Image library

The image library provides high-resolution digitised scans and photographic prints of The National Archives' images for commercial publication, display, broadcast and merchandise.

There is no online ordering system for images. Find out which image reproduction rights you require and how to order from the image library.

• Buildings and factories

  

  Including factory workers, hotels, shops, public houses and schools.
  

• Colonial and empire

  

  Including Empire Marketing Board posters, maps of Empire and colonial history documents.

• Crime

  

  Including scene-of-crime photographs, case testimonies, prisons, prisoners and the police.
  

• Design

  

  Including fabrics, wallpapers, earthenware, glass, lace, metalwork and all other patented designs.
  

• Entertainment and theatre

  

  Including Victorian theatre posters, performers, and circus and show artistes.

• Events and exhibitions

  

  Including The Great Exhibition, The Festival Of Britain and exhibition posters.
  

• First World War

  

  Including War Office records, photographs, plans, maps and charts.

• Manuscripts

  

  Including parchments, seals, treaties, charters, illuminations and marginalia.

• Maps

  

  Including Colonial-era maps, polar exploration, navigation, architectural plans, charts and blueprints.

• Medical

  

  Including photographs and documents from the English Civil War, Boer War, Crimea, Napoleonic Wars, Peninsula War and other conflicts.

• Military

  

  Including photographs and documents from the English Civil War, Boer War, Crimea, Napoleonic Wars, Peninsula War and other conflicts.

• Mining

  

  Including coal, tin, gold and diamonds, National Coal Board documents and photographs

• People

  

  Including photographs and portraits of well-known figures and the general public.

• Piracy

  

  Including High Court of Admiralty documents, trials, letters, ship logs and journals.

• Places

  

  Including UK towns and villages and Victorian-era photographs.

• Politics

  

  Including cabinet documents, political photographs and cartoons, the suffragettes, civil unrest and political events

• Transport and travel

  

  Including Victorian travel posters, air, wheeled and water-borne transport , UFOs, rail plans and company documents.

• Victoriana

  

  Including posters and printed material for food and drink, clothing, household goods and sport.

• Second World War

  

  Including War Office records, photographs, plans, maps and charts.
  

• Slavery

  

  Including ships' lists, letters, journals, photographs and illustrations.

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