm, his left foot rests on a gameboard, at the far end of which is a peg with string attached, the string r... More

Frontispiece to Reflections on the French revolution, British Cartoon ...

Print shows Edmund Burke on bended knee as though proposing to a vision which appears before him of Marie Antoinette, while a cherub touches his head with a firebrand emitting the sparks of romance. Includes e... More

Lady Godina's rout; - or - Peeping-Tom spying out Pope-Joan / Js. Gy. ...

A fashionable crowd playing cards at two tables. In the foreground, four people playing the game Pope-Joan. One of the women is wearing a loose fitting semi-transparent dress with her breasts exposed. Behind he... More

The ghost of a guinea! or the country banker's surprise!! / Woodward, ...

Print shows a banker astonished by a guinea coin with King George III on it. The banker says, "Surely my eyes do not deceive me--it certainly must be a Guinea!--I declare I have not seen such a thing since I ha... More

Arrestation de Mr. de Launay, gouverneur de la Bastille, le 14 Juillet...

Print shows a mob of revolutionaries after the storming the Bastille, when late in the afternoon, Governor De Launay, of the Bastille, is arrested and taken away, on the lower left, at the beginning of the Revo... More

Le pied de nez de Milord Pit - Public domain dedication image

Cartoon shows Napoleon I, wearing laurel wreath and ermine robe, pushing down one side of scale with his sword, which lifts two frightened monarchs, on the other side, off the ground; in the background stands a... More

Les formes acerbes / Me. Poirier de Dunkerque, avocat, invt., publié l...

Print shows Joseph Le Bon, as a shirtless, crazed madman, standing on a pile of decapitated bodies between two guillotines, he is drinking blood from a chalice as he fills another chalice with the blood spewing... More

The journey of a modern hero, to the island of Elba, British Cartoon P...

Print shows Napoleon I seated backwards on a donkey on the road "to Elba" from Fontainebleau; he holds a broken sword in one hand and the donkey's tail in the other while two drummers follow him playing a farew... More

Le tigre enchainé - Public domain historical image

Cartoon showing Napoleon I as a tiger in chains held by a British officer holding a whip; two men representing Russia and Austria play musical instruments nearby. DeVinck, 9800 Forms part of: French Political C... More

Sagittarius and Corona Australis, Microscopium, and Telescopium / Sidy...

Astronomical chart showing the centaur Sagittarius with bow and arrow, also shows a laural wreath, a telescope, and a microscope forming the constellations. Illus. in: Urania's mirror, 1825, pl. 24. Exhibited: ... More

Abris dero Schlacht vnd Victorien so in Siebenbvrgen geschehen, den 3....

Picture shows two panels with depiction of a battlefield scene of the Battle of Guruslău that occurred in Transylvania on August 3, 1601 between the Transylvanian forces of Sigismund Báthori and the Hapsburg tr... More

Éxperience du globe ae̋rostatique du MM. Charles et Robert, au Jardin ...

Print shows Jacques Alexandre César Charles and Marie-Noël Robert riding in the gondola of a balloon ascending from the Tuileries Garden, Paris, France, December 1, 1783 in the first hydrogen balloon flight. (S... More

View of the court house in Salem Massachusetts / W. Gray, del. ; engra...

Illus. in: The Massachusetts magazine, or, Monthly museum of knowledge and rational entertainment. Boston, Mass. : Isaiah Thomas and Ebenezer T. Andrews, vol. II, no. III, 1790 (March), frontispiece. Published... More

[The captain], Jacques Callot - Drawing. Public domain image.

Print shows Capitano, a stock character in the Commedia dell'arte, with theatrical stage set and spectators in background. Title from shelflist card. From: Balli di Sfessania. Lieure, 289.

Washington National Monument proposed height in dotted lines, 485 ft. ...

Print showing a drawing of Washington Monument half completed with dotted lines representing the proposed height. Drawing possibly drawn by Fred D. Stuart.

The house that Jeff built - Public domain portrait drawing

An extended and bitter indictment of Jefferson Davis and the Southern slave system. The work consists of a series of twelve vignettes with accompanying verse, following the scheme of the nursery rhyme "The Hous... More

The coastguard - Print, Library of Congress collection

Print shows three men trying to push a large U.S. boat out into the ocean, the boat contains four men, one standing, pointing, holding the rudder and three sitting paddling with long oars against the large wave... More

Ed. Bellamy / W.H.W. Bicknell sc.

Print shows Edward Bellamy, head-and-shoulders portrait, facing right. Signed on plate "W.H.W. Bicknell." Publication date based on copyright statement. Printed at top right: "Copyright 1890 by A.J. Philpott a... More

New Oxford Street, [London] / Jo. Pennell.

Signed on plate. Signed in graphite on lower center. Edition of 10? Plate destroyed. Ownership stamp on verso: "JPER" [in a circle, monogram of Joseph Pennell and Elizabeth Robins]. Wuerth, 165 American prints... More

"For all my fancy dwells on Nancy" / W. Dendy Sadler ; painted by W. D...

Print showing a middle-aged couple in a domestic scene in the space between a mudroom and a kitchen. The man, wearing a fox hunting outfit, is sitting in a chair, holding a glass in his right hand on a table, h... More

[The Lackawanna viaduct] / J. Pennell.

Pennell Collection. Plate destroyed. Signed on plate in reverse. Wuerth, 733.

I'm a slave also, because I cannot escape!

Print shows an African American man looking at a parrot chained to a perch. In the background other birds fly freely.

Taming of the shrew: -Katharine & Petruchio; -The modern Quixotte, or,...

Cartoon shows Catherine II, faint and shying away from William Pitt, who appears as Petruchio, and Don Quixote on horseback (a lean and scarred George III whose authority has been usurped by Pitt), seated behin... More

Opening of the Great Industrial Exhibition of all nations, by her most...

Print shows an interior view of the Crystal Palace during the Great Industrial Exhibition, with Queen Victoria and the royal family at center, the Archbishop to the left, and many spectators gathered in the win... More

America triumphant and Britannia in distress

A crude allegory of American prosperity and victory over England. Below the image an "Explanation" reads: "I America sitting on that quarter of the globe with the Flag of the United States displayed over her he... More

Home sweet home / painted by W. Dendy Sadler ; etched by W.H. Boucher.

Family relaxing by fireplace and singing, as woman plays piano. D17601 U.S. Copyright Office.

Home sweet home / painted by W. Dendy Sadler ; etched by W.H. Boucher.

Family relaxing by fireplace and singing, as woman plays piano. D17601 U.S. Copyright Office.

A south east view of the great town of Boston in New England in Americ...

Print shows view of Boston from the harbor, with ships in the foreground. Printed for Carington Bowles, Map & Printseller, at No. 69 in St. Pauls Church Yard, London. No. 34. Published in: The American Revolut... More

The orators journey, British Cartoon Print

Print showing Charles James Fox, Mrs. Siddons, and Edmund Burke on a galloping horse beside a milestone inscribed "1 mile to perdition." Mrs. Siddons, as Lady Macbeth, holds a dagger in her right hand and a bow... More

[The Virgin holding the child seated on a cloud]

Title from shelflist card. Signed with initials on plate. Bartsch, 2. LeBlanc, 2. Nagler I: 280. Coll. mark of Bradley Collection on verso. Bradley Collection.

The conference between the brothers how to get rich, British Cartoon P...

Print shows Admiral Richard Howe and General William Howe seated at a table discussing how to profit from the war in America. The Devil stands between them and answers their question, "... [H]ow shall we get ri... More

Smelling out a rat; or the atheistical-revolutionist disturbed in his ...

Print shows Richard Price seated at a desk, he turns to look over his right shoulder at a vision of an enormous Edmund Burke, his spectacles, nose, and hands emerge from the haze, a crown in one hand and a cros... More

Attaque de la convention nationale ; journée mémorable du 13 vendémiai...

Print shows battle scene on Paris street during the attack on the National Convention. Plate from: Collection complète des tableaux historiques de la révolution française. Paris, chez Auber, 1804, no. 129. de ... More

A Cognocenti contemplating ye Beauties of ye Antique / Js. Gillray--in...

An elderly Sir William Hamilton inspecting his antiquities, all of which refer to his wife, Lady Emma Hamilton and her lover, Lord Horatio Nelson. In the background hang four pictures on the wall: "Cleopatra", ... More

The king of Brobdingnag and Gulliver, British Cartoon Print, James Gil...

King George III and Queen Charlotte seated on chairs of state, watch a small rectangular tank in which Napoleon as Gulliver sails his boat. Lord Salisbury stands behind king's chair. Four princesses and three p... More

Retour de Varennes. Arrivée de Louis Capet à Paris, le 25 Juin 1791 Pr...

Print shows a royal coach carrying Louis XVI and his family on their return to Paris after their aborted flight to freedom; three men riding on the front of the coach appear to be under arrest as well; large nu... More

Pillage de la Maison de St. Lazare, le lundi 13 Juillet 1789 / Prieur ...

Print shows a mob of French citizens looting the Maison de St. Lazare at the beginning of the Revolution in 1789. Illustration from: Collection complète des tableaux historiques de la révolution française. Par... More

La lanterne magique - Print, Library of Congress collection

Print shows several women and children viewing a magic lantern, which is a large box set on a stand and manipulated by a man standing on the right. The children appear spellbound by the glow.

La Romaine aristocratique - Public domain historical image

Print shows a monstrous figure holding a scale weighing a member of the Third Estate; in the background a plump clergyman and a nobleman walk away with a large pig between them. de Vinck, 2749 Blum, 116 Forms ... More

The humours of Belvoir Castle, or the morning after / Woodward del. ; ...

Print shows a number of encounters, in two panels, between men and women either off to bed or awakened to the horrors of the night before: the first, an old man on the arm of an old woman, says, "Och! Long life... More

Daniel Hopfer - [Christ on the cross] / DH.

Original etching: 2nd state. Public domain photograph of 15th century drawing, free to use, no copyright restrictions image - Picryl description

Francis Seymour Haden - [Battersea Bridge] / S. Haden.

Print shows view of the Battersea Bridge and Old Chelsea from across the Thames River. Title from: The engraved work of Sir Francis Seymour Haden, P.R.E. ; an illustrated and descriptive catalogue / by H. Nazeb... More

Rising to the natural fly / Louis Rhead.

Brook trout going after a fly. Signed on plate. Copyright by Louis Rhead.

[The Bridge at Hell Gate] / J. Pennell.

Title from Beall. Signed in pencil. Library has 5 impressions. Plate in LC. Wuerth, 670 (first state) American prints in the Library of Congress : a catalog of the collection / compiled by Karen F. Beall.... Ba... More

[Scenes from events and battles leading up to and during the American ...

The prints in this set have been cut apart and subsequently arranged in their original order and mounted on two sheets with a single backing. Numbers printed at top left and top right, representing page and pl... More

The patriot - dedicated to the freeholders of Middlesex, British Carto...

One of several prints depicting John Wilkes and Henry Luttrell and the election for the seat in Middlesex. This print shows a statue of John Wilkes on a pedestal, holding a staff topped with a liberty cap; the ... More

A colonial wedding, the marriage of Dr. Francis Le Baron and Mary Wild...

Print shows Francis LeBaron and Mary Wilder during their wedding ceremony, with many guests, in a room, possibly in the magistrate's residence, officiated by a clergyman; includes two remarques, at bottom cente... More

Congressional pugilists. Book illustration from Library of Congress

A crude portrayal of a fight on the floor of Congress between Vermont Representative Matthew Lyon and Roger Griswold of Connecticut. The row was originally prompted by an insulting reference to Lyon on Griswold... More

New York with the city of Brooklyn in the distance. From the steeple o...

Print shows commercial buildings in New York City, including Brady's Daguerrian Miniature Gallery and Barnum's Museum. The harbor and Brooklyn appear in the distance. Exhibited: A Perfect Fit : The Garment Ind... More

John Bull making a new batch of ships to send to the lakes / Charles, ...

A satire on British efforts to recover after major naval losses on the Great Lakes in 1813 and 1814. According to Lanmon, it is based on Thomas Rowlandson's 1798 satire "High Fun for John Bull or the Republica... More

The prairie dog sickened at the sting of the hornet or a diplomatic pu...

James Akin's earliest-known signed cartoon, "The Prairie Dog" is an anti-Jefferson satire, relating to Jefferson's covert negotiations for the purchase of West Florida from Spain in 1804. Jefferson, as a scraw... More

Death and the Devil surprise two women DH monogram

Print shows Death and the Devil interrupting the lives of two wealthy women. Bradley Collection. Stamped on verso: Tilgungs-Stempel K.K.C. Stamped on verso: Kupferstich-Sammlung der Königl: Museen. Stamped on ... More

A comfortable dish of tea in high-life, British Cartoon Print

Print shows two wealthy and fashionable European women sitting in a room with pets including a dog, a cat, a monkey, a squirrel, and birds being served tea by an African servant. Not found in British Museum Cat... More

Der K:M: von Schweden und dero armee wǔnderbarer zǔg zwölff Meilen übe...

Print of map showing surprise attack of the March across the Belts when Swedish troops were able to cross the frozen water between the islands in Denmark. The winter of 1658 was one of the coldest winters on re... More

Christian Wilhelm Ernst Dietrich - [Castle in ruins]

Marsh collection. Public domain scan of 18th-century print, free to use, no copyright restrictions image - Picryl description

The taking of Miss Mud I'land, British Cartoon Print

Print shows a female figure as the Mud Island fortress, Fort Mifflin, with two flags on her bonnet, astride a cannon firing on the British warship "Isis"; also show the "Somerset", "Roebuck", "Eagle", and the "... More

Gin - engine for drawing the fuzes out of the shell - box with grapesh...

Print shows various devices used with artillery and a cross-section of a petard. Illus. in: A treatise on artillery ... / John Muller. Philadelphia : Printed by Styner and Cist, for J. Norman, 1779, [PL] XXVII... More

A view of the guard-house and Simsbury-mines, now called Newgate - a p...

Print shows a diagram of the guardhouse with sections identified by letter (legend not visible in print); shows shaft leading to underground chamber, "F. A strong trap door opening the descent to Hell" which le... More

Compulsion pour ces gens que n'attend pas la libertie / TC.

Print shows a tattered group of soldiers, one with peg leg, following a cart drawn by hooded executioners; chains, an axe, and a gibbet are visible among the items in the cart. On the far right, a pile of dead ... More

National contrasts or Bulky and Boney / etch'd by Roberts., British Ca...

Print shows, on the left, a plump, "bulky" Englishman smoking a pipe while seated at a table laden with food and drink, on his left a cornucopia overflows with coins, and under the table is a dog with collar la... More

Le peuple sous l'ancien Regime - Public domain historical image

Cartoon shows Louis XVI, a bishop, and a member of the aristocracy riding on the back of a man, representing the people, who's blindfolded and in chains and crawling on his hands and knees. de Vinck, 10309 Pur... More

Aquarius, Piscis Australis & Ballon Aerostatique / Sidy. Hall, sculpt.

Astronomical chart showing a male figure holding an inverted bowl from which water flows, at his feet appears the back of a fish and a balloon forming the constellations. Illus. in: Urania's mirror, 1825, pl. 2... More

Cancer. Book illustration from Library of Congress

Astronomical chart showing crab forming the constellation. Illus. in: Urania's mirror, 1825, pl. 19.

Le tiers état confesseur La constitution Française.

Print shows on the left, a member of the Third Estate sitting in a confessional listening to the confession of the clergy from a clergyman reading a long list of sins, a nobleman is departing, carrying a long l... More

Philanthropic Consolations, after the loss of the Slave-Bill

William Wilberforce and Samuel Horsley, Bishop of Rochester, cavort with two black women in a well-furnished room. Wilberforce and a woman, wearing a print dress with her breasts exposed, sit on a couch smoking... More

Machine aérostatique de 70 pieds de hauteur sur 46 de diametre, qui s'...

Illustration shows the ornate balloon used by Jean François Pilâtre de Rozier and Girond de Villete in a captive balloon ascent from Paris, October 19, 1783, reaching an altitude of 330 feet for nine minutes. (... More

[Hell Gate channel on the East River, New York City, New York, ca. 177...

Y23405 U.S. Copyright Office. Public domain photograph - New York, United States, free to use, no copyright restrictions image - Picryl description

The inquisitorial triumph, or the investiture of orator M[ackli]n, Bri...

This record contains unverified, old data from an unpublished P&P checklist, "British Political and Social Cartoons, 1655-1832 ... not in the published catalogs of the British Museum," compiled in 1968 (NC 1470... More

Altra veduta degli avanzi dell Pronao del Templo della Concordia Caval...

View of the temple of Concordia, with numbered key. Public domain scan of 16th-17th-century print, free to use, no copyright restrictions image - Picryl description

The genius of France extirpating despotism tyranny & oppression from t...

Cartoon shows a woman wearing a liberty cap, representing the genius of France, holding a cat-o'-nine-tails in one hand and the reins of a donkey in the other; on this donkey and another bucking in the backgrou... More

Bombardement de tous les trônes de l'Europe et la chûte des tirans pou...

Print shows members of the French National Assembly exposing their posteriors, from which streams labeled "Liberté ca ira" pour down on the heads of rulers of Europe, while Liberty ignites a cannon labeled "Vio... More

Nocturne - Drawing. Public domain image.

Marine view showing ship at night. Signed in pencil with butterfly. From: First Venice set. Kennedy, no. 184 (fourth state) Library of Congress prints and photographs: an illustrated guide / Library of Congres... More

Sublime and beautiful reflections on the French revolution, or the man...

Print shows Edmund Burke sitting at a desk on a crescent moon, holding a quill pen, an open "pamphlet" and an inkwell are on the desk, broken chains hang from his wrists; a scene on the front of the desk, label... More

The OP spectacles / Cruikshank del., British Cartoon Print

Satire showing head of Clifford with two circles representing huge spectacles, "Old house old prices & no private boxes" and "Old house old prices & no pigeon holes," over his eyes. Each circle contains a symme... More

[A scene in the West Indies showing Natives on the beach with a Britis...

Illus. in: The West-India atlas; or, A compendious description of the West-Indies: illustrated with 40 correct charts and maps, taken from actual surveys.... / Thomas Jefferys, Geographer to the King. London :... More

The old sow in Distress, or the country parsons return from tithing, B...

Cartoon showing an obese parson on horseback, holding a pig and a chicken. Forms part of: British cartoon Prints collection (Library of Congress).

Etienne et Joseph Montgolfier, freres. Nés à Annonay en Vivaraes [i.e....

Bust-length double profile portrait of the Montgolfier brothers, French ballonists; after the gold medal designed by Houdon. Two images below portrait show "Projet d'un Monument a elever a Mr. Charles" in Paris... More

[A Native warrior on the cartouche for "Map for the Interior Travels t...

Print shows a Native warrior sitting on the ground with a rifle resting on his right shoulder. Illus. in: Travels through the interior parts of America : In a series of letters / Thomas Anburey. London : Print... More

The abolition of the slave trade Or the inhumanity of dealers in human...

Print shows sailor on a slave ship suspending an African girl by her ankle from a rope over a pulley. Captain John Kimber stands on the left with a whip in his hand. Attributed to I. Cruikshank in BM CPPS. Cat... More

Frederick William - L'enjambee imperiale

Print shows Catherine II, Empress of Russia, bare-breasted, holding a scepter and sphere, taking a large step from a piece of land on the right labeled "Russie" to a crescent moon atop a steeple or minaret labe... More

Hell broke loose, or, The murder of Louis, vide, the account of that u...

Print shows the execution of Louis XVI, King of France, January 21, 1793, by guillotine as citizen Louis Capet. Devils stand on the platform as well as fly overhead, suggesting that the beheading of Louis, with... More

A return from a march or a false alarm in a country village!! / Woodwa...

Print shows a group of British citizens mustered in response to an alarm that the French were attacking England which proved to be false; they complain of soiled, torn, or lost clothing, and one reads a list of... More

--Affairs. The sweet prospect behind us, or The outs in office, Britis...

Print shows rear views of the Prince of Wales, Maria Fitzherbert, Charles James Fox, Lord North, Edmund Burke, a prospective Lord Chancellor, and Richard B. Sheridan, with buttocks exposed, defecating. On the w... More

Cloture de la salle des Jacobins, dans la nuit du 27 au 28 Juillet 179...

Title translated: Closing of the hall of the Jacobins, in the night of the 27th or 28th July 1794 or 9 or 10th Thermidor year 2 of the Republic. Illustration from: Collection complète des tableaux historiques ... More

[The hog at bay] / Williamson & Howitt ; J. Clark etched.

Print shows men on horseback, carrying spears, and two dogs, chasing a wild hog through tall grasses. One of the dogs has caught the hog by the hind legs or rump. One horse has fallen, its rider on the ground, ... More

Hobby-horse fair &cc / I. R. Cruikshank, inv. & fecit., British Cartoo...

Print shows men and women riding bicycles and tricycles to a fair. Not found in British Museum Catalogue (BMC). Library of Congress copy is hand-colored. Most images available on microfilm, "British Political ... More

The spirit moving the Quakers upon worldly vanities!! / Yedis, invt., ...

"Many quakers ride velocipedes, see No. 13399, towards a plain building, with Society of Friends Meeting House over the door..." (Source: George) Library of Congress copy is hand-colored. British Museum record... More

Virgo / Sidy. Hall, sculpt. - Public domain dedication image

Astronomical chart showing a winged virgin holding wheat in her left hand and a lily(?) in her right hand forming the constellation. Illus. in: Urania's mirror, 1825, pl. 21. Exhibited: World Treasures of the L... More

Libra / Sidy. Hall, sculpt. - Public domain dedication image

Astronomical chart showing a balance forming the constellation. Illus. in: Urania's mirror, 1825, pl. 22. Exhibited: World Treasures of the Library of Congress, 2002.

Gemini / Sidy. Hall, sculpt. - Public domain book illustration

Astronomical chart showing the twins Castor and Pollux forming the constellation.

View of the federal ediface in New York

Print shows exterior view of Federal Hall, designated the site of the federal government in 1788, New York City, New York. Illus. in: The Columbian magazine, or, Monthly miscellany. Philadelphia : Printed for ... More

Marche du Dom Quichotte moderne pour la deffence du Moulin des Abus

Print shows the Prince de Condé as Don Quixote on a white horse and vicomte de Mirabeau (Mirabeau Tonneau) as Sancho Panza riding on a barrel-shaped ass on wheels, surrounded by a ragged group of counterrevolut... More

M. Pilatre de Rozier, navigateur ae̋rien / dessiné p. Goulet ; gravé p...

Bust-length profile portrait of French balloonist Pilatre de Rozier. Tissandier collection.

Vive le roi, vive la nation J'savois ben qu'jaurions not tour.

Print shows a well-dressed peasant woman nursing an infant, riding on the back of a noblewoman who is holding onto the shoulders of a nun, representing the clergy. This cartoon presents a realingment of the Est... More

Allegorie dèdiè au tiers etat - Public domain historical image

Print shows an allegorical scene with a member of the nobility and a member of the clergy, representing the estates general, helping to hold aloft a large heart-shaped frame, which rests on the back of a man re... More

[Bookplate of Fred E. Woodward, Washington, D.C.] / Brockett.

Print shows an elderly man seated on a chair next to a bookshelf and a book on the floor opened to a page displaying the word "No..." Text on bookplate reads: "Guardabosque, I'm stingy, grown, whats mine's my o... More