Antique Prints

Arden's has been a dealer of authentic antique prints since the early 1970s. Over the years, we have built up our collection to include over 3000 different engravings and lithographs in a wide variety of subjects. We have items to add to your collection or to fill a decorating need, and our experienced design staff can help you to choose the perfect frame for your print.

If you have a specific area of interest, please contact us. The Hoak Family

Here are a few of the categories and items we offer:

Antique prints and maps

Botanical Prints

Contains a wide selection of Curtis and Ridgeway botanicals, several lovely images from Elizabeth Blackwell's A Curious Herbal, and Van Houtte's Flore des Serres Et des Jardins de L'Europe and a number of Redoute's delicate succulents.

Scenic or Landscape Prints

Contains a great selection of English estate and rural landmark engravings, a group of J. M. W. Turner landscapes, and a large selection of images from D. Appleton's "Scenic Europe" and a number of images from his "Scenic America". There are many other scenes available of the United States, Canada, and other countries from around the world.

Bird Prints

Contains a selection of Gould birds including humming-birds and ducks (we have over 12 of his humming-bird lithographs in stock). There is a group of the popular nest and egg prints. We have some beautiful Cassell poultry lithographs, several parrots, and other tropical bird engravings.

Besides original antique prints, we have a very nice selection of the 1973 Amsterdam facsimile edition of Audubon's Birds of America.

Map Prints

Contains maps of the World, the Hemispheres, North America and other continents. Maps of the United States, European and other countries from all parts of the world. There are state maps and a few Texas maps with a couple showing Texas as a Republic.

Sea Shell Prints

Contains a good selection of George Perry's Conchology, or the Natural History of Shells ca. 1811 and a number of smaller shell prints.

Architectural Prints

Contains a number of building illustrations with a few triptychs showing the façade, elevation, and floor plan. There are also some small architectural engravings showing elements of the building process.

Historical Prints

Contains American Revolutionary and Civil War generals and battle scenes. We have a few small George Catlin lithographs of Native Americans and one of his larger lithographs Chippeway Squaw and Child.

Other categories

Costume, Fashion, Humor, Calligraphy, Animals, Heraldry, and Ethnology.

Antique prints and maps

What is an antique print?

Words alone cannot describe what something is or looks like. The prints we recognize and collect as antique prints were made for informative reasons. The advent of the printed image allowed artisans, scientists, explorers, and others to share and spread their knowledge without having to rely solely on the printed word.

These images constitute visual knowledge. The image in a book on the exploration of Australia showed readers what a platypus looked like. The images in books on travel let people see far off lands and people. Some images gave illustration to poems and stories, and others were models for household items.

One need only look to the works of artist/naturalist Audubon and his engraver, or Gould and his lithographers to see their artistic appeal. And, although these images belonged to books on the natural history of birds, the addition of decorative landscape and habitat, and the attention to composition and color makes the argument that they are also art in their own right.

In addition, antique prints exhibit a high quality of craftsmanship and artistic talent. There is artistry in everything: from the quality of the paper, to the expertise with which the image was originally drawn and then produced on the printer's plate, to the skill of the printing and hand coloring. These fine prints are the visual knowledge of our civilization in the age before photography and played a major role in the education and shaping of our culture.

A word from the Arden's family:

Botanical Prints

Scenic or Landscape Prints

Bird Prints

Map Prints

Sea Shell Prints

Architectural Prints

Historical Prints

Other categories