The most romantic and florid expressions of love were the fashion in the Victorian Age, which was to be expected of a time that masked and ornamented the erotic impulse. The end of that era was coincident with the golden age of the postcard (1890 to World War 1) and so we have tens of thousands of Valentine's Day postcards, many displaying high levels of imaginations and design. Each age leaves an impact of its character in its greeting cards and other paper ephemera. We see in the beautiful postcards of the late Victorians that era's predilections in both love and design. The imagery in Victorian Valentines Postcard Book is largely formal because, to the Victorians, love was a serious business. We see beautiful women, well-groomed children, and the classical February 14 icons of cherubs, ornate hearts and many beautiful flowers. This is a thoroughly decorated universe, featuring baroque typography, bows and ribbons everywhere, and the occasional touch of lace. So felicitously do Valentine's Day and Victoriana mesh that much of what we think of as traditional Valentine's Day imagery is Victorian in origin. We have selected 30 favorites from our collection for this gathering. That complex of attitude and tendencies that we call the Victorian Age did not, of course, vanish on the Queen's death in 1900. It persisted and evolved until the First World War. For this book we have confined ourselves to postcards published before 1910.

This delightful treasury of vintage Valentine's Cards has been lovingly reproduced from rare originals housed in the collections of Henry Ford Museum & Greenfield Village. Each charming card features exquisitely rendered images of children, cupids, flowers, doves, and idyllic scenes of romance accompanied by tender phrases of love. Perfect for sending or for keeping, these lovely collectibles — presented in a beautiful book format and easily detachable — will capture the hearts of every faithful romantic!

Valentines, A Collector's Guide, 1700s - 1950s, is a thorough reference for accurately dating and identifying valentines. The book's dating system uses nearly 1,300 photographed cards arranged in chronological order based on extensive research. Besides the visual arrangement, collectors will find researched lists of design trends, card subjects illustrated, and important publishers for each decade and for each different type of card. These key facts placed at the fingertips of the collector make dating and identification easy, accurate, and enjoyable. Illustrated valentines include those by anonymous and early makers from the United States, Germany, Great Britain, and Canada. Feast your eyes on lacy Victorian valentines, romantic couples, adorable children, hearts, flowers, whimsical mechanicals, dimensional tissue paper cards, sarcastic vinegar valentines, and dimensional fold down cards. Beyond the illustrated valentines, lists of non-illustrated cards by more contemporary manufacturers are compiled so collectors can identify way beyond what is illustrated. Enjoy these sentimental, entertaining tokens of love and affection in a clear, easy to understand presentation that will be an indispensable reference for anyone who loves and wants to date and identify their valentines. 2011 values.

Postcard books are a wonderful way for us to share our treasure trove of images. Our postcard books on Easter, Halloween and Christmas have proven to be very popular, and so we turn to one of our favorite holidays--Valentine's Day. The valentine, as a graphic token to be exchanged by lovers on February 14, became very popular in the middle of the 19th century, and continued to increase in popularity and variety as the century advanced. In the first years of the 20th century there was an explosion in popularity of the picture postcard, and it was natural that postcards would be created to send on every holiday. Tens of thousands of valentine designs were printed as Valentines. We have selected thirty favorites from our collection, and reproduce them here in such a way that they can either be removed and mailed or kept intact and the book given entire.

This is the first book to provide a full and coherent introduction to the photography of Victorian Scotland. There are many books which deal with particular elements and individual photographers, which show the interest in the subject, but no book draws everything together to provide an understanding of the multi-faceted nature of photography and the inter-relationship with other activities in the society of the time. This authoritative introduction, building upon these other publications, will provide a wide-ranging appreciation of early Scottish photography and in particular that Scottish photography was in the vanguard of many international trends. The material has been structured and the topics organised, with appropriate illustrations, as both a readable narrative and a foundation text for the subject.

Traces the history of Valentine's Day and the little-known stories behind its symbols.