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.
A plate of mythical creatures including basilisks, a dragon, and seven-headed hydras.
1660 · Jan Jonston — Naeukeurige beschryving van de natuur der viervoetige dieren (1660)
Three-tiered illumination depicting the nature of lions, including the revival of cubs.
1210 · The Ashmole Bestiary
A vibrant illumination of a blue monoceros (unicorn) in a stylized landscape.
1240 · Bestiary
Medieval manuscript miniature showing a landscape with various animals and human figures.
1460 · Livre des merveilles du monde (Book of the Marvels of the World)
A large hand-colored woodcut depicting various land animals in a tiered landscape.
1478 · Das Buch der Natur
Hand-colored woodcut depicting a variety of real and mythical animals in horizontal registers.
1478 · Das Buch der Natur
Hand-colored woodcut of three scholars and various animals in a landscape.
1491 · Ortus sanitatis
Hand-colored woodcut depicting three scholars in discussion surrounded by various animals.
1491 · Garden of Health
Circular woodcut depicting the creation of Eve from Adam's rib by God the Father, surrounded by various animals and a radiant border.
1503 · The Philosophical Pearl
A page from a Tudor pattern book featuring a mythical Yale and three harts (deer).
1525 · The Tudor Pattern Book (Herbal-Bestiary)
Illumination of an elephant with a castle on its back and two foxes, accompanied by a small human figure.
1525 · The Tudor Pattern Book (Herbal-Bestiary)
A hand-painted illustration of a Capricorn (goat-like creature with human facial features) and a Camel, accompanied by three frogs.
1525 · The Tudor Pattern Book (Herbal-Bestiary)
Woodcut illustration of a rhinoceros in profile, based on Dürer's famous 1515 depiction.
1554 · The Pagan World and the Origin of its Gods
A detailed woodcut of a war elephant (Elephante armado) carrying a fortified tower with a soldier.
1578 · Tractado de las Drogas y Medicinas de las Indias Orientales
A woodcut of a seven-headed serpent or hydra, with mammalian-like faces on each head, a scaly body, two clawed feet, and a curled tail.
1586 · History of Animals, Book II: On Oviparous Quadrupeds
A woodcut of a mythical seven-headed hydra with mammalian-like faces and a scaly, serpentine body ending in a curled tail.
1586 · History of Animals, Book II: On Oviparous Quadrupeds
Woodcut illustration of a rhinoceros, depicted with armor-like plates and scales, based on Albrecht Dürer's 1515 design.
1598 · Cosmographey: das ist Beschreibung aller Laender
Large woodcut depicting various sea monsters and land animals from the North.
1598 · Cosmographey: das ist Beschreibung aller Laender
A full-page plate of entomological illustrations including an ant nest, wood galleries, and various insects.
1618 · Ulyssis Aldrovandi ... De animalibus insectis libri septem
A detailed woodcut of a rhinoceros, depicted with armor-like skin plates and a small horn on its back, based on Dürer's famous 1515 woodcut.
1621 · History of All Cloven-Hoofed Quadrupeds
A monstrous rooster with a serpentine tail and a large crest.
1640 · Ulyssis Aldrovandi ... serpentum et draconum historiae libri duo
1640 · Ulyssis Aldrovandi ... serpentum et draconum historiae libri duo
Woodcut of a 'Sea Bishop' monster with a mitre-like head and scaly body.
1642 · History of Monsters
A woodcut illustration of a 'Dracunculus Monoceros,' a small winged dragon-like creature with a single horn, scaly body, and a curled tail.
1651 · Treasury of Medical Matters of New Spain
Engraving of an elephant and a winged dragon in combat, illustrating 'Sanguis Draconis'.
1651 · Viatorium, hoc est, de montibus planetarum
Engraving of a hippopotamus on a shoreline with a maritime background.
1667 · Kircher: China Illustrata (1667)
A detailed engraving of a unicorn in a dynamic, galloping pose.
1672 · Theater of Earthly Creatures
A large-scale engraving depicting the entry of animals into Noah's Ark, featuring a massive rectangular structure and a diverse array of species.
1675 · Noah's Ark
A detailed cross-section engraving of the three levels of Noah's Ark, showing various animals in stalls and human figures managing the vessel.
1675 · Noah's Ark
A vertical column of twelve woodcut illustrations depicting animals and natural phenomena used for phonetic alphabet instruction.
1685 · Orbis Sensualium Pictus (The Visible World in Pictures)
A scientific plate featuring multiple microscopic observations, including a centipede, a fly, and various anatomical structures.
1687 · Anatomy or the Interior of Things
A large hand-colored engraving divided into three panels showing chameleons, caterpillars, and a small spotted mammal.
1700 · Voyage au Levant, c'est à dire dans les principaux endroits de l'Asie Mineure, dans les isles de Chio, d...
Illustration of a child with an elephant's head.
1700 · Manuscript containing illustrations of strange beasts and men, women and children. (Italian MS 63)
A composite engraving showing flora and fauna of the West Indies, divided into two main panels: marine animals and mammals on the left, and reptiles and 'monsters' on the right.
1710 · Les Indes Orientales et Occidentales, et autres lieuX : représentés en très-belles figur...
Engraved plate depicting the creation of insects on the fifth day, featuring a central landscape and numerous specimens.
1728 · Sacred Physics
A hand-colored engraving of a mermaid-like creature, described as a 'monster similar to a Siren.'
1754 · Louis Renard — Poissons, ecrevisses et crabes (1754)
Hand-colored engraving of a large mammal, likely a tapir or stylized hippopotamus, in a landscape with a pyramid.
1771 · Georg Wolfgang Knorr — Deliciae naturae selectae (1771)
Hand-colored copperplate engraving showing the skeletal anatomy and external appearance of a turtle.
1771 · Georg Wolfgang Knorr — Deliciae naturae selectae (1771)
A detailed natural history illustration of a Ruffed Lemur (Varecia variegata), depicted in profile facing right.
1800 · Jean Baptiste Audebert — Histoire naturelle des singes et des makis (1800)
A collection of nine deer in various poses, including stags with large antlers and does, depicted with fine engraved lines.
1909 · The Numeral Playing Cards of the Master of Playing Cards
Miniature depicting a herd of deer in a stylized landscape
n.d. · Le Livre de la chasse (The Book of the Hunt)
A manuscript miniature showing exotic animals on a rocky outcrop and men working by a river, with one man handling a large object.
1460 · Livre des merveilles du monde (Book of the Marvels of the World)
Hand-painted miniature of a lion in a landscape
1450 · Houghton Library. MS Typ 150. Fiore di virtu.
Illustration of monkeys in a forest and near a fire with humans
1577 · Florentine Codex, Vol. 3 (Books 10-12)
A woodcut of a monstrous rooster with a serpent's tail, titled 'Gallus monstrosus cauda anguina'.
1640 · Serpentum et Draconum Historiae
Woodcut illustration of a monstrous human figure with a frog-like face, standing with one arm raised.
1642 · History of Monsters
An engraving of a mythical hybrid creature, a rooster with a long, coiled serpentine tail, identified in the text as a 'Gallus ophiomorphos'.
1678 · Mundus Subterraneus
Hand-colored engraving of two snakes from Suriname.
1771 · Georg Wolfgang Knorr — Deliciae naturae selectae (1771)
A framed illustration of a vertical serpent and a rearing quadruped, likely a panther.
1000 · Beowulf (Cotton MS Vitellius A.xv)
Medieval manuscript illumination of a swan standing over a serpent and a human head.
1240 · Bestiary
Allegorical illustration of a stag and Dittany
1350 · Introductory Book
Woodcut of a hippopotamus (Ypotamus) in a landscape, hand-colored.
1491 · Garden of Health (Hortus Sanitatis)
Hand-colored woodcut depicting a lion and a dog-headed man (cynocephalus) in a landscape.
1491 · Garden of Health (Hortus Sanitatis)
A grid of forty woodcut illustrations arranged in eight rows and five columns, depicting symbolic figures, animals, and objects as hieroglyphs.
1554 · The Pagan World and the Origin of its Gods
A detailed engraving showing a celestial beam of light descending from a starry night sky onto a landscape filled with various animals.
1607 · Della Porta Magia Naturalis (German 1713)
An allegorical engraving depicting a wide variety of animals across three realms: air, water, and land.
1620 · The Philosophical Basilica (Basilica Philosophica)
A woodcut of a 'Jenny Haniver,' a dried ray or skate manipulated to resemble a small dragon or sea monster.
1640 · Ulyssis Aldrovandi ... serpentum et draconum historiae libri duo
Woodcut illustration of an Orangutan, depicted as a hairy, bipedal humanoid figure.
1658 · De Indiae utriusque re naturali et medica
A rectangular copperplate engraving depicting a rhinoceros and other animals in a landscape.
1665 · The Embassy of the Dutch East India Company to the Tartar Cham
A composite illustration showing the life cycle of the silkworm, including caterpillars, cocoons, moths, and eggs.
1672 · Theater of Earthly Creatures