The Public Domain Review
@publicdomainrev.bsky.social
Online journal and not-for-profit project dedicated to curious and compelling works from the history of art, literature, and ideas. Featuring 300+ essays — ✍️ submissions welcome. We also have a mighty fine prints shop.
https://publicdomainreview.org
https://publicdomainreview.org
19th-century Taoist ink drawing showing the circulation of ch’i through the human body: https://publicdomainreview.org/collection/chart-of-the-inner-landscape-1886
November 10, 2025 at 3:16 PM
19th-century Taoist ink drawing showing the circulation of ch’i through the human body: https://publicdomainreview.org/collection/chart-of-the-inner-landscape-1886
Select Specimens of the Theatre of the Hindus (1827) — The earliest English translations of six Sanskrit plays about gods, nymphs, human sacrifice, sorcery, and love: https://buff.ly/3AZgsaX
November 10, 2025 at 12:47 PM
Select Specimens of the Theatre of the Hindus (1827) — The earliest English translations of six Sanskrit plays about gods, nymphs, human sacrifice, sorcery, and love: https://buff.ly/3AZgsaX
“Beastly Clues: T. S. Eliot, Torquemada, and the Modernist Crossword” in which @roddyhj reveals the literary pleasures and imaginative creatures lurking in the lively grids of cryptic #crossword pioneer Torquemada: https://publicdomainreview.org/essay/beastly-clues
November 9, 2025 at 5:46 PM
“Beastly Clues: T. S. Eliot, Torquemada, and the Modernist Crossword” in which @roddyhj reveals the literary pleasures and imaginative creatures lurking in the lively grids of cryptic #crossword pioneer Torquemada: https://publicdomainreview.org/essay/beastly-clues
#Onthisday in 1918, just days before end of #WW1, French poet Apollinaire (weakened by a shrapnel wound) died in the Spanish flu epidemic. Later that year Calligrammes: Poems of Peace & War was published, a collection of his concrete/visual poems publicdomainreview.org/collection/a... #OTD
November 9, 2025 at 12:46 PM
#Onthisday in 1918, just days before end of #WW1, French poet Apollinaire (weakened by a shrapnel wound) died in the Spanish flu epidemic. Later that year Calligrammes: Poems of Peace & War was published, a collection of his concrete/visual poems publicdomainreview.org/collection/a... #OTD
Lydia Pyne on Yvette Borup Andrews' photographs from the American Museum of Natural History’s First and Second Asiatic Zoological Expeditions of the 1910s: https://publicdomainreview.org/essay/yvette-borup-andrews-photographing-central-asia
November 8, 2025 at 8:47 PM
Lydia Pyne on Yvette Borup Andrews' photographs from the American Museum of Natural History’s First and Second Asiatic Zoological Expeditions of the 1910s: https://publicdomainreview.org/essay/yvette-borup-andrews-photographing-central-asia
In his essay “The Nightwalker and the Nocturnal Picaresque”, Matthew Beaumont explores how the introduction of street lighting to 17th-century London engendered the birth of a peculiar new literary genre: https://publicdomainreview.org/essay/the-nightwalker-and-the-nocturnal-picaresque
November 8, 2025 at 5:46 PM
In his essay “The Nightwalker and the Nocturnal Picaresque”, Matthew Beaumont explores how the introduction of street lighting to 17th-century London engendered the birth of a peculiar new literary genre: https://publicdomainreview.org/essay/the-nightwalker-and-the-nocturnal-picaresque
Was the #FrenchRevolution the work of a covert Masonic cell known as the Illuminati? One man thought so. @MikeJayNet explores: https://publicdomainreview.org/essay/darkness-over-all-john-robison-and-the-birth-of-the-illuminati-conspiracy
November 8, 2025 at 3:16 PM
Was the #FrenchRevolution the work of a covert Masonic cell known as the Illuminati? One man thought so. @MikeJayNet explores: https://publicdomainreview.org/essay/darkness-over-all-john-robison-and-the-birth-of-the-illuminati-conspiracy
#OnThisDay in 1895, Wilhelm Roentgen discovered x-rays and altered the course of medical history. Pictured: images from one of the 1st series of x-rays ever produced (just 2 weeks after Roentgen published his discovery). More here: publicdomainreview.org/collection/e... #WorldRadiographyDay
November 8, 2025 at 12:47 PM
#OnThisDay in 1895, Wilhelm Roentgen discovered x-rays and altered the course of medical history. Pictured: images from one of the 1st series of x-rays ever produced (just 2 weeks after Roentgen published his discovery). More here: publicdomainreview.org/collection/e... #WorldRadiographyDay
“God the Creator”, opening illustration to a stunning 14th-century manuscript known as the Holkham Bible Picture Book. Explore more of its glorious depictions of bible scenes here: https://publicdomainreview.org/collection/holkham-bible
November 7, 2025 at 8:47 PM
“God the Creator”, opening illustration to a stunning 14th-century manuscript known as the Holkham Bible Picture Book. Explore more of its glorious depictions of bible scenes here: https://publicdomainreview.org/collection/holkham-bible
Amongst the assorted curiosities described in Olaus Magnus' 1555 tome on Nordic life was the morse — a hirsute, fearsome walrus-like beast, that was said to snooze upon cliffs while hanging by its teeth: publicdomainreview.org/essay/d...
November 7, 2025 at 5:47 PM
Amongst the assorted curiosities described in Olaus Magnus' 1555 tome on Nordic life was the morse — a hirsute, fearsome walrus-like beast, that was said to snooze upon cliffs while hanging by its teeth: publicdomainreview.org/essay/d...
With his Vera Historia, the 2nd-century satirist Lucian of Samosata wrote the 1st detailed account of a trip to the moon in the Western tradition and, some argue, also one of the earliest science fiction narratives. Aaron Parrett explores: publicdomainreview.org/essay/l...
November 7, 2025 at 3:18 PM
With his Vera Historia, the 2nd-century satirist Lucian of Samosata wrote the 1st detailed account of a trip to the moon in the Western tradition and, some argue, also one of the earliest science fiction narratives. Aaron Parrett explores: publicdomainreview.org/essay/l...
“Progress in Play: Board Games and the Meaning of History”, Alex Andriesse on the world of 18/19th-century board games in which players progress chronologically through history itself: https://publicdomainreview.org/essay/progress-in-play-board-games-and-the-meaning-of-history
November 7, 2025 at 12:45 PM
“Progress in Play: Board Games and the Meaning of History”, Alex Andriesse on the world of 18/19th-century board games in which players progress chronologically through history itself: https://publicdomainreview.org/essay/progress-in-play-board-games-and-the-meaning-of-history
Sit with a cup of old gown (or breaky-leg) and unbetty the lexical rooters of Victorian street slang: https://publicdomainreview.org/collection/dictionary-of-modern-slang/
November 6, 2025 at 5:48 PM
Sit with a cup of old gown (or breaky-leg) and unbetty the lexical rooters of Victorian street slang: https://publicdomainreview.org/collection/dictionary-of-modern-slang/
Perverse, grotesque, sensuous, inimitable — our latest post gathers, in high resolution, a selection of 74 key works by the era-defining English illustrator Aubrey Beardsley (1872–98): publicdomainreview.org/collection/a...
And prints in our shop here: publicdomainreview.org/shop/fine-ar...
And prints in our shop here: publicdomainreview.org/shop/fine-ar...
November 6, 2025 at 4:31 PM
Perverse, grotesque, sensuous, inimitable — our latest post gathers, in high resolution, a selection of 74 key works by the era-defining English illustrator Aubrey Beardsley (1872–98): publicdomainreview.org/collection/a...
And prints in our shop here: publicdomainreview.org/shop/fine-ar...
And prints in our shop here: publicdomainreview.org/shop/fine-ar...
156 years ago #onthisday, Top the wombat died. He was the pet of the poet and artist Dante Gabriel Rossetti who, upon Top's passing, created this self-portrait in mourning. More on Rossetti and co’s curious but longstanding fixation with the #wombat here: publicdomainreview.org/essay/o...
November 6, 2025 at 12:46 PM
156 years ago #onthisday, Top the wombat died. He was the pet of the poet and artist Dante Gabriel Rossetti who, upon Top's passing, created this self-portrait in mourning. More on Rossetti and co’s curious but longstanding fixation with the #wombat here: publicdomainreview.org/essay/o...
Reposted by The Public Domain Review
“The jumping spider”. (1914) by David Fairchild, Marian Fairchild, from Book of Monsters.
Source: Smithsonian Libraries and Archives / Biodiversity Heritage Library
https://pdimagearchive.org/images/5578a992-0b59-4b76-8250-dd04f94caa93
#insects #spiders #macrophotography #art #publicdomain
Source: Smithsonian Libraries and Archives / Biodiversity Heritage Library
https://pdimagearchive.org/images/5578a992-0b59-4b76-8250-dd04f94caa93
#insects #spiders #macrophotography #art #publicdomain
November 5, 2025 at 7:00 PM
“The jumping spider”. (1914) by David Fairchild, Marian Fairchild, from Book of Monsters.
Source: Smithsonian Libraries and Archives / Biodiversity Heritage Library
https://pdimagearchive.org/images/5578a992-0b59-4b76-8250-dd04f94caa93
#insects #spiders #macrophotography #art #publicdomain
Source: Smithsonian Libraries and Archives / Biodiversity Heritage Library
https://pdimagearchive.org/images/5578a992-0b59-4b76-8250-dd04f94caa93
#insects #spiders #macrophotography #art #publicdomain
Fireworks at the Ryogoku Bridge, by Utagawa Hiroshige, 1858.
Available to buy as a print in our shop: https://publicdomainreview.org/product/fireworks-at-the-ryogoku-bridge-2/ #bonfirenight #FireworksNight #fireworks
Available to buy as a print in our shop: https://publicdomainreview.org/product/fireworks-at-the-ryogoku-bridge-2/ #bonfirenight #FireworksNight #fireworks
November 5, 2025 at 8:46 PM
Fireworks at the Ryogoku Bridge, by Utagawa Hiroshige, 1858.
Available to buy as a print in our shop: https://publicdomainreview.org/product/fireworks-at-the-ryogoku-bridge-2/ #bonfirenight #FireworksNight #fireworks
Available to buy as a print in our shop: https://publicdomainreview.org/product/fireworks-at-the-ryogoku-bridge-2/ #bonfirenight #FireworksNight #fireworks
Illustrations from Japanese fireworks catalogues (ca. 1880s) — https://publicdomainreview.org/collection/japanese-fireworks-catalogues #newyearseve #fireworks
November 5, 2025 at 5:45 PM
Illustrations from Japanese fireworks catalogues (ca. 1880s) — https://publicdomainreview.org/collection/japanese-fireworks-catalogues #newyearseve #fireworks
Divide and concur — this radical plan from 1920, for "lasting peace" after WW1, proposed uniting central Europe into 24 wedge-shaped cantons which would radiate out from Vienna’s St. Stephen’s Cathedral: https://publicdomainreview.org/collection/unionization-of-central-europe/
November 5, 2025 at 3:15 PM
Divide and concur — this radical plan from 1920, for "lasting peace" after WW1, proposed uniting central Europe into 24 wedge-shaped cantons which would radiate out from Vienna’s St. Stephen’s Cathedral: https://publicdomainreview.org/collection/unionization-of-central-europe/
"Picturing Pyrotechnics" — @simon_werrett on how artists through the ages have responded to the challenge of representing firework displays: https://publicdomainreview.org/essay/picturing-pyrotechnics #bonfirenight #FireworksNight #fireworks
November 5, 2025 at 12:46 PM
"Picturing Pyrotechnics" — @simon_werrett on how artists through the ages have responded to the challenge of representing firework displays: https://publicdomainreview.org/essay/picturing-pyrotechnics #bonfirenight #FireworksNight #fireworks
Pages from a beautiful hand-written and illustrated treatise on firework design and manufacture published in 1785, including ‘blue-prints’ for the devices and explosive recipes. See the full book here: https://publicdomainreview.org/collection/manuscript-handbook-of-firework-design-1785 #Fireworks
November 5, 2025 at 8:03 AM
Pages from a beautiful hand-written and illustrated treatise on firework design and manufacture published in 1785, including ‘blue-prints’ for the devices and explosive recipes. See the full book here: https://publicdomainreview.org/collection/manuscript-handbook-of-firework-design-1785 #Fireworks
Sun and moon in pageant, from a 1596 manuscript about the eight lavish pageants held for the christening of Princess Elisabeth of Hesse, 1596.
One of 900+ prints available to buy from our online shop: https://publicdomainreview.org/product/sun-and-moon-in-pageant/
One of 900+ prints available to buy from our online shop: https://publicdomainreview.org/product/sun-and-moon-in-pageant/
November 4, 2025 at 8:45 PM
Sun and moon in pageant, from a 1596 manuscript about the eight lavish pageants held for the christening of Princess Elisabeth of Hesse, 1596.
One of 900+ prints available to buy from our online shop: https://publicdomainreview.org/product/sun-and-moon-in-pageant/
One of 900+ prints available to buy from our online shop: https://publicdomainreview.org/product/sun-and-moon-in-pageant/
Colour plates from Edwin D. Babbitt’s Principles of Light and Color (1878).
Babbit’s 600-page tome begins as a somewhat sober primer on color theory but goes on to explore the idea that our physical and psychic ills can be cured via “chromotherapy”: publicdomainreview.org/collection/p...
Babbit’s 600-page tome begins as a somewhat sober primer on color theory but goes on to explore the idea that our physical and psychic ills can be cured via “chromotherapy”: publicdomainreview.org/collection/p...
November 4, 2025 at 5:48 PM
Colour plates from Edwin D. Babbitt’s Principles of Light and Color (1878).
Babbit’s 600-page tome begins as a somewhat sober primer on color theory but goes on to explore the idea that our physical and psychic ills can be cured via “chromotherapy”: publicdomainreview.org/collection/p...
Babbit’s 600-page tome begins as a somewhat sober primer on color theory but goes on to explore the idea that our physical and psychic ills can be cured via “chromotherapy”: publicdomainreview.org/collection/p...
These 1920s costumes for dancing — more sculpture than clothing — by the avant-garde couple Lavinia Schulz and Walter Holdt, were born of an artistic philosophy of suffering: https://publicdomainreview.org/collection/tanzmasken
November 4, 2025 at 3:18 PM
These 1920s costumes for dancing — more sculpture than clothing — by the avant-garde couple Lavinia Schulz and Walter Holdt, were born of an artistic philosophy of suffering: https://publicdomainreview.org/collection/tanzmasken
German composer, pianist, organist and conductor Felix Mendelssohn died #onthisday in 1847 aged just 38. Pictured here, more than 50 years later, his music as a "thought form" emanating from a church: https://publicdomainreview.org/essay/victorian-occultism-and-the-art-of-synesthesia #otd
November 4, 2025 at 12:47 PM
German composer, pianist, organist and conductor Felix Mendelssohn died #onthisday in 1847 aged just 38. Pictured here, more than 50 years later, his music as a "thought form" emanating from a church: https://publicdomainreview.org/essay/victorian-occultism-and-the-art-of-synesthesia #otd