The Public Domain Review

Rescuing England: The Rhetoric of Imperialism and the Salvation Army

Ellen J. Stockstill on how William Booth, founder of the Salvation Army, placed the ideas and language of colonialism at the very heart of his vision for improving the lives of Victorian England's poor. …Continued

Out From Behind This Mask

A Barthesian bristle and the curious power of Walt Whitman’s posthumous eyelids …Continued

Inventing the Recording

Eva Moreda Rodríguez on the formative years of the recording industry, focusing …Continued

The Long, Forgotten Walk of David Ingram

If three shipwrecked English sailors really did travel by foot from Florida …Continued

Decoding the Morse: The History of 16th-Century Narcolept…

Amongst the assorted curiosities described in Olaus Magnus' 1555 tome on Nordic …Continued

Images

Kusakabe Kimbei’s Photographs of Late 19th-Century Japan

Photographs depicting everyday scenes in 19th-century Japan by Kusakabe Kimbei. …Continued

William Sharp’s Chromolithographs of The Great Water Li…

Six magnificent images of Victoria amazonica, believed to be the very first …Continued

The Heart of Man; Either a Temple of God, or a Habitation of Sa…

Ten illustrations which, in a wonderful marriage of word and image, plot …Continued

Music in the Margins: The Funeral of Reynard the Fox (13th ce…

A motley crew of anthropomorphic animals found adorning the lower margins of …Continued

The Concealed Erotic Paintings of Sommonte (19th Century)…

A wonderfully unique object, at first glance merely a painting of roses, …Continued

Books

“Dialogue Between Frederick Ruysch and His Mummies” by Giacomo Leopardi (1827)

The great Italian writer uses the macabre creations of the seventeenth-century Dutch anatomist Frederik Ruysch to reflect upon the mysteries of death. …Continued

The History of Ink: Including its Etymology, Chemistry, an…

Delightful little book from Thaddeus Davids and co, one of the largest …Continued

Micromégas by Voltaire (1752)

Early sci-fi short story by Voltaire recounting a visit to Earth by …Continued

Ha Bun Shu: a Japanese Book of Wave and Ripple Designs (1919)…

Wonderful selection of wave and ripple designs produced by the Japanese artist …Continued

Eighteen Hundred and Eleven (1812)

Anna Laetitia Barbauld's controversial poem which presciently imagines a future Britain in …Continued

Film

Destination Earth (1956)

Great little promotional cartoon from the height of the Cold War championing not only the wonders of oil but also free-market capitalism. Features the overthrow of the suspiciously Stalin-like leader of Mars named Ogg. …Continued

Growing Things: A Film Lesson in “Nature Study” (1928)…

Gardening lessons from the late 1920s, centreing on the cultivation of beans, …Continued

The Burning Stable (1896)

A remarkable short, most likely staged, showing a stable on fire with …Continued

Maniac Chase (1904)

One of the very first screen depictions of the now familiar Napoleon …Continued

Despotism (1946)

Short from Encyclopaedia Britannica Films, published a year after the end of …Continued

Audio

The Hawaiian Quintette (1913)

Selection of tracks recorded by the Hawaiian Quintette for Victor in 1913, series of recordings which went a long way toward establishing Hawaiian music as a significant genre on mainland US. …Continued

Out From Behind This Mask

Inventing the Recording

The Long, Forgotten Walk of David Ingram

Decoding the Morse: The History of 16th-Century Narcolept…

Images

Kusakabe Kimbei’s Photographs of Late 19th-Century Japan

Kusakabe Kimbei’s Photographs of Late 19th-Century Japan

William Sharp’s Chromolithographs of The Great Water Li…

The Heart of Man; Either a Temple of God, or a Habitation of Sa…

Music in the Margins: The Funeral of Reynard the Fox (13th ce…

The Concealed Erotic Paintings of Sommonte (19th Century)…

Books

“Dialogue Between Frederick Ruysch and His Mummies” by Giacomo Leopardi (1827)

“Dialogue Between Frederick Ruysch and His Mummies” by Giacomo Leopardi (1827)

The History of Ink: Including its Etymology, Chemistry, an…

Micromégas by Voltaire (1752)

Ha Bun Shu: a Japanese Book of Wave and Ripple Designs (1919)…

Eighteen Hundred and Eleven (1812)

Film

Destination Earth (1956)

Destination Earth (1956)

Growing Things: A Film Lesson in “Nature Study” (1928)…

The Burning Stable (1896)

Maniac Chase (1904)

Despotism (1946)

Audio

The Hawaiian Quintette (1913)

The Hawaiian Quintette (1913)

Scenes from Rip Van Winkle (1903)

John McCormack – Recordings: 1911-1940

Francesco Tamagno sings Verdi’s Otello, Death Scene (19…

Finnish Opera Singer Eino Rautavaara (1905–9)