Etching was used since the 15th century, but often produced simple images with unprecise lines. Copper Engraving was a highly popular technique for most of the time, not only because it gave the artist a lot of possibilites. The later, closely related Steel Graving allowed for significant higher amount of copies. Wood Carving is closely related to book printing and therefore has a special relation to this collection. Finally, in the 19th century modern techniques like Autotype, Lithography and Photography emerged.

In the 16th century in Western Europe a fur-lined overgown was popular among men. The 17th century is characterized by a stiff collar called ruff. The stiffness of the garment forced upright posture, and their impracticality led them to become a symbol of wealth and status. Other notable fashions included full, slashed sleeves and tall or broad hats with brims. In the 18th century the wide shoulder line disappeared and a long coat made of silk or velvet combined with breeches was in fashion. In the 19th century trousers, frock coats and top hats became popular. By the 20th century men’s fashion got plainer with suits, vests and sack coats.

Throughout the 17th century, men wore their hair mostly long with curls well past the shoulders. Although men had worn wigs for years to cover up thinning hair or baldness, the popularity of the wig as standard wardrobe is usually credited to King Louis XIV of France. In the end of the 18th century we can see the influence of USA. Wigs were generally short, but long wigs continued to be popular with the older generation. Wigs were made with a lot of white powder. In the 19th century hair was generally worn short, brushed back from the forehead.

As we can see in the beginning of 17th century frames were very detailed, had different patterns (leaf or flower patterns),probably the influence of Renaissance period. The end of 17th the frames got mostly round and rectangular forms, sometimes with typo around it. As we can see in the 18th century the frames became more simple and in the 19th they almost disappeared.

The Gothic Type (German: "Fraktur") was the most popular font for over 400 years of book publishing. In this collection, it can be seen across all centuries. In the early years, Majuscule Type is commonly found, often written in latin. Since ca. 1780 the use of swung, decorative type and lines is noticeable. In the middle of the 19th century there is a trend towards hand written signatures. While Antiqua Fonts with serifs are timelessly found in every century, there are almost no examples of sans-serif types in this collection (although popular sans-serif fonts existed since the 19th century).

Symbols and ornaments were popular in frames and backgrounds of the portraits from the 16th to the 18th century. By the 19th century they completely disappeared as the style in general got more minimalistic. Angels, crosses, flora and fauna were often depicted in portraits. Themes also included battles, science and politics.