Old Plates and Prints

I bought some old Virtue & Co prints the other week and just started sorting through them when I found a folder with some of engraved type prints. The prints date from 1880's and as early as 1820's, I know this because most of the prints were wrapped in a protective wrapper and labeled.

old vintage military print soldier army lieut general sir john moore kb

Although they are nice old prints I was pleased with my 'Virtue' find and so decided to Ebay the rest for 99p each. I prefer the colour prints from around the 1900's, I can see why these old etchings and prints are so collectible.

Virtue & Co Old Colour prints of famous paintings.

Its not until you study the prints that you can see the work involved especially the process of printing such old pages. I am assuming these 'prints' were removed from vintage books and publications and the early ones are usually much rarer because of the printing process.

ANTIQUE PRINTS FOR SALE 1830 CEREMONY OF LAYING THE FIRST STONE OF THE NEW ROYAL EXCHANGE BY PRINCE ALBERT T H SHEPARD H MELVILLE

I am no expert and if I am correct, there was a lot of work involved in printing these old pages from books. The 'plate' would wear out fairly quickly and so would require repair work to continue printing. There was only so many times, or 'strikes' the plate could make before it became useless for printing.

engraving w Hogarth Old Print Royal Masquerade Somerset House ephemera paper

Its always worth looking in old books for illustrations or prints and you never know what you may find. I always make a habit of 'flicking' through old books at antique fairs, car boots and so one but usually looking for colour illustrations.

OLD MILITARY ARMY PRINTS GENERAL LORD HILL GCB

A lot of the artwork in these old prints and illustrations was created by 'well known', or 'up and coming' artist of the time and the list is endless when knowing what to look out for. I usually go for the things I like because you cannot go wrong.

OLD ANTIQUE COLLECTIBLE PRINT GENERAL BEATSON ENGRAVED BY DJ POUND FROM PHOTOGRAPH BY MAYALL

As a 'collector of ephemera' its always difficult to not buy that wonderful piece of artwork from an old book or magazine. However, you could end up with very little storage space or like me, have to sell some to either make room or free up some cash to buy more.

OLD ANTIQUE PRINT LIEUT GENERAL LORD BERESFORD KB

It can be very addictive collecting ephemera and old books and surprising how quickly a collection can grow.

Happy hunting.