Notices by The Public Domain Review (publicdomainrev@mastodon.social)

#OnThisDay in 1940, the philosopher, literary critic, and essayist Walter Benjamin died by suicide in the Spanish border town of Portbou whilst on the run from the Nazis. Here's Anca Pusca on the relevance of Benjamin’s oeuvre in a digital age: https://publicdomainreview.org/essay/on-benjamins-public-oeuvre #otd

The tragic story of James Tilly Matthews, a former peace activist of the Napoleonic Wars confined to Bedlam asylum in 1797 for believing that his mind was under the control of the “Air Loom” — a terrifying machine which was brainwashing politicians: https://publicdomainreview.org/essay/illustrations-of-madness-james-tilly-matthews-and-the-air-loom

.@Miriamkp on what led a 1920s Brooklyn surgeon to remove the veins from a day-old infant, mount them on a board, and film them being pumped with air: https://publicdomainreview.org/essay/jacob-sarnoff-and-the-strange-world-of-anatomical-filmmaking

From 1903 to 1907 Augustus Jansson produced more than 30 striking adverts for the Queen City Printing Ink Company, including the wonderful Ink Beasts Parade series, with its "Magenta Ponies" and "Orange-Yellow Ibexiaticus". More here: https://publicdomainreview.org/collection/augustus-janssons-queen-city-ink-adverts-1903-1907

Aphrodisiacs and Anti-Aphrodisiacs (1869) — three essays by John Davenport (1789–1877) on phallicism, anaphrodisia, and various forms of love potion: https://publicdomainreview.org/collection/aphrodisiacs-and-anti-aphrodisiacs

A Victorian thrill seeker enjoying the volcanic gas on the island of Vulcano, just off the coast of Sicily.

View more photographs by the pioneering volcanologist Tempest Anderson here: https://publicdomainreview.org/essay/tempest-anderson-pioneer-of-volcano-photography

Composite photographs of child laborers — Lewis Hine, 1913.

Made while Hine travelled the U.S. for the National Child Labor Committee documenting child labor — in factories, textile mills, canneries, and coal mines.

More here: https://publicdomainreview.org/collection/lewis-hine-s-composite-photographs-of-child-labourers-1913 #laborday

Centuries ahead of its time, Giovanni Battista Bracelli's "Bizzarie di Varie Figure" (1624) depicts figures made from a range of objects, mostly abstract — cubes, rings, squares — but also such things as rackets, screws, and braided hair.

More here: https://publicdomainreview.org/collection/bracelli-s-bizzarie-di-varie-figure-1624

In 1887, Ivan Aivazovsky gave each of his 150 birthday guests a tiny seascape—painted onto a studio photo of himself, brush in hand before a once-blank canvas. At 10.6 × 7.3 cm, each is almost 1/1000 the size of his masterpiece The Ninth Wave. Read more: https://publicdomainreview.org/collection/aivazovsky-miniature-seascapes/

Cuckoo and Pine, by Utagawa Hiroshige, 1840.

Available to buy as a print in our online shop here: https://publicdomainreview.org/product/cuckoo-and-pine/

The great German polymath Johann Wolfgang von Goethe was born #onthisday in 1749. As well as penning novels, poetry, criticism, and dramas, he also wrote various scientific treatises, including his 1810 book Zur Farbenlehre (Theory of Colours): https://publicdomainreview.org/essay/black-on-black #OTD

A certain sense of dramatic irony permeates these accounts of a young American girl's trip through Europe a year before the breakout of WW1: https://publicdomainreview.org/collection/letters-to-my-sister-of-our-experiences-on-our-first-trip-to-europe-1913

Navaho Legends (1897), a book from the American Folk-Lore Society compiling Navaho myths and legends and including a lengthy introduction on the history, beliefs and customs of the Navaho people: https://publicdomainreview.org/collection/navaho-legends-1897

The Light is Sweet, a 1687 engraving by the Dutch poet, illustrator, and engraver Jan Luyken.

One of 900+ prints available to buy from our online shop: https://publicdomainreview.org/product/the-light-is-sweet/

It's World Brain Day! We've all got one. Here's a fine example featured in Kaishi Hen, a 1772 anatomical atlas from the dawn of experimental medicine in Japan.

More here: https://publicdomainreview.org/collection/kaishi-hen-an-18th-century-japanese-anatomical-atlas

"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?utm_content=bufferdc697&utm_medium=social&utm_source=facebook.com&utm_campaign=buffer #OTD

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

Dramatic scenes from the auto polo fad of the 1910s and 20s. Reaching top speeds of 40mph, a driver would be accompanied by a malletman who would hold on to the side and attempt to hit a basketball toward the goal of the opposing team. More here: https://publicdomainreview.org/collection/auto-polo?utm_content=buffer6366b&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter.com&utm_campaign=buffer

First image of a tardigrade (1773).

Also known as water bears or moss piglets, they're around 0.5mm in length, and can survive extreme temperatures, pressures, radiation, and reanimate after long periods without oxygen. And even handle outer space: https://publicdomainreview.org/collection/tardigrade/

Postcards by Pedro de Rojas reimagining the adventures of Don Quixote for the 20th century. We see the Knight of the Melancholy Countenance ballooning into windmills and fighting with a park ranger (identified in the caption as the Knight of the Forest): https://buff.ly/2JZAFHp