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13,367 public-domain books, summarised. Page 253 of 279.

The Chautauquan, Vol. 05, October 1884, No. 1
Chautauqua Literary and Scientific Circle
This volume serves as a comprehensive bridge between the formal classroom and the home, transforming the pursuit of knowledge into a lifelong, self-directed endeavor for the nineteenth-century citizen.

The Conquest of America: A Romance of Disaster and Victory, U.S.A., 1921 A.D
Cleveland Moffett
A chilling vision of a defenseless nation forced to its knees, this work serves as a frantic, cautionary call for the United States to abandon its isolationism and embrace military preparedness.

The Golden Slipper, and Other Problems for Violet Strange
Anna Katharine Green
A young socialite moonlights as a brilliant private investigator, navigating the shadows of New York’s elite to solve crimes that the police cannot touch.

The history of our Navy from its origin to the present day, 1775-1897, vol. 3 (of 4)
John Randolph Spears
The third volume of this comprehensive maritime chronicle charts the expansion of American naval power, shifting from the daring, individualistic exploits of the War of 1812 to the strategic maneuvers of the mid-19th century. Through focused case studies, it captures the transition of a young, fledgling force into…

The Life of Yakoob Beg
Demetrius Charles Boulger
A soldier of fortune rises from obscurity to seize a Central Asian kingdom, only to find his survival threatened by the inexorable return of imperial power.

The Woodlands orchids, described and illustrated
Frederick Boyle
A singular blend of technical botanical expertise and swashbuckling travelogue, this work chronicles the Victorian obsession with the rarest blooms of the tropical world.

Tiberius the Tyrant
John Charles Tarver
This historical study challenges the traditional portrayal of the Roman Emperor Tiberius as a depraved tyrant, offering instead a nuanced look at the administrative burdens of an aging, reluctant ruler. It re-examines the inherent biases of ancient historians to reveal a complex portrait of a leader struggling to…

Traditions of Edinburgh
Robert Chambers
The city of Edinburgh is a palimpsest of stone and memory, and this collection of historical sketches meticulously uncovers the lost layers beneath its modern streets. It serves as an essential guide for anyone who wishes to walk the Royal Mile and see, rather than just look, at the vanishing past.

West Virginia Trees
A. B. (Alonzo Beecher) Brooks
A comprehensive field guide to the arboreal landscape of West Virginia, mapping the diversity of the state’s forests with botanical precision.

A Century of Sail and Steam on the Niagara River
Barlow Cumberland
This history traces the transformation of the Niagara River from a perilous frontier for wooden sailing ships into a sophisticated corridor of steam-powered travel and modern commercial industry.

Bacteria: Especially as they are related to the economy of nature, to industrial processes, and to the public health
Newman, George, Sir
A microscopic world of immense biological power drives the natural cycles of decay, industrial fermentations, and human disease.

Cagliostro
W. R. H. (William Rutherford Hayes) Trowbridge
A complex portrait of an eighteenth-century occultist, this study dismantles the myth of a grand impostor to reveal a man caught between his own performative vanity and the brutal, shifting politics of pre-revolutionary Europe.

Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 5, Appendix: Author List
Various
This volume captures the monumental scale of a scholarly era, documenting the precise intellectual labor required to codify the world’s knowledge at the turn of the twentieth century. It serves as a testament to a time when information was curated by a vast, interconnected network of experts.

Harry Coverdale's Courtship, and All That Came of It
Frank E. (Frank Edward) Smedley
The narrative follows a spirited, impulsive country gentleman and his gentle wife as they navigate the perils of early marriage, social folly, and the dangerous influence of manipulative opportunists in 19th-century England.

Liberia: Description, History, Problems
Frederick Starr
In the early twentieth century, the survival of the world’s only independent black republic was a subject of intense global debate. This survey examines the internal challenges, historical foundations, and potential for the sovereignty of Liberia.

Narrative of My Captivity Among the Sioux Indians
Fanny Kelly
The summer of 1864 finds an emigrant party traveling toward Idaho, only to be ambushed by a band of Sioux. This memoir chronicles the five months of captivity that follow, detailing the harrowing struggle for survival.

Physiological Researches on Life and Death
Xavier Bichat
The border between the living and the dead is not a single, abrupt line, but a complex series of retreats. Understanding the body’s internal architecture reveals how life persists even as its outward expressions fade.

Poems in Two Volumes, Volume 1
William Wordsworth
This collection captures the quiet, profound intensity of a mind observing the natural world and the shifting tides of human history. It invites readers to look closely at the small, often-overlooked wonders of daily life and to carry those observations into the broader, more turbulent arena of duty and political…

Publications of the Mississippi Historical Society, Volume 02 (of 14), 1899
Mississippi Historical Society
This collection of scholarly papers preserves the formative historical, literary, and social landscape of late nineteenth-century Mississippi. It offers a rare window into how a generation sought to define its regional identity through the archives.

Shakespeare and music
Edward W. (Edward Woodall) Naylor
HOOK This exploration reveals the intimate harmony between the Bard’s verses and the vibrant, often technical musical landscape of his era, illuminating how Elizabethan life breathed in rhythm and song.

Songs of the Sea and Lays of the Land
Charles Godfrey Leland
This collection of verse captures the vanishing spirit of the nineteenth-century sailor, blending authentic maritime folklore with the tall tales of a wandering adventurer. It preserves the salty, cynical, and superstitious voice of the men who once powered the world’s sailing ships.

The art of music, Vol. 05 (of 14)
Unknown
The human voice is an instrument of immense complexity and historical weight, bridging the gap between ancient ritual and the modern concert hall. This exploration examines the intersection of physical science, cultural evolution, and the artistic development of song.

The Life of George Cruikshank in Two Epochs, Vol. 1. (of 2)
Blanchard Jerrold
HOOK A master of visual satire, this life story captures the meteoric rise of a Victorian illustrator whose genius for grotesque detail helped define the public imagination of his era.

The new state
Mary Parker Follett
True democracy is not a matter of casting ballots or choosing leaders, but of citizens actively creating a shared future through constant, purposeful engagement with one another. This vision challenges the mechanical, individualistic structures that define modern politics.

The psychology of sleep
Bolton Hall
Sleep is not merely a physical necessity but a profound opportunity for spiritual renewal and growth. By aligning our daily lives with natural laws and inner stillness, we can move past the modern epidemic of sleeplessness.

The Trail of the Seneca
James A. (James Andrew) Braden
Two young pioneers in the Ohio wilderness find their lives imperiled when a deceitful Seneca outcast manipulates tribal superstition to frame them for murder and witchcraft.

The Young Mother: Management of Children in Regard to Health
William A. (William Andrus) Alcott
This guide offers a nineteenth-century perspective on the physical rearing of children, emphasizing the necessity of fresh air, simple nutrition, and the avoidance of artificial constraints in the nursery.

Walker's manly exercises: Containing rowing, sailing, riding, driving, racing, hunting, shooting, and other manly sports
Donald Walker
This comprehensive guide offers a systematic look at the nineteenth-century ideal of physical development, blending technical instruction with a robust philosophy of human capability. It functions as both a manual for the aspiring athlete and a window into the Victorian era’s structured approach to leisure and rigor.

A handbook of Freethought
Unknown
This compilation serves as a systematic inventory of arguments against traditional Christian dogma, designed to provide the investigator with a ready defense for a secular worldview. It functions not as a narrative, but as a structured challenge to the authority and internal consistency of the Bible.

A Select Collection of Old English Plays, Volume 06
Unknown
This collection of early English dramas serves as a vital historical bridge, capturing the stylistic evolution from the didactic moralities of the Middle Ages to the secular, character-driven stage of the Elizabethan era. These five plays illustrate a transitional period where abstract virtues and vices still share…

A Short History of English Music
Ernest Ford
The path to a national musical identity in England is a long, winding struggle against foreign influence and the persistent myth that native composers lack the necessary genius for serious art.

Across Iceland
W. (William) Bisiker
This travelogue documents a turn-of-the-century scientific expedition across the rugged, volcanic terrain of Iceland. It offers an evocative, firsthand look at a landscape defined by shifting ice, boiling springs, and the resilience of its inhabitants.

Cashel Byron's Profession
Bernard Shaw
A young prize-fighter with the soul of a gentleman and an intellectual heiress collide, challenging the rigid social boundaries of their Victorian world.

Dictionary of Explosives
Arthur Marshall
Chemical advancement during the Great War required a concise reference for the volatile materials defining a new era of industrial and military power. This technical inventory catalogs the proprietary compositions and evolving formulas of early twentieth-century explosives.

Jean François Millet: A Collection of Fifteen Pictures and a Portrait of the Painter, with Introduction and Interpretation
Estelle M. (Estelle May) Hurll
This collection provides an intimate introduction to the life and work of Jean François Millet, framing his paintings as windows into the soul of the French peasantry and the profound dignity of manual labor.

Knut Hamsun
Hanna Astrup Larsen
This survey traces the life and literary progression of a pivotal Norwegian writer, examining how his nomadic early years and deep connection to nature shaped a body of work that challenged the conventions of his time.

Letters of the Late Ignatius Sancho, an African: To Which Are Prefixed, Memoirs of His Life
Ignatius Sancho
Born on a slave ship and destined for a life of service, a remarkable man transforms his difficult circumstances into a legacy of wit, music, and profound human connection in 18th-century London.

Margaret Smith's Journal, and Tales and Sketches, Complete: Volume V of The Works of John Greenleaf Whittier
John Greenleaf Whittier
Colonial New England emerges from the shadows of history through a young woman’s observant eyes, blending the austere realities of Puritan life with the lyrical beauty of an untamed wilderness.

Memoirs of an American Prima Donna
Clara Louise Kellogg
A celebrated American opera star recounts her rise from a sheltered upbringing to international stages, offering a candid, firsthand look at the rigors and eccentricities of the nineteenth-century musical world.

Mother West Wind "When" Stories
Thornton W. (Thornton Waldo) Burgess
The natural world explains its own history through the tales of its inhabitants. These fables offer a window into why creatures look and act as they do, told by those who know the woods best.

Rescue Dog of the High Pass
Jim Kjelgaard
A boy labeled a failure by his village finds his true purpose in the high, frozen reaches of the Alps alongside a giant, misunderstood dog.

Secrets of Wise Men, Chemists and Great Physicians
Wm. K. (William King) David
This collection acts as a late-19th-century domestic manual, bridging the gap between professional chemistry and the practical, often hazardous, needs of the home and workshop. It offers an expansive catalog of instructions for those who wish to master the material world through "receipts" and scientific application.

Stars of the Opera: A Description of Operas & a Series of Personal Interviews with Marcela Sembrich, Emma Eames, Emma Calvé, Lillian Nordica, Lilli Lehmann, Geraldine Farrar & Nellie Melba
Mabel Wagnalls
This collection of essays and interviews offers an intimate, behind-the-curtain glimpse into the lives of opera’s most celebrated prima donnas at the turn of the twentieth century.

The Báb: The Herald of the Day of Days
H. M. Balyuzi
A young merchant in mid-nineteenth-century Persia claims a divine mandate, igniting a spiritual revolution that transforms his nation and leads him to a public execution.

The New Irish Constitution: An Exposition and Some Arguments
Unknown
This collection of expert analysis dissects the constitutional, historical, and practical frameworks of Irish Home Rule. It serves as a rigorous, multi-faceted case for political reform at the dawn of the twentieth century.

The Penitente Moradas of Abiquiú
Richard E. Ahlborn
HOOK This study provides a rare, firsthand examination of the "moradas"—the humble, earthen meeting houses of New Mexico’s secretive flagellant brotherhood—capturing their architecture, artifacts, and enduring role in Hispano cultural life.

The Rover of the Andes: A Tale of Adventure on South America
R. M. (Robert Michael) Ballantyne
The Andes serve as the backdrop for a sprawling, earnest quest through dangerous mountain passes and lawless plains, where a quiet search for a lost daughter transforms into a test of character and faith.

The Trial of Theodore Parker: For the "Misdemeanor" of a Speech in Faneuil Hall against Kidnapping, before the Circuit Court of the United States, at Boston, April 3, 1855, with the Defence
Theodore Parker
This account captures a singular flashpoint in American history, documenting a confrontation between a defiant minister and the federal government over the moral legitimacy of the Fugitive Slave Law. It stands as a testament to the power of public dissent against state-sanctioned injustice.