#Onthisday in 1918, just days before end of #WW1, French poet Apollinaire (weakened by a shrapnel wound) died in the Spanish flu epidemic. Later that year Calligrammes: Poems of Peace & War was published, a collection of his concrete/visual poems

The Public Domain Review

Apollinaire’s Calligrammes (1918)

A book of poetry by French writer Guillaume Apollinaire, noted for its use of "caligrams" in which typeface and arrangement of words on the page ad...

#OTD

The Cyclops, by François Desprez, 1562. ⠀⠀ Available as a print from our shop here: https://publicdomainreview.org/shop/fine-art-prints/artist/francois-desprez/

All the saints. From the Hours of Louis de Laval, France ca. 1480.

Who ate all the pumpkins? The Hajikkaki (はぢっかき). More Japanese monsters from the Bakemono Zukushi scroll (18th–19th century) here:

The Public Domain Review

The Bakemono Zukushi “Monster” Scroll (18th–19th century)

Ghoulish array of shapeshifting monsters from Japanese folklore.

This Halloween week, a devilish dive into our archives to unearth some supernatural treats: including woodcut witches, Babylonian spells, Japanese ghosts, and much much more...

The Public Domain Review

PDR's Halloween Reader

This Halloween week, a devilish dive into our archives to unearth some supernatural treats...

Some of the many wonderful shapeshifting "monsters" from Japanese folklore featured on a painted scroll known as the Bakemono zukushi (18th or 19th century). See more here of its ghoulish delights here:

The Public Domain Review

The Bakemono Zukushi “Monster” Scroll (18th–19th century)

Ghoulish array of shapeshifting monsters from Japanese folklore.

Spectropia; or, Surprising Spectral Illusions (1865), a wonderful book of Victorian hi-tech ghost conjuring which allows the reader to summon, as the sub-title proclaims, “ghosts everywhere and of any colour”. More here:

The Public Domain Review

Spectropia; or, Surprising Spectral Illusions (1865)

A book of Victorian hi-tech ghost conjuring which allows the reader to summon, as the sub-title proclaims, ghosts everywhere and of any colour.

Looking for some Halloween costume inspo? Some first-rate ideas in this 18th-century demonology book:

The Public Domain Review

Compendium Of Demonology and Magic (ca. 1775)

A selection of pages from an 18th-century demonology book comprised of more than 30 exquisuite watercolours showing various demon figures, as well ...

#halloween

Cleopatra tableau in New Zealand, 1914, captured in the subtle hues of an autochrome, early colour photo technique. See more autochromes from early 20th-century New Zealand in the collection of the Te Papa museum:

The Public Domain Review

Autochromes from the Te Papa Collection

MUSEUM OF NEW ZEALAND TE PAPA TONGAREWA - Lissa Mitchell, Curator of Historical Documentary Photography, explores the work of three photographers c...

Hosting a #Halloween party on the weekend? A book from 1920 on decoration and costume tips:

The Public Domain Review

Dennison’s Bogie Book for Halloween (1920)

Decoration, costume and party suggestions from 1920 for the night of Halloween, that one time (according to the book) "of all the year when an oppo...