Thursday 22 September 2016 at 16:53
In the shadow of an unfinished City Hall, still clad in scaffolding, government authorities destroy confiscated opium in downtown San Fransisco, 1914.
Source: http://publicdomainreview.org/collections/opium-destruction-san-francisco-1914/
Wednesday 21 September 2016 at 17:20
Although mentioned only briefly in the Qur'an, the story of the Prophet Muhammad's night journey to heaven astride a winged horse called Buraq has long caught the imagination of artists. Yasmine Seale charts the many representations of this enigmatic steed, from early Islamic scripture to contemporary Delhi, and explores what such a figure can tell us about the nature of belief.
Source: http://publicdomainreview.org/2016/09/21/out-of-their-love-they-made-it-a-visual-history-of-buraq/
Tuesday 20 September 2016 at 15:53
Illustrations of cacti featured in a 19th-century work by French botanist Charles Lemaire.
Source: http://publicdomainreview.org/collections/illustrations-from-a-descriptive-iconography-of-cacti-1841/
Thursday 15 September 2016 at 17:22
True to the ideas held within — that blue light is bearer of unique and special properties — this book is entirely printed with blue ink on blue paper.
Source: http://publicdomainreview.org/collections/the-influence-of-the-blue-ray-of-the-sunlight-and-of-the-blue-color-of-the-sky-1877/
Wednesday 14 September 2016 at 18:21
A device which promises to secure the zest which accompanies the pleasant pastime of buffeting surf.
Source: http://publicdomainreview.org/collections/the-rowing-bath-1916/
Thursday 8 September 2016 at 16:43
Rendition of the Christmas favourite, by Elizabeth Spencer, Harry Anthony and James F. Harrison.
Source: http://publicdomainreview.org/collections/silent-night-1912/
Wednesday 7 September 2016 at 15:52
Although not normally considered the most glamorous of Mother Nature's offerings, algae has found itself at the heart of many a key moment in the last few hundred years of botanical science. Ryan Feigenbaum traces the surprising history of one particular species — Conferva fontinalis — from the vials of Joseph Priestley's laboratory to its possible role as inspiration for Shelley's Frankenstein.
Source: http://publicdomainreview.org/2016/09/07/visions-of-algae-in-eighteenth-century-botany/
Tuesday 6 September 2016 at 17:54
A book of codes to help disguise internal police telegrams in what amounted to some kind of 19th-century version of the encrypted email.
Source: http://publicdomainreview.org/collections/barnards-universal-criminal-cipher-code-1895/
Wednesday 31 August 2016 at 19:02
CONJECTURES #1 — Easter McCraney explores the pages of an obscure Theosophical journal and the ornithological intrigues which lie within.
Source: http://publicdomainreview.org/collections/in-search-of-the-third-bird-kenneth-morris-and-the-three-unusual-arts/
Tuesday 30 August 2016 at 19:05
A popular Victorian parlour toy, generally marketed for children, which is widely considered to be among the earliest forms of animation and the precursor to modern cinema.
Source: http://publicdomainreview.org/collections/phenakistoscopes-1833/