Hi everyone, we hope you are all doing as best you can in these strange times! We just wanted to give a quick update as to how the coronavirus crisis is impacting The Public Domain Review. Primarily being an online project, we find ourselves in a luckier situation than many, but we thought it'd be useful to share how things have been impacted, as minimal as it is.
Slightly reduced online publication schedule
Over these next few months we are moving from a once-every-2-week to a once-every-3-week rhythm for our new essays and corresponding newsletters. This is to take the pressure off slightly as we adapt to these strange and disrupting times and do what we can to help our local communities, our loved ones, and our selves keep as healthy and safe as possible. We realise how important online projects like ours are in these times when so many are spending more time at home and looking for interesting rabbit holes with which to while away the hours — but we hope this reduced schedule doesn't effect that, we've still a humongous amount for you to explore which we've built up over the (often stressful!) years :-)
Slightly longer delivery estimates for online shop orders
Thankfully, our online shop remains open for business, the only difference is that items might take a few days longer getting to you than they normally would (we’ve increased our estimated delivery times accordingly). This is due to suppliers having to work with reduced staff, and also inevitable delay with delivery companies who’ll be stretched too. (In the unlikely event something doesn’t get to you, we will, of course, always offer a refund!) We’ve been assured by all our printers and fulfilment partners that they are taking increased hygiene and strict social distancing measures as per the government guidelines.
Historical perspective on the current crisis
It has always been an important part of the project to offer historical perspective on current affairs, and so we have, and will be doing so, with the coronavirus crisis. For example, in the last few weeks we have posted on two UK government films from the 1940s about dangers of spreading disease through coughs and sneezes, the distinctive outfits of early-modern plague doctors, and London's "bills of mortality" from the Great Plague year of 1665. While we hope such posts are welcomed by most, we do realise that some people come to us expressly as an escape from the tumult of news pages (especially amid the sadnesses of late) and that these posts might accidentally cause distress for some. We are deeply sorry if so and hope these readers will forgive us and find enough in our many other posts to soothe during these troubled times.
And talking of soothing...
We wanted to do something for the PDR community in these strange and (for most) mainly house-bound times, and so we made you a colouring book — free to download and print off at home. More details here.
