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10,588 public-domain books, summarised. Page 218 of 221.

Cover of Akbar, Emperor of India: A Picture of Life and Customs from the Sixteenth Century

Akbar, Emperor of India: A Picture of Life and Customs from the Sixteenth Century

Richard Garbe

A visionary sixteenth-century ruler transforms a fractured realm into a unified empire through radical tolerance, administrative genius, and unyielding personal courage.

Biographies5 min read
Cover of Art Principles with Special Reference to Painting: Together with Notes on the Illusions Produced by the Painter

Art Principles with Special Reference to Painting: Together with Notes on the Illusions Produced by the Painter

Ernest Govett

A thoughtful brushstroke can reveal the mechanics of visual beauty, proving that true art relies on universal laws rather than mere fleeting fashion.

Art6 min read
Cover of Authors and their public in ancient times

Authors and their public in ancient times

George Haven Putnam

Before printing presses existed, every book was an act of manual labor, shaped by the material limits of clay, papyrus, or parchment, and by the precarious economic bonds between authors, patrons, and copyists.

History - Ancient5 min read
Cover of Chap-books of the Eighteenth Century: With Facsimiles, Notes, and Introduction

Chap-books of the Eighteenth Century: With Facsimiles, Notes, and Introduction

John Ashton

A nation’s popular imagination lives not in its elite treatises, but in the cheap, battered pamphlets peddled across the countryside to readers hungry for wonders, morals, and miracles.

History - British6 min read
Cover of Clover

Clover

Susan Coolidge

For a sister who never intended to leave her family, a brother's failing lungs make a journey west the only choice—and a turn of fate she never planned for.

American Literature6 min read
Cover of Cyclopedia of Telephony and Telegraphy, Vol. 2: A General Reference Work on Telephony, etc. etc

Cyclopedia of Telephony and Telegraphy, Vol. 2: A General Reference Work on Telephony, etc. etc

American School of Correspondence

A window into the dawn of the global telecommunications grid, this early technical survey maps the intricate apparatus, switchboard logic, and automated systems that first enabled voice and signal to travel vast distances over copper.

Encyclopedias/Dictionaries/Reference6 min read
Cover of David Blaize

David Blaize

E. F. (Edward Frederic) Benson

Schoolboy freedom is a fragile kingdom, easily shattered by a master's footstep or a poorly aimed cricket ball, yet lived with fierce, absolute devotion.

British Literature6 min read
Cover of Explorations in Australia: The Journals of John McDouall Stuart During the Years 1858, 1859, 1860, 1861, and 1862, When He Fixed the Centre of the Continent and Successfully Crossed It from Sea to Sea

Explorations in Australia: The Journals of John McDouall Stuart During the Years 1858, 1859, 1860, 1861, and 1862, When He Fixed the Centre of the Continent and Successfully Crossed It from Sea to Sea

John McDouall Stuart

A dry wind sweeps over miles of spinifex and salt-encrusted plain as a handful of men push deeper into an uncharted continent, tracking scarce waterholes and carving a path from coast to coast.

History - Other7 min read
Cover of Fossil plants, Vol. 3

Fossil plants, Vol. 3

A. C. (Albert Charles) Seward

A vast, stony archive of the earth’s deep past opens through the meticulous reconstruction of ancient foliage, woody stems, and fossilized seeds. It resurrects the lost gymnosperms that once shaded a younger planet.

Science - Biology11 min read
Cover of History of the Jews, Vol. 1 (of 6)

History of the Jews, Vol. 1 (of 6)

Heinrich Graetz

Faithful to three thousand years of memory, a people's survival relies not on armies or soil, but on an invincible moral conviction.

History - Ancient10 min read
Cover of King Horn, Floriz and Blauncheflur, The Assumption of Our Lady

King Horn, Floriz and Blauncheflur, The Assumption of Our Lady

Unknown

A young prince exiled across the sea, a devoted lover sneaking into a tower of flowers, and the Virgin Mary carried into heaven by angels.

British Literature7 min read
Cover of Monism as Connecting Religion and Science: A Man of Science

Monism as Connecting Religion and Science: A Man of Science

Ernst Haeckel

A single, unyielding physical law governs the cosmos, bridging the artificially enforced chasm between the empirical truths of scientific discovery and the profound spiritual longings of the human soul.

Philosophy & Ethics5 min read
Cover of Mother's Nursery Tales

Mother's Nursery Tales

Katharine Pyle

A simple promise to tell a bedtime story turns into a rich tapestry of classic folklore, where every turn of the page brings familiar heroes and forgotten magic to life.

Children & Young Adult Reading6 min read
Cover of Notes on Nursing: What It Is, and What It Is Not

Notes on Nursing: What It Is, and What It Is Not

Florence Nightingale

Proper care of the human body demands continuous, unyielding vigilance over the basic physical elements that sustain life.

Health & Medicine6 min read
Cover of Personal reminiscences of Henry Irving

Personal reminiscences of Henry Irving

Bram Stoker

Behind the velvet curtain of nineteenth-century theatre stood a towering figure of artistic ambition, seen not from the auditorium, but through the eyes of the man who managed his world.

Biographies13 min read
Cover of She Buildeth Her House

She Buildeth Her House

Will Levington Comfort

A young woman navigates the psychological snares of a sinister mesmerist and the volatile pasts of her lovers to forge a spiritual union.

American Literature6 min read
Cover of Tales and Novels

Tales and Novels

Maria Edgeworth

Correcting youth requires clear examples, not heavy demands. Self-discovery, practical virtue, and disciplined thinking shape a mind far better than rigid instruction or empty social vanity.

British Literature9 min read
Cover of The Acts of the General Assemblies of the Church of Scotland

The Acts of the General Assemblies of the Church of Scotland

Church of Scotland. General Assembly

These official records trace a nation’s fierce struggle for religious self-determination, capturing the moment a Scottish church declared its independence from royal dictate and rebuilt its identity from the ground up.

History - British8 min read
Cover of The Autobiography of Sergeant William Lawrence: A Hero of the Peninsular and Waterloo Campaigns

The Autobiography of Sergeant William Lawrence: A Hero of the Peninsular and Waterloo Campaigns

William Lawrence

A young runaway tradesman enlists for a sixteen-guinea bounty and spent seventeen years in the ranks, marching across Spain, France, and Flanders straight into the fury of Waterloo.

Biographies6 min read
Cover of The Duchess of Berry and the Court of Charles X

The Duchess of Berry and the Court of Charles X

Imbert de Saint-Amand

A brief optical illusion of peace masks the decay of a fragile throne, where brilliant galas and royal pageants obscure the slow approach of an inevitable collapse.

History - European6 min read
Cover of The Eurhythmics of Jaques-Dalcroze

The Eurhythmics of Jaques-Dalcroze

Émile Jaques-Dalcroze

Translating the inner impulse of music into physical motion creates a complete unity between mind, body, and art, restoring the natural, expressive harmony that modern life and mechanical education have systematically stripped away.

How To ...6 min read
Cover of The Evolution of Culture, and Other Essays

The Evolution of Culture, and Other Essays

Augustus Henry Lane-Fox Pitt-Rivers

Human ingenuity advances not through sudden leaps of individual genius, but through a slow, continuous chain of tiny, incremental adaptations shaped by practical necessity.

Archaeology & Anthropology5 min read
Cover of The Fantastic Clan: The Cactus Family

The Fantastic Clan: The Cactus Family

J. J. (John James) Thornber

Spines, blossoms, and burning sun define an extraordinary wilderness where strange, resilient green architectures flourish against the vast sky of the American Southwest.

Nature/Gardening/Animals7 min read
Cover of The Feasts of Autolycus: The Diary of a Greedy Woman

The Feasts of Autolycus: The Diary of a Greedy Woman

Elizabeth Robins Pennell

An unapologetic, exquisitely styled manifesto for the dining table, declaring that true culinary pleasure is an art form deserving woman's highest artistic ambition.

Cooking & Drinking8 min read
Cover of The Highland bagpipe

The Highland bagpipe

W. L. (William Laird) Manson

An instrument capable of rallying armies on battlefield knolls can also incite fierce feuds, unseat a rider in Chicago, or be cast into a ditch by an offended elephant.

History - Other5 min read
Cover of The Legends of the Jews

The Legends of the Jews

Louis Ginzberg

An unspooling of ancient rabbinic imagination, this collection gathers centuries of folklore to rebuild the biblical wilderness as a realm of cosmic scale.

Mythology, Legends & Folklore7 min read
Cover of The Library of Work and Play: Housekeeping

The Library of Work and Play: Housekeeping

Elizabeth Hale Gilman

A young girl’s playhouse under a tree becomes the launching pad for a deep, surprisingly spiritual exploration of household management, transforming everyday domestic work into an art of devotion and quiet purpose.

How To ...6 min read
Cover of The Outlaws of Cave-in-Rock: Historical Accounts of the Famous Highwaymen and River Pirates

The Outlaws of Cave-in-Rock: Historical Accounts of the Famous Highwaymen and River Pirates

Otto A. Rothert

A limestone cavern along the Ohio River serves as the physical anchor for decades of frontier bloodletting, river piracy, and organized crime.

Crime, Thrillers and Mystery7 min read
Cover of The Rejuvenation of Aunt Mary

The Rejuvenation of Aunt Mary

Anne Warner

A wealthy, iron-willed country aunt threatens to disinherit her wild college nephew, only to be completely won over when his friends lure her into a whirlwind week of New York nightlife.

American Literature7 min read
Cover of The Sanitary Evolution of London

The Sanitary Evolution of London

Henry (Henry Lorenzo) Jephson

This chronicle maps the grueling, multi-generational campaign to transform London from a disease-ridden labyrinth into a modern, habitable metropolis. It stands as a vital record of how policy and persistence slowly conquered the lethal neglect of the nineteenth-century urban environment.

Health & Medicine7 min read
Cover of The Secret of the Earth

The Secret of the Earth

Charles Willing Beale

Two brothers take flight in a specialized airship and stumble through an opening at the pole into a sunlit world hidden inside the hollow Earth.

Adventure6 min read
Cover of The Treasure of the Incas: A Story of Adventure in Peru

The Treasure of the Incas: A Story of Adventure in Peru

G. A. (George Alfred) Henty

Gold, mystery, and the rugged slopes of the Andes drive two English brothers into the wild heart of Peru. They risk everything against hostile tribes, treacherous bandits, and natural perils to uncover the lost wealth of the ancient Incas.

Adventure6 min read
Cover of The Wonderful Visit

The Wonderful Visit

H. G. (Herbert George) Wells

A celestial visitor falls into a Victorian English village, where human custom, social malice, and physical suffering slowly drag its heavenly nature down to earth.

British Literature6 min read
Cover of A Simple Soul

A Simple Soul

Gustave Flaubert

A servant’s quiet life of devotion and loss narrows to the span of a provincial household, where a stuffed parrot becomes her ultimate vision of the divine.

French Literature6 min read
Cover of An Enquiry into the Life and Legend of Michael Scot

An Enquiry into the Life and Legend of Michael Scot

J. Wood (James Wood) Brown

To separate a thirteenth-century scholar’s genuine scientific achievements from the dark, persistent myths of medieval magic, an investigator must carefully trace surviving manuscripts through European cloisters, royal courts, and monastic libraries.

Biographies6 min read
Cover of Angels in Art

Angels in Art

Clara Erskine Clement Waters

An illuminating study traces how sacred art transformed airborne messengers into complex symbols of faith, power, and human emotion across centuries of painting and sculpture.

Art6 min read
Cover of Blackbeard: Buccaneer

Blackbeard: Buccaneer

Ralph Delahaye Paine

A high-spirited 1718 swashbuckler pits a brave South Carolina youth and a reluctant boy pirate against Edward Teach’s infamous crew in a fight for survival, honor, and sunken gold.

Adventure6 min read
Cover of Discourses on Satire and on Epic Poetry

Discourses on Satire and on Epic Poetry

John Dryden

A supreme English stylist unpacks the architecture of classic verse, testing ancient masters against modern rivals with sharp-eyed vigor and generous learning.

British Literature6 min read
Cover of Expositions of Holy Scripture: Deuteronomy, Joshua, Judges, Ruth, and First Book of Samuel, Second Samuel, First Kings, and Second Kings chapters I to VII

Expositions of Holy Scripture: Deuteronomy, Joshua, Judges, Ruth, and First Book of Samuel, Second Samuel, First Kings, and Second Kings chapters I to VII

Alexander Maclaren

A veteran preacher reads the long historical books of the Old Testament not as dusty chronicles of a dead nation, but as an unflinching mirror held up to the human heart.

Religion/Spirituality10 min read
Cover of Fors Clavigera (Volume 1 of 8): Letters to the workmen and labourers of Great Britain

Fors Clavigera (Volume 1 of 8): Letters to the workmen and labourers of Great Britain

John Ruskin

An urgent, deeply personal challenge to Victorian industrial society, these public-domain letters call on working people to abandon destructive notions of mechanical progress and reclaim a life grounded in honest labor and clear moral truth.

British Literature7 min read
Cover of Games and songs of American children

Games and songs of American children

Unknown

Beneath the innocent surface of ring dances and playground chants lies a vast, unbroken chain of ancient European folklore, preserved entirely by children across the American republic.

Archaeology & Anthropology6 min read
Cover of Gerald Fitzgerald, the Chevalier: A Novel

Gerald Fitzgerald, the Chevalier: A Novel

Charles Lever

A street child in Rome grows up to discover he is the secret heir to the Stuart throne, sweeping him into high-stakes European intrigue. <Image alt="Gerald Fitzgerald standing before an kneeling Cardinal" caption="Gerald Fitzgerald acknowledged by the Cardinal" src="imageagenttag17003276602765713539"/

Historical Novels7 min read
Cover of History of Phosphorus

History of Phosphorus

Eduard Farber

Accidental discoveries in alchemical cauldrons can ignite centuries of scientific revolution, transforming human understanding of life, medicine, industry, and the fundamental architecture of matter itself.

History - Other6 min read
Cover of Illustrations of the manners, customs, & condition of the North American Indians, Vol. 1 (of 2): With letters and notes, written during eight years of travel and adventure among the wildest and most remarkable tribes now existing

Illustrations of the manners, customs, & condition of the North American Indians, Vol. 1 (of 2): With letters and notes, written during eight years of travel and adventure among the wildest and most remarkable tribes now existing

George Catlin

A passionate painter ventures into the heart of the American wilderness, driven to capture on canvas the living presence of indigenous nations before their worlds are irrevocably altered.

Archaeology & Anthropology7 min read
Cover of Illustrations of the manners, customs, & condition of the North American Indians, Vol. 2 (of 2): With letters and notes, written during eight years of travel and adventure among the wildest and most remarkable tribes now existing

Illustrations of the manners, customs, & condition of the North American Indians, Vol. 2 (of 2): With letters and notes, written during eight years of travel and adventure among the wildest and most remarkable tribes now existing

George Catlin

A detailed, empathetic record of Native American cultures reveals a continent in profound transition, documenting traditional ways of life on the brink of permanent transformation.

Archaeology & Anthropology7 min read
Cover of Principles and Practice of Fur Dressing and Fur Dyeing

Principles and Practice of Fur Dressing and Fur Dyeing

William E. Austin

Demystifying an industry long shrouded in guild-like secrecy, this groundbreaking treatise translates the art of fur processing into a precise, modern applied science.

Engineering & Technology5 min read
Cover of School and Home Cooking

School and Home Cooking

Carlotta C. (Carlotta Cherryholmes) Greer

Practical science meets daily domestic life in an instructional manual designed to turn young students into capable home managers.

Cooking & Drinking6 min read
Cover of The Country Doctor

The Country Doctor

Honoré de Balzac

A wounded military veteran rides into a remote mountain valley to seek a country doctor, only to discover an entire community transformed by one man's devotion to civic duty and social redemption.

French Literature5 min read
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