Latest dispatches
Curious stories and events from around the world.
The Public Domain Review
Marvels, wonders, and monstrosities: something between a medieval bestiary and a scientific treatise on birth defects.
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One of the most elaborate works of literary insult ever written.
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Moneymaking caricatures by a teenage Monet, before he turned to Impressionism.
Read at The Public Domain ReviewHistoric Mysteries
Deep within the almost impenetrable emerald expanse of the Amazon rainforest, indigenous tribes and rubber… The post The Mapinguari: Amazon Cyclops of Brazilian Folklore appeared first on Historic Mysteries.
Read at Historic MysteriesThe Public Domain Review
In early modern Europe, around the time when lenses began to bring the world (and heavens) into newfound focus, patients started appearing in medical records with a particular ailment: a firm belief that they were made of glass. Tamara…
Read at The Public Domain ReviewHistoric Mysteries
Within the dense tropical jungles of Johor, Malaysia, near the Linggiu Reservoir, lies a mystery… The post The Mystery of Kota Gelanggi: A Lost City in the Malaysian Jungle appeared first on Historic Mysteries.
Read at Historic MysteriesThe Public Domain Review
"Tall-tale" or "exaggeration" postcards illustrating the bounties of California.
Read at The Public Domain ReviewAncient Origins
Roman Forum Found Beneath Barcelona Hotel Rewrites Barcino What started as a routine elevator shaft installation in a Barcelona hotel basement has turned into one of the most significant Roman archaeology discoveries in Spain in decades.…
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A utopian novel where men are no longer necessary.
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Illustrations of Javanese *wayang kulit* puppets with vivid colour and gilding.
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Does the flâneur, that curiously modern figure who wanders metropolitan streets, have a political consciousness? For Franz Hessel — author of Spazieren in Berlin, “a memorization while strolling” that Walter Benjamin called “thoroughly…
Read at The Public Domain ReviewAncient Origins
Black Gold: Sumerian Bitumen Recipes Worked Like Asphalt, 4,000 Years Ago Sumerian craftspeople in Mesopotamia didn’t simply scoop up natural bitumen and slap it on boats or bricks. A new materials study suggests they followed repeatable…
Read at Ancient OriginsThe Public Domain Review
Unruly steeds from King Mu’s mythology, cavorting across a silk scroll.
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A bestselling 18th-century cookbook, containing the first recipe for curry in English.
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A wondrous illuminated manuscript, which gathers and illustrates the marvels of the world and beyond.
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Observations of “snow flowers” made by microscope in Edo-era Japan.
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