The Plate Room
31,861 woodcuts, engravings and hand-coloured plates of living things, cut from the pages of herbals, bestiaries and natural histories scanned by the world's libraries and gathered in the Source Library. Every plate links to the page it came from. For one herbal read cover to cover, visit the Herball Room.
Scientific illustration of spiders, ants, and a bird on a branch
1705 · Metamorphosis Insectorum Surinamensium
Miniature of two vultures facing a central stylized plant
1185 · Worksop Bestiary
Illumination of a swan standing on water against a gold and blue background.
1185 · Worksop Bestiary
Miniature of two magpies (picae) with tails extending beyond the frame
1185 · Worksop Bestiary
Circular miniature of a bird, identified in the text as a fulica (coot), with blue and red plumage against a gold leaf background.
1185 · Worksop Bestiary
A large hand-colored woodcut depicting a variety of birds in a landscape.
1478 · Das Buch der Natur
Hand-colored woodcut of scholars studying birds in a courtyard.
1491 · Ortus sanitatis
A page from a Tudor pattern book featuring a tiger looking into a mirror, a ram with curled horns, a crane, and two smaller birds.
1525 · The Tudor Pattern Book (Herbal-Bestiary)
Woodcut of a Bird of Paradise (Manucodiata) with long, flowing plumage and no visible legs.
1554 · History of Animals, Book I: On Viviparous Quadrupeds
Detailed woodcut of an owl (Bubo) perched on a branch.
1554 · History of Animals, Book I: On Viviparous Quadrupeds
Woodcut of a peacock with its tail feathers fanned out, standing on a grassy mound.
1555 · Historiae Animalium Liber III: De Avium Natura
A large, detailed woodcut of an ostrich (Struthocamelus) in profile.
1555 · Historiae Animalium Liber III: De Avium Natura
A large woodcut of a Bird of Paradise (Manucodiata), depicted with long, elaborate tail feathers and no feet.
1555 · Historiae Animalium Liber III: De Avium Natura
Ottoman miniature depicting a variety of birds flying around a domed building atop a purple rocky mountain.
1582 · Book of Felicity (Matali‘ al-sa‘adet)
An indigenous man from Nicaragua aiming a bow at a parrot in a tree, surrounded by a flock of birds.
1586 · Histoire Naturelle des Indes (The Drake Manuscript)
An indigenous man trapping parrots using a cage trap in a tree.
1586 · Histoire Naturelle des Indes (The Drake Manuscript)
Two indigenous people in a dugout canoe fishing, with birds in the sky and wavy water below.
1586 · Histoire Naturelle des Indes (The Drake Manuscript)
Woodcut of a unicorn in a landscape with trees and birds.
1598 · Cosmographey: das ist Beschreibung aller Laender
Woodcut illustration of a dodo bird, showing its distinctive large, hooked beak and flightless form.
1605 · Ten Books of Exotic Things
A full-page scientific plate (Tab. XX) featuring eleven numbered woodcut illustrations of various bird species, including plovers, lapwings, and emus.
1610 · Ulyssis Aldrovandi ... Ornithologiae
A full-page plate (Tab. XIII) featuring eight detailed woodcut illustrations of various heron and egret species.
1610 · Ulyssis Aldrovandi ... Ornithologiae
A full-page plate (Tabula XI) featuring a grid of nine ornithological illustrations, including various cranes, flamingos, an ibis, a black stork with a snake, and a detailed crane skeleton.
1610 · Ulyssis Aldrovandi ... Ornithologiae
A scientific plate (TAB. II) containing nine woodcut illustrations of various birds, including pelicans and gulls, with Latin and German labels.
1610 · Ulyssis Aldrovandi ... Ornithologiae
An intricate engraving of an eagle's nest on a jagged mountain peak, with one bird attempting flight while another remains, overlooking a detailed river valley and city.
1618 · Atalanta Fleeing
Full-page engraving titled 'Iconismus III' depicting the musical notation of various bird songs.
1650 · Universal Music-making (Musurgia Universalis), Volume I
Woodcut of a Dodo bird (Dronte)
1658 · De Indiae utriusque re naturali et medica
An oval engraving within a rectangular frame depicting a diverse assembly of birds in a landscape.
1658 · Alle de wercken
A scientific plate featuring thirteen illustrations of various water birds, including cormorants, gannets, and mergansers, with hand-colored details.
1660 · Jan Jonston — Naeukeurige beschryving van de natuur der viervoetige dieren (1660)
A scientific plate featuring twelve distinct bird species, including an Aracari and a four-legged 'monstrous' chicken.
1660 · Jan Jonston — Naeukeurige beschryving van de natuur der viervoetige dieren (1660)
A plate of nine hand-colored engravings of various birds, including a vulture, herons, and smaller songbirds.
1660 · Jan Jonston — Naeukeurige beschryving van de natuur der viervoetige dieren (1660)
A detailed landscape engraving featuring a variety of animals including an elephant, rhinoceros, and various birds, alongside human figures in exotic dress.
1672 · Theater of Earthly Creatures
A detailed engraving depicting the entry of animals into Noah's Ark, featuring Noah and his family directing a vast array of creatures including lions, camels, horses, and numerous birds towards the massive wooden struct
1675 · Noah's Ark
A composite plate of natural history specimens including botanical cross-sections, a bird of prey, fish, eels, shells, and various anomalous animal horns, with a large heraldic dedication cartouche.
1677 · The Natural History of Oxfordshire
A composite educational plate depicting various animals categorized by habitat: birds, insects, and aquatic life.
1678 · Vorpforte der Schul-Unterweisung
Engraving of a winged dragon with a coiled tail and bird-like head.
1678 · The Subterranean World Volume Two
A large, two-panel engraving depicting the fauna of the West Indies, featuring various birds, mammals, and reptiles in a tropical landscape.
1710 · Les Indes Orientales et Occidentales, et autres lieuX : représentés en très-belles figur...
Detailed scientific illustration of spiders, ants, and a hummingbird on a guava branch.
1719 · Maria Sibylla Merian — Dissertatio de generatione et metamorphosibus insectorum Surinamensium (1719)
Engraving of the fifth day of creation (Genesis 1:20), showing various birds in a landscape, surrounded by a decorative border containing numbered biological and anatomical diagrams.
1728 · Sacred Physics
Hand-colored engraving of an American Partridge and an Atamasco Lily.
1743 · The natural history of Carolina, Florida, and the Bahama Islands : containing two hundred a...
A natural history illustration of an oriole-like bird perched on a lily bulb, with a flowering white lily and a small flying insect.
1743 · The natural history of Carolina, Florida, and the Bahama Islands : containing two hundred a...
Natural history plate featuring the head of a crested heron with a spotted eft in its beak, surrounded by various insects.
1743 · The natural history of Carolina, Florida, and the Bahama Islands : containing two hundred a...
Hand-colored engraving of a Baltimore Oriole on a Tulip Tree branch.
1777 · The Natural History of Carolina, Florida and the Bahama Islands, Vol. 1
Hand-colored engraving of a Yellow-crowned Night Heron with a succulent plant.
1777 · The Natural History of Carolina, Florida and the Bahama Islands, Vol. 1
Hand-colored engraving of a flamingo (Phoenicopterus) and a branched sea fan (Keratophiton) on a shoreline.
1777 · The Natural History of Carolina, Florida and the Bahama Islands, Vol. 1
Hand-colored engraving of a Painted Finch perched on an Althea Floridana plant.
1777 · The Natural History of Carolina, Florida and the Bahama Islands, Vol. 1
Natural history illustration of a bird perched on a branch, identified as Le Heoro-taire bleu.
1802 · Jean Baptiste Audebert — Histoire naturelle des grimpereaux et des oiseaux de paradis (1802)
A detailed natural history illustration of a Twelve-wired Bird-of-paradise perched on a mossy, broken tree stump.
1802 · Jean Baptiste Audebert — Histoire naturelle des grimpereaux et des oiseaux de paradis (1802)
Natural history illustration of three distinct bird feathers, labeled 1, 2, and 3.
1802 · Jean Baptiste Audebert — Histoire naturelle des grimpereaux et des oiseaux de paradis (1802)
Natural history illustration of a bird (Le S. à capuchon violet) on a branch
1802 · Jean Baptiste Audebert — Histoire naturelle des grimpereaux et des oiseaux de paradis (1802)
A hand-colored engraving of a bird identified as 'Le Grimpar Nasican mâle' perched on a branch.
1807 · François Le Vaillant — Histoire naturelle des promerops et des guêpiers (1807)
A hand-colored engraving of a Savigny Bee-eater variety perched on a branch.
1807 · François Le Vaillant — Histoire naturelle des promerops et des guêpiers (1807)
Natural history illustration of a male Tawa Bee-eater (Le Guêpier Tawa) perched on a weathered branch.
1807 · François Le Vaillant — Histoire naturelle des promerops et des guêpiers (1807)
A hand-colored engraving of a male Lamarck's Bee-eater perched on a dry branch.
1807 · François Le Vaillant — Histoire naturelle des promerops et des guêpiers (1807)
A plate illustrating various falconry equipment, including ornate feathered hoods, a bird-wing lure, and green leather bags.
1844 · Hermann Schlegel — Traité de fauconnerie (1844)
A detailed, hand-colored lithograph of a white Greenland falcon (Gyrfalcon) perched on a falconer's gloved hand, wearing a decorative hood.
1844 · Hermann Schlegel — Traité de fauconnerie (1844)
Detailed scientific illustration of an Icelandic Gyrfalcon perched on a snow-covered rock.
1844 · Hermann Schlegel — Traité de fauconnerie (1844)
Detailed hand-colored illustration of a male gyrfalcon (tiercelet hagard) perched on a mossy rock within a mountainous landscape.
1844 · Hermann Schlegel — Traité de fauconnerie (1844)
Detailed engraving of Wallace's Standard Wing (Semioptera wallacii), showing both male and female specimens in a forest setting.
1869 · The Malay Archipelago: The Land of the Orang-Utan and the Bird of Paradise
The Red Bird of Paradise (Paradisea rubra) perched on a branch with berries.
1869 · The Malay Archipelago: The Land of the Orang-Utan and the Bird of Paradise
An engraving of the King Bird of Paradise and the Twelve-wired Bird of Paradise in a tropical forest.
1869 · The Malay Archipelago: The Land of the Orang-Utan and the Bird of Paradise