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  Toe-licking demon, circa 1921. One of many demonic entities found lurking in a Persian manuscript on magic and astrology from Isfahan, Iran. See our highlights here: https://publicdomainreview.org/collection/persian-demons-from-a-book-of-magic-and-astrology-1921

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  At the end of the 17th century a mysterious kayak-paddling “Finnman” was first seen in Orkney waters. @JonWestaway explores what the subsequent explanations tell us about early modern science's fascination with the "out of place": https://publicdomainreview.org/essay/the-orkney-finnmen-legends

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  Theo van Hoytema, Orchids, ca. 1900. One of more than 800 prints available to buy from our online shop: https://publicdomainreview.org/product/orchids/

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  An 18th-century treatise by coffee enthusiast Benjamin Moseley, arguing for the drink's multitude of benefits when it was still relatively new to Europe: https://publicdomainreview.org/collection/moseley-coffee

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  A group of sideshow performers, ca. 1870, including on the far left, two performers (Zuruby Hannum and Zalumma Agra) of the act know as the "Circassian beauty", subject of our essay by Betsy Golden Kellem: https://publicdomainreview.org/essay/circassian-beauties

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  Hobgoblins, joyous skeletons, and truly terrifying gourds — Halloween picture postcards, ca. 1900-1920: https://publicdomainreview.org/collection/halloween-postcards/

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  Eclipse diagram from Asa Smith's Illustrated Astronomy, 1849. One of several eclipse themed prints available to buy on our online shop — https://publicdomainreview.org/shop/search/?q=eclipse #eclipse #solareclipse

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  Hosting a #Halloween party on the weekend? A book from 1920 on decoration and costume tips: https://publicdomainreview.org/collection/dennison-s-bogie-book-for-halloween-1920/

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  Sabine Baring-Gould’s *Book of Were-Wolves: Being an Account of a Terrible Superstition* (1865) is a landmark study collecting global tales relating to lycanthropes and other human-animal transformations: https://publicdomainreview.org/collection/the-book-of-were-wolves/

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  Perhaps the tenderest depictions of Krishna and his beloved Rādhā are those showing the pair dressed in each other’s clothes: https://publicdomainreview.org/collection/krishna-and-radha-exchanging-clothes/

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  "Photographing the Dark: Nadar’s Descent into the Paris Catacombs", @AllisonCMeier on Nadar’s determined efforts (involving Bunsen batteries, mannequins, and a good deal of patience) to document the beauty and terror of this realm of the dead: https://publicdomainreview.org/essay/photographing-the-dark-nadars-descent-into-the-paris-catacombs

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  An automaton fuelled by tomes of newly available knowledge sweeps away the old society. No, not a self-portrait by ChatGPT in the style of a Georgian satirical print, but one of several “March of Intellect” cartoons published ca. 1828: https://publicdomainreview.org/collection/march-of-the-intellect

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  Skeletal illustrations supposedly replicating a lost 15th-century manuscript by the wine and women–loving Zen monk Ikkyū. The lively images testify to their maker’s sardonic sense of humor: skeletons dancing, drumming, drinking sake, having sex... https://publicdomainreview.org/collection/ikkyu-in-hell/

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  Hare and hedgehog costumes, from the 1862 fairytale-themed ball of the Jung-München Artist’s Association. More in our latest post: https://publicdomainreview.org/collection/maskenfest/

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  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: https://publicdomainreview.org/collection/spectropia-or-surprising-spectral-illusions-1865/

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  Looking for some Halloween costume inspo? Some first-rate ideas in this 18th-century demonology book: https://publicdomainreview.org/collection/compendium-of-demonology-and-magic-ca-1775/ #halloween

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  "There is Death in the Pot" — front cover for an early 19th-century book on culinary poisoning. More here: https://publicdomainreview.org/collection/a-treatise-on-adulteration-of-food-and-culinary-poisons-1820/

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  The first book-length history of Halloween, from Celtic druids through to the customs and rituals of the British Isles which underpin the celebrations in early 20th-century United States: https://publicdomainreview.org/collection/the-book-of-halloween/

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  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: https://publicdomainreview.org/collection/the-bakemono-zukushi-monster-scroll-18th-19th-century

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  Book from 1911 showing that taking photos of cats and furnishing them with an amusing caption is far from being a phenomenon born with the internet. More here: https://publicdomainreview.org/collection/kittens-and-cats-a-first-reader-1911-cats-and-captions-before-the-internet-age #NationalCatDay

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  #SundayReads: A. D. Manns on the speculative origins of Aradia, "the Gospel of the Witches"... https://publicdomainreview.org/essay/roma-lister-aradia/

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  #OnThisDay in 1889, the Eiffel Tower was opened to the public in Paris. Not to be outdone, London decided to get a new tower of their own and held a competition to design it, with some interesting results! https://publicdomainreview.org/collection/catalogue-of-the-68-competitive-designs-for-the-great-tower-for-london-1890 #OTD

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  Divide and concur — this radical plan from 1920, for "lasting peace" after WW1, proposed uniting central Europe into 24 wedge-shaped cantons which would radiate out from Vienna’s St. Stephen’s Cathedral: https://publicdomainreview.org/collection/unionization-of-central-europe/

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  The "Scare-Fox", 1910. A mechanical device, designed to keep foxes away from pheasants: https://publicdomainreview.org/collection/scare-fox

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  “Bill of mortality” from the Great Plague's deadliest week, which ended #onthisday in 1665. In addition to "Plague", and other expected maladies, we see deaths assigned to more enigmatic causes such as “Frighted”, “Winde”, “Planet” + “Teeth”. More here https://publicdomainreview.org/collection/londons-dreadful-visitation-bills-of-mortality/

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  Crouching down to where sky and ground meet, a traveler pushes his head through a gap and into the heavens beyond. Known as the “Flammarion Engraving” this image has long stumped scholars: is it a lost Renaissance engraving or a 19th-century pastiche? — https://publicdomainreview.org/collection/flammarion-engraving

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  “Frustules of Diatoms”, a cyanotype from 1870 by Austrian botany professor Julius Wiesner. Diatoms are a microalgae found in oceans, waterways, and soils, and generate about 20 to 50% of the planet's oxygen. Available as a print in our online shop: https://publicdomainreview.org/product/frustules-of-diatoms

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  A year before his death, the artist Howard Pyle set off for Italy, leaving unfinished on his Delaware easel his final painting *The Mermaid* — a profoundly haunting work of art: https://publicdomainreview.org/collection/pyle-mermaid

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  Inventor of the essay Michel de Montaigne died #onthisday in 1592. He was 59 years old. Here he is on the importance of facing death head on: https://publicdomainreview.org/collection/that-to-study-philosophy-is-to-learn-to-die-1580?utm_content=buffer372d1&utm_medium=social&utm_source=facebook.com&utm_campaign=buffer #OTD

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  The first woman to run for president was also a free-love advocate, Spiritualist stockbroker, and the first person to publish the Communist Manifesto in the US. More on Victoria Woodhull's wild life: https://publicdomainreview.org/collection/victoria-woodhull-the-impending-revolution