A digital library of prints and book illustrations from early modern Britain

This website, funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council, makes available a database of thousands of prints and book illustrations from early modern Britain in fully-searchable form. It also offers ancillary facilities aimed to enhance users’ understanding and appreciation of the material it presents, such as various resources contextualising prints and printmaking, as well as original research on British prints to 1700, including the ‘Print of the Month’ that appears on this page.

Notice to users: This is version 1.0.0 of bpi1700, and functions best with newer versions of mainstream browsers. Microsoft Internet Explorer (version 8 or above), Apple Safari (version 3 or above), or Mozilla Firefox (version 2 or above), are recommended. A minimum screen resolution of 1024 x 768 is recommended in order to get the best from the website.

Although the main development work has been completed, improvements will continue to be made from time to time. If you have problems or suggestions please contact the project (see the 'contact' page).

The images in the banner are taken from William Marshall’s engraved title-page to Richard Brathwait’s English Gentleman and English Gentlewoman (1641). For more details click here.