You can install an old version of an npm package using the @ syntax:

npm install <package>@<version>

Example:

npm install cowsay

installs the latest version (e.g. 1.3.1).

Install version 1.2.0 with:

npm install cowsay@1.2.0

The same can be done with global packages:

npm install -g webpack@4.16.4

You might also be interested in listing all the previous versions of a package. You can do it with npm view <package> versions:

❯ npm view cowsay versions

[ '1.0.0',
  '1.0.1',
  '1.0.2',
  '1.0.3',
  '1.1.0',
  '1.1.1',
  '1.1.2',
  '1.1.3',
  '1.1.4',
  '1.1.5',
  '1.1.6',
  '1.1.7',
  '1.1.8',
  '1.1.9',
  '1.2.0',
  '1.2.1',
  '1.3.0',
  '1.3.1' ]

Lessons in this unit:

0:	Introduction
1:	How to use or execute a package installed using npm
2:	npm dependencies and devDependencies
3:	How to fix the "Missing write access" error when using npm
4:	npm can install packages in the parent folder
5:	▶︎ Install an older version of an npm package
6:	Find the installed version of an npm package
7:	How to test an npm package locally
8:	npm global or local packages
9:	What are peer dependencies in a Node module?
10:	`npm run dev` is a long-running program
11:	Semantic Versioning using npm
12:	Uninstalling npm packages with `npm uninstall`
13:	An introduction to the npm package manager
14:	The npx Node Package Runner
15:	The package.json guide
16:	The package-lock.json file
17:	What is pnpm?
18:	Should you commit the node_modules folder to Git?
19:	Update all the Node dependencies to their latest version
20:	Where does npm install the packages?
21:	Bumping Node.js dependencies
22:	Run package.json scripts upon any file changes in a folder