In Development: Owen Jones’ Spanish Ballads

We’ve done several previous packages based on designs by Victorian design historian Owen Jones. They include our fantastic Grammar of Ornament package and the new Gray’s Elegy.

Our next addition to our selection of Jones design packages is a mammoth undertaking of all of the decorations, initials, emblems and borders in his early illustrated edition of J. G. Lockhart’s Ancient Spanish Ballads, a rare work which has an amazing selection of antique-style decorations with a Spanish or Moorish theme. Every section has its own unique border design and each chapter features unique decorative initials, section headers, fully illustrated pages and marginalia. It isn’t hand tinted or painted like some of Jones’ other books, but the sheer number of decorations is unbeatable.

Because of the characteristics of the printing and the higher acid content of the paper the images are requiring a lot of processing. Combine that with the large number of images and the preparation of the package is taking longer than is typical. We expect it to be ready sometime later in the summer, once we’ve had a chance to process and clean up all of the images. For now, here are a few samples to give you an idea of the content. You can click on any of them to see it in a somewhat larger size.

Rating 4.00 out of 5

May 31, 2011 | Filed Under Art Collections, Historic, Owen Jones | Leave a Comment 

The Lady of Shalott









Howard Pyle’s illustrated edition of Tennyson’s Lady of Shalott is probably the single greatest expression of book design in the American arts and crafts movement of the late 19th century. This early Pyle work combines his vivid illustrative style with exceptional decoration and lettering into a modern illuminated masterpiece.

Pyle’s Lady of Shalott has been out of print for 120 years and is extremely hard to find in any printed form, but we have it in our library and have carefully digitized the complete book to produce a unique graphic arts resource. The book is rather like a medieval illuminated manuscript. Not only are there full page illustrations, but each verse is illuminated with its own unique decorative intiial and theme decoration.

Our Lady of Shalott CD package has every page from the book in high resolution format, including the decorated verses, the full-page illustrations and the embellished titles and flyleaves. It also includes extracted and instantly usable versions of the initials, illustrations background patterns, borders and frames from the book. The samples shown here are only a fraction of what’s in the collection. The package also features a complete PDF format recreation of the book as it was originally presented, so you can go through it page by page as Pyle intended.

The Lady of Shalott is a great poem made greater by a great illustrator, and now it is available to you in a format you can use and enjoy forever.


Because our Lady of Shalott package includes so many high-resolution images it can only be purchased on CD or downloaded with a broadband connection. It is available for PC and Macintosh computers for only $59. It can also be purchased in combination with our Howard Pyle font and art package at a discounted price of only $89.

The fastest and easiest way to order is through our online store which will let you make the purchase and even download on the spot or take delivery on CD. Just CLICK HEREto order online, or you can call us at 1-800-797-8973 to place an order.


If you have an interest in illumination and richly detailed decorative art, visit our Book of Kells page

To see details on our Howard Pyle fonts and art and get some background on this great American illustrator, visit our Howard Pyle



n either side the river lie
Long fields of barley and of rye,
That clothe the wold and meet the sky;
And thro’ the field the road runs by
To many-tower’d Camelot;
And up and down the people go,
Gazing where the lilies blow
Round an island there below,
The island of Shalott.


illows whiten, aspens quiver,
Little breezes dusk and shiver
Thro’ the wave that runs for ever
By the island in the river
Flowing down to Camelot.
Four gray walls, and four gray towers,
Overlook a space of flowers,
And the silent isle imbowers
The Lady of Shalott.


y the margin, willow-veil’d,
Slide the heavy barges trail’d
By slow horses; and unhail’d
The shallop flitteth silken-sail’d
Skimming down to Camelot:
But who hath seen her stand?
Or is she known in all the land,
The Lady of Shalott?


nly reapers, reaping early
In among the bearded barley,
Hear a song that echoes cheerly
From the river winding clearly,
Down to tower’d Camelot:
And by the moon the reaper weary,
Piling sheaves in uplands airy,
Listening, whispers “‘Tis the fairy
Lady of Shalott.”


here she weaves by night and day
A magic web with colours gay.
She has heard a whisper say,
A curse is on her if she stay
To look down to Camelot.
She knows not what the curse may be,
And so she weaveth steadily,
And little other care hath she,
The Lady of Shalott.


nd moving thro’ a mirror clear
That hangs before her all the year,
Shadows of the world appear.
There she sees the highway near
Winding down to Camelot:
There the river eddy whirls,
And there the surly village-churls,
And the red cloaks of market girls,
Pass onward from Shalott.


ometimes a troop of damsels glad,
An abbot on an ambling pad,
Sometimes a curly shepherd-lad,
Or long-hair’d page in crimson clad,
Goes by to tower’d Camelot;
And sometimes thro’ the mirror blue
The knights come riding two and two:
She hath no loyal knight and true,
The Lady of Shalott.


ut in her web she still delights
To weave the mirror’s magic sights,
For often thro’ the silent nights
A funeral, with plumes and lights
And music, went to Camelot:
Or when the moon was overhead,
Came two young lovers lately wed;
“I am half sick of shadows,” said
The Lady of Shalott.


bow-shot from her bower-eaves,
He rode between the barley-sheaves,
The sun came dazzling thro’ the leaves,
And flamed upon the brazen greaves
Of bold Sir Lancelot.
A red-cross knight for ever kneel’d
To a lady in his shield,
That sparkled on the yellow field,
Beside remote Shalott.


he gemmy bridle glitter’d free,
Like to some branch of stars we see
Hung in the golden Galaxy.
The bridle bells rang merrily
As he rode down to Camelot:
And from his blazon’d baldric slung
A mighty silver bugle hung,
And as he rode his armour rung,
Beside remote Shalott.


ll in the blue unclouded weather
Thick-jewell’d shone the saddle-leather,
The helmet and the helmet-feather
Burn’d like one burning flame together,
As he rode down to Camelot.
As often thro’ the purple night,
Below the starry clusters bright,
Some bearded meteor, trailing light,
Moves over still Shalott.


is broad clear brow in sunlight glow’d;
On burnish’d hooves his war-horse trode;
From underneath his helmet flow’d
His coal-black curls as on he rode,
As he rode down to Camelot.
From the bank and from the river
He flash’d into the crystal mirror,
“Tirra lirra,” by the river
Sang Sir Lancelot.


he left the web, she left the loom,
She made three paces thro’ the room,
She saw the water-lily bloom,
She saw the helmet and the plume,
She look’d down to Camelot.
Out flew the web and floated wide;
The mirror crack’d from side to side;
“The curse is come upon me,” cried
The Lady of Shalott.


n the stormy east-wind straining,
The pale yellow woods were waning,
The broad stream in his banks complaining,
Heavily the low sky raining
Over tower’d Camelot;
Down she came and found a boat
Beneath a willow left afloat,
And round about the prow she wrote
The Lady of Shalott.


nd down the river’s dim expanse
Like some bold seer in a trance,
Seeing all his own mischance –
With a glassy countenance
Did she look to Camelot.
And at the closing of the day
She loosed the chain, and down she lay;
The broad stream bore her far away,
The Lady of Shalott.


ying, robed in snowy white
That loosely flew to left and right -
The leaves upon her falling light -
Thro’ the noises of the night
She floated down to Camelot:
And as the boat-head wound along
The willowy hills and fields among,
They heard her singing her last song,
The Lady of Shalott.


eard a carol, mournful, holy,
Chanted loudly, chanted lowly,
Till her blood was frozen slowly,
And her eyes were darken’d wholly,
Turn’d to tower’d Camelot.
For ere she reach’d upon the tide
The first house by the water-side,
Singing in her song she died,
The Lady of Shalott.


nder tower and balcony,
By garden-wall and gallery,
A gleaming shape she floated by,
Dead-pale between the houses high,
Silent into Camelot.
Out upon the wharfs they came,
Knight and burgher, lord and dame,
And round the prow they read her name,
The Lady of Shalott.


ho is this? And what is here?
And in the lighted palace near
Died the sound of royal cheer;
And they cross’d themselves for fear,
All the knights at Camelot:
But Lancelot mused a little space;
He said, “She has a lovely face;
God in his mercy lend her grace,
The Lady of Shalott.”


————–Alfred, Lord Tennyson

Rating 3.00 out of 5

March 28, 2011 | Filed Under Collections, Historic | 2 Comments 

Owen Jones’ Illuminated Gray’s Elegy

homas Gray’s Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard is probably one of the greatest poems in the English language and certainly of the 18th century. On its hundredth anniversary, legendary book designer and illustrator Owen Jones produced a special illuminated edition of the epic poem with detailed page borders, decorative initials and original lettering of the verses, which stands as one of the finest examples of his book design work.

The curfew tolls the knell of parting day,
The lowing herd wind slowly o’er the lea
The plowman homeward plods his weary way,
And leaves the world to darkness and to me.
Now fades the glimm’ring landscape on the sight,
And all the air a solemn stillness holds,
Save where the beetle wheels his droning flight,
And drowsy tinklings lull the distant folds;
Save that from yonder ivy-mantled tow’r
The moping owl does to the moon complain
Of such, as wand’ring near her secret bow’r,
Molest her ancient solitary reign.

ur Gray’s Elegy design package preserves Jones’ book with all of the pages of text and decorations in digital form (as a PDF), as well as extracting all of the decorations, frames and initials so that they are ready to use for your design projects in high-resolution, full-color format. This has all been collected in a package which is now available for purchase and download. It can be ordered for just $49 from our ONLINE STORE and downloaded right away, or you can download and examine some of the contents in the free PDF PREVIEW featuring selected pages from the book.



Rating 4.00 out of 5

March 9, 2011 | Filed Under Art Collections, Collections, Historic | Leave a Comment 

Walter Crane: The Hind in the Wood


As we continue development on our collection of material by Arts and Crafts master Walter Crane we get to share little tidbits of the contents before they are released. The latest example is a selection of art from the chapbook The Hind in the Wood, a smaller work than most of the Crane books we’ve been digitizing. The book is in a large format and basically consists of a single lavishly illustrated folktate, with four full-page illustrations, a two-page spread, endpapers and a cover. We’ve put it all together in a handy PDF you can download for review. The high resolution images will be in our Crane master package when it is relesed.

If you like Walter Crane’s art you should check out some of our Walter Crane resources like Pan Pipes, The Baby’s Opera, Queen Summer and The Baby’s Own Aesop. Plus we have two Walter Crane fonts available, Crane Gothic and Walter Crane.

Rating 3.00 out of 5

November 27, 2010 | Filed Under Art Collections, Historic | Leave a Comment 

The Jugend Tarot Deck


I recently came upon a rare and unexpected discovery in one of my favorite rare book stores, a set of tarot-style playing cards issued as a bonus insert in the 1892 edition of the classic German Art Nouveau magazine Munchner Jugend.

The card set was designed by Julius Diez and features woodcut-style images with color highlights in red, green and gold. The style is reminiscent of 16th century woodcuts like the Dance of Death illustrations featured in one of the contemporary issues of the magazine. The images are certainly somewhat grotesque and intended to be comical, though to the modern viewer they appear rather disturbing, particularly the crippled Knight and Knave cards. There are also peculiarities, including numbers printed upside down, hand-stamped printers marks and various irregularities and quirks.

The card deck is adapted to playing trick-taking games with a customized deck based on the tarot deck, a popular trend of the 1890s. Although the card set resembles traditional tarot cards in many ways, it was likely not really intended for fortune telling. The complete deck consists of 36 cards in 3 9-card suits, including numbered cards 6 through 10 and four face cards, an Ace, a King, a Knight and a Knave. Each card contains unique imagery with small scenes on each of the numbered cards and larger individual figures on the face cards. The suits are variations of the standard suits, with bells (coins or diamonds), rods or clubs (wands), leaves or blades (spades or swords) and hearts. There is no trump suit as you would have in a true tarot deck.

This is somewhat of a novelty item and will ultimately be added to our Jugendstil Collection, but for now we’re also making the cleaned up and print ready version of the card set available for purchase in digital form for just $7. It’s a curiosity with some useful graphic elements. You can get it in our ONLINE STORE and download it immediately.

Rating 3.00 out of 5

October 25, 2010 | Filed Under Art Collections, Articles, Collections, Found Art, Historic | Leave a Comment 

Medieval Fonts and Art


Click any font to see a larger sample.

he Middle Ages was a time when the art of writing really came into its own. The demands of church and government administration as well as the birth of popular literature created a huge demand for written documents. Decorative manuscripts began to become popular with a wider audience, courts and governments required more and more record keeping, and troubador ballads and the writings of authors like Chaucer and Boccaccio created a market for literature among the growing middle lcass. All of this required new and better forms of writing, styles which were readable, consistent, efficient to produce, and sometimes decorative as well.



ur Medieval Fonts and Art package features a selection of fonts and art based on designs from the Middle Ages, emphasizing the years from 1100 to 1400. The 25 fonts include versions of the major popular lettering styles of this period (Froissart, Offenbach, Cadeaulx, Textura Quadrata, etc) as well as more unsuual and decorative styles (Aneirin, Magdeburg, Roncesvalles), illuminated initials from the period (Arberth, Jongeleur, Fraticelli, etc.), and some special extras like Monumental Gothic and Ardenwood which combine illuminated letters and full regular character sets. lso included is our extraordinary set of fonts based on medieval tile designs by Owen Jones. The package includes a total of 25 unique fonts.


The collection includes much more than just a fine selection of fonts. It also features a selection of borders, frames and other decorative elements based on medieval designs. These decorations include designs by Evelyn Paul and Owen Jones based on medieval source material and ready to use in your designs. They give you everything you need to make an illuminated document with a true medieval look.


ll the fonts in this package are historically accurate and they are not available from any other source. The package is available for Windows or the MacOS, and includes both TrueType and Postscript fonts. The total price is only $79 for all the fonts. You can order our Medieval font and art collection directly for delivery on CD by phone from 1-800-797-8973, or you can purchase the package online, just - CLICK HERE TO ORDER

If you like this package look for our new Arthurian Fonts & Art collection coming soon.

Roncesvalles is based on samples of medieval calligraphy. It features a traditioanl lower case character set with unique decorative capital letters featuring unusual flourishes. You can download and try out Roncesvalles for either Windows or MacOS, or you can purchase this font online and get it quickly by email, including all the alternate and additional characters – BUY IT NOW

Image Samples:


Rating 3.00 out of 5

July 12, 2010 | Filed Under Collections, Historic | 9 Comments 

The Grammar of Ornament


The Grammar of Ornament is an extraordinary compendium of design resources created by Victorian designer and illustrator Owen Jones as a visual history of art and design from various cultures from ancient times to the early modern era. With over 100 pages and thousands of images it is an unequaled resource for any graphic designer. It’s also a great introduction to Jones’ historical design works which we plan to release more of in the future.

The Grammar of Ornament includes lots of examples of classical architectural and tile design from Egypt, Greece, Rome and Persia. It also includes a remarkable selection of Middle Eastern designs from Moorish, Arab and Turkish sources. In addition there numerous examples of medieval and renaissance artistic, fabric and craft designs. Because the intent of the original book was to provide source material for designers, many of the images are ready made for creating borders, backgrounds and fill patterns.

Our digital, CD version of The Grammar of Ornament includes every page and every illustration in high resolution and large size suitable for designing for print or for the web. The images have been cleaned and restored from the 1854 source, with improved color and clarity, while preserving the character of the original drawings. They are easy to access and ready to use in your design projects. The package is over 200mb in size, so we strongly recommend ordering on CD. As an introductory special we’re offering the whole collection for only $99.

To see extensive page samples from The Grammar of Ornament, just click here: SAMPLES To order the package just click here: ORDER

Rating 3.00 out of 5

June 16, 2010 | Filed Under Collections, Historic | 2 Comments 

Pre-Raphaelite Art Collection


The Pre-Raphaelite movement emerged in the mid-1800s as an attempt to return art to its traditional styles and themes. While the Pre-Raphaelites did draw stylistically on Renaissance models, the movement soon developed its own unique style and philosophy, producing art which was traditional, yet uniquely new. An artistic Renaissance for its time.

The most prominent Pre-Raphaelites were Dante Gabriel Rossetti, Holman Hunt, Edward Burne Jones, John Everett Millais and Lord Leighton. The movement also became closely associated with the Arts and Crafts movement which arose in the same period, largely linked together by the collaborations of Arts & Crafts designer William Morris and Edward Burne Jones.

The style of the Pre-Raphaelites was characterized by an interest in classical and legendary themes, fascination with architectural elements and realistic drapery, and the use of models who fit a particular style and appearance, usually with thick, curly hair and voluptuous figures. The end result was a style which was realistic, yet fantastical, and ultimately had a strong influence on artists throughout the late 19th and early 20th centuries, especially illustrators like William Russell Flint and Eleanor Brickdale.

Our Pre-Raphaelite collection features selected images from the most prominent artists of the movement in high-resolution suitable for use in print. It includes some of the most well-recognized paintings like Millais’ The Knight Errant and Ophelia, Rossetti’s Beata Beatrix, Hunt’s Triumph of the Innocents and Burne-Jones portrait of Sidonia von Bork. This collection is unique, because the originals to these paintings are controlled by galleries which will not allow them to be reproduced. Our versions are taken from antique prints which they don’t control, so we can license you the right to use them within some simple limitations. As with all of our collections, the images are licensed to you for reprint or inclusion in other publications so long as you are not primarily reselling just the art itself.

Our new Pre-Raphaelite package is temporarily available at a special reduced price of $39. It’s also available in dicounted combination with our Morris package for $79. Both are best ordered on CD unless you have a very high speed internet connection. The high resolution of the art makes the collection take up a lot of disk space, which makes it ideal for distribution on CD.

The easiest way to get this package is to order it online. To order online, just CLICK HERE . Or for the combo with the Morris package just go to: COMBO. For info on the Morris package click on the image to the right. It’s also easy to order with our toll-free number at 1-800-797-8973.

If you like the Pre-Raphaelites you might also like the art of Eleanor Brickdale and Sir William Russell Flint. Just click here to check out their pages: FLINT – BRICKDALE

Rating 3.00 out of 5

August 1, 2009 | Filed Under Collections, Historic | 4 Comments 

Classic Font: Joyeuse

Joyeuse is one of our earliest developments of a really high-end font. It is based on samples of early 20th century metal type derived from a popular variant of William Morris’ Troy Typewhich deviated a lot from the original source design, but has much of the same stylish gothic revival look and feel. We originally released Joyeuse in 1992 and have done several revisions and updates since then. It was developed to fit in our Master Fonts series of fonts designed for expert typography. In the years since then it has seen a lot of use in print publishing and is especially popular for internal titles and chapter headers.

As a Master Font Joyeuse includes an expanded foreign language character set, lots of special characters and custom designed bold and italic styles. It is available as a single font or in one of our Master Fonts collections and is also included in our Holiday Fonts and Art package. You can try the demo version for free, or order the full version online.


Rating 3.00 out of 5

July 24, 2009 | Filed Under Classic Fonts, Featured Fonts, Fonts, Gallery, Historic | Leave a Comment 

Arabian Nights Fonts and Art Package

Click any font to see a larger sample.

The culture of the east entices and allures. From the stony walls of Petra to the fabled spires of ancient Samarkand, the the legend of the great days of Caliphs, Wazirs and brave adventurers outshines the modern era of oil and petty tyrrany. Who would not trade a dozen Saddam Husseins for a single Al Hakim or Saladin? The visual style of Middle Eastern culture has intrigued artists for years and we’ve gathered some remarkable images to give you access to this great tradition.

Our Arabian Nights collection focuses on the visual arts of the ancient and legendary Middle East, including historical source material and modern artistic interpretations of the arts and themes of the Arabian Nights. This includes a selection of new fonts which capture the spirit of the east, plus our extensive collection of rug patterns and beautiful art nouveau illustrations of tales from the Arabian Nights by Rene Bull, Louis Rhead, J. D. Batten and Edmund Dulac.

Our Arabian Nights collection has recently been expanded to include seven original fonts. Samaritan is based on the poster lettering of Alphons Mucha from his poster for the play La Samaritan. Serendib and Waziri are based on the hand lettering of Rene Bull from his edition of the Arabian Nights. Caliph is derived from Ernst Schneidler’s classic Legende font, with variant characters based on his original lettering. Samarkand is an art font which lets you combine characters in different ways to create skylines for an ancient Middle Eastern city. Satampra is a fantasy calligraphy font with a middle eastern theme.

The package also features a wealth of great illustrations, in both color and black and white. Edmund Dulac’s haunting fairytale illustrations bring to life the era of the late Ottoman Empire. Rene Bull’s fanciful art nouveau pictures explore the more humorous aspects of the Arabian Nights. Rhead and Batten provide simpler material in black and white suitable for coloring or decorative uses. All images are in high resolution and well suited to use in print, or for scaling down for web use, and our standard license provides reprint rights with very few limitations. There are over 50 illustrations included in the package.

As an added bonus we’ve also included a large selection of decorative Middle Eastern rug and tapestry designs. These are high-resolution images from great source material. They feature traditional designs and motifs ideal for creating new graphics and decorative images, including legendary rug patterns like the classic Sarouk, Tabriz and Farahan styles.

This special package is compatible with both Macintosh and Windows based computers and all of the fonts are in both PostScript and TrueType format. All of this is only $59, either through our toll-free number at 1-800-797-8973 or our Online Ordering System.

There’s no better way to give your designs the romance and mystery of the Middle East.

You can see quick samples of the fonts in the package on this page. As a special, immediate bonus, you can also try out the new Satampra font. Download the demo version by clicking on the image below.

Rating 3.00 out of 5

July 13, 2009 | Filed Under Collections, Historic | 7 Comments 

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