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
More than half a century before the Cubists supposedly “invented” collage, the sensational “blood collages” of Victorian businessman John Bingley Garland, ca. 1850–1860: https://publicdomainreview.org/collection/garland-blood-collages
November 25, 2025 at 3:15 PM
More than half a century before the Cubists supposedly “invented” collage, the sensational “blood collages” of Victorian businessman John Bingley Garland, ca. 1850–1860: https://publicdomainreview.org/collection/garland-blood-collages
Engraving of the three Cherokee Indians who visited London in 1762 to meet King George III. Read about this remarkable trip in the memoirs of the Anglo-American colonial officer Lieutenant Henry Timberlake, who travelled with them as their emissary: http://bit.ly/1OeLGKd
November 25, 2025 at 12:45 PM
Engraving of the three Cherokee Indians who visited London in 1762 to meet King George III. Read about this remarkable trip in the memoirs of the Anglo-American colonial officer Lieutenant Henry Timberlake, who travelled with them as their emissary: http://bit.ly/1OeLGKd
Surinam Caiman biting South American False Coral Snake, 1719.
Engraving from Maria Sibylla Merian's pioneering Metamorphosis insectorum Surinamensium (Insects of Suriname), first published in 1705.
Some prints of hers in our online shop here: publicdomainreview.org/shop/fine-art-prints/artist/m...
Engraving from Maria Sibylla Merian's pioneering Metamorphosis insectorum Surinamensium (Insects of Suriname), first published in 1705.
Some prints of hers in our online shop here: publicdomainreview.org/shop/fine-art-prints/artist/m...
November 24, 2025 at 8:46 PM
Surinam Caiman biting South American False Coral Snake, 1719.
Engraving from Maria Sibylla Merian's pioneering Metamorphosis insectorum Surinamensium (Insects of Suriname), first published in 1705.
Some prints of hers in our online shop here: publicdomainreview.org/shop/fine-art-prints/artist/m...
Engraving from Maria Sibylla Merian's pioneering Metamorphosis insectorum Surinamensium (Insects of Suriname), first published in 1705.
Some prints of hers in our online shop here: publicdomainreview.org/shop/fine-art-prints/artist/m...
What links Sherlock Holmes, the British invasion of Tibet, and a royal gambling scandal? Andrew Glazzard investigates the domestic and imperial subterfuge beneath the surface of Holmes’ 1903 return to Baker Street in Conan Doyle’s “The Empty House” — publicdomainreview.org/essay/i...
November 24, 2025 at 5:46 PM
What links Sherlock Holmes, the British invasion of Tibet, and a royal gambling scandal? Andrew Glazzard investigates the domestic and imperial subterfuge beneath the surface of Holmes’ 1903 return to Baker Street in Conan Doyle’s “The Empty House” — publicdomainreview.org/essay/i...
Frontispiece by Jay van Everen for American folklorist Parker Fillmore's The Laughing Prince: A Book of Yugoslav Fairy Tales and Folk Tales (1921). Read the (loosely adapted) stories, and see more illustrations, on our website: https://publicdomainreview.org/collection/fillmore-the-laughing-prince
November 24, 2025 at 3:16 PM
Frontispiece by Jay van Everen for American folklorist Parker Fillmore's The Laughing Prince: A Book of Yugoslav Fairy Tales and Folk Tales (1921). Read the (loosely adapted) stories, and see more illustrations, on our website: https://publicdomainreview.org/collection/fillmore-the-laughing-prince
Over 150 yrs ago, George Perkins Marsh urged his readers to consider the disastrous environmental effects of deforestation, over-mining, and other human actions. Read more about this remarkable thinker and his extraordinary book, Man and Nature (1864) publicdomainreview.org/collection/m...
November 24, 2025 at 12:45 PM
Over 150 yrs ago, George Perkins Marsh urged his readers to consider the disastrous environmental effects of deforestation, over-mining, and other human actions. Read more about this remarkable thinker and his extraordinary book, Man and Nature (1864) publicdomainreview.org/collection/m...
From a triptych known as “Cats for the 53 Stations of the Tōkaidō” by Utagawa Kuniyoshi (ca. 1847) — a spoof of the popular Japanese prints subject depicting the Edo to Kyoto coastal road.
⠀
Available as a print from our online shop — publicdomainreview.org/product/c... #caturday
⠀
Available as a print from our online shop — publicdomainreview.org/product/c... #caturday
November 23, 2025 at 8:46 PM
From a triptych known as “Cats for the 53 Stations of the Tōkaidō” by Utagawa Kuniyoshi (ca. 1847) — a spoof of the popular Japanese prints subject depicting the Edo to Kyoto coastal road.
⠀
Available as a print from our online shop — publicdomainreview.org/product/c... #caturday
⠀
Available as a print from our online shop — publicdomainreview.org/product/c... #caturday
To raise money for the project we sell beautiful prints through our online shop. Superb archival quality. Unframed or framed ready to hang. Explore our collection of 900+ images here: publicdomainreview.org/shop/f...
And see our gift cards here: publicdomainreview.org/shop/gift-cards/undefined...
And see our gift cards here: publicdomainreview.org/shop/gift-cards/undefined...
November 23, 2025 at 5:46 PM
To raise money for the project we sell beautiful prints through our online shop. Superb archival quality. Unframed or framed ready to hang. Explore our collection of 900+ images here: publicdomainreview.org/shop/f...
And see our gift cards here: publicdomainreview.org/shop/gift-cards/undefined...
And see our gift cards here: publicdomainreview.org/shop/gift-cards/undefined...
#SundayReads: A. D. Manns on the speculative origins of Aradia, "the Gospel of the Witches"... https://publicdomainreview.org/essay/roma-lister-aradia/
November 23, 2025 at 3:15 PM
#SundayReads: A. D. Manns on the speculative origins of Aradia, "the Gospel of the Witches"... https://publicdomainreview.org/essay/roma-lister-aradia/
It's easy enough to identify the three protagonists as Adam, Eve and the Devil, but what are they doing in the water? A peculiar representation of the Temptation? Sarah Toulouse from @BibChampsLibres explores: https://publicdomainreview.org/essay/the-other-lives-of-adam-and-eve
November 23, 2025 at 12:48 PM
It's easy enough to identify the three protagonists as Adam, Eve and the Devil, but what are they doing in the water? A peculiar representation of the Temptation? Sarah Toulouse from @BibChampsLibres explores: https://publicdomainreview.org/essay/the-other-lives-of-adam-and-eve
With its various and playful explorations of authenticity — "found documents", metafictional games with readers, etc. — The Private Memoirs and Confessions of a Justified Sinner (1824) by James Hogg, anticipates some of postmodernism's best trickery: http://buff.ly/2p3UZIt
November 22, 2025 at 8:45 PM
With its various and playful explorations of authenticity — "found documents", metafictional games with readers, etc. — The Private Memoirs and Confessions of a Justified Sinner (1824) by James Hogg, anticipates some of postmodernism's best trickery: http://buff.ly/2p3UZIt
The rather baffling entry for “X” in The Merry Cobler and His Musical Alphabet (ca. 1800). See the other 25 letters here: http://buff.ly/1QGXAjR
And more examples of how the letter “X” has been treated in alphabet books here: https://publicdomainreview.org/collection/x-is-for
And more examples of how the letter “X” has been treated in alphabet books here: https://publicdomainreview.org/collection/x-is-for
November 22, 2025 at 5:48 PM
The rather baffling entry for “X” in The Merry Cobler and His Musical Alphabet (ca. 1800). See the other 25 letters here: http://buff.ly/1QGXAjR
And more examples of how the letter “X” has been treated in alphabet books here: https://publicdomainreview.org/collection/x-is-for
And more examples of how the letter “X” has been treated in alphabet books here: https://publicdomainreview.org/collection/x-is-for
#OnThisDay in 1916 Jack London died aged just 40. A year earlier he'd published his last book, The Star Rover — a strange tale about solitary confinement and interstellar reincarnation, which speaks of the dreams and struggles of the man himself: publicdomainreview.org/essay/a... #OTD
November 22, 2025 at 12:47 PM
#OnThisDay in 1916 Jack London died aged just 40. A year earlier he'd published his last book, The Star Rover — a strange tale about solitary confinement and interstellar reincarnation, which speaks of the dreams and struggles of the man himself: publicdomainreview.org/essay/a... #OTD
Contents of an ostrich’s stomach extracted after its death. Taken at the Zoological Society of London, ca. 1930: https://publicdomainreview.org/collection/contents-of-an-ostrich-s-stomach-ca-1930
November 21, 2025 at 5:45 PM
Contents of an ostrich’s stomach extracted after its death. Taken at the Zoological Society of London, ca. 1930: https://publicdomainreview.org/collection/contents-of-an-ostrich-s-stomach-ca-1930
In Greenwich Village, there used to be “sand hills, sometimes rising to a height of 100 feet, while to the south was a marsh tenanted by wild fowl and crossed by a brook flowing from the north.” More deep history of NYC in Charles Hemstreet’s 1899 book:
publicdomainreview.org/collection/n...
publicdomainreview.org/collection/n...
November 21, 2025 at 3:17 PM
In Greenwich Village, there used to be “sand hills, sometimes rising to a height of 100 feet, while to the south was a marsh tenanted by wild fowl and crossed by a brook flowing from the north.” More deep history of NYC in Charles Hemstreet’s 1899 book:
publicdomainreview.org/collection/n...
publicdomainreview.org/collection/n...
#OnThisDay in 1811, on a lake’s edge near Potsdam, a 34-yr-old Kleist shot himself dead in a suicide pact with his terminally ill lover. He left behind him just under a decade of intense literary output. Steven Howe explores his first dramatic work: publicdomainreview.org/essay/t... #OTD
November 21, 2025 at 12:46 PM
#OnThisDay in 1811, on a lake’s edge near Potsdam, a 34-yr-old Kleist shot himself dead in a suicide pact with his terminally ill lover. He left behind him just under a decade of intense literary output. Steven Howe explores his first dramatic work: publicdomainreview.org/essay/t... #OTD
Blue Grotto (Capri Island, Italy), by Detroit Publishing Co., ca. 1890.
One of 900+ prints available as a print from our online shop, all profits back into the project — https://publicdomainreview.org/product/blue-grotto-capri-island-italy
One of 900+ prints available as a print from our online shop, all profits back into the project — https://publicdomainreview.org/product/blue-grotto-capri-island-italy
November 20, 2025 at 8:45 PM
Blue Grotto (Capri Island, Italy), by Detroit Publishing Co., ca. 1890.
One of 900+ prints available as a print from our online shop, all profits back into the project — https://publicdomainreview.org/product/blue-grotto-capri-island-italy
One of 900+ prints available as a print from our online shop, all profits back into the project — https://publicdomainreview.org/product/blue-grotto-capri-island-italy
Adorn your body and coffee in PDR goodness!!!
We’ve just added 8 new T-shirts (now 100% organic cotton) and 13 new mugs to our online shop.
T-shirts: publicdomainreview.org/shop/t-shirts/
Mugs: publicdomainreview.org/shop/mugs/
We’ve just added 8 new T-shirts (now 100% organic cotton) and 13 new mugs to our online shop.
T-shirts: publicdomainreview.org/shop/t-shirts/
Mugs: publicdomainreview.org/shop/mugs/
November 20, 2025 at 5:52 PM
Adorn your body and coffee in PDR goodness!!!
We’ve just added 8 new T-shirts (now 100% organic cotton) and 13 new mugs to our online shop.
T-shirts: publicdomainreview.org/shop/t-shirts/
Mugs: publicdomainreview.org/shop/mugs/
We’ve just added 8 new T-shirts (now 100% organic cotton) and 13 new mugs to our online shop.
T-shirts: publicdomainreview.org/shop/t-shirts/
Mugs: publicdomainreview.org/shop/mugs/
Plate from M. E. Descourtilz’s Atlas des Champignons (1827), a delightful series of colour lithographs of mushrooms, divided into those that are edible, poisonous and “suspect” — https://publicdomainreview.org/coll.../atlas-des-champignons
November 20, 2025 at 3:16 PM
Plate from M. E. Descourtilz’s Atlas des Champignons (1827), a delightful series of colour lithographs of mushrooms, divided into those that are edible, poisonous and “suspect” — https://publicdomainreview.org/coll.../atlas-des-champignons
Albert Alberg's Frost Flowers on the Window (1899) communicates a “new, truly great discovery”, that frost is able to make “ice photographs”, expressing the form of objects near it — https://publicdomainreview.org/collection/frost-flowers
(Image: ca. 1905 photograph of frost by Wilson Bentley)
(Image: ca. 1905 photograph of frost by Wilson Bentley)
November 20, 2025 at 12:46 PM
Albert Alberg's Frost Flowers on the Window (1899) communicates a “new, truly great discovery”, that frost is able to make “ice photographs”, expressing the form of objects near it — https://publicdomainreview.org/collection/frost-flowers
(Image: ca. 1905 photograph of frost by Wilson Bentley)
(Image: ca. 1905 photograph of frost by Wilson Bentley)
Triptych by Kawanabe Kyōsai depicting a battle of frogs, 1864.
⠀
Kyōsai is considered both Japan’s first political caricaturist and one of the first authors of a manga magazine (Eshunbun Nipponchi).
⠀
Prints to buy here: https://publicdomainreview.org/shop/fine-art-prints/artist/kawanabe-kyosai
⠀
Kyōsai is considered both Japan’s first political caricaturist and one of the first authors of a manga magazine (Eshunbun Nipponchi).
⠀
Prints to buy here: https://publicdomainreview.org/shop/fine-art-prints/artist/kawanabe-kyosai
November 19, 2025 at 8:48 PM
Triptych by Kawanabe Kyōsai depicting a battle of frogs, 1864.
⠀
Kyōsai is considered both Japan’s first political caricaturist and one of the first authors of a manga magazine (Eshunbun Nipponchi).
⠀
Prints to buy here: https://publicdomainreview.org/shop/fine-art-prints/artist/kawanabe-kyosai
⠀
Kyōsai is considered both Japan’s first political caricaturist and one of the first authors of a manga magazine (Eshunbun Nipponchi).
⠀
Prints to buy here: https://publicdomainreview.org/shop/fine-art-prints/artist/kawanabe-kyosai
The Berlin of the 1920s is often associated with a certain excess and decadence, but it was a different side of the city — the “sobriety and desolation” of its industrial and working-class districts — which came to obsess the painter Gustav Wunderwald: publicdomainreview.org/essay/g...
November 19, 2025 at 3:16 PM
The Berlin of the 1920s is often associated with a certain excess and decadence, but it was a different side of the city — the “sobriety and desolation” of its industrial and working-class districts — which came to obsess the painter Gustav Wunderwald: publicdomainreview.org/essay/g...
One of the first books to be banned and burnt in the New World was by an ancestor of the author Thomas Pynchon. More in our essay by Daniel Crown “The Price of Suffering”: https://publicdomainreview.org/essay/the-price-of-suffering-william-pynchon-and-the-meritorious-price-of-our-redemption
November 19, 2025 at 12:46 PM
One of the first books to be banned and burnt in the New World was by an ancestor of the author Thomas Pynchon. More in our essay by Daniel Crown “The Price of Suffering”: https://publicdomainreview.org/essay/the-price-of-suffering-william-pynchon-and-the-meritorious-price-of-our-redemption
Throughout his masterpiece, In Search of Lost Time, Marcel #Proust (who died #onthisday in 1922) would time and again turn to the visual arts. Explore here the artworks he mentions including paintings by Giotto, Botticelli and Poussin: publicdomainreview.org/collection/p... #OTD
November 18, 2025 at 5:45 PM
Throughout his masterpiece, In Search of Lost Time, Marcel #Proust (who died #onthisday in 1922) would time and again turn to the visual arts. Explore here the artworks he mentions including paintings by Giotto, Botticelli and Poussin: publicdomainreview.org/collection/p... #OTD
The precise meaning of the Fool’s Cap Map of the World (ca. 1585) remains a mystery. Does the fool represent our world, the vain strivings of its denizens? Or the futility of cartography itself? See the post on our website: https://publicdomainreview.org/collection/fools-cap-map-of-the-world/
November 18, 2025 at 3:18 PM
The precise meaning of the Fool’s Cap Map of the World (ca. 1585) remains a mystery. Does the fool represent our world, the vain strivings of its denizens? Or the futility of cartography itself? See the post on our website: https://publicdomainreview.org/collection/fools-cap-map-of-the-world/