The Smithsonian’s Galaxy of Images

Here at Shelf Life we just love browsing image collections. We’ve mentioned the UK’s Wellcome Trust’s image collection twice already on this blog (here and here) in the few short months we’ve been actively posting. Now the other side of the pond has answered back with this, the Smithsonian Institution Libraries’ Galaxy of Images. (I hope I’m not the only one who hears the Star Wars theme song when saying ‘Galaxy of Images’ in my best James Earl Jones voice-over imitation.) At any rate, the Galaxy of Images offers thousands of images that represent a broad cross-section of the Libraries’ 1.5 million strong historical collection. Included are images from the Animal World (even a section on imaginary animals!), Technology and Transportation, Bones and Fossils, Plants and Flowers, Art and Design, and even a section on Scientific Instruments and Apparatus among others.

Use of the images is free for students and educators, but they may not be reproduced for sale or publication without written consent from the Smithsonian Institution Library.

Posted by Brooke (Illustration Plate: Frederick Godman Insecta. Lepidoptera-Rhopalocera, 1879-1901)

NB: For more early Americana – check out the Library of Congress’ flickr pages to see photos of everyday life from the turn of the century through WWII.