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9,354 public-domain books, summarised. Page 184 of 195.

Cover of A Handbook of the Cornish Language: chiefly in its latest stages with some account of its history and literature

A Handbook of the Cornish Language: chiefly in its latest stages with some account of its history and literature

Henry Jenner

This guide offers a practical path for those wishing to reclaim an ancient, near-extinct tongue, bridging the gap between historical scholarship and the living speech of the Cornish people.

Language & Communication6 min read
Cover of A History of Science

A History of Science

Henry Smith Williams

Progress in human understanding is never a solitary march, but a complex, winding journey built upon the stubborn observations and bold challenges of those who dared to question the established order.

History - Ancient6 min read
Cover of Adam Smith

Adam Smith

Francis W. (Francis Wrigley) Hirst

This biography chronicles the life and intellectual evolution of the Scottish philosopher who fundamentally reshaped our understanding of political economy and moral philosophy. It traces his journey from a quiet academic existence to global influence.

Biographies6 min read
Cover of Cathay

Cathay

Ezra Pound

This collection of translated verse captures the transient beauty of human connection and the quiet, recurring ache of separation. It is an exploration of lives defined by distance, duty, and the inexorable passage of time.

Poetry5 min read
Cover of Edinburgh Under Sir Walter Scott

Edinburgh Under Sir Walter Scott

W. T. Fyfe

The intellectual heart of the early nineteenth century beat in Edinburgh, where a unique confluence of history, law, and literature shaped the life of its most famous son, Sir Walter Scott.

History - British6 min read
Cover of Hi Jolly!

Hi Jolly!

Jim Kjelgaard

A solitary camel driver finds his destiny in the vast, unforgiving American Southwest. This narrative tracks an unlikely partnership between a man and his beast across two continents and a changing frontier.

Adventure6 min read
Cover of Hide and Seek

Hide and Seek

Wilkie Collins

A tender, intricately plotted examination of human isolation, this novel follows the lives of two social outcasts—a young woman born deaf and a brooding, nomadic traveler—whose paths converge through a web of long-held secrets.

British Literature7 min read
Cover of Marvels of Scientific Invention: An Interesting Account in Non-Technical Language of the Invention of Guns, Torpedoes, Submarine Mines, Up-to-Date Smelting, Freezing, Colour Photography, and Many Other Recent Discoveries of Science

Marvels of Scientific Invention: An Interesting Account in Non-Technical Language of the Invention of Guns, Torpedoes, Submarine Mines, Up-to-Date Smelting, Freezing, Colour Photography, and Many Other Recent Discoveries of Science

Thomas W. Corbin

HOOK This guide navigates the ingenious mechanics behind early 20th-century progress, demystifying the complex science that powered everything from deep-sea torpedoes to the miracle of wireless communication.

Engineering & Technology6 min read
Cover of Paris under the Commune: The Seventy-Three Days of the Second Siege

Paris under the Commune: The Seventy-Three Days of the Second Siege

John Leighton

Paris under the Commune is a visceral, firsthand account of the 1871 insurrection, capturing a city fractured by revolutionary fervor and the brutal finality of civil war. It serves as a haunting witness to the destruction of a world.

History - European6 min read
Cover of Sane Sex Life and Sane Sex Living: Some Things That All Sane People Ought to Know About Sex Nature and Sex Functioning

Sane Sex Life and Sane Sex Living: Some Things That All Sane People Ought to Know About Sex Nature and Sex Functioning

H. W. (Harland William) Long

HOOK This guide seeks to demystify the physical and emotional complexities of marriage by replacing outdated social taboos with practical, scientifically grounded instruction for couples.

Health & Medicine6 min read
Cover of The Battle with the Slum

The Battle with the Slum

Jacob A. (Jacob August) Riis

The slum is not a permanent fixture of the city, but a battlefield where the weapons are light, law, and human kindness. Persistence is the only way to reclaim the lives trapped in the dark.

History - American7 min read
Cover of The festival

The festival

H. P. (Howard Phillips) Lovecraft

A solitary traveler returns to an ancestral, fog-shrouded New England town to participate in a forbidden, centuries-old Yuletide ritual. What he discovers beneath the earth challenges the very boundaries of his sanity and existence.

American Literature6 min read
Cover of The French Impressionists (1860-1900)

The French Impressionists (1860-1900)

Camille Mauclair

The Impressionists captured the fleeting play of light and the essence of modern life, forever altering our perception of what a painting can be.

Art6 min read
Cover of The History of Painting in Italy, Vol. 4 (of 6): From the Period of the Revival of the Fine Arts to the End of the Eighteenth Century

The History of Painting in Italy, Vol. 4 (of 6): From the Period of the Revival of the Fine Arts to the End of the Eighteenth Century

Luigi Lanzi

This historical survey maps the artistic lineage of Northern Italy, charting the rise and transformation of its major painting schools through centuries of aesthetic evolution and institutional rebirth.

Art6 min read
Cover of The Life of Francis Marion

The Life of Francis Marion

William Gilmore Simms

This biography chronicles the life of the "Swamp Fox," a commander who transformed the landscape of the American Revolution in the South through ingenuity, resilience, and unconventional warfare. It is a portrait of a man defined by duty rather than glory.

Biographies7 min read
Cover of The Motor Maid

The Motor Maid

C. N. (Charles Norris) Williamson

HOOK A young woman unexpectedly finds herself working as a lady’s maid to a difficult employer while embarking on an adventurous automobile tour through the scenic heart of France.

Adventure5 min read
Cover of The Private Papers of Henry Ryecroft

The Private Papers of Henry Ryecroft

George Gissing

A life of grinding literary labor ends in the quiet, reflective twilight of a modest country home. This meditative journal captures the hard-won peace of a man who has finally escaped the crushing weight of poverty.

British Literature6 min read
Cover of The Story of Siena and San Gimignano

The Story of Siena and San Gimignano

Edmund G. Gardner

This exploration of two Tuscan treasures captures the soul of the Middle Ages, tracing the rise, struggle, and eventual fading of independent civic life in Italy.

History - European7 min read
Cover of The Use and Need of the Life of Carry A. Nation

The Use and Need of the Life of Carry A. Nation

Carry Amelia Nation

A woman finds her divine purpose in the destruction of saloons, believing that direct, militant action is the only path to protecting the American home from the scourge of alcohol.

Biographies6 min read
Cover of The works of John Dryden, now first collected in eighteen volumes. Volume 12

The works of John Dryden, now first collected in eighteen volumes. Volume 12

John Dryden

The twelfth volume of this monumental collection serves as a vibrant gateway into the classical and medieval worlds, reimagined through the singular sensibility of one of England’s most formidable poets. It is an expansive assembly of translation, where the ancient voices of Homer, Ovid, Lucretius, and Horace are…

British Literature6 min read
Cover of Astounding Stories of Super-Science July 1930

Astounding Stories of Super-Science July 1930

Various

This collection of short stories and serialized novellas from July 1930 captures the high-velocity optimism and anxieties of early science fiction. It is a time capsule of an era when the genre was finding its footing through pulp magazines, blending rapid-fire technological speculation with the melodrama of the…

Adventure6 min read
Cover of Australia Twice Traversed: The Romance of Exploration, Being a Narrative Compiled from the Journals of Five Exploring Expeditions into and Through Central South Australia and Western Australia, from 1872 to 1876

Australia Twice Traversed: The Romance of Exploration, Being a Narrative Compiled from the Journals of Five Exploring Expeditions into and Through Central South Australia and Western Australia, from 1872 to 1876

Ernest Giles

A relentless account of five expeditions into the arid heart of Australia, this record documents the harrowing struggle of a Victorian-era explorer to map a vast, unforgiving, and largely unknown interior.

Adventure9 min read
Cover of Beau Brocade: A Romance

Beau Brocade: A Romance

Orczy, Emmuska Orczy, Baroness

In the shadow of the Jacobite rebellions, a high-born brother and sister face ruin until a dashing, mysterious highwayman risks the gallows to secure their salvation. This tale of stolen letters, mistaken identities, and desperate courtships unfolds across the rugged, mist-shrouded moors of 18th-century Derbyshire.

Adventure6 min read
Cover of Chats on Old Sheffield Plate

Chats on Old Sheffield Plate

Arthur Hayden

Old Sheffield Plate represents a remarkable century of English artistry, where craftsmen mastered the delicate fusion of silver and copper to create elegant, affordable treasures that once graced the tables of the discerning.

Art6 min read
Cover of Chronicles of Newgate, Vol. 1: From the twelfth to the eighteenth century

Chronicles of Newgate, Vol. 1: From the twelfth to the eighteenth century

Arthur Griffiths

This historical account traces the grim evolution of England’s most notorious prison, revealing how the institution mirrored the shifting brutality and prejudices of the state over six centuries.

History - British6 min read
Cover of Development of Gravity Pendulums in the 19th Century: Contributions from the Museum of History and Technology, Papers 34-44 On Science and Technology, Smithsonian Institution, 1966

Development of Gravity Pendulums in the 19th Century: Contributions from the Museum of History and Technology, Papers 34-44 On Science and Technology, Smithsonian Institution, 1966

Robert P. Multhauf

The study of the pendulum evolved from a simple clock mechanism into the primary instrument for mapping the internal structure of the Earth and the variations in its gravitational field.

Engineering & Technology6 min read
Cover of Ekkehard: A Tale of the Tenth Century. Vol. 2 (of 2)

Ekkehard: A Tale of the Tenth Century. Vol. 2 (of 2)

Joseph Victor von Scheffel

This historical narrative chronicles the emotional and spiritual trials of a monk in the tenth century, whose life becomes inextricably bound to the fate of a powerful Duchess and the looming threat of Hunnic invaders.

Historical Novels6 min read
Cover of Extracts from the Diary and Correspondence of the Late Amos Lawrence

Extracts from the Diary and Correspondence of the Late Amos Lawrence

Amos Lawrence

A nineteenth-century Boston merchant balances the relentless pursuit of commercial success with an evolving, profound devotion to Christian charity and the quietude of domestic life.

Biographies6 min read
Cover of Higher Lessons in English: A work on English grammar and composition

Higher Lessons in English: A work on English grammar and composition

Alonzo Reed

This systematic guide to English grammar balances technical analysis with the practical arts of composition, proving that the study of structure is the surest path to elegant expression.

How To ...6 min read
Cover of History of Friedrich II of Prussia

History of Friedrich II of Prussia

Thomas Carlyle

This massive historical chronicle follows the ascent and survival of a king who, through sheer force of will and military intellect, transforms a secondary European power into a dominant, albeit embattled, force. It is a portrait of a man shaped by relentless pressure, where every strategic victory serves only to…

History - European6 min read
Cover of History of Zionism, 1600-1918, Vol. 1 (of 2)

History of Zionism, 1600-1918, Vol. 1 (of 2)

Nahum Sokolow

This sweeping chronicle maps the intellectual and political origins of the Zionist movement, tracing a centuries-old dream of return from the religious fervor of the 1600s to the geopolitical realities of 1918.

History - European7 min read
Cover of Imaginations and Reveries

Imaginations and Reveries

George William Russell

A collection of essays and short tales exploring the tension between the artist’s inner life and the urgent practical demands of a changing Irish nation.

British Literature6 min read
Cover of Man or Matter: Introduction to a Spiritual Understanding of Nature on the Basis of Goethe's Method of Training Observation and Thought

Man or Matter: Introduction to a Spiritual Understanding of Nature on the Basis of Goethe's Method of Training Observation and Thought

Ernst Lehrs

To see the world not merely as a collection of objects, but as a living script waiting to be read, requires a transformation of how we observe and think.

Philosophy & Ethics6 min read
Cover of Proverbs of All Nations, Compared, Explained, and Illustrated

Proverbs of All Nations, Compared, Explained, and Illustrated

Walter K. (Walter Keating) Kelly

This collection of traditional wisdom gathers the pithy observations of diverse cultures, demonstrating that human nature remains remarkably consistent across borders and centuries. It serves as an essential reference for understanding the shared history embedded in our everyday speech.

Encyclopedias/Dictionaries/Reference6 min read
Cover of Staffordshire pottery and its history

Staffordshire pottery and its history

Josiah C. (Josiah Clement) Wedgwood

This history tracks the evolution of the North Staffordshire potteries from a scattered, peasant-based craft into a centralized, industrial powerhouse. It provides a technical and social record of how innovation and capital shaped a landscape.

History - British6 min read
Cover of Tarzan the Terrible

Tarzan the Terrible

Edgar Rice Burroughs

Tarzan wanders into a hidden, prehistoric pocket of Africa, finding himself embroiled in the tribal politics and religious terrors of a lost civilization where men and beasts share the jungle. He must navigate the brutal landscape to rescue his wife, Lady Jane, who is held captive in a city of stone and sacrifice.

Adventure6 min read
Cover of The Bible, King James version, Book 66: Revelation

The Bible, King James version, Book 66: Revelation

Anonymous

This prophetic account chronicles a cosmic struggle between divine authority and earthly rebellion, culminating in the total renewal of heaven and earth. Through vivid, symbolic visions, it offers a dramatic resolution to the history of humanity.

Mythology, Legends & Folklore7 min read
Cover of The Child in the Midst: A Comparative Study of Child Welfare in Christian and Non-Christian Lands

The Child in the Midst: A Comparative Study of Child Welfare in Christian and Non-Christian Lands

Mary Schauffler Platt

A sobering portrait of early twentieth-century global childhood, this work advocates for the transformation of non-Western domestic and social life through the introduction of Christian missionary values.

History - Modern (1750+)6 min read
Cover of The Evolution of Modern Orchestration

The Evolution of Modern Orchestration

Louis Adolphe Coerne

The development of the modern orchestra is a story of shifting tonal colors, moving from the simple reed pipes of antiquity to the vast, complex symphonic landscapes of the nineteenth century.

History - Other6 min read
Cover of The Lamplighter

The Lamplighter

Maria S. (Maria Susanna) Cummins

A young girl escapes a life of neglect to find sanctuary in the kindness of strangers, discovering that even the darkest streets can be illuminated by the warmth of a steady, guiding light.

American Literature7 min read
Cover of The Paston Letters, A.D. 1422-1509. Volume 1 (of 6): New Complete Library Edition

The Paston Letters, A.D. 1422-1509. Volume 1 (of 6): New Complete Library Edition

Unknown

These private letters offer an unvarnished look at a family navigating the violent, litigious chaos of fifteenth-century England, where inheritance was a battlefield and survival required a constant, careful hand.

Biographies7 min read
Cover of The Southern war poetry of the Civil War

The Southern war poetry of the Civil War

Esther Parker Ellinger

This examination of Southern Civil War verse explores how poetry served as both a spontaneous cry of battle and an enduring record of a lost cause’s emotional landscape.

History - American6 min read
Cover of Advice to Young Men: And (Incidentally) to Young Women in the Middle and Higher Ranks of Life. In a Series of Letters, Addressed to a Youth, a Bachelor, a Lover, a Husband, a Father, a Citizen, or a Subject

Advice to Young Men: And (Incidentally) to Young Women in the Middle and Higher Ranks of Life. In a Series of Letters, Addressed to a Youth, a Bachelor, a Lover, a Husband, a Father, a Citizen, or a Subject

William Cobbett

True wisdom is not found in books of theory, but in the hard-won lessons of a life lived with industry, temperance, and a stubborn devotion to one’s own hearth.

Essays, Letters & Speeches5 min read
Cover of Anima Poetæ

Anima Poetæ

Samuel Taylor Coleridge

To witness a brilliant, restless mind in the act of catching its own reflection is to see the very mechanics of thought laid bare. These private pages reveal the intimate laboratory of a master of introspection.

British Literature6 min read
Cover of Dialogues on the Supersensual Life

Dialogues on the Supersensual Life

Jakob Böhme

Seeking the inner light within a world of shadow, a seeker learns that the path to divine peace requires the total surrender of the human will. This work serves as a guide for the soul to navigate the tension between the mortal world and the eternal spirit.

Philosophy & Ethics7 min read
Cover of Dogs and All about Them

Dogs and All about Them

Robert Leighton

This comprehensive guide serves as a practical manual for the Edwardian dog enthusiast, chronicling the standards, history, and care requirements for dozens of breeds at the height of the kennel club era. It acts as both a historical snapshot of canine fashion and a utilitarian handbook for the serious breeder.

History - Other6 min read
Cover of Dutch Fairy Tales for Young Folks

Dutch Fairy Tales for Young Folks

William Elliot Griffis

The stories of this collection weave the history of the Netherlands into a tapestry of wonder, explaining the origins of Dutch landmarks, customs, and national spirit through the lens of folklore.

Children & Young Adult Reading6 min read
Cover of Elements of Structural and Systematic Botany: For High Schools and Elementary College Courses

Elements of Structural and Systematic Botany: For High Schools and Elementary College Courses

Douglas Houghton Campbell

A comprehensive guide to the structural complexity and classification of plants, designed to move students beyond mere identification and into the rigorous examination of botanical life.

Science - Biology6 min read
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