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2 minutes to read Posted on Friday August 1, 2014

Updated on Monday November 6, 2023

Top 5 Public Domain Works in Europeana

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By Neil Bates, Marketing Specialist at Europeana.

July might be over, but we are not done talking about the public domain - not just yet. Lots of our users are taking advantage of the options available at Europeana.eu to search specifically for works that are in the public domain. But, which public domain works are the most popular?

Image: Map of Europe in 1860. Edward Stanford. Staats- und Universitätsbibliothek Bremen (Public Domain).

After the great response to our Public Domain Month campaign, especially on Twitter, we have decided to extend the discussion by a couple more days. To be honest, we just have too much to talk about and we simply cannot wait until next year. So for a little longer, keep your eyes peeled on the usual hashtag - #PublicDomainMonth.

Today’s blog is a fun one! It is no secret that you can discover millions of public domain works in all shapes and forms via the Europeana.eu website. During the past year on Europeana.eu, we saw that over 60,000 search queries were actively filtered using our public domain facet, and that is what we like to see.

So here it is, our top 5 list of the most viewed public domain works on Europeana.eu from the past year, which one is your favourite?

5. Map of Europe in 1860. Edward Stanford.

Staats- und Universitätsbibliothek Bremen (Public Domain)

4. Latvian road map and parish boundaries of national forests. Unpaved roads and highways department.

National Library of Latvia (Public Domain)

3. Jan Steen sends his son to the streets to exchange for beer and wine paintings. Josephus Van Regemorter.

Rijksmuseum (Public Domain)

2. Europe in a library. Bernard Picart.

Rijksmuseum (Public Domain)

1. La Corniche near Monaco. Monet.

Rijksmuseum (Public Domain)

And to finish up, one of my personal favourite public domain works that can be found on Europeana.eu…

Personal Favourite: Struwwelpeter. Heinrich Hoffmann.

Biblioteka Cyfrowa - Regionalia Ziemi Łódzkiej (Public Domain)

This article was written as part of Europeana’s #PublicDomainMonth - a month dedicated to sharing knowledge, best practices and events all related to the Public Domain. You can search millions of public domain works via the Europeana.eu website, or get involved with our Public Domain Month campaign by following #PublicDomainMonth and @EuropeanaIPR on Twitter.

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