The Public Domain Review

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Why Women Should Not Vote (1917)

Tuesday 27 October 2020 at 13:35

A humorous 1917 blank notebook invites consideration of the fight for women’s suffrage in the USA.

Source: https://publicdomainreview.org/collection/why-women-should-not-vote


The Uncertain Heavens: Christiaan Huygens’ Ideas of Extraterrestrial Life

Wednesday 21 October 2020 at 13:03

During the 17th century, as knowledge of the Universe and its contents increased, so did speculation about life on other planets. One such source, as Hugh Aldersey-Williams explores, was Dutch astronomer, mathematician, and inventor Christiaan Huygens, whose earlier work on probability paved the way for his very modern evaluation of what alien life might look like.

Source: https://publicdomainreview.org/essay/the-uncertain-heavens


Sadakichi Hartmann’s Conversations with Walt Whitman (1895)

Wednesday 21 October 2020 at 08:46

Short pamphlet of conversations with Whitman in his last years by the art critic and poet Sadakichi Hartmann.

Source: https://publicdomainreview.org/collection/sadakichi-hartmann-conversations-with-walt-whitman


The Tours of Dr Syntax (1809–1821)

Tuesday 20 October 2020 at 08:16

Three books combining pictures and verse about an Anglican cleric in search of the perfectly picturesque.

Source: https://publicdomainreview.org/collection/dr-syntax


Filippo Buonanni's Harmonic Cabinet (1722)

Tuesday 13 October 2020 at 10:32

Engravings from an ambitious and beautiful attempt to catalogue, for the first time, the musical instruments of the world.

Source: https://publicdomainreview.org/collection/filippo-buonanni-harmonic-cabinet


Fungi, Folklore, and Fairyland

Wednesday 7 October 2020 at 13:12

From fairy-rings to Lewis Carroll's Alice, mushrooms have long been entwined with the supernatural in art and literature. What might this say about past knowledge of hallucinogenic fungi? Mike Jay looks at early reports of mushroom-induced trips and how one species in particular became established as a stock motif of Victorian fairyland.

Source: https://publicdomainreview.org/essay/fungi-folklore-and-fairyland


Herbert Geddes’ “Life in Japan” Collection: Hand-Coloured Glass Transparencies of the Meiji-Era

Tuesday 6 October 2020 at 14:39

Stunning hand-colored transparencies of life in Meiji-era Japan, from the Canadian businessman Herbert Geddes’ collection, acquired in Yokohama from 1908–1918.

Source: https://publicdomainreview.org/collection/herbert-geddes-life-in-japan


Charles Babbage’s Observations on Street Nuisances (1864)

Thursday 1 October 2020 at 11:39

A chapter from Charles Babbage’s The Life of a Philosopher railing against noise pollution in 19th-century London.

Source: https://publicdomainreview.org/collection/observations-on-street-nuisances-charles-babbage


Kaspar Hauser’s Art (1828–1833)

Wednesday 30 September 2020 at 07:31

Artwork by the famous foundling Kaspar Hauser, ranging from pen-and-ink self-portraits to watercolour studies of fruit and flowers.

Source: https://publicdomainreview.org/collection/kaspar-hauser-art


William Elliot Griffis’ Korean Fairy Tales (1922)

Tuesday 22 September 2020 at 07:21

Vivid retellings of Korean folktales by an American scholar and Protestant minister, including several stories about the sprite Tokgabi.

Source: https://publicdomainreview.org/collection/korean-fairy-tales