It is a wise thing to be polite; consequently, it is a stupid thing to be rude.
To make enemies by unnecessary and willful incivility,
is just as insane a proceeding as to set your house on fire.
For politeness is like a counter ― an avowedly false coin,
with which it is foolish to be stingy.
― Arthur Schopenhauer, The Wisdom of Life and Counsels and Maxims
Life is short, but there is always time enough for courtesy.
― Ralph Waldo Emerson
Antique illustration originally published in 1857 showing two Victorian ladies in (one-sided?) conversation in a conservatory.
Free to download for use in cardmaking, journaling and scrapbooking projects or simply print and frame as wall art. You can find the high-res 8" x 10" @ 300 ppi JPEG without a watermark here.
In the Orchard, 1891
by Edmund C. Tarbell (1862–1938)
About the artist: Edmund C. Tarbell represented the so-called Boston school of impressionism and was a member of the group known as the Ten American Painters. When he showed In the Orchard at the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition in Chicago, Tarbell became the acknowledged leader of a national impressionist movement.
While Tarbell claimed that he was unaffected by the impressionist paintings he had seen while in Europe, In the Orchard is clearly indebted to a major work by the French impressionist artist Pierre-Auguste Renoir (1841–1919), Luncheon of the Boating Party of 1880–81.
About the painting:In the Orchard is Edmund C. Tarbell’s image of his wife, Emeline Souther Tarbell, her siblings, and a family friend conversing in a bucolic setting on a summer’s afternoon. The figures have been identified as the artist’s sister-in-law, Lydia, standing at left and shown again, seated and with her back to the viewer, on the right; Lemira Eastman, a family friend, in dark blue; Richmond Souther, leaning over the back of the red bench; and Emeline, wearing a black hat and looking directly at the viewer. Poses and glances tie the five together in an intimate, convivial circle in the beneficent dappled sunlight of the orchard, which stretches away to a white fence in the distance.
Tarbell painted the orchard landscape while in France in 1886, near the end of a two-year stay interrupted by a brief return to his native Boston to become engaged to Emeline. Following his final return from France, he painted the figures, posed in the backyard of the Souther family’s home in Dorchester, then a near suburb of Boston.
How then does light return to the world
after the eclipse of the sun? Miraculously.
Frailly. In thin stripes. It hangs like a glass cage.
It is a hoop to be fractured by a tiny jar.
There is a spark there. Next moment a flush of dun.
Then a vapour as if earth were breathing in and out,
once, twice, for the first time.
Then under the dullness someone walks with a green light.
Then off twists a white wraith. The woods throb blue and green,
and gradually the fields drink in red, gold, brown.
Suddenly a river snatches a blue light.
The earth absorbs colour like a sponge slowly drinking water.
It puts on weight; rounds itself; hangs pendent;
settles and swings beneath our feet.
― Virginia Woolf, The Waves
19th century sheet music, originally published in 1866. The arrangement is called "Sunshine Schottisch" by Septimus Winner, an American songwriter of the 19th century. He used his own name, and also the pseudonyms Alice Hawthorne, Percy Guyer, Mark Mason, Apsley Street, and Paul Stenton.
In 1855, Winner published the song "Listen to the Mockingbird" under the Alice Hawthorne name. He had arranged and added words to a tune by local singer/guitarist Richard Milburn, an employee, whom he credited. Later he sold the rights, reputedly for five dollars, and subsequent publications omitted Milburn's name from the credits. The song was indeed a winner, selling about 15 million copies in the United States alone.
Another of his successes, and still familiar, is "Der Deitcher's Dog", or "Oh Where, oh Where Ish Mine Little Dog Gone", a text that Winner set to the German folk tune "In Lauterbach hab' ich mein' Strumpf verlor'n" in 1864, which recorded massive sales during Winner's lifetime. Here's a happier, modified version by the Frazee Sisters:
You can download the sheet music for "Sunshine Schottisch" as an 11" x 8.5" @ 300 ppi JPEG without a watermark here.
To be so strong that nothing
can disturb your peace of mind.
To talk health, happiness, and prosperity
to every person you meet.
To make all your friends feel
that there is something in them
To look at the sunny side of everything
and make your optimism come true.
To think only the best, to work only for the best,
and to expect only the best.
To be just as enthusiastic about the success of others
as you are about your own.
To forget the mistakes of the past
and press on to the greater achievements of the future.
To wear a cheerful countenance at all times
and give every living creature you meet a smile.
To give so much time to the improvement of yourself
that you have no time to criticize others.
To be too large for worry, too noble for anger, too strong for fear,
and too happy to permit the presence of trouble.
To think well of yourself and to proclaim this fact to the world,
not in loud words but great deeds.
To live in faith that the whole world is on your side
so long as you are true to the best that is in you.
― Christian D. Larson, Your Forces and How to Use Them
An Edwardian lady in the park with a border of valerian flowers on the left side of the image, 1904; from my personal collection of La Mode Illustrée.
The genus name of valerian comes from the Latin “valere,” which means “to be strong” or “to be healthy,” in reference to the plant’s medicinal properties. It is an ancient herb; the Greeks used valerian to ward off evil, hanging valerian bunches in windows. The Celts hung it in their homes to ward off lightning. The herb was included in both love and sleep potions. Other magical uses include purification, such as consecrating ritual tools, promoting peace, breaking hexes, and providing stability and happiness. Valerian is used for grounding during emotional turbulence and for aiding in creativity.
Free high-res 7" x 12" @ 300 ppi JPEG without a watermark for altered art, graphic design, papercrafts or scrapbooking projects here.
Some people will hear you louder in silence.
Those are your tribe - they'll get you through the tough days
and give you something to laugh about on the ride.
― Nikki Rowe
Two Edwardian girls keeping warm at recess, 1904; from my personal collection of La Mode Illustrée. Free high-res 4" x 6" @ 300 ppi JPEG without a watermark for altered art, graphic design, papercrafts or scrapbooking projects here.
Each friend represents a world in us,
a world possibly not born until they arrive,
and it is only by this meeting that a new world is born.
― Anais Nin
How many slams in an old screen door? Depends how loud you shut it.
How many slices in a bread? Depends how thin you cut it.
How much good inside a day? Depends how good you live 'em.
How much love inside a friend? Depends how much you give 'em.
― Shel Silverstein
Antique illustration of two Victorian ladies enjoying a meal and warm conversation in a Parisian café. Image was originally published in 1893 and was captioned "Entre Amies" (With Friends).
Free to download for use in mixed-media collage, journaling, and various papercrafts projects or simply print and frame as wall art. You can find the high-res 8" x 10" @ 300 ppi JPEG without a watermark here.
People of our time are losing the power of celebration.
Instead of celebrating we seek to be amused or entertained.
Celebration is an active state, an act of expressing reverence or appreciation.
To be entertained is a passive state
― it is to receive pleasure afforded by an amusing act or a spectacle....
Celebration is a confrontation,
giving attention to the transcendent meaning of one's actions.
― Abraham Joshua Heschel
Two Victorian young women in formal dinner gowns, standing in a formal foyer or reception area. Originally published in 1892. You can download the 8" x 10" @ 300 ppi JPEG without a watermark here.
If you choose to not deal with an issue,
then you give up your right of control over the issue
and it will select the path of least resistance.
― Susan Del Gatto
The sooner a problem is recognized and acted upon
– the less damage there is.
― Mozammel Khan
Antique engraving from an 1866 issue of Peterson's Magazine. This vintage illustration shows a Victorian mother tenderly coaching her daughter in repairing a torn skirt.The original caption that appeared with the picture was "A Stitch in Time Saves Nine."
Free to download for use in mixed-media collage, journaling, and various papercrafts projects or simply print and frame as wall art. You can find the high-res 6" x 8" @ 300 ppi JPEG without a watermark here.
Lie still, lie still, my breaking heart;
My silent heart, lie still and break:
Life, and the world, and mine own self, are changed
For a dream's sake.
― Christina Rossetti
And, at such a time, for a few of us there will always be a tugging
at the heart — knowing a precious moment had gone and we not there.
We can ask and ask but we can’t have again what once seemed ours for ever
— the way things looked, that church alone in the fields,
a bed on belfry floor, a remembered voice, a loved face.
They’ve gone and you can only wait for the pain to pass.
― J.L. Carr, A Month in the Country
Printable vintage fashion illustration from an 1866 issue of Peterson's showing a gathering of five Victorian ladies in the drawing room after dinner. One of the ladies is sitting by the window looking melancholy, causing another lady (possibly a relative or close friend) to look at her with some concern.
Download and use in various altered art, graphic design, papercrafts, scrapbooking or wall art projects. You can find the free high-res 12" x 9" @ 300 ppi JPEG without a watermark here.
I'd rather be standing here with you than out there without you.
― Jennifer L. Armentrout, From Blood and Ash
Life teaches us to
Bend like the willow during a storm
Glide like an eagle
Under the sun mighty and warm
But to stand together
No matter the weather
Unity is all for the better
― Marie Helen Abramyan
Two Victorian young women in double-breasted outfits, an arm around each other, standing on a balcony, and looking fearlessly out at the world. Originally published in 1892. You can download the 8" x 12.5" @ 300 ppi JPEG without a watermark here.
Solace can be measured in the quiet silence between heartbeats.
― Anthony T. Hincks
Winter Jacket and Cape - 8" x 10" @ 300 ppi JPEG (1st link below)
✾✾✾✾✾✾✾✾✾✾✾
Some women are truly beautiful. The light of love shines through their souls.
And the world gets drenched in their inimitable light of love.
But do not try to dominate them. Let them keep their softness and tenderness.
― Avijeet Das
The Butterfly Sleeve - 8" x 10" @ 300 ppi JPEG (2nd link below)
✾✾✾✾✾✾✾✾✾✾✾
You see, women are like fires, like flames.
Some women are like candles, bright and friendly.
Some are like single sparks,
or embers, like fireflies for chasing on summer nights.
Some are like campfires,
all light and heat for a night and willing to be left after.
Some women are like hearthfires,
not much to look at but underneath they are all warm red coal
that burns a long, long while.
― Patrick Rothfuss, The Name of the Wind
Cloth Dress with Velvet Bands - 6" x 10" @ 300 ppi JPEG (3rd link below)
A trio of delicate ink and wash illustrations featuring Victorian ladies in winter fashions of 1896. The designs featured are: a winter jacket and a winter cape, the butterfly sleeve, and a cloth dress with velvet bands. You can download the high-res JPEGs without a watermark here (Link 1), here (Link 2), and here (Link 3).
But that's the glory of foreign travel, as far as I am concerned.
I don't want to know what people are talking about.
I can't think of anything that excites a greater sense of childlike wonder
than to be in a country where you are ignorant of almost everything.
Suddenly you are five years old again. You can't read anything,
you have only the most rudimentary sense of how things work,
you can't even reliably cross a street without endangering your life.
Your whole existence becomes a series of interesting guesses.
― Bill Bryson, Neither Here nor There: Travels in Europe
To move, to breathe, to fly, to float,
To gain all while you give,
To roam the roads of lands remote,
To travel is to live.
― Hans Christian Andersen, The Fairy Tale of My Life: An Autobiography
Two Victorian ladies in travel costumes; originally published in 1893. You can download the high-res 8.5" x 10" @ 300 ppi JPEG without a watermark here.
Advice is a dangerous gift,
even from the wise to the wise, and all courses may run ill.
― J.R.R. Tolkien, The Fellowship of the Ring
This is one more piece of advice I have for you: don't get impatient.
Even if things are so tangled up you can't do anything,
don't get desperate or blow a fuse
and start yanking on one particular thread before it's ready to come undone.
You have to realize it's going to be a long process
and that you'll work on things slowly, one at a time.
― Haruki Murakami, Norwegian Wood
Two Edwardian ladies in conversation as they pause to look at a grand castle across the river; from 1904. From my personal collection of La Mode Illustrée. You can download the high-res 9" x 12" @ 300 ppi JPEG without a watermark here.
Whatever you choose for your stationery is your favorite color
because it's where you pour your heart out.
― Mary E. Pearson, The Miles Between
It is late now, I am a bit tired; the sky is irritated by stars.
And I love you, I love you, I love you ―
and perhaps this is how the whole enormous world, shining all over,
can be created – out of five vowels and three consonants.
― Vladimir Nabokov, Letters to Vera
Vintage fashion illustration of two Victorian ladies dressed in walking dresses, one in purple, the other is a soft dove gray. The lady in purple is intently reading a letter. Originally published c1860.
Download and use in various altered art, graphic design, papercrafts or scrapbooking projects. You can download the high-res 8" x 10" @ 300 ppi JPEG without a watermark here.
Winter teetered on the verge of succumbing to the returning sun,
but today the breeze still preferred the touch of snowflakes.
― Rue, An Average Curse
One can follow the sun, of course,
but I have always thought that it is best to know some winter, too,
so that the summer, when it arrives, is the more gratefully received.
― Beatriz Williams, Along the Infinite Sea
Printable vintage fashion illustration from an 1866 issue of Peterson's showing a gathering of four ladies in a variety of winter fashions. Two of the ladies on the far left are looking outside the window at a group of boys rowdily playing on the ice in the front yard. A young girl in an embroidered black and white outfit is cuddling a puppy in her arms as the puppy's mama looks up at them in concern.
Download and use in various altered art, graphic design, papercrafts, scrapbooking or wall art projects. You can find the free high-res 12" x 9" @ 300 ppi JPEG without a watermark here.
The great hall was shimmering in light,
sun streaming from the open windows, and ablaze with colour,
the walls decorated with embroidered hangings in rich shades of gold and crimson.
New rushes had been strewn about, fragrant with lavender, sweet woodruff, and balm...
the air was... perfumed with honeysuckle and violet,
their seductive scents luring in from the gardens
butterflies as blue as the summer sky.
― Sharon Kay Penman, Devil's Brood
First-generation digital scan of a Victorian trade card from the late 19th century, produced by T. Kingsford, a successor to W. J. Austen & Co., a perfumer from Oswego, New York.
The front of the card shows a winged meadow pixie holding a basket of violets or forget-me-nots, of which she is handing out in bunches. The back of the card extols the virtues of Austen's Forest Flower Cologne, a "new triple extract combining the most delicate and fragrant odors known."
Download and use in various altered art, graphic design, papercrafts or scrapbooking projects. You can find the free 4" x 6" @ 300 ppi JPEGs here (front) and here (back).
I must be a mermaid, Rango.
I have no fear of depths and a great fear of shallow living.
― Anais Nin
Look at that sea, girls ― all silver and shadow and vision of things not seen.
We couldn't enjoy its loveliness any more
if we had millions of dollars and ropes of diamonds.
― Lucy Maud Montgomery, Anne of Green Gables
Two antique illustrations of Edwardian ladies standing on the shore, gazing out to the sea; originally published in 1904. From my personal collection of La Mode Illustrée. Free high-res 8" x 8" @ 300 ppi JPEG without a watermark here.
Heaven knows we need never be ashamed of our tears,
for they are rain upon the blinding dust of earth, overlying our hard hearts.
I was better after I had cried, than before
― more sorry, more aware of my own ingratitude, more gentle.
― Charles Dickens, Great Expectations
The point of life isn't to avoid pain. The point of life is to be alive!
To feel things. That means the good and the bad. There'll be pain.
But also joy, and friendship and love. And it's worth it, believe me.
― John Stephens, The Fire Chronicle
A fashion history illustration of a Victorian lady wearing a head dress of gros grain ribbon; scanned from my collection of antique Harper's Bazar magazines. Originally published in 1873.
To download the free, high-res 6" x 7.5" @ 300 ppi JPEG without a watermark, please click here. Can be used in mixed-media collage art, junk journaling, papercrafts, and scrapbooking projects or simply print and use as a gift tag or greeting card.
I was smiling yesterday,I am smiling today and I will smile tomorrow.
Simply because life is too short to cry for anything.
― Santosh Kalwar, Quote Me Everyday
What sunshine is to flowers, smiles are to humanity.
These are but trifles, to be sure; but scattered along life's pathway,
the good they do is inconceivable.
― Joseph Addison
Two ways to incorporate romantic Renaissance lace, one in an attractive collar, another to embellish a parasol; originally published in 1904. From my personal collection of La Mode Illustrée. Free high-res 9" x 6" @ 300 ppi JPEG without a watermark here.
The Daughters of Our Empire. England: The Primrose, 1887
by Edwin Long (1829–1891)
Different from all other essences in the world the smell
of primroses has a sweetness that is faint and tremulous,
and yet possesses a sort of tragic intensity.
There exists in this flower, its soft petals, its cool, crinkled leaves,
its pinkish stalk that breaks at a touch, something which seems able to pour
its whole self into the scent it flings on the air.
Other flowers have petals that are fragrant. The primrose has something more than that.
The primrose throws its very life into this essence of itself
which travels upon the air.
― John Cowper Powys, A Glastonbury Romance
Sources:
[1] Original image from Wikimedia Commons
[2] A short description of the painting and the model (American heiress Jennie Jerome,
mother of prime minister Sir Winston Churchill) by Yale Center for British Art
[3] A short article of the artist Edwin Long
[4] The Real Victorian's enhanced version of the painting (seen above),
downloadable as a 6" x 9" @ 300 ppi JPEG
Sometimes people surprise us. People we believe we know.
― Joyce Carol Oates, The Falls
Sometimes, however, it is better to play
the most capricious, unpredictable move.
― Robert Greene
An unexpected meeting in the city; originally published in 1904. From my personal collection of La Mode Illustrée. Free high-res 8" x 10" @ 300 ppi JPEG without a watermark here.
You will be one of the menders of this world;
not the makers, nor yet the breakers,
just one of the menders.
― Rosemary Sutcliff, The Witch's Brat
I ... am left with the lingering feeling
that the places we go in our minds to find comfort
have little to do with where our bodies go.
― Christina Baker Kline, A Piece of the World
Victorian lady in knitted and crochet white zephyr worsted jacket from 1873. Found in my personal collection of La Mode Illustrée. You can download the high-res 11" x 8" @ 300 ppi JPEGs without a watermark here.
May today be the best birthday of your life,
I give you my heart as the most precious gift I can give you
and I promise I always will love you.
― Oscar Auliq-Ice
Forget your voice, sing!
Forget your feet, dance!
Forget your life, live!
Forget yourself and be!
― Kamand Kojouri
Vintage fashion illustration of a Victorian family dressed in the fanciest fashions to celebrate a special occasion. Originally published in 1857.
Download and use in various altered art, graphic design, papercrafts or scrapbooking projects. You can download the high-res 8" x 10" @ 300 ppi JPEG without a watermark here.
Belief in yourself is more important than
endless worries of what others think of you.
Value yourself and others will value you.
Validation is best that comes from within.
― Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o, Dreams in a Time of War
To be around someone whose self-confidence is more
than what our first glance led us to expect is seductive.
― Abraham Verghese, Cutting for Stone
A self-confident Victorian lady standing on a balcony with beautiful ironwork, observing the scene below her with great interest. Originally published in 1893. You can download the 6" x 10.5" @ 300 ppi JPEG without a watermark here.
If you are losing your leisure, look out!
— It may be you are losing your soul.
― Virginia Woolf
That’s the place to get to — nowhere.
One wants to wander away from the world’s somewheres, into our own nowhere.
― D.H. Lawrence, Women in Love
Two vintage fashion illustrations from 1904 showing Edwardian ladies dressed in promenade costumes. Original black and white engraving is from my personal collection of antique La Mode Illustrée magazines.
Download and use in various mixed-media collage art, graphic design, papercrafts or scrapbooking projects. You can find the free high-res 8" x 8" @ 300 ppi JPEG without a watermark here.
