The coronavirus quarantine hasn't been easy on anyone, but cultural institutions around the world have stepped up and offered virtual visits and activities to help home-bound people maintain sanity. Earlier this year, museums and libraries launched the fourth annual Color Our Collections initiative, offering printable coloring pages and adult coloring books of objects in their archives. Some are intricate and highly detailed; others are simple line drawings that invite creativity—so they're perfect for all ages. Here are a few of our favorite coloring pages that you can print at home right now.
1. Trinity Hall, Cambridge Printable Coloring Pages
The five-page coloring book from Cambridge University's Trinity Hall library is worth downloading for this resplendent cat alone. You'll also get a challenging 15th-century drawing of Venice, a "many branched Tulip," and other designs.
Download it: PDF
2. Huntington Library, Art Museum, and Botanical Gardens Printable Coloring Pages
Six pages of vintage art and design make up the coloring book from the Huntington Library in Southern California, a research institution focused on the humanities. Choose from a Suffragist magazine cover illustration, a traditional quilt pattern, a diagram depicting "the mechanics of arithmetic," and other pictures.
Download it: PDF
3. Theodore Roosevelt Inaugural Site Printable Coloring Pages
This coloring book comes from the Buffalo, New York, mansion where TR was sworn in as president following the assassination of William McKinley in 1901. Four pages, including a newspaper illustration of the inauguration ceremony, will delight die-hard Tedheads.
Download it: PDF
4. Biodiversity Heritage Library Printable Coloring Pages
The Biodiversity Heritage Library's coloring book features illustrations by female natural history artists on subjects ranging from shells to snakes to mushrooms. Each of the 10 pages offers a mini version of the real illustration, so you can choose to render a facsimile or go crazy with your colors.
Download it: PDF
5. Center for the History of Medicine Printable Coloring Pages
Harvard University's Center for the History of Medicine produced a 10-page book of printable coloring pages featuring 19th-century anatomical illustrations and diagrams for obsolete medical treatments. Just what the doctor ordered!
Download it: PDF
6. Brunel University London Printable Coloring Pages
Named for the visionary 19th-century engineer Isambard Kingdom Brunel, this university's coloring book offers four pages around the theme of the industrial revolution. An 1848 train locomotive dubbed "Little England" and a 1734 diagram of the solar system are highlights.
Download it: PDF
7. The Harley-Davidson Archives Printable Coloring Pages
This surprisingly elegant three-page coloring book includes drawings of vintage motorcycles, such as a 1920 ad for Harley-Davidson's opposed twin Sport Model, the "Womans Out-Door Companion."
Download it: PDF
8. University of Florida Department of Entomology and Nematology Printable Coloring Pages
The creators of this coloring book have one goal: "to spread the love of spiders." Its 13 pages of original drawings will introduce you to Floridian fauna like the spiny-backed orb weaver, magnolia jumper, and ogre-faced spider.
Download it: PDF
9. Boston Athenaeum Printable Coloring Pages
This three-page coloring book from the Boston Athenaeum, one of the country's oldest independent libraries, puts quality over quantity. Artists can choose between 16th-century sea monsters, a lovely botanical print, and a charming farmhouse scene.
Download it: PDF
10. The Royal Horticultural Society Libraries Printable Coloring Pages
Thirteen pages of historical gardening images await you in the Royal Horticultural Society's coloring book. A determined Victorian man in top hat and tails pushing a lawn mower, a family of cabbages, a guide to apples, and numerous plant drawings will keep colorers busy for hours.
Download it: PDF