Last month (we think it was last month) the British Library released 1 million scanned images into the public domain. You can access them from the British Library Flickr account and have a good old trip down memory lane. Some of the images are positively mental and from a bygone era, but if you remember what a shilling is then these may prove of some nostalgic purpose.

Naturally the image above, of The Skipper of The Seagull, was our outright favourite. It’s so impossibly absurd we couldn’t help but particularly love it. Sadly we can’t figure out which year it’s from, so we’re going to presume it was released circa 1066. For obvious reasons.

Particularly interesting is the Science Fiction bit, which offers up some of the most insane (and rather brilliant) images we’ve seen in a while! It’s true – people were generally crazier in times of yore. ‘tis but a sad reflection a lot of folk are so much more rational and sane these days!

Some of it’s unbelievably bizarre, whilst other bits are pretty inventive and wicked. For instance, take the below rather prescient image drawn in 1898 of the Earth (that’s where we live) in space. Pretty accurate, eh? Apart from all the clouds. And Fred. What’s Fred got to do with space?

It just goes to show, folks in thymes gone by was as creative back then as they is now. Which, you know, was obvious anyway, unless you think Mozart, Beethoven, Shakespeare, and Henry VII weren’t talented. If you think that then, like, you’re as dumb as Alexandre Dumas. lol.

Nowt like t’loaf of f’ t’ t’hovis under t’one arm an’ t’ bain under t’other, eh?

Anyway, if you have a blog and want weirdly wonderful pictures in the public domain (which means you, probably, won’t be sued for copyright infringement) then we can heartily recommend this site. Totes amazeballs!