Swirling with gargoyles, devils, dragons, griffins, and other images that haunt both dreams and nightmares, this otherworldly assortment features illustrations from a rare 19th-century volume. Images include cartouches, frames, doors, trophies, cabinets, friezes for textiles and wallpaper, decorative scutcheons, stone balustrades, arabesques, roof cornices, and much more. Reprint of Liénard's Specimens of Decoration and Ornamentation, J O'Kane, New York.
Here's a sample of other books in this Dover category
800 Classic Ornaments and Designs by Ernst Günther Priceless treasury of 19th-century royalty-free designs includes fanciful ornaments — flowers, mythological creatures, etc. — striking designs with classical columns, heraldic designs, plus charming calligraphic alphabets.
The Styles of Ornament by Alexander Speltz Largest collection of decorated artifacts, all in line; prehistoric, Egyptian, Islamic, Baroque, Victorian, other areas, times. 3,700 illustrations.
Fantastic Gothic and Renaissance Ornament by Rudolf Berliner Beasts of myth and legend, writhing foliage, dancing symbols of fate — this spectacular compendium of 15th- and 18th-century designs features 127 black-and-white illustrations from the far corners of the imagination.
Ornamental Forms from Nature by Christian Stoll, Alan Weller Reproduced from a classic of natural history, 154 creatively stylized floral and animal images were designed with distinctive drama. The bonus CD-ROM includes individual files of all of the images in the book.
