The Public Domain Review

Selected images from a 1608 edition of Livre de Pourtraiture by Jehan Cousin the Younger (ca. 1522–1595), son of of the famous painter and sculptor Jehan Cousin the Elder (ca. 1490-ca. 1560) who was often compared to his contemporary, Albrecht Dürer. Just before his death, Jehan the Elder published his noted work Livre de Perspective in 1560 in which he noted that his son would soon be publishing a companion entitled, Livre de Pourtraiture. While there have been some reports that an edition of Livre de Pourtraiture was fist printed in 1571 and again in 1589, no copies appear to exist. Instead, the most likely first printing of the work was 1595 in Paris by David Leclerc, with woodcuts engraved by Jean Leclerc, just after Jehan Cousin the Younger’s death. The book is one of the most famous on the subject of artistic anatomy and was printed again and again into the late 17th century. (All images from the U.S. National Library of Medicine). DONATE NOW TO SAVE THE PUBLIC DOMAIN REVIEW! With our initial funding now come to an end, we need your support to help us continue our mission – to promote the public domain as an indispensable [...]

Four horse drawn fire engines roar up a snow-covered Newark, New Jersey, street while spectators watch from the sidelines. Until the mid-19th century most fire engines were maneuvered by men, but the introduction of horse-drawn fire engines considerably improved the response time to incidents. The first self-propelled steam engine was built in New York in 1841. It was the target of sabotage by firefighters and its use was discontinued, and motorized fire engines did not become commonplace until the early 20th century. (Wikipedia) Download from Internet Archive Note this film is in the public domain in the US, but may not be in other jurisdictions. Please check its status in your jurisdiction before re-using. DONATE NOW TO SAVE THE PUBLIC DOMAIN REVIEW! With our initial funding now come to an end, we need your support to help us continue our mission – to promote the public domain as an indispensable public good, and to curate and showcase the most interesting out-of-copyright works on the web. 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 [...]

Croatian Tales of Long Ago, by Ivana Brlić-Mažuranić, translated by F. S. Copeland; 1922; Frederick A. Stokes Co., New York. A seminal collection of short stories by the acclaimed children’s author Ivana Brlić-Mažuranić originally published in 1916 in Zagreb by the Matica Hrvatska publishing house. The collection is considered her masterpiece and it features a series of newly written fairy tales heavily inspired by motifs taken from ancient Slavic mythology of pre-Christian Croatia. Due to this way of combining original fantasy plots with folk mythology, Brlić-Mažuranić’s writing style has been compared by literary critics to Hans Christian Andersen and J. R. R. Tolkien. Indeed, the 1922 English translation by F.S. Copeland was published in London by George Allen & Unwin, the same company which would go onto publish Tolkien’s The Hobbit and Lord of the Rings trilogy. The illustrations in this 1922 edition are by Croatian artist Vladimir Kirin. (Wikipedia) The book is housed at the Internet Archive, contributed by the Boston Public Library. Hat-tip to Pinterest user Pensive Blackbird. DONATE NOW TO SAVE THE PUBLIC DOMAIN REVIEW! With our initial funding now come to an end, we need your support to help us continue our mission – to promote [...]

Marvin Spevack introduces the Curiosities of Literature, the epic cornucopia of e…

Marvin Spevack introduces the Curiosities of Literature, the epic cornucopia of essays on all things literary by Isaac D’Israeli: a scholar, man of letters and father of British Prime Minister Benjamin Disraeli. What may be most curious about Isaac D’Israeli’s Curiosities of Literature is the title itself. For D’Israeli curiosity was a blend of the original denotation, “investigation … characterized by special care,” and that of his own day, “inquisitive, desirous of information,” as in his reference to the grammar in Johnson’s Dictionary as being “curiously illustrated by the notes and researches of modern editors” and his regarding his friend Francis Douce’s library as being “curious”. Suitably for D’Israeli, the man of letters, literature meant even more than just “literature generally, the humanities”; it meant knowledge in the widest sense, without formality and restriction. A collection of essays, Curiosities of Literature – as the full title of the first edition of 1791 makes explicit, Consisting of Anecdotes, Characters, Sketches, and Observations, Literary, Critical, and Historical – has been rightly called “that library in miniature”. It is a library which evolved through a vigorously evolutionary process – a veritable sea change of selection, addition, omission, and revision – its fourteenth and [...]

A series of elaborate “skeleton leaf” arrangements, from the photographic studios of John P. Soule which stood on Washington Street in Boston from 1861 to 1882. As well as producing many pictures of Boston’s buildings, notable events (such as the 1869 National Peace Jubilee and the great fire of 1872), carte-de-visite portraits etc., Soule also produced these so called “Skeleton Leaves”. As well as comprising wreath shapes and crosses the leaves also served as elaborate frames for the portraits of individuals which were sometimes embedded within them. The process of drying out leaves in such a way was very popular at the time, with whole books being published that were devoted to the subject such as Phantom Flowers, a treatise on the art of producing skeleton leaves (1864). (All images from the Library of Congress). 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:

Passing English of the Victorian era, a dictionary of heterodox English, slang and phrase, by J. Redding Ware; 1909; Routledge, London. Passing English of the Victorian era, a dictionary of heterodox English, slang and phrase is complied and written by James Redding Ware, the pseudonym of Andrew Forrester the British writer who created one of the first female detectives in literary history in his book The Female Detective (1863). In this posthumously published volume Forrester turns his attention to the world of Victorian slang, in particular that found in the city of London. From the Preface: HERE is a numerically weak collection of instances of ‘Passing English’. It may be hoped that there are errors on every page, and also that no entry is ‘quite too dull’. Thousands of words and phrases in existence in 1870 have drifted away, or changed their forms, or been absorbed, while as many have been added or are being added. ‘Passing English’ ripples from countless sources, forming a river of new language which has its tide and its ebb, while its current brings down new ideas and carries away those that have dribbled out of fashion. Not only is ‘Passing English’ general ; it [...]

A recording from 1905 of one of the 19th century’s most famous opera singers Adelina Patti singing “The Last Rose of Summer“, a song based on the poem by Irish poet Thomas Moore. Although the sound quality isn’t great and her voice is past its prime (she was 62 yrs old), through the dust and scratches we can hear glimpses of why Giuseppe Verdi, writing in 1877, described her as being perhaps the finest singer who had ever lived. Patti’s piano accompanist for this recording and others she made at the time, Landon Ronald, recalls his experience working with her: “When the little (gramophone) trumpet gave forth the beautiful tones, she went into ecstasies! She threw kisses into the trumpet and kept on saying, ‘Ah! Mon Dieu! Maintenant je comprends pourquoi je suis Patti! Oh oui! Quelle voix! Quelle artiste! Je comprends tout!’ [Ah! My Lord! Now I understand why I am Patti! Oh yes! What a voice! What an artist! I understand everything!] Her enthusiasm was so naïve and genuine that the fact that she was praising her own voice seemed to us all to be right and proper.” (Wikipedia) MP3 Download Internet Archive Link SIGN UP TO THE [...]

During the time of his ‘spiritual awakening’ in 1744 the scientist and philosopher Emanuel Swedenborg kept a dream diary. Richard Lines looks at how, among the heavenly visions, there were also erotic dreams, the significance of which has been long overlooked. Among the many works of the eighteenth-century Swedish scientist, philosopher, religious teacher and visionary Emanuel Swedenborg (1688-1772) his private Drömbok (variously translated into English as Journal of Dreams or Dream Diary) has attracted and continues to attract special attention. Unlike the works he published in his lifetime, or intended to publish, which were all written in Latin, the Journal of Dreams was, in the words of a present-day Swedish Swedenborg scholar, written in ‘rather crude but expressive Swedish’ (Jonsson, 16). It has been described as a ‘difficult and obscure notebook’ (Jonsson, 130) which ‘reflects a profound psychical crisis’ (Jonsson, 150). The Journal covers a period from July 1743 until October 1744, a time when Swedenborg was going through a transition from life as a scientist and mining engineer to one as a ‘revelator’ and seer. As he was to put it himself: I for my part… had never expected to come into that state in which I am now; [...]

A Japanese woodcut by Kamekichi Tsunajima titled “Ryūkō eigo zukushi”, or “A Fashionable Melange of English Words”. The print shows images of animals, activities and objects each with their Japanese and English names. Unfortunately (or perhaps fortunately) some spelling mistakes have given rise to some interesting new activities such as “Refreshiug” and “Cuting Rice”, and the “Gaot”, “Hoise” and “Tea Po”. The introduction of activities (including the very Zen-like “Looking Moon”) give an interesting take on the often more object-orientated Western equivalents. Also worth noting the interesting additions of “Cross Child” rather than simply “Child” , and “Blank Book” rather than “Book”. (This image has been “restored” by Wikimedia user trialanderrors and is housed at Wikimedia Commons. The original can be found at the Library of Congress). 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: