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47,382 public-domain books, summarised. Page 260 of 988.

Seekers in Sicily: Being a Quest for Persephone by Jane and Peripatetica
Elizabeth Bisland
Two women travel through the sun-drenched landscapes of Sicily, seeking the remnants of ancient myth and the elusive spirit of Persephone. Their journey is a lyrical blend of classical scholarship and the sensory delights of Italian life.

Some of Æsop's Fables with Modern Instances
Aesop
This collection of ancient wisdom uses the simple, timeless language of animals to hold a mirror to the complexities of human nature, proving that our instincts and follies remain largely unchanged across the centuries.

Sporting Society
Unknown
The pursuit of sport in the nineteenth century was more than a pastime; it was the rigorous, sometimes perilous, social language of a class. These sketches capture the field in all its grit, glory, and absurdity.

Stories by English Authors: Germany (Selected by Scribners)
Unknown
These five distinct narratives offer windows into the German-speaking world, capturing intimate human experiences—from the redemptive power of music and art to the sharp ironies of romance and moral reckoning.

Stories by English Authors: London (Selected by Scribners)
Unknown
This collection of short fiction serves as a poignant, unvarnished window into the stark social stratifications of late 19th-century London, documenting both the trivial obsessions of the wealthy and the crushing struggles of the poor.

Te Tohunga: The ancient legends and traditions of the Maoris
W. (Wilhelm) Dittmer
This collection serves as a vessel for the foundational cosmogony and heroic cycles of the Maori people, transcribed through the lens of a turn-of-the-century observer. It functions as a bridge between the oral preservation of ancient myth and the static permanency of the printed page.

The Astral World—Higher Occult Powers: Clairvoyance, Spiritism, Mediumship, and Spirit-Healing Fully Explained
Joel Tiffany
A rigorous exploration of the human soul’s architecture, this work argues that our capacity for spiritual growth is not a matter of faith, but a predictable consequence of how we perceive our place in the universe.

The Bible, King James version, Book 21: Ecclesiastes
Anonymous
To find meaning in a world where everything fades is the ultimate human pursuit. This ancient meditation confronts the inevitable disappointment of worldly ambition and the brief, repetitive nature of life itself.

The Black Diamond
Francis Brett Young
A sprawling, visceral chronicle of a young miner’s flight from the stifling soot of the coal pits into the uncertain, rugged freedom of the English countryside.

The Burning Secret
Stefan Zweig
A young boy’s fragile, idolizing love for his mother and a predatory stranger shatters during a summer holiday, forcing him to confront the dark, adult complexities hidden behind the facade of his family life.

The Child's Rainy Day Book
Mary White
When the skies turn gray and the outdoors are no longer an option, these pages offer a structured, imaginative blueprint to transform a quiet afternoon into a world of creative industry.

The Childrens' Story of the War, Volume 1 (of 10): From the Beginning of the War to the Landing of the British Army in France
Edward Parrott
This chronicle serves as a formal, patriotic introduction to the First World War, written for young readers at the dawn of the conflict. It frames the Great War as a moral necessity, blending historical context with the urgent fervor of the era.

The cosmic cloud
Edmond Hamilton
A desperate band of cosmic explorers ventures into a lightless void to confront a hidden menace threatening the future of the entire galaxy. They must navigate a world of shadow to thwart an armada of silent, sightless invaders.

The Darrow Enigma
Melvin L. (Melvin Linwood) Severy
A physician finds himself entangled in a bizarre murder investigation where the victim’s death seems impossible, forcing him to rely on a brilliant, eccentric friend to unravel the truth.

The History of Margaret Catchpole, a Suffolk Girl
Richard Cobbold
A spirited Suffolk girl finds her life upended by a dangerous attachment to a smuggler, leading her from domestic service to the gallows and eventually to the distant shores of Australia. Her journey tests the limits of loyalty, redemption, and the social structures of the early nineteenth century.

The History of the Negro Church
Carter Godwin Woodson
The church stands as the central pillar of African American life, evolving from a fragile hope among the enslaved into a complex institution that shapes the intellectual, social, and political destiny of a people.

The Life of Sir Rowland Hill and the History of Penny Postage, Vol. 2 (of 2)
Hill, Rowland, Sir
The modernization of the British postal system was not a matter of mere engineering, but a hard-fought battle against entrenched bureaucracy and institutional inertia. This chronicle follows the architect of the Penny Post as he maneuvers through the corridors of power to transform a stagnant service into a global…

The Lost Heir
G. A. (George Alfred) Henty
The stage is set for a high-stakes battle of wits as a determined young woman works to expose an impostor claiming a fortune and a connection to a war hero. This is a story of calculated deception and the quiet courage required to unmask it.

The Pecan and its Culture
H. Harold (Hardrada Harold) Hume
The pecan represents a burgeoning horticultural frontier, demanding both scientific rigor and patient observation from those who seek to master its cultivation. This manual serves as a definitive guide to transforming wild potential into a reliable, high-yielding orchard crop.

The Philosophy and Theology of Averroes
Averroës
This foundational work defends the necessity of rational inquiry within a religious framework, arguing that philosophy and scripture are complementary paths to the same truth.

The Secret Memoirs of the Courts of Europe: William II, Germany
marquise de Fontenoy
This collection of recollections offers an intimate, often candid glimpse into the rigid social hierarchies and personal idiosyncrasies governing the German and Austro-Hungarian empires at the turn of the twentieth century. It serves as a bridge between the formal, public personas of monarchs and the turbulent,…

The Secret of the Totem
Andrew Lang
This work serves as a scholarly investigation into the origins of totemism, aiming to explain why early human groups adopted animal names and how those names evolved into the complex systems of social regulation known as exogamy.

The story of the Gadsbys
Rudyard Kipling
A young cavalry officer navigates the suffocating pressures of colonial service and the unexpected vulnerability of domestic life, eventually finding that the vows of marriage change the very nature of courage.

The Works of Robert Louis Stevenson - Swanston Edition, Vol. 19
Robert Louis Stevenson
A haunting collision between the lawless, sun-drenched desperation of the South Seas and the cold, unforgiving morality of the Scottish moors defines these final masterpieces.

To-morrow
Joseph Conrad
A retired sea captain waits for a son who is never coming, while his neighbor’s daughter pays the price for playing along with his delusion.

Winning a Cause: World War Stories
John G. (John Gilbert) Thompson
The courage of the common soldier and the resilience of a nation mobilized for a global struggle define these accounts of a world at war. This collection serves as a historical record of the American spirit during the final, decisive chapters of the conflict that reshaped the twentieth century.

Witch Winnie's Mystery, or The Old Oak Cabinet: The Story of a King's Daughter
Elizabeth W. (Elizabeth Williams) Champney
A group of boarding-school friends faces a series of baffling thefts and internal rivalries, only to discover that the most perplexing puzzles are often solved by looking at the furniture rather than the motives of others.

Wives of the Prime Ministers, 1844-1906
Elizabeth Lee
These portraits offer a glimpse into the private lives of women standing behind Britain’s most powerful leaders, exploring how they navigated the complexities of nineteenth-century political and social influence.

A Hoosier holiday
Theodore Dreiser
A restless traveler wanders back to the heartland of his youth, searching for the ghosts of a simpler existence amidst the changing landscape of early twentieth-century America.

A Life for a Life, Volume 3 (of 3)
Dinah Maria Mulock Craik
HOOK A tale of long-buried sin and the redemption found in truth, this novel examines the heavy price of atonement and the enduring power of a love that survives total social disgrace.

A Narrative of the Life and Adventures of Venture, a Native of Africa, but Resident above Sixty Years in the United States of America, Related by Himself
Venture Smith
Born into a royal lineage in Africa, an abducted man navigates decades of brutal servitude in America to purchase his own freedom and reclaim his family through sheer, unrelenting labor.

A Short History of Russia
Mary Platt Parmele
This historical survey explores the evolution of the Russian state as a governing system rather than a unified nation, examining the tension between its autocratic power and its largely passive population.

An English Garner: Ingatherings from Our History and Literature (8 of 8)
Unknown
This collection offers a mosaic of historical accounts, personal narratives, and Elizabethan verse, capturing the texture of English life through the eyes of those who lived it. It is a vital repository for anyone seeking to touch the pulse of a transformative, often turbulent, era.

An Iceland Fisherman
Pierre Loti
This poignant narrative explores the profound, quiet bond between a Breton woman and a fisherman, set against the unforgiving backdrop of the North Sea. It is a haunting portrait of love, loss, and the eternal, indifferent power of the ocean.

Bar-20 Days
Clarence Edward Mulford
The frontier is a place of quick triggers and even quicker wits, where a man’s reputation is his only true currency. In this rugged world, loyalty among the Bar-20 outfit is the only law that holds.

Bobby Blake on a Plantation
Frank A. Warner
The daring rescue of a drowning rival turns into a Southern adventure for three schoolboys, who must navigate dangerous swamps and outwit a cunning land thief to save a family estate.

Buddhist Psalms translated from the Japanese of Shinran Shonin
Shinran
This collection of devotional poetry captures the profound surrender of a seeker who finds ultimate peace not in his own moral accomplishments, but in the boundless mercy of the Infinite. It remains a foundational testament to the Pure Land tradition, articulating a shift from rigorous, self-reliant asceticism to…

Colonel Quaritch, V.C.: A Tale of Country Life
H. Rider (Henry Rider) Haggard
A veteran soldier and a proud, land-poor squire’s daughter find their lives intertwined with a ruthless financier in the fading landscape of rural England. Their struggle for home and heart culminates in a desperate search for a hidden family fortune.

Comic Tragedies: Written by 'Jo' and 'Meg' and Acted by The 'Little Women'
Louisa May Alcott
These exuberant, homemade melodramas reveal the secret creative life of a legendary childhood, capturing the earnest intensity of young writers who turned their attic into a stage for grand, sweeping passions.

Defense of the Faith and the Saints (Volume 1 of 2)
B. H. (Brigham Henry) Roberts
A resolute defense of faith, this collection gathers a lifetime of arguments, historical reflections, and public rebuttals written to vindicate a religion against its fiercest critics at the dawn of the twentieth century.

Elmer Gantry
Sinclair Lewis
A profane, brawling athlete stumbles into the pulpit and discovers that holiness is the most lucrative and exhilarating racket in America. This scathing portrait of a charlatan follows the rise of a man who masterfully exploits the public’s desperate hunger for spiritual certainty.

General Gordon
Seton Churchill
A soldier of immense moral intensity, this biography traces the life of a man whose unconventional genius and devout faith led him from the trenches of the Crimea to a tragic, iconic death in the Soudan.

Handel
Romain Rolland
A masterful portrait of a musical titan, this study traces the relentless creative spirit of a composer who weathered constant rivalries and near-ruin to reshape the landscape of European music.

Hogarth's Works, with life and anecdotal descriptions of his pictures. Volume 3 (of 3)
John Ireland
HOOK This collection serves as a vivid, anecdotal record of a master satirist’s life and work, documenting the friction between artistic genius and the fickle, often ungrateful public of eighteenth-century England.

"I was there" with the Yanks on the western front, 1917-1919
Cyrus Leroy Baldridge
The Great War is often remembered through the lens of official history or polished monuments, but here it is captured in the weary, unvarnished rhythm of the men who stood in line, slogged through the mud, and waited for the next shell to fall. This intimate chronicle offers a rare perspective on the daily…

In the Land of Mosques & Minarets
M. F. (Milburg Francisco) Mansfield
Across the Mediterranean from Europe, the sun-drenched landscapes of North Africa offer a complex tapestry of ancient Roman remnants, enduring Islamic traditions, and the encroaching machinery of early twentieth-century French colonial infrastructure. This travelogue serves as a detailed survey of the region’s…

Legends of the Rhine
Wilhelm Ruland
A collection of centuries-old tales, this work captures the romantic spirit and haunting folklore woven into the landscape of the Rhine river valley.

Life and marvelous adventures of Wild Bill, the Scout: being a true an exact history of all the sanguinary combats and hair-breadth escapes of the most famous scout and spy America ever produced
James W. (James William) Buel
HOOK A portrait of the ultimate frontier scout, this account charts the life, lethal precision, and violent end of a man who served as both a lawless wanderer and a necessary instrument of order.