Printable Vintage Illustration: Feeding the Pheasants, 1896

Spring flew swiftly by, and summer came; and if the village had been beautiful at first, it was now in the full glow and luxuriance of its richness. The great trees, which had looked shrunken and bare in the earlier months, had now burst into strong life and health; and stretching forth their green arms over the thirsty ground, converted open and naked spots into choice nooks, where was a deep and pleasant shade from which to look upon the wide prospect, steeped in sunshine, which lay stretched out beyond. The earth had donned her mantle of brightest green; and shed her richest perfumes abroad. It was the prime and vigour of the year; all things were glad and flourishing.
― Charles Dickens, Oliver Twist

All in all, it was a never-to-be-forgotten summer — one of those summers which come seldom into any life, but leave a rich heritage of beautiful memories in their going — one of those summers which, in a fortunate combination of delightful weather, delightful friends and delightful doing, come as near to perfection as anything can come in this world.
― L.M. Montgomery, Anne's House of Dreams

Antique illustration of Victorians in the countryside for a weekend getaway, feeding a flock of pheasants; originally published 1896. You can download the high-res illustration as an 8” x 9” @ 300 ppi JPEG here.


For personal use only. Not for resale. All digitized work by The Real Victorian is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License. Please cite RealVictorian.com as your source when sharing or publishing.

Printable Vintage Illustration: A Summer Seaside Scene, 1896

My soul is full of longing
for the secret of the sea,
and the heart of the great ocean
sends a thrilling pulse through me.
― Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

So fine was the morning except for a streak of wind here and there
that the sea and sky looked all one fabric,
as if sails were stuck high up in the sky,
or the clouds had dropped down into the sea.
― Virginia Woolf, To the Lighthouse
Illustration of a Victorian lady standing on a stone promenade gazing in fascination at the ever changing seaside scene in front of her. You can download this high-res illustration as a 9.5” x 12” @ 300 ppi JPEG here.


For personal use only. Not for resale. All digitized work by The Real Victorian is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License. Please cite RealVictorian.com as your source when sharing or publishing.

Printable Vintage Photo for Collage Art, Graphic Design, Papercrafts or Scrapbooking: Woman in Black Taffeta Dress and Lace Shawl, c1850

Woman in Black Taffeta Dress and Lace Shawl
by Albert Sands Southworth (1811–1894) and Josiah Johnson Hawes (1808–1901)
of Southworth and Hawes Photography Studio (active 1843–1863)

I know that you're selfish, selfish beyond words, and I know that you haven't the nerve of a rabbit, I know you're a liar and a humbug, I know that you're utterly contemptible. And the tragic part is'--her face was on a sudden distraught with pain--'the tragic part is that notwithstanding I love you with all my heart.
― W. Somerset Maugham, The Painted Veil

All I could think about as I stood there was that sometimes life gave you a tragedy that burned everything you knew to the ground and changed you completely. But somehow, if you really wanted to, you could learn how to hold your breath as you made your way through the smoke left in its wake and you could keep going. And sometimes, sometimes, you could grow something beautiful from the ashes that were left behind. If you were lucky.
― Mariana Zapata, Wait for It

Sources:
[1] Original image from The Met.
[2] The Real Victorian's digitally enhanced version of the photo (seen above), downloadable as a 9” x 12” @ 300 ppi JPEG.


Digitally enhanced reproductions of public domain postcards are shared under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.