Peruvianizing Peru: Covers from *Amauta* Magazine (1926–30) — The Public Domain Review
“This magazine . . . does not represent a group. It represents, rather, a movement, a spirit” — or perhaps a “specter”? Whatever the preferred translation, the intention was clear:…
Read more »Train « Object Lessons
Triggering severe nostalgia and denoting adventure, mystery, and glamour, the passenger train is still portrayed as the most romantic mode of transportation in history. But what does…
Read more »
“Worthless Idiot, Donkey Head”: Parodies of Pedantry on the Renaissance Stage — The Public Domain Review
The pedant quickly became one of the most popular caricatures on the stage. By 1600, almost fifty new plays featured a pedant — some by authors who, like Bibbiena, were…
Read more »Pixel « Object Lessons
The logic of the pixel existed millenia before the technology to light it up. That logic is simple: dots arranged carefully can produce a picture. Need a clearer picture? Add…
Read more »
Archie G. Norcross’ Maine Forest Fire Maps (1918–22) — The Public Domain Review
In the summer of 1956, the Beat writer Jack Kerouac ascended the North Cascade Mountains, climbing up through the glacial crests of Washington State to Desolation Peak, where he would…
Read more »Fog
Fog, a cloud that touches the ground, marks the fuzzy and shifting boundary of just how much (or little) we are willing to tolerate the natural world. Viewed from beyond the fog line,…
Read more »Fat « Object Lessons
Public enemy. Crucial macronutrient. Health risk. Punchline. Moneymaker. Epidemic. Sexual fetish. Moral failing. Necessary bodily organ. Conveyor of flavor. Freak-show spectacle. Never mind the stereotype, fat is never sedentary: its definitions, identities, and…
Read more »
“The Persian *Mâr-Nâmeh* or, The Book for Taking Omens from Snakes” (1892) — The Public Domain Review
Despite its strangeness (or, perhaps, because of it), the Marnameh remains, centuries on, a largely forgotten and esoteric text. Even as a work of literature, it can “lay no claim…
Read more »Fake « Object Lessons
The electric candle and plastic flower, faux fur, artificial sweeteners and meat analogues, Elvis impersonators, prosthetics. Imitation this, false that. Humans have been replacing and improving upon genuine articles…
Read more »
Photographs of Atlantic City Sand Sculpture (ca. 1880–1920)
Photographs from when Atlantic City beaches featured artists ornately sculpting sand. Source link
Read more »