As many letterpress printers do, I’ve accumulated quite an array of old photoengravings, cuts, ornaments, dingbats and visual oddities over the years. And most of the time, this stuff just sits in cases, probably never to see the light of day again. So, I thought that I would print these from time to time, scan them, clean them up a bit, and then offer them to whomever might want them via free downloads on this blog.

So, here’s the first in the series. This particular image comes from an old type specimen book I uncovered in a used book store in Georgetown (CO) a few years ago… a fascinating and interesting read which I’ll write about in the future. In the back of the book are page after page of images offered up for sale by the type foundry to their printshop clientele. These printers would purhcase, store and then use the photoengravings for their own customers—in this case, dentists, toothpaste manufacturers, halloween toy cobblers, etc.

Click here to download a .zip file that includes .jpeg, hi resolution .tiff, and .eps versions of the file.

Happy Monday!