The Public Domain Review

Jo Pugh, researcher at the UK National Archives, explores the newly digitised letters of former British Prime Minister William Pitt the Younger and his sister Hester, and how their contents shed an intimate light on one of the most politically influential families in British history.

A series of animated GIFs excerpted by Okkult Motion Pictures from the French caricaturist, cartoonist and animator Émile Cohl’s Fantasmagorie. Made in 1908, this hand-drawn animation is considered by many film historians to be the very first animated cartoon. Despite appearances it is not created on a blackboard but rather on paper, the blackboard effect achieved by shooting each of the 700 drawings onto negative film. The title is a reference to the “fantasmograph”, a mid-19th century variant of the magic lantern that projected ghostly images on to surrounding walls. You can see the full film featured in our Films collection here. See more creations from Okkult Motion Pictures here in our Animated GIFs Collection. Okkult Motion Pictures is the brainchild of Marco Calabrese and Alessandro Scali from Turin, Italy. With the Excerpts project, Okkult Motion Pictures aims to bring to light the most interesting and unusual out-of-copyright moving images occulted in Internet archives, through a series of animated gifs. A digital archivalism project for the diffusion of open knowledge. Okkult Motion Pictures official website: / Facebook / Twitter All Okkult animated GIFs published here under a CC-BY-SA license. HELP TO KEEP US AFLOAT The Public Domain Review is a […]

An animated film by French caricaturist, cartoonist and animator Émile Cohl. It is one of the earliest examples of hand-drawn animation, and considered by many film historians to be the very first animated cartoon.

Rendition by Welsh-born baritone singer J. W. Myers of a song written and composed in 1904 by fellow countryman George "Honey Boy" Evans. The song would go on to be recorded, with slight variations, by a string of popular musicians including Jonny Cash and more recently Natalie Merchant.

A series of animated GIFs excerpted by Okkult Motion Pictures from Max Fleischer’s Bubbles, part of his Out of the Inkwell series, which also includes The Tantalizing Fly. You can see the full film featured on the Internet Archive. See more creations from Okkult Motion Pictures here in our Animated GIFs Collection. Okkult Motion Pictures is the brainchild of Marco Calabrese and Alessandro Scali from Turin, Italy. With the Excerpts project, Okkult Motion Pictures aims to bring to light the most interesting and unusual out-of-copyright moving images occulted in Internet archives, through a series of animated gifs. A digital archivalism project for the diffusion of open knowledge. Okkult Motion Pictures official website: / Facebook / Twitter All Okkult animated GIFs published here under a CC-BY-SA license. HELP TO KEEP US AFLOAT The Public Domain Review is a not-for-profit project and we rely on support from our readers to stay afloat. If you like what we do then please do consider making a donation. We welcome all contributions, big or small - everything helps! Become a Patron Small angel : £3.00 GBP - monthly Medium sized hero : £5.00 GBP - monthly Large emperor : £10.00 GBP - monthly Vast deity […]

According to Wikipedia Radiolaria are “protozoa of (diameter 0.1–0.2 mm) that produce intricate mineral skeletons, typically with a central capsule dividing the cell into the inner and outer portions of endoplasm and ectoplasm. They are found as zooplankton throughout the ocean, and their skeletal remains make up a large part of the cover of the ocean floor as siliceous ooze.” In 1862 the German biologist, philosopher and artist Ernst Haeckel published an image laden monograph on these microscopic organisms, turning his eye and exquisite line to their intricate and varied forms. For more on Haeckel check out our article “Ernst Haeckel and the Unity of Culture” by Dr Mario A. Di Gregorio, on Haeckel’s theory of “monism” which lies behind the mesmerising illustrations of his Kunstformen Der Natur. Housed at: Biodiversity Heritage Library | From: Harvard University Underlying Work: PD Worldwide | Digital Copy: No Additional Rights Download: Right click on image or see source for higher res versions HELP TO KEEP US AFLOAT The Public Domain Review is a not-for-profit project and we rely on support from our readers to stay afloat. If you like what we do then please do consider making a donation. We welcome all contributions, […]

Why do we so seldom see people smiling in painted portraits? Nicholas Jeeves explor…

Blackboard Sketching, by Frederick Whitney; 1908; Milton Bradley, Springfield, Mass., New York. A book by Massachusetts based artist and teacher Frederik Whitney (1858-1949) on the lost art of blackboard drawing. As the introduction states: “Ability to draw easily and well on the blackboard is a power which every teacher of children covets. Such drawing is a language which never fails to hold attention and awaken delighted interest”. Housed at: Internet Archive | From: California Digital Library Underlying Work: PD U.S. & PD 50 years | Digital Copy: No Additional Rights Download: PDF | Torrent HELP TO KEEP US AFLOAT The Public Domain Review is a not-for-profit project and we rely on support from our readers to stay afloat. If you like what we do then please do consider making a donation. We welcome all contributions, big or small - everything helps! Become a Patron Small angel : £3.00 GBP - monthly Medium sized hero : £5.00 GBP - monthly Large emperor : £10.00 GBP - monthly Vast deity : £20.00 GBP - monthly Make a one off Donation SIGN UP TO THE NEWSLETTER Sign up to get our free fortnightly newsletter which shall deliver direct to your inbox the latest […]

“Oh, yes. The entrée is definitely locally sourced.” AND THE WINNER IS… FIRST PLACE “Oh, yes. The entrée is definitely locally sourced.” (submitted by Amy Vail, from Rochester, U.S.A) SECOND PLACE “I didn't waste your time! The classified ad clearly stated No Pets Allowed.” (submitted by Vivian Guy, from Tulsa, U.S.A) THIRD PLACE “Quick! TV inspector’s coming…” (submitted by Andres, London, UK) Many congratulations to Amy Vail from Rochester New York for providing the winning caption and being the well deserved recipient of a Public Domain Review tote bag! For those wondering, the image is from Volume 1 of a 15th century Belgian manuscript entitled Anciennes et nouvelles chroniques d’Angleterre (c.1470-1480) by Jean Wavrin, housed and digitised by the British Library (Royal 15 E IV). The picture is a detail from folio 52 showing Morbidus and the sea monster. Many thanks to the wonderful blog Demonagerie through which we stumbled across the image. Didn’t win this time? Worry not, try your hand again, in our Caption Competition #2! Learn more about The Public Domain Review Caption Competition by visiting the main competition page HERE. HELP TO KEEP US AFLOAT The Public Domain Review is a not-for-profit project and we rely […]

(seem more on our Pinterest Board). HELP TO KEEP US AFLOAT The Public Domain Review is a not-for-profit project and we rely on support from our readers to stay afloat. If you like what we do then please do consider making a donation. We welcome all contributions, big or small - everything helps! Become a Patron Small angel : £3.00 GBP - monthly Medium sized hero : £5.00 GBP - monthly Large emperor : £10.00 GBP - monthly Vast deity : £20.00 GBP - monthly Make a one off Donation SIGN UP TO THE NEWSLETTER Sign up to get our free fortnightly newsletter which shall deliver direct to your inbox the latest brand new article and a digest of the most recent collection items. Simply add your details to the form below and click the link you receive via email to confirm your subscription! Name: E-mail: