THE PUBLIC DOMAIN REVIEW

Between the blubber, blood, and cruel destruction of life, there was plenty of time for creation too on a 19th-century whale hunt. @JessicaBoyall1 explores the rich vein of illustration running through the logbooks and journals of Nantucket whalers: https://publicdomainreview.org/essay/the-art-of-whaling

Discover the apocalyptic compositions of John Martin — born #onthisday in 1789 — and how in his epic landscapes one can see reflected his revolutionary leanings: https://publicdomainreview.org/essay/john-martin-and-the-theatre-of-subversion #otd

17th-century Dutch engraving showing a team of pigs spinning cotton, while in the corner a woman — who'd normally be associated with the work — sleeps: https://publicdomainreview.org/collection/the-spinning-sow-1673

"Thackerayana" — a remarkable compendium of nearly 600 doodles made by Vanity Fair author William Makepeace Thackeray, who was born #onthisday in 1811: https://publicdomainreview.org/collection/thackerayana-1875 #OTD

Hypnotees after handing control to mischievous hypnotists (ca. 1900). More diverting scenes here: https://publicdomainreview.org/collection/hypnotism-posters-ca-1900

Victorian sexuality is often thought synonymous with prudishness, conjuring images of covered-up piano legs + ankle-length skirts. @drmatthewgreen uncovers a quite different scene in the sordid story of Holywell St, 19th-century London's epicentre of smut https://publicdomainreview.org/essay/the-secret-history-of-holywell-street-home-to-victorian-london-s-dirty-book-trade

From a 17th-century Ethiopian manuscript telling the story of Michael who, under the patronage of Emperor Zara Yaqob, became the most venerated of archangels in Ethiopia: https://publicdomainreview.org/collection/17th-century-ethiopian-manuscript-the-miracles-of-the-archangel-michael

Frustrated by being referred to as a mere "caricature" artist, William Hogarth produced this 1743 print to explain the difference between characters and caricatures — which he saw as radically different — and aligning his style firmly with the former: https://publicdomainreview.org/collection/characters-and-caricaturas-by-william-hogarth-1743

Read Patricia Mainardi on the unique work of the 19th-century illustrator now recognised as a major precursor and inspiration to the Surrealist movement: https://publicdomainreview.org/essay/grandville-visions-and-dreams

Delightfully ingenious travel journal which uses “hieroglyphic” plates to recount an 1814 voyage to the Caribbean: https://publicdomainreview.org/collection/hieroglyphic-journal-of-a-voyage-to-the-caribbean-1815

Roald Amundsen — the Norwegian explorer who, with his team, became the first to reach the South Pole — was born #onthisday in 1872. See our highlights of the wonderful set of photos from the 1910–12 expedition: https://publicdomainreview.org/collection/amundsen-s-south-pole-expedition #OTD

Through a series of short stories and wonderful engravings, The Accidents of Youth (1819) is aimed at keeping young people out of trouble and "calculated to improve [their] moral conduct" — https://publicdomainreview.org/collection/the-accidents-of-youth-1819

Pages from Romeyn Beck Hough’s unique 14 volume work The American Woods (1888–1913), a collection in book-form of more than 1000 paper-thin wood samples representing more than 350 varieties of N.American tree. More samples from the work here: https://publicdomainreview.org/collection/the-american-woods

OnThisDay in 1518, in the city of Strasbourg, a woman named Frau Troffea woke to begin the 2nd day of her manic and mysterious dance. Soon she would be joined by hundreds of others, compelled to dance for seemingly no reason at all... https://publicdomainreview.org/essay/the-dancing-plague-of-1518 #otd

Illustration from Nonsenseorship (1922). In this “levititious literary escapade” — as publisher George P. Putnam describes his anthology — some of the wittiest writers of the Jazz Age lambaste the nonsensically censorious atmosphere of prohibition-era US: https://publicdomainreview.org/collection/nonsenseorship

Before Cousteau, way before @Octonauts, explorer Eugen von Ransonnet-Villez was bringing images of the undersea world to the surface, from his artist’s sketch pad inside a glass and steel diving bell: https://publicdomainreview.org/collection/underwater-landscapes-of-eugen-von-ransonnet-villez

Onthisday in 1789, the Bastille was stormed in Paris, a key turning point of the French Revolution. 3.5 years later Louis XVI was executed by guillotine. We look at the deluge of prints that emerged depicting his death https://publicdomainreview.org/collection/execution-by-guillotine-of-louis-xvi #FeteNationale #bastilleday #otd