Bildnisse der berühmtesten Menschen aller Völker und Zeiten: ein Supplement-Kupferband zu jedem biographischen Wörterbuche, besonders zu dem Conversations-Lexikon
A German supplementary volume of 1818 from Heidelberg University Library, issued as a set of portrait plates to accompany biographical dictionaries and the Conversations-Lexikon for readers of notable figures. The pictures are stipple-engraved bust portraits of men in octagonal frames, each with a plain background and a single sitter shown in period dress, with lace collars, clerical garb, and high-collared coats. A designer could take the octagonal vignette format, the dense dotted shading that replaces line, and the restrained, dignified poses as a model for historical portrait layouts.
