A “sand man” at work on his beach sculptures in Atlantic City, 1906. More here: https://publicdomainreview.org/collection/atlantic-city-sand-sculpture/

Julian Barnes on when a young Guy de Maupassant — born #onthisday in 1850 — was invited to lunch by A.C. Swinburne. A flayed human hand, porn, monkey meat, and inordinate amounts of alcohol, all made for a truly strange Anglo-French encounter: publicdomainreview.org/essay/a... #OTD

"The Moguls give to the white owl credit for preserving Jengis Khan, the founder of their empire..." One of a hundred tales to be found in Anecdotes of Animals (1905): https://publicdomainreview.org/collection/anecdotes-of-animals-1905

Landscape near Rome during a Storm (ca. 1786–1806), by Simon Denis. From a selection of rainbows in art, spanning 800 years: https://publicdomainreview.org/collection/rainbows-in-art?utm_content=buffer7546f&utm_medium=social&utm_source=facebook.com&utm_campaign=buffer @metmuseum

John H. White's stunning photographs of Black Chicago, taken as part of the DOCUAMERICA project which sought to produce a visual record of 1970s US: https://publicdomainreview.org/collection/john-h-white-documerica

Today is #InternationalOwlAwarenessDay. Here's "Two Owls", a 1921 print by Dutch artist Julie de Graag. Buy as a print here: https://publicdomainreview.org/product/two-owls And more on the good work of owl conservation here: https://www.owls.org/

Jacques Le Moyne de Morgues, A Young Daughter of the Picts, ca. 1585.⠀⠀ ⠀⠀ Available as a print from our online shop here: https://publicdomainreview.org/product/a-young-daughter-of-the-picts

Some 15th-century rainbow-coloured beasts to brighten your Monday: https://publicdomainreview.org/collection/rainbow-coloured-beasts-from-15th-century-book-of-hours?utm_content=bufferec024&utm_medium=social&utm_source=facebook.com&utm_campaign=buffer

This is a photograph taken in 1873. Did its creator James Nasmyth somehow, and very secretly, beat the Apollo space program by almost 100 years? You may be surprised to hear he did not. It's a photograph of one of his many intricate models. More here: publicdomainreview.org/collection/p...

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

Print from 1556 published by Hieronymus Cock , designed by Cornelis Floris II and engraved by Johannes or Lucas van Doetecum. More of these highly elaborate ornament prints, mostly in the grotesque style, from the collection of the Rijksmuseum here: publicdomainreview.org/collection/1...

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/

#SundayReads: After the intro of gin to England, tipplers reported a range of effects: frenzy, madness, joy, and death. With the help of prints by George Cruikshank, William Hogarth, and others, James Brown explores the spaces in which it was consumed: publicdomainreview.org/essay/l...

Scottish-born inventor Alexander Graham Bell — who died #onthisday in 1922 — goes to kiss his wife Mabel while she stands in one of his spectacular tetrahedral kites. See more of these wonderful creations (and the kiss realised) in our post here: publicdomainreview.org/collection/a... #OTD

The Great Norway Serpent, or Sea Orm, is the most famous of the many influential sea monsters depicted and described by 16th-century ecclesiastic, cartographer, and historian Olaus Magnus, who died #onthisday in 1557. Joseph Nigg explores: publicdomainreview.org/essay/o... #OTD

Details from The Fairy Feller’s Master-Stroke by the British painter Richard Dadd, born #onthisday in 1817. Read more on the man and his mesmerising work in Nicholas Tromans' essay — https://publicdomainreview.org/essay/richard-dadds-master-stroke #OTD

Details from the "August" entry — complete with wild swimmers — in the "Labors of the Months" section of the Très Riches Heures, 15th century. More here: https://publicdomainreview.org/collection/labors-of-the-months-from-the-tres-riches-heures #wildswimming #august

The great US novelist, short story writer, and poet Herman Melville was born #onthisday in 1819. His last long-form work was the epic poem Clarel, published in 1876 and coming in at a colossal 18,000 lines. @JWheelwrite explores: publicdomainreview.org/essay/t... #otd

The American Librarian C.A. Cutter looks forward from 1883 to “the library of the future” in 1983, where the librarians wear slippers and a “little car” delivers books to your desk. Dreams might still come true... publicdomainreview.org/collection/t...

Dice Man — it's just how he rolls... More radical fashion from the 16th-century Schembart Carnival here: https://publicdomainreview.org/collection/radical-fashion-from-the-schembart-carnival-1590

The Hungarian composer, virtuoso pianist, and heartthrob Franz Liszt died #onthisday in 1886. Leon Botstein explores what we can still learn from the life and music of "possibly the greatest pianist that has ever lived” — publicdomainreview.org/essay/w... #OTD

Pages from Walter Crane's beautifully illustrated version of Aesop's fables, shortened and put into limericks for the younger reader and first published in 1887. See the full book here: https://publicdomainreview.org/collection/the-baby-s-own-aesop-1908

"The Duck quaketh... The Wolf howleth" — from what many consider to be the first picture book for children, Orbis Sensualium Pictus (1658). More in our essay here: https://publicdomainreview.org/essay/in-the-image-of-god-john-comenius-and-the-first-children-s-picture-book

"Friendship books" were the #Facebook of the 17th and 18th centuries (without the ads and data mining). Here's a fine example of one begun in 1795 by the aunt of the poet Felicia Dorothea Browne: https://publicdomainreview.org/collection/the-friendship-book-of-anne-wagner-1795-1834 #FriendshipDay

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Gregorio Astengo explores the innovations employed in early issues of the Royal Society's Philosophical Transactions, the world's first scientific journal — new forms of image making which pushed the boundaries of 17th-century book printing: publicdomainreview.org/essay/m...

NEW ESSAY — Centuries before Neo instantly mastered Kung Fu in The Matrix, medieval scholars found a shortcut to years of difficult study: a magical manuscript that promised to fast-track advanced learning. Anne Lawrence-Mathers investigates the Ars notoria: publicdomainreview.org/essay/ars-no...

Photographs of sea stars, collected during the Siboga Expedition around Indonesia, 1899–1900. More here: https://publicdomainreview.org/collection/photographs-of-sea-stars-1917

For #InternationalTigerDay... "Tigerlillia Terribilis" — from Edward Lear’s Nonsense Botany (1871–77). More here: https://publicdomainreview.org/collection/edward-lears-nonsense-botany-1871-77 #InternationalTigerDay2022

Images from a 1608 edition of Livre de Pourtraiture by Jehan Cousin the Younger (ca. 1522–95), son of the painter and sculptor Jehan Cousin the Elder (ca. 1490-ca. 1560): https://publicdomainreview.org/collection/jehan-cousin-s-livre-de-pourtraiture-1608/