Complete Encyclopedia of Illustration

by J.G. Heck

Book Overview

A treasure trove of almost 12,000 detailed engravings, copyright-free and clearly reproducible, The Complete Encyclopedia of Illustration is a marvel of a collection culled from the worlds of science, history, geography, mythology, art, architecture, and more. Fully referenced, this volume is both an inspiration and a practical sourcebook for designers and artists. It also serves as a visual feast for admirers and collectors of old engravings, and...

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0517278898
• ISBN13: 9780517278895
• Release Date: April 1979
• Publisher: Random House Value Publishing
• Length: 573 Pages
• Weight: 5.55 lbs.

Customer Reviews

smelled of mildew, had to throw it away. was listed in "good" condition. yuck

smelled of mildew, had to throw it away. was listed in "good" condition. yuck I am very disappointed!

Wonderful engraving source

This book is the Bible for anyone looking for a large collection and variety of quality engravings. I use this thing constantly and wouldn't mind seeing a vol. 2. seriously. FOR ARTISTS: To make this book more compatible with a scanner go to Kinko's and have them cut the spine off. Then have them 3-hole drill it. Then put the whole thing in a large 3-ring binder. Now each page can be easily removed and placed on a scanner. Seriously. How about a vol. 2?

Great illos, misleading title

This is not a complete clip-art book. It is not a composite out of many sources, even in the 19th C, with different styles. This is the complete collection of b & w engraved plates from a single German encyclopedia, 1851, but only the plates and their captions. Subject areas include mathematics & astronomy (sky charts); physics & meteorology; chemistry, minerology & geology; botany; zoology; anthropology & surgery (anatomical); geography & planology (maps of continents, countries, and select cities); history & ethnology; military science; naval science; architecture (w/plans of famous buildings); mythology & religious rites (as understood in 1851); the fine arts; & technology. So illustrations range from complex pulleys and horse skulls to knights in battle and how they built the Thames Tunnel. "Alphabets of Various Languages for the Use of Engravers" includes even samples of cuneiform. Two plates are on theatre architecture. Among the least satisfying may be the engravings of famous works of art for the Fine Arts section. At nearly 600 pages, landscape, the book is difficult to manage on a scanner. I just use a sharp craft blade and cut out close to the binding the pages I need to scan. Then I stick them back in the space. Bit by bit, they are becoming what the originals were, a portfolio of loose pieces. The maps went first: scanned at 400 dpi, they became readable on screen, where the print on the page was too small. I suspect the original plates were larger and were shrunk when photographed for reproduction.

lost engravings

A quality sample of a thousand, or so, engraved pictures. With computer graphics, many facets of this art will become lost, because this book represents the best reproductions of tedious, labor-intensive 'photography' in the era before film photography and computer imagery. All of the illustrations here probably started out as simple sketches that were turned over to a plate engraver for inclusion in a magazine or book, many in reference books for engineers and scientists, in order that the reader could follow along with the author's 'pictorial' narrative. Were it not for the meticulous detail and precision of the enscriber, many accounts of historical value would be forever lost as many of the drawings in the book depict machinery, architecture, archaeological wonders and detail that are no longer used, made, or found in existence or in the Modern World. Simply put, this is a phenomenal Book!

comprehensive source of visual information

This book contains a seemingly endless supply of exactly what you need when you are looking for detailed visual reference, drawn, displayed and categorized in that compulsive Victorian manner. A very handy book to have.

a most to any artist

This is an obligatory reading to any computer or graphic artist, even sculptors.