The Harry Ransom Center at the University of Texas at Austin has contributed  more than 800 images of European prints to the Artstor Digital Library. This selection represents highlights from the Ransom Center’s European popular imagery collection, which consists of woodcuts, engravings, etchings, and mezzotints from the 16th through 18th centuries.

The prints present societies throughout Europe with images of political and religious satire, social allegory, science and technology, advertising, erotica, Dance of Death depictions, and historical events. The European popular imagery collection is just one of several housed at the Ransom Center which includes approximately 100,000 drawings, paintings, sculpture, and prints from the Americas, Europe, and Asia, spanning the 15th through the 20th centuries.

The Ransom Center advances the study of the arts and humanities by acquiring, preserving, and making accessible original cultural materials. To this end, it provides access to extensive collections of rare books, manuscripts, photography, film, art, and the performing arts, while also supporting research and education through symposia, fellowships, exhibitions, and public programs. Originally founded in 1957 as the Humanities Research Center by Vice President and Provost Henry Huntt Ransom (1908-1976), it was renamed in honor of its founder in 1983. The Ransom Center’s collections include many millions of manuscripts, rare books, photographs, and 100,000 works of art, in addition to major holdings in theater arts and film.