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13,367 public-domain books, summarised. Page 266 of 279.

Cover of A Little Pilgrimage in Italy

A Little Pilgrimage in Italy

Olave M. (Olave Muriel) Potter

A sweeping, sensory-rich travelogue, this work follows three companions on a leisurely exploration of Italy’s hill towns, seeking the spirit of the Middle Ages in landscapes where history and nature remain inextricably intertwined.

Travel Writing6 min read
Cover of A Visit to the Holy Land, Egypt, and Italy

A Visit to the Holy Land, Egypt, and Italy

Ida Pfeiffer

An intrepid traveler from Vienna defies the social conventions of her time, venturing alone across the Middle East and Egypt to witness the cradle of civilization with her own eyes.

Travel Writing6 min read
Cover of Babylonian-Assyrian Birth-Omens and Their Cultural Significance

Babylonian-Assyrian Birth-Omens and Their Cultural Significance

Morris Jastrow

This scholarly examination explores the ancient Babylonian and Assyrian practice of interpreting birth abnormalities as divine messages, tracing their profound influence on the development of Western superstition and early scientific thought. It bridges the gap between the clay tablets of Mesopotamia and the…

Archaeology & Anthropology6 min read
Cover of Bat Wing

Bat Wing

Sax Rohmer

A man of singular intellect investigates the dark secrets of a remote estate, where a supposedly supernatural "death-token" masks a web of human obsession and long-simmering vengeance.

British Literature6 min read
Cover of Beautiful Gardens in America

Beautiful Gardens in America

Louise Shelton

This survey of early 20th-century landscape design celebrates the personal passion of home gardeners who transformed American soil into private sanctuaries of color and serenity.

History - American5 min read
Cover of Border Raids and Reivers

Border Raids and Reivers

Robert Borland

The Scottish Borderlands were once a land of perpetual fire and steel, where the only law was the swift, lethal justice of the sword and the reiver’s midnight raid.

History - British7 min read
Cover of British Policy in the Illinois Country, 1763-1768

British Policy in the Illinois Country, 1763-1768

Clarence Edwin Carter

The Illinois Country served as a pivotal, yet unstable, frontier in the mid-18th century, where the transition from French to British rule exposed the profound disconnect between imperial ambition and the realities of colonial administration.

History - American6 min read
Cover of Buchanan's Journal of Man, February 1887: Volume 1, Number 1

Buchanan's Journal of Man, February 1887: Volume 1, Number 1

Unknown

A collection of essays and editorial commentary, this periodical serves as a manifesto for a nineteenth-century scientific movement that claimed to unify the physical, psychic, and moral aspects of human existence. It stands as a historical artifact of a time when fringe science and social reform were often…

Archaeology & Anthropology7 min read
Cover of Buchanan's Journal of Man, October 1887: Volume 1, Number 9

Buchanan's Journal of Man, October 1887: Volume 1, Number 9

Unknown

A radical shift in how science and spirit intersect, this periodical offers a window into the late nineteenth-century obsession with mapping the human brain and soul.

Archaeology & Anthropology7 min read
Cover of Charlestown Navy Yard: Boston National Historical Park, Massachusetts

Charlestown Navy Yard: Boston National Historical Park, Massachusetts

United States. National Park Service

From its 1800 founding to its 1974 closure, the Charlestown Navy Yard served as the backbone of American maritime defense, evolving alongside the nation’s warships from timber sailing vessels to complex steel engines of war.

History - American6 min read
Cover of Dealings with the Dead, Volume 2 (of 2)

Dealings with the Dead, Volume 2 (of 2)

Lucius M. (Lucius Manlius) Sargent

An aging sexton observes the passing of Boston’s old aristocracy, using the solemnity of the graveyard to meditate on the foibles, follies, and fading fashions of the living.

Essays, Letters & Speeches7 min read
Cover of Educational Toys: Consisting Chiefly of Coping-Saw Problems for Children in School and the Home

Educational Toys: Consisting Chiefly of Coping-Saw Problems for Children in School and the Home

Louis Christian Petersen

This manual provides a practical, step-by-step guide to woodworking for children, teaching them to transform simple scraps of wood into functional toys through the precision of the coping saw.

Children & Young Adult Reading6 min read
Cover of Egypt (La Mort de Philae)

Egypt (La Mort de Philae)

Pierre Loti

A haunting meditation on an ancient landscape, this work captures the fleeting beauty of Egypt’s crumbling temples as they face the encroaching tide of modernization and loss.

French Literature6 min read
Cover of Frederick Chopin, as a Man and Musician

Frederick Chopin, as a Man and Musician

Frederick Niecks

The life of Frédéric Chopin is a study in the intersection of fragile genius and complex human connection. This biography meticulously documents the composer’s artistic evolution and his often-troubled personal history with clinical, grounded detail.

Biographies7 min read
Cover of George Crabbe: Poems, Volume 2 (of 3)

George Crabbe: Poems, Volume 2 (of 3)

George Crabbe

A meticulous chronicler of the human heart, this poet strips away the pastoral veneer of English life to reveal the grit, longing, and moral complexity hidden behind quiet village doors and country estates.

British Literature7 min read
Cover of He Who Gets Slapped: A Play in Four Acts

He Who Gets Slapped: A Play in Four Acts

Leonid Andreyev

A man retreats from the hollow life of the intellectual elite to join a traveling circus, hoping to find truth in the stinging sting of a clown’s slap. He soon discovers that the mask of a fool is the only honest way to love a world that prefers the comfort of illusions.

Plays/Films/Dramas6 min read
Cover of History of Friedrich II of Prussia

History of Friedrich II of Prussia

Thomas Carlyle

This sprawling, eccentric chronicle traces the rise of the Prussian state from its murky, prehistoric beginnings to the emergence of its most formidable architect, Friedrich II. It is a dense, idiosyncratic work of history that blends meticulous scholarship with the author's deeply moralizing, often cranky, and…

History - European6 min read
Cover of History of Friedrich II of Prussia

History of Friedrich II of Prussia

Thomas Carlyle

The life of a legendary monarch unfolds here, tracing the harsh, transformative crucible of his youth and the iron-willed foundations of his eventual reign. This expansive history examines the collision of private anguish and public duty, detailing the volatile, often brutal, relationship between a stern father and…

History - Early Modern (c. 1450-1750)6 min read
Cover of Hyde Park from Domesday-book to Date

Hyde Park from Domesday-book to Date

John Ashton

A chronicle of London’s most famous greenspace, tracing its transformation from a feudal manor to a stage for public spectacle and political unrest.

History - British6 min read
Cover of In the Footprints of Charles Lamb

In the Footprints of Charles Lamb

Benjamin Ellis Martin

The gentle, melancholic figure of Charles Lamb emerges from these pages not as a static historical relic, but as a man defined by his deep attachments to London’s streets and his lifelong, sacrificial devotion to his sister.

Biographies6 min read
Cover of In the Fourth Year: Anticipations of a World Peace

In the Fourth Year: Anticipations of a World Peace

H. G. (Herbert George) Wells

A vision of global governance emerges from the ashes of the Great War, arguing that lasting peace requires a fundamental restructuring of international relations and democratic institutions.

History - Modern (1750+)7 min read
Cover of Jack Pumpkinhead of Oz

Jack Pumpkinhead of Oz

Ruth Plumly Thompson

A boy from Philadelphia returns to the magical Land of Oz, joining forces with a sentient pumpkin-headed man to thwart a tyrannical baron’s plot to conquer the Emerald City.

Adventure6 min read
Cover of Legends of Charlemagne

Legends of Charlemagne

Thomas Bulfinch

A collection of medieval romantic cycles, these tales follow the legendary Emperor and his paladins through a world of enchanted forests, magic weapons, and moral trials.

British Literature6 min read
Cover of Marionettes, masks and shadows

Marionettes, masks and shadows

Winifred H. (Winifred Harrington) Mills

Crafting a puppet is an act of creation that breathes life into inanimate materials, transforming a simple collection of wood, wire, and cloth into a performer capable of grace and drama. This guide invites readers to step behind the curtain and master the mechanics of imagination.

Archaeology & Anthropology6 min read
Cover of Meadow Grass: Tales of New England Life

Meadow Grass: Tales of New England Life

Alice Brown

This collection of stories captures the quiet, interior lives of a rural New England village, where the weight of long-held tradition and the stirrings of personal desire pull against one another in constant, gentle friction.

American Literature6 min read
Cover of 'Midst the Wild Carpathians

'Midst the Wild Carpathians

Mór Jókai

The rugged mountains of seventeenth-century Transylvania serve as the backdrop for a high-stakes collision between feudal tradition, political intrigue, and the personal ruin of a once-powerful magnate.

Adventure6 min read
Cover of Mother, Nurse and Infant: A Manual Especially Adapted for the Guidance of Mothers and Monthly Nurses, Comprising Full Instruction in Regard To Pregnancy, Preparation for Child-birth, and the Care of Mother and Child, and Designed to Impart so Much Knowledge of Anatomy, Physiology, Midwifery, and the Proper Use of Medicines as Will Serve Intelligently to Direct the Wife, Mother and Nurse in All Emergencies

Mother, Nurse and Infant: A Manual Especially Adapted for the Guidance of Mothers and Monthly Nurses, Comprising Full Instruction in Regard To Pregnancy, Preparation for Child-birth, and the Care of Mother and Child, and Designed to Impart so Much Knowledge of Anatomy, Physiology, Midwifery, and the Proper Use of Medicines as Will Serve Intelligently to Direct the Wife, Mother and Nurse in All Emergencies

S. P. Sackett

A practical 1889 handbook for mothers and nurses, this volume provides systematic instructions on prenatal care, safe delivery practices, and the medical management of infants in the home.

Health & Medicine6 min read
Cover of Nicolaus of Damascus' life of Augustus

Nicolaus of Damascus' life of Augustus

of Damascus Nicolaus

The life of the man who became Augustus is a story of calculated rise, familial loyalty, and the turbulent transition of Rome from a fractured republic to a singular empire.

Biographies6 min read
Cover of Phil Purcel, The Pig-Driver

Phil Purcel, The Pig-Driver

William Carleton

A master of deception navigates the harsh realities of nineteenth-century Ireland, where survival depends as much on a well-timed lie as on hard work and cold-blooded cunning.

British Literature6 min read
Cover of Priests, Women, and Families

Priests, Women, and Families

Jules Michelet

The quiet sanctity of the domestic hearth is a battleground, where the intimate influence of the priest clashes with the natural bonds of the family.

Gender & Sexuality Studies6 min read
Cover of Quotes and Images From The Novels of Georg Ebers

Quotes and Images From The Novels of Georg Ebers

Georg Ebers

A noble mind can never swim with the stream, and in this collection, the echoes of antiquity offer a timeless map of the human condition. These fragments serve as an invitation to consider the delicate balance between the weight of history and the fleeting sweetness of the present moment.

Essays, Letters & Speeches6 min read
Cover of Rembrandt's Amsterdam

Rembrandt's Amsterdam

Frits Lugt

The canals and cobblestones of the seventeenth-century Dutch capital pulse with a new vitality when viewed through the eyes of its most famous resident, the painter Rembrandt.

Architecture6 min read
Cover of Romantic castles and palaces

Romantic castles and palaces

Unknown

Stone walls hold the echoes of history, from the silent gaze of a watchful Doge to the iron-willed ambition of a Medici prince, revealing how architecture mirrors the turbulence of human power.

General6 min read
Cover of Shakespeare the Boy: With Sketches of the Home and School Life, Games and Sports, Manners, Customs and Folk-lore of the Time

Shakespeare the Boy: With Sketches of the Home and School Life, Games and Sports, Manners, Customs and Folk-lore of the Time

W. J. (William James) Rolfe

A portrait of Elizabethan life, this book reconstructs the world of a young William Shakespeare, grounding his formative years in the tangible details of 16th-century Warwickshire.

Biographies6 min read
Cover of Sixpenny Pieces

Sixpenny Pieces

A. Neil (Albert Neil) Lyons

This narrative offers a candid, unsentimental portrait of life among the London poor, centered on a weary but dedicated doctor navigating the messy realities of his patients’ daily struggles.

British Literature6 min read
Cover of Telepathy, Genuine and Fraudulent

Telepathy, Genuine and Fraudulent

W. W. (William Wortley) Baggally

A meticulous investigator examines the boundary between genuine mental phenomena and the clever deceptions of stage performers in early 20th-century spiritualist culture.

Psychiatry/Psychology6 min read
Cover of The Bell in the Fog and Other Stories

The Bell in the Fog and Other Stories

Gertrude Franklin Horn Atherton

A celebrated author retreats to an ancestral English estate only to find his life haunted by a child who mirrors a ghost from the past.

American Literature5 min read
Cover of The Bronze Eagle: A Story of the Hundred Days

The Bronze Eagle: A Story of the Hundred Days

Orczy, Emmuska Orczy, Baroness

The return of the deposed Emperor from exile sets the stage for a desperate struggle between political loyalty and personal devotion. In the shadow of a changing France, old enemies and lovers must reconcile their pasts.

French Literature6 min read
Cover of The Burgomaster's Wife

The Burgomaster's Wife

Georg Ebers

Amidst the desperate, starving siege of 1574 Leyden, a husband and wife struggle to reconcile their personal devotion with the crushing demands of a city fighting for its very existence.

German Literature6 min read
Cover of The Cock and Anchor

The Cock and Anchor

Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu

A young woman finds herself ensnared in a web of deceit and forced marriage, relying on a long-lost love to navigate the shadows of a dangerous and atmospheric eighteenth-century Dublin.

Historical Novels7 min read
Cover of The Confessions of Jean Jacques Rousseau

The Confessions of Jean Jacques Rousseau

Jean-Jacques Rousseau

This pioneering autobiography strips away the artifice of eighteenth-century memoir to expose the raw, unvarnished nerves of a man who felt the world far more deeply than he understood it. It stands as the foundational document of modern confessional writing.

Biographies6 min read
Cover of The Crimes of England

The Crimes of England

G. K. (Gilbert Keith) Chesterton

HOOK This analysis strips away diplomatic pleasantries to argue that the true path to patriotism lies in a cold-eyed confession of one's own country’s historical sins.

Essays, Letters & Speeches6 min read
Cover of The Ecclesiastical Orders of Knighthood

The Ecclesiastical Orders of Knighthood

James Herman Van der Veldt

This authoritative guide traces the origins, evolution, and modern legacy of the Catholic Church’s chivalric and military honors. It offers a clear, structured survey of the traditions that bridge medieval crusading ideals and contemporary papal recognition.

History - Medieval/Middle Ages6 min read
Cover of The Garden Without Walls

The Garden Without Walls

Coningsby Dawson

The struggle to reconcile desire with the suffocating expectations of Victorian morality haunts the life of a young man caught between his upbringing and his restless spirit. This narrative explores the tension between the safety of the garden and the unpredictable, dangerous world beyond its walls.

British Literature7 min read
Cover of The Hispanic Nations of the New World: A Chronicle of Our Southern Neighbors

The Hispanic Nations of the New World: A Chronicle of Our Southern Neighbors

William R. (William Robert) Shepherd

The long, complex struggle for independence across the Americas remains a defining chapter in the formation of the modern world. This chronicle maps the shift from colonial rule to the tumultuous birth of sovereign nations.

History - European6 min read
Cover of The history of silhouettes

The history of silhouettes

Emily Jackson

The silhouette—that humble, elegant shadow of a face—captures the ghost of a personality in a single, unadorned outline. This account traces the art from its origins as a social grace to its scientific and mechanical ends.

Art6 min read
Cover of The Life, Travels, and Literary Career of Bayard Taylor

The Life, Travels, and Literary Career of Bayard Taylor

Russell H. Conwell

This biography traces the journey of a restless American spirit, from the quiet Pennsylvania countryside to the far reaches of the globe, capturing the life of a poet and traveler dedicated to the pursuit of truth.

American Literature6 min read
Cover of The Natural History of Selborne, Vol. 2

The Natural History of Selborne, Vol. 2

Gilbert White

A patient observer documents the hidden rhythms of a Hampshire village, revealing how the lives of birds, plants, and local creatures mirror the intricate, changing pulse of the natural world.

Environmental Issues6 min read
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