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47,382 public-domain books, summarised. Page 158 of 988.

Cover of A Practical Physiology: A Text-Book for Higher Schools

A Practical Physiology: A Text-Book for Higher Schools

Albert F. (Albert Franklin) Blaisdell

This textbook serves as a comprehensive manual on the mechanics of the human body, designed to teach students how the physical framework functions and how to maintain it through informed, healthy choices. It combines anatomical description with a strong emphasis on the practical application of hygiene and the…

Health & Medicine6 min read
Cover of Celtic Folklore: Welsh and Manx (Volume 2 of 2)

Celtic Folklore: Welsh and Manx (Volume 2 of 2)

Rhys, John, Sir

The ancient hills of Wales and the Isle of Man hold memories of submerged cities, sleeping kings, and the rhythmic, hidden lives of the little people. This work invites the reader to walk those landscapes and listen to the ghosts of a vanishing oral tradition.

Mythology, Legends & Folklore6 min read
Cover of Great Astronomers

Great Astronomers

Robert S. (Robert Stawell) Ball

The vast, silent architecture of the heavens is best understood through the lives of those who dared to measure it. These portraits trace the evolution of our cosmic map, from the early spherical guesses of antiquity to the precise, invisible mathematics of the modern era.

Biographies6 min read
Cover of Journal of an Expedition into the Interior of Tropical Australia, in Search of a Route from Sydney to the Gulf of Carpentaria (1848)

Journal of an Expedition into the Interior of Tropical Australia, in Search of a Route from Sydney to the Gulf of Carpentaria (1848)

T. L. (Thomas Livingstone) Mitchell

This record of 19th-century colonial exploration serves as a meticulous, firsthand account of an attempt to map a navigable path to the northern coast of Australia, balancing the rigors of the bush with the scientific curiosity of the era.

Archaeology & Anthropology6 min read
Cover of Nathan the Wise

Nathan the Wise

Gotthold Ephraim Lessing

A single, profound question drives this classic drama: can human kindness transcend the rigid boundaries of religious dogma? Set against the backdrop of the Crusades, this play explores how wisdom might bridge the deepest of cultural divides.

German Literature6 min read
Cover of Poems by Emily Dickinson, Series Two

Poems by Emily Dickinson, Series Two

Emily Dickinson

The world is a vast, shivering mystery, and these verses are the needle-points that prick through the fabric of the ordinary to reach the absolute. They offer a rare, unflinching look at what it means to be human in the face of the infinite.

American Literature6 min read
Cover of Recreations of Christopher North, Volume 1

Recreations of Christopher North, Volume 1

John Wilson

The spirit of the Scottish Highlands lives in these pages, captured by a writer who traverses the moors with the vigor of a youth and the philosophical reflection of an aging man.

British Literature8 min read
Cover of The Car That Went Abroad: Motoring Through the Golden Age

The Car That Went Abroad: Motoring Through the Golden Age

Albert Bigelow Paine

The open road of pre-war Europe awaits, offering a gentle, sun-drenched passage through a continent that, within weeks, would vanish into the smoke of history.

Travel Writing6 min read
Cover of The Colonial Clippers

The Colonial Clippers

Basil Lubbock

The era of the great sailing clippers lives again through these detailed records of the ships that carried emigrants and gold across the Southern Oceans. It is a chronicle of endurance, speed, and the vanishing maritime culture of the British Mercantile Marine.

History - British6 min read
Cover of The Philippine Islands, 1493-1803

The Philippine Islands, 1493-1803

Unknown

This collection of historical documents chronicles the arduous Spanish efforts to establish a foothold in the Philippine Islands, revealing the harsh realities of sixteenth-century maritime expansion and colonial ambition.

History - Early Modern (c. 1450-1750)6 min read
Cover of The Victory At Sea

The Victory At Sea

Burton Jesse Hendrick

The survival of the Allied cause in the First World War hinged on a desperate, unseen struggle against German submarines. This account reveals how a coalition of naval forces finally broke the blockade of the Atlantic.

History - American7 min read
Cover of Unexplored Spain

Unexplored Spain

Abel Chapman

The remote reaches of Spain remain a frontier where roads vanish, wild creatures roam untamed, and the landscape guards its secrets against the encroachment of the modern world.

Adventure7 min read
Cover of What I believe

What I believe

Bertrand Russell

A call for a life governed by reason, kindness, and scientific inquiry, this manifesto rejects supernatural dogma in favor of human-centered progress. It remains a foundational text for secular humanism, articulating a rational path toward a more compassionate society.

Essays, Letters & Speeches6 min read
Cover of A Book of American Explorers

A Book of American Explorers

Thomas Wentworth Higginson

This collection gathers the primary accounts of the men who first crossed the Atlantic to the shores of the New World, letting the explorers speak for themselves across centuries of shifting history.

Adventure6 min read
Cover of A Short History of the Great War

A Short History of the Great War

A. F. (Albert Frederick) Pollard

The Great War of 1914–1918 transformed the map of the world and the lives of millions. This narrative provides an immediate, firsthand account of the conflict’s progression, from the initial breach of peace to the final armistice.

History - European6 min read
Cover of A Text-Book of Astronomy

A Text-Book of Astronomy

George C. (George Cary) Comstock

The heavens serve as a laboratory where simple tools and steady eyes reveal the fundamental architecture of the universe. This guide invites the student to move beyond passive observation into an active, measured understanding of the solar system and the stars.

Science - Earth/Agricultural/Farming6 min read
Cover of A Witch Shall Be Born

A Witch Shall Be Born

Robert E. (Robert Ervin) Howard

A warrior betrayed and left to die upon a cross returns to exact a brutal, calculated vengeance against the usurper who stole a queen’s throne.

Novels6 min read
Cover of Brave Men and Women: Their Struggles, Failures, And Triumphs

Brave Men and Women: Their Struggles, Failures, And Triumphs

Osgood E. (Osgood Eaton) Fuller

Finding the courage to meet life’s inevitable hardships is the common thread connecting the varied, storied lives gathered here. True character is forged not in ease, but through the crucible of struggle and the grace of persistence.

Biographies7 min read
Cover of Famous funny fellows

Famous funny fellows

William Montgomery Clemens

This collection offers a rare, candid glimpse into the late nineteenth-century American landscape of newspaper humor, charting the lives of the figures who defined a burgeoning genre of wit. It serves as a vital historical record of the era’s literary culture.

American Literature6 min read
Cover of Field's Chromatography: or Treatise on Colours and Pigments as Used by Artists

Field's Chromatography: or Treatise on Colours and Pigments as Used by Artists

George Field

Beyond the visible spectrum of color lies the chemical reality of the artist’s palette, where time and substance collide in a precarious dance. This technical treatise strips away the romance of painting to reveal the volatile, material truth of the pigments upon which every masterpiece depends.

Art5 min read
Cover of Letters of Edward FitzGerald, in Two Volumes. Vol. 2

Letters of Edward FitzGerald, in Two Volumes. Vol. 2

Edward FitzGerald

A quiet life in the Suffolk countryside yields a wealth of observation, as a reclusive scholar finds the world—and his lost friends—reflected in the pages of the books he keeps near.

Biographies6 min read
Cover of The Formation of Vegetable Mould Through the Action of Worms: With Observations on Their Habits

The Formation of Vegetable Mould Through the Action of Worms: With Observations on Their Habits

Charles Darwin

The humble earthworm, long dismissed as a lowly creature, emerges in these pages as the primary architect of the fertile soil that sustains all terrestrial life. Through patient, decades-long observation, the hidden work of these creatures is revealed to be a geological force of immense consequence.

Science - Biology6 min read
Cover of The Voyages of Pedro Fernandez de Quiros, 1595 to 1606. Volume 1

The Voyages of Pedro Fernandez de Quiros, 1595 to 1606. Volume 1

Pedro Fernandes de Queirós

This record captures the obsession of a visionary navigator seeking a fabled southern continent. It documents the collision of high-minded religious idealism with the harsh, often violent realities of seventeenth-century maritime exploration.

Adventure7 min read
Cover of A History of Art in Ancient Egypt, Vol. 2 (of 2)

A History of Art in Ancient Egypt, Vol. 2 (of 2)

Georges Perrot

The genius of the Nile, etched in stone and cast in bronze, remains the singular testament of a civilization that viewed art as a timeless bridge between the living and the eternal. This comprehensive survey explores the enduring mechanics and aesthetic philosophy of ancient Egyptian craftsmanship.

Architecture6 min read
Cover of A Popular Account of Dr. Livingstone's Expedition to the Zambesi and Its Tributaries: And of the Discovery of Lakes Shirwa and Nyassa, 1858-1864

A Popular Account of Dr. Livingstone's Expedition to the Zambesi and Its Tributaries: And of the Discovery of Lakes Shirwa and Nyassa, 1858-1864

David Livingstone

This narrative documents a landmark Victorian expedition to East Africa, blending geographical discovery with a sobering, firsthand investigation into the human cost of the inland slave trade.

History - Modern (1750+)6 min read
Cover of Arrowsmith

Arrowsmith

Sinclair Lewis

A relentless, searching portrait of a man torn between the integrity of scientific discovery and the crushing demands of professional ambition, social climbing, and personal loss.

American Literature7 min read
Cover of John Deere's Steel Plow

John Deere's Steel Plow

Edward C. Kendall

A blacksmith’s ingenuity transformed the stubborn, sticky soil of the American prairie into the heart of a nation’s farmland. This historical inquiry examines how a simple tool fundamentally reshaped agricultural productivity.

Engineering & Technology6 min read
Cover of Lawrence and the Arabs

Lawrence and the Arabs

Robert Graves

A brilliant, restless intelligence navigates the shifting sands of the First World War, forging an improbable Arab insurgency against the Ottoman Empire while struggling against the encroaching myth of his own identity.

Biographies6 min read
Cover of Recreations of Christopher North, Volume 2

Recreations of Christopher North, Volume 2

John Wilson

The voice of a solitary, contemplative wanderer echoes through the glens and highlands of Scotland, inviting readers to witness the beauty of a landscape and the enduring spirit of its people.

Essays, Letters & Speeches8 min read
Cover of The Beginnings of Poetry

The Beginnings of Poetry

Francis Barton Gummere

Rhythmic speech, born from the collective labor and play of the earliest human groups, serves as the true foundation of all poetic art.

Poetry8 min read
Cover of The Book of the Thousand Nights and a Night

The Book of the Thousand Nights and a Night

Burton, Richard Francis, Sir

A queen’s survival hangs on a single thread of storytelling, weaving a tapestry of magic, moral lessons, and human caprice that spans a thousand and one nights of suspense. This legendary collection serves as both a mirror of medieval Eastern life and a labyrinthine gateway into the timeless imagination of the Orient.

Adventure7 min read
Cover of The Collected Works of Ambrose Bierce, Volume 08: Negligible Tales, On With the Dance, Epigrams

The Collected Works of Ambrose Bierce, Volume 08: Negligible Tales, On With the Dance, Epigrams

Ambrose Bierce

This collection offers a bracing, acidic tonic for the sentimental, stripping away the thin veneer of Victorian morality to reveal the machinery of human folly beneath. It is a masterful anatomy of cynicism that finds the dark humor in everything from domestic murder to the absurdity of war.

American Literature7 min read
Cover of The Defence of Duffer's Drift

The Defence of Duffer's Drift

E. D. (Ernest Dunlop) Swinton

A young officer tasked with guarding a river crossing experiences a series of vivid, recurring nightmares, each revealing the lethal consequences of his tactical failures until he finally masters the art of survival.

History - Warfare6 min read
Cover of The Knickerbocker, or New-York Monthly Magazine, June 1844: Volume 23, Number 6

The Knickerbocker, or New-York Monthly Magazine, June 1844: Volume 23, Number 6

Various

This June 1844 installment of a long-running literary journal serves as a vibrant, kaleidoscopic window into the intellectual and social life of the mid-nineteenth century, blending serious narrative with the spirited, often biting, commentary of its era.

American Literature6 min read
Cover of The Prose Works of Jonathan Swift, D.D

The Prose Works of Jonathan Swift, D.D

Jonathan Swift

A fictional, plain-speaking tradesman takes on the might of the British Empire to protect his country’s economy from a fraudulent coinage scheme.

British Literature6 min read
Cover of The Sorceress of Rome

The Sorceress of Rome

Nathan Gallizier

Amid the decay and corruption of tenth-century Rome, a young, idealistic emperor and a beautiful, manipulative noblewoman collide in a tragic struggle for power and affection.

Historical Novels7 min read
Cover of Traditions of the Tinguian: a Study in Philippine Folk-Lore

Traditions of the Tinguian: a Study in Philippine Folk-Lore

Fay-Cooper Cole

HOOK This collection gathers the traditional myths and explanatory legends of the Tinguian people of Luzon, preserving a vibrant, magical world where the boundaries between human, spirit, and animal constantly dissolve.

Archaeology & Anthropology6 min read
Cover of A Footnote to History: Eight Years of Trouble in Samoa

A Footnote to History: Eight Years of Trouble in Samoa

Robert Louis Stevenson

A chronicle of imperial overreach and cultural collision, this work documents the turbulent eight-year struggle for power in Samoa as three global superpowers vied for control of a Pacific kingdom.

History - Other6 min read
Cover of A history of Italian literature

A history of Italian literature

Richard Garnett

This is a survey of the literary evolution of Italy, tracing its growth from medieval roots through the height of the Renaissance and into the shifting landscape of the nineteenth century. It frames the nation's creative output as a single, enduring spirit.

History - Other7 min read
Cover of A Little Book of Filipino Riddles

A Little Book of Filipino Riddles

Unknown

The riddle serves as a universal mirror, capturing the wit of a culture through the simple, playful act of describing the world without naming it. This collection preserves a fleeting oral tradition that transforms the mundane—pigs, stars, tools, and fruit—into objects of mystery.

Mythology, Legends & Folklore6 min read
Cover of Christianity and Ethics: A Handbook of Christian Ethics

Christianity and Ethics: A Handbook of Christian Ethics

Archibald B. D. (Archibald Browning Drysdale) Alexander

This intellectual inquiry explores how ancient Christian teachings inform the moral life, arguing that true freedom and character are found through a dedicated, loving submission to the spirit of Christ.

Philosophy & Ethics6 min read
Cover of History of the Great American Fortunes, Vol. I: Conditions in Settlement and Colonial Times

History of the Great American Fortunes, Vol. I: Conditions in Settlement and Colonial Times

Gustavus Myers

The vast American fortunes are not the singular products of thrift and industry, but the logical, inevitable results of a social system built to despoil the many for the benefit of a few.

History - American6 min read
Cover of In Ghostly Japan

In Ghostly Japan

Lafcadio Hearn

A collection of literary sketches and folklore, this work captures the haunting intersection of Buddhist philosophy and the supernatural in late nineteenth-century Japan. It serves as a bridge between the fading traditions of the Edo period and the encroaching modernity of the Meiji era.

Mythology, Legends & Folklore6 min read
Cover of Ireland: The People's History of Ireland, Volume 1 (of 2)

Ireland: The People's History of Ireland, Volume 1 (of 2)

John F. (John Frederick) Finerty

This chronicle weaves the long, turbulent narrative of the Irish people, tracing their journey from ancient, pre-Christian origins through the religious and political upheavals of the Reformation and the Jacobite wars.

History - Ancient6 min read
Cover of Israel Potter: His Fifty Years of Exile

Israel Potter: His Fifty Years of Exile

Herman Melville

A soldier of the American Revolution survives a half-century of exile, only to return home and find his existence erased by time and neglect.

American Literature5 min read
Cover of Patrick Henry

Patrick Henry

Moses Coit Tyler

Patrick Henry stands as a singular, galvanizing force in the American Revolution, a man whose voice became the clarion call for a nation’s independence and the conscience of its nascent government. This study recovers the authentic historical record of the orator’s life, stripping away the hazy myths that long…

Biographies6 min read
Cover of Survey of London, Volume 05 (of 14), the parish of St. Giles-in-the-Fields, part 2

Survey of London, Volume 05 (of 14), the parish of St. Giles-in-the-Fields, part 2

George Laurence Gomme

This meticulously documented volume chronicles the architectural evolution and historical lineage of St. Giles-in-the-Fields, transforming dry land records into a vivid tapestry of London’s past. It is an essential reference for those who find the history of a city written in its street plans, doorways, and…

Architecture6 min read
Cover of The Best Ghost Stories

The Best Ghost Stories

Unknown

We are all, perhaps, as full of superstition as we are of secrets; we only require the right story to set those hidden shadows loose.

Crime, Thrillers and Mystery6 min read