Picture a collection packed with a magnificent mix of fine art, illustration and photography, covering countless historic events and personalities. Imagine vibrant, vintage illustration and a spectrum of graphic styles, atmospheric Old Masters, 18th century cartoons, artefacts from ancient worlds, retro magazine illustration and nostalgic advertisements. Throw in eye-catching ephemera and more artists than you can shake a stick at and you've got the makings of a great picture library in its own right. You have all this and more courtesy of the epic Pictures Now collection, which offers a colourful journey through many visual greatest hits and takes its moment in the spotlight this week.

The generic name doesn't quite encapsulate the exciting breadth of this collection which numbers an impressive 35,000 images on our website. The collection hails from the US, and so naturally offers a rich seam of American history from American Civil War material to excellent paintings and photographs of Native and African American people. There are also hundreds of vintage magazine illustrations recalling mid-century America with soda-pop clarity. But this is a global collection, and so casts its net far wider. There are thousands of fine art images for starters, with the work of hundreds of artists ranging from Caravaggio to Van Gogh comprehensively covered.

Illustration is a real strength - look out for wonderful sketches by Charles Dana Gibson and the enchanting work of Jessie Willcox Smith, to name just two. In between, the collection is so eclectic, it's impossible to categorise but suffice to say, whether you're looking for Leon Bakst costume designs, jousting knights, Regency dandies, a portrait of Queen Henrietta Maria, or varieties of onions, Pictures Now can oblige.

We've trawled this vast collection to pull together a curated selection, which, while not exhaustive, gives a good overview.

If you are more interested in specifically decorative images, perhaps for cards, wall art or merchandise, we have put together two smaller selections - one that looks at general or 'occasion' designs and another focused solely on Christmas.

If you have any questions about Mary Evans or would like help with research or a quote, please do call us on 020 8318 0034 or email pictures@maryevans.com. And remember, the myriad of different collections we represent in addition to our own archive can be browsed via our dedicated Collections page here.