THE PUBLIC DOMAIN REVIEW

Read Matthew Hargreaves on Blake and one of his most avid collectors Paul Mellon: https://publicdomainreview.org/essay/william-blake-and-paul-mellon-the-life-of-the-mind #otd

"Chladni figures" from 1787 created by German physicist and musician Ernst Chladni, showing nodal patterns made by drawing a bow along the edge of a sand-covered plate. More here: https://publicdomainreview.org/collection/chladni-figures-1787

Ukiyo-e woodblock, by the late Edo artist Utagawa Kuniyoshi (1798-1861), illustrating the legend of the "Sea Monk" or Umibōzu, a spirit in Japanese folklore. More here: https://publicdomainreview.org/collection/the-sea-monk-ca-1845

George Washington Williams' History of the Negro Race in America (1882–83), a work of millennial scope by a self-taught African-American historian:

Happy #WorldLionDay! Pictured is an image by 16th-century Swiss scholar Konrad Gesner, featured in Edward Topsell’s wonderful History of Four-footed Beasts (1607). More here: https://publicdomainreview.org/collection/topsell-s-history-of-four-footed-beasts-and-serpents-1658

Still Life with Peeled Orange and Bunch of Grapes, Albertus Steenbergen, late 19th century.⠀⁠ ⠀⁠ Available as a print from our shop here: https://publicdomainreview.org/product/still-life-with-peeled-orange-and-bunch-of-grapes

Take a closer look at "The Garden of Earthly Delights", the best known painting by the genius that was Hieronymus Bosch, who died #onthisday in 1516: https://publicdomainreview.org/collection/details-from-bosch-s-garden-of-earthly-delights-ca-1500 #otd

Fifteenth-century handwriting as seen in The History of Ink (1860), a book including beautiful samples of penmanship from 1500 BC to 1834 AD: https://publicdomainreview.org/collection/the-history-of-ink-including-its-etymology-chemistry-and-bibliography-1860

This 1911 book shows that taking photos of cats and furnishing them with an amusing caption was a thing long before the internet... https://publicdomainreview.org/collection/kittens-and-cats-a-first-reader-1911-cats-and-captions-before-the-internet-age #InternationalCatDay

Some essential reading for #InternationalCatDay" — the wonderfully illustrated Nine Lives of a Cat (1860) — https://publicdomainreview.org/collection/the-nine-lives-of-a-cat-1860

From a 14th-century illuminated manuscript of Jacob van Maerlant's Der naturen bloeme (The flower of Nature). More here: https://publicdomainreview.org/collection/jacob-van-maerlant-der-naturen-bloeme #fridayfish

"Drunk or sober go to bed Tom" and other sage advice from Dame Talkative's Old Sayings (1824), a wonderfully odd book of illustrated rhymes. More here: https://publicdomainreview.org/collection/dame-talkative-s-old-sayings-ca-1824

Selection of illustrations from Variae Architecturae Formae (1636), a series of architectural studies after the works of Hans Vredeman de Vries, a Dutch Renaissance architect, painter, and engineer: https://publicdomainreview.org/collection/various-forms-of-architecture-1636

More in @LilyRFord's essay exploring how balloon flight transformed our ideas of landscape: https://publicdomainreview.org/essay/for-the-sake-of-the-prospect-experiencing-the-world-from-above-in-the-late-18th-century

Illustrations from Richard Davey's A History of Mourning (1890), which you can read here: https://publicdomainreview.org/collection/a-history-of-mourning-1890

One of a hundred tales to be found in Anecdotes of Animals (1905): https://publicdomainreview.org/collection/anecdotes-of-animals-1905

From a selection of rainbows in art, spanning 800 years: https://publicdomainreview.org/collection/rainbows-in-art @metmuseum