The Public Domain Review

Living through the devastating Italian plague of 1656, the great polymath Athanasius Kircher turned his ever-enquiring mind to the then mysterious disease, becoming possibly the first to view infected blood through a microscope. While his subsequent theories of spontaneous generation and "universal sperm" were easily debunked, Kircher's investigation can be seen as an important early step to understanding contagion, and perhaps even the very first articulation of germ theory. John Glassie explores.

A series of depictions of prostitutes, likely lesbian couples, drawn and painted in a Paris brothel during the Belle Époque.

A masterpiece of early Italian prose, in which 100 tales are told by a group of young people in self-quarantine during the plague of Florence in 1349.

Wonderful series of images by Eduard Pechuël-Loesche documenting the strange skies following the Krakatoa eruption.

Collection of 15 images to liven up your video chats and conferences.

Although largely forgotten today, exercise by club swinging was all the rage in the 19th century. Daniel Elkind explores the rise of the phenomenon in the US, and how such efforts to keep trim and build muscle were inextricably entwined with the history of colonialism, immigration, and capitalist culture.

We made you a colouring book to help you through these strange times, featuring works by Hokusai, Albrecht Dürer, Virginia Frances Sterrett, and Aubrey Beardsley.

Quick update as to how the coronavirus crisis is impacting The Public Domain Review.

Bills of mortality for the year 1665 in London, recording the number of plague dead, as well as other causes of mortality.

A thoroughly romantic amateur English botanist’s catalogue of more than 400 plants and flowers that once grew in profusion on the Roman Colosseum.