Here are a few links to great on-line art books. Some of these are out-of-print classics. I'll post more as I find them.

Many Classic On-Line Art Books on StudioProducts.com

"The Painter In Oil" by Daniel Burleigh Parkhurst

"Biography Of Sir Alma-Tadema" by Vern Grosvenor Swanson, Ph.D.

"The Eclipse Of Classicism" by John William Godward

"William Bouguereau", a biography by Damien Bartoli


"Blackboard Sketchings", by Frederick Whitney 1908


"The Essentials of Lettering", by Thomas E. French and Robert MeikleJohn 1909

Online Art Books on the UPenn Archive

"What is Art?" by Leo Tolstoy



"Mornings in Florence" by John Ruskin


"Seven Discourses On Art" by Sir Joshua Reynolds


"The American Drawing Book: a Manual For the Ameteur, and a Basis of Study For the Professional Artist" by J.G. Chapman, 1870

"Memoirs of the Early Italian Painters" by Anna Jameson, 1890

"The Notebooks Of Leonardo Da Vinci", by Jean Paul Richter, 1883

"The Practice Of oil Painting And Of Drawing Associated With It", by Solomon J. Solomon, R.A. 1914


Also, here is a list of some that you can cut and paste into your browser:

Frank Duveneck

Heermann, Norbert, 1918. Frank Duveneck
http://www.archive.org/details/frankduveneck00heeruoft

http://www.the-athenaeum.org/art/by_artist.php?id=391 (55 images)


William Merritt Chase

Roof, Katharine Metcalf, 1917. The life and art of William Merritt Chase
http://www.archive.org/details/lifeartofwilliam00roofiala

http://www.the-athenaeum.org/art/by_artist.php?id=106 (293 images)


Winslow Homer

Cox, Kenyon, 1914. Winslow Homer
http://www.archive.org/details/winslowhomer00coxkuoft

http://www.the-athenaeum.org/art/by_artist.php?id=91 (458 images)


George Inness

Inness, George Jr,, 1917. Life, Art and Letters of George Inness.
http://www.archive.org/details/lifeartandletter005237mbp

http://www.the-athenaeum.org/art/by_artist.php?id=371 (181 images)


James McNeill Whistler (just the latest of many)

Hartmann, Sadakichi, 1910. The Whistler book; a monograph of the life and position in art of James McNeill Whistler
http://www.archive.org/details/whistlerbookmono00hartiala

Macfall, Haldane, [1906?] Whistler
http://www.archive.org/details/whistler00macfiala

http://www.the-athenaeum.org/art/by_artist.php?id=428 (180 works)

Furst, Herbert, 1920. Frank Brangwyn, R.A (woodcuts)
http://www.archive.org/details/frankbrangwynra00braniala

Sparrow, Walter Shaw, 1915. A book of bridges (illustr. Brangwyn)
http://www.archive.org/details/bookofbridgesspa00sparrich

Brooklyn Museum, 1921 - Historical paintings of the Slavic nations
http://www.archive.org/details/historicalpainti00muchiala

Loomis, Andrew, 1951. Successful Drawing.
http://acid.noobgrinder.com/Loomis/Andrew%20Loomis%20-%20Successful%20Drawing.rar (direct download link)

Storey, G. A. The Theory and Practice of Perspective.
http://www.gutenberg.org/files/20165/20165-h.zip (direct download link)

Watson, Ernest W., 1955. How To Use Creative Perspective.
http://www.archive.org/details/howtousecreative036957mbp (poor scans)

Longfellow, William Pitt Preble, 1901. Applied perspective, for architects and painters.
http://www.archive.org/details/appliedperspecti00longrich

Miller, Leslie William, 1887. The essentials of perspective, with illustrations drawn by the author.
http://www.archive.org/details/essentialsofpers00mill

Great collection of scholarly articles on the history of perspective (Kim Veltman)
http://www.mmi.unimaas.nl/people/Veltman/publications.htmPerspective