This excellent periodic table contains images of element samples and a searchable database of element information that is extensive but not overwhelming.
You can view many alternate forms of the periodic table,
from Mendeleev's original to a rotating three dimensional Giguere table (Quicktime required).
Carmen Giunta's Classical Chemistry site at LeMoyne is one of the
best chemical history resources on the Web. You can find several early versions of the periodic table
there, in HTML format.
Paper references
Crucibles : The Story of Chemistry by Bernard Jaffe (Dover, 1977)
A Short History of Chemistry by Michael Partington
The Norton History of Chemistry by William Brock (W. W. Norton, 1993)