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47,382 public-domain books, summarised. Page 285 of 988.

Cover of Essays

Essays

Winthrop Mackworth Praed

A sharp wit and a melancholic grace define these sketches, capturing the fleeting manners of a gentleman’s world. They offer a window into the mind of a brilliant, restless writer whose observations remain as biting and polished as ever.

British Literature6 min read
Cover of Everybody's Guide to Money Matters: With a description of the various investments chiefly dealt in on the stock exchange, and the mode of dealing therein

Everybody's Guide to Money Matters: With a description of the various investments chiefly dealt in on the stock exchange, and the mode of dealing therein

Cotton, William, F.S.A., of Exeter

Navigating the complexities of late-Victorian finance requires more than mere thrift; it demands the steady guidance of a seasoned hand to turn modest savings into secure, lasting assets.

Business/Management6 min read
Cover of Fifteenth Century Prose and Verse

Fifteenth Century Prose and Verse

Unknown

This collection gathers the voices of a transformative era, capturing the collision of medieval devotion, social unrest, and the dawning light of the printed word in fifteenth-century England.

British Literature7 min read
Cover of Foes

Foes

Mary Johnston

This is a somber, meditative exploration of a lifelong rivalry, tracing how two men bound by history and affection eventually unravel the knots of vengeance that threaten to destroy them.

Historical Novels6 min read
Cover of Historic Adventures: Tales from American History

Historic Adventures: Tales from American History

Rupert Sargent Holland

This collection of historical snapshots traces the expansion and maturation of the American identity, offering vivid portraits of the people who shaped the nation’s rugged, often violent, and restless frontier.

History - American6 min read
Cover of Home Pork Making

Home Pork Making

A. W. (Albert Watson) Fulton

This comprehensive guide offers a vanishing window into the nineteenth-century farm, detailing the meticulous, traditional methods required to transform a living hog into a winter’s supply of cured meat.

Cooking & Drinking6 min read
Cover of Household Administration, Its Place in the Higher Education of Women

Household Administration, Its Place in the Higher Education of Women

Unknown

Modern domestic life requires more than just instinct; it demands a foundation of rigorous scientific training to preserve the health and stability of the family.

How To ...6 min read
Cover of How to Eat: A Cure for "Nerves"

How to Eat: A Cure for "Nerves"

Thomas C. (Thomas Clark) Hinkle

HOOK This guide reveals how a physician conquered his own years of debilitating "nerves" through a simple, rigorous commitment to mindful eating and outdoor activity.

Health & Medicine6 min read
Cover of How to Make an Index

How to Make an Index

Henry B. (Henry Benjamin) Wheatley

A guide to the art of indexing, this work explores the historical development, practical mechanics, and occasional humor found within the essential task of organizing information. It transforms a seemingly dry clerical duty into a thoughtful literary pursuit.

How To ...6 min read
Cover of In the Old West

In the Old West

George Frederick Augustus Ruxton

The life of the free trapper in the American West is a chronicle of solitude, survival, and the relentless pursuit of beaver in a landscape where the boundary between hunter and prey is perpetually blurred.

History - American6 min read
Cover of Legends of the City of Mexico

Legends of the City of Mexico

Thomas A. (Thomas Allibone) Janvier

These tales capture the vanished pulse of a historic capital, where ancient stone walls harbor ghosts, secrets, and the lingering echoes of colonial tragedy. They serve as a bridge between the living city and the shadows of its past.

Mythology, Legends & Folklore6 min read
Cover of Memorials of the Independent Churches in Northamptonshire: with biographical notices of their pastors, and some account of the puritan ministers who laboured in the county

Memorials of the Independent Churches in Northamptonshire: with biographical notices of their pastors, and some account of the puritan ministers who laboured in the county

Thomas Coleman

This work chronicles the persistence of faith, documenting the rise of Independent churches in Northamptonshire from the late Reformation through the mid-nineteenth century. It serves as both a ledger of local history and a testament to the ministers who led these congregations through periods of intense social and…

Biographies6 min read
Cover of Nellie's Housekeeping: Little Sunbeams Series

Nellie's Housekeeping: Little Sunbeams Series

Joanna H. (Joanna Hooe) Mathews

A quiet, thoughtful young girl finds her purpose in the domestic sphere, learning that the most profound acts of character are often found in the small, hidden duties of daily life.

Children & Young Adult Reading6 min read
Cover of Notes on Certain Maya and Mexican Manuscripts: Third Annual Report of the Bureau of Ethnology to the Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution, 1881-82, Government Printing Office, Washington, 1884, pages 3-66

Notes on Certain Maya and Mexican Manuscripts: Third Annual Report of the Bureau of Ethnology to the Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution, 1881-82, Government Printing Office, Washington, 1884, pages 3-66

Cyrus Thomas

The ancient calendars of the Maya and Mexican civilizations hold their secrets in the intricate, surviving codices. This analytical study decodes the symbolic architecture of these manuscripts to bridge the cultural distance between two distinct but related chronological systems.

Archaeology & Anthropology6 min read
Cover of P.'s Correspondence (From "Mosses from an Old Manse")

P.'s Correspondence (From "Mosses from an Old Manse")

Nathaniel Hawthorne

A man confined to a small, iron-grated chamber travels the globe through the expansive, often unreliable lens of his own imagination. He writes letters from an illusory London, encountering the celebrated figures of his age as if they were ghosts trapped in the machinery of his own crumbling mind.

American Literature6 min read
Cover of Penshurst Castle in the Time of Sir Philip Sidney

Penshurst Castle in the Time of Sir Philip Sidney

Emma Marshall

This historical portrait captures the fleeting brilliance of the Elizabethan era through the eyes of those orbiting the life and tragic early death of a legendary statesman and poet.

British Literature6 min read
Cover of Personal Recollections of Distinguished Generals

Personal Recollections of Distinguished Generals

William Franklin Gore Shanks

These firsthand portraits strip away the mythic varnish of the Civil War, revealing the fallible, often contradictory men who commanded the Union armies.

Biographies7 min read
Cover of Pierre and His People: Tales of the Far North. Complete

Pierre and His People: Tales of the Far North. Complete

Gilbert Parker

The vast, unforgiving expanse of the Canadian North serves as a crucible for the human spirit, where survival, morality, and honor are stripped of civilization’s veneer.

Adventure6 min read
Cover of School education

School education

Charlotte M. (Charlotte Maria) Mason

Education is a living, breathing process, not a mechanical routine of facts to be memorized. By nurturing a child’s natural curiosity and character, guardians can open the door to a lifetime of intellectual and moral growth.

Philosophy & Ethics6 min read
Cover of Slavery in Pennsylvania: A Dissertation Submitted to the Board of University Studies of the Johns Hopkins University in Conformity with the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy, 1910

Slavery in Pennsylvania: A Dissertation Submitted to the Board of University Studies of the Johns Hopkins University in Conformity with the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy, 1910

Edward Raymond Turner

Pennsylvania was a unique laboratory for human bondage, where economic realities and a distinct moral culture gradually dismantled a system of slavery long before the rest of the nation followed suit.

History - American6 min read
Cover of Some Problems of the Peace Conference

Some Problems of the Peace Conference

Charles Homer Haskins

The map of Europe is a fragile construction of history, ambition, and shifting populations. This work illuminates the complex, often painful labor of drawing new borders in the wake of the First World War.

History - American6 min read
Cover of Spenser

Spenser

R. W. (Richard William) Church

This biographical study explores the life and complex artistry of the man who gave English poetry its modern foundation. It offers a measured look at a poet caught between the allure of courtly ambition and the harsh realities of colonial administration.

Biographies6 min read
Cover of St. Nicholas Vol. XIII, September, 1886, No. 11: An Illustrated Magazine for Young Folks

St. Nicholas Vol. XIII, September, 1886, No. 11: An Illustrated Magazine for Young Folks

Various

This September 1886 issue of a celebrated children’s magazine captures the Victorian era’s spirit through a blend of fine art history, moral tales, natural science, and intricate word puzzles.

Art6 min read
Cover of St. Paul's Epistle to the Romans: A Practical Exposition. Vol. II

St. Paul's Epistle to the Romans: A Practical Exposition. Vol. II

Charles Gore

The Apostle Paul’s complex logic finds a clear, modern voice in these pages, bridging the gap between ancient theological struggle and the practical demands of daily Christian living.

Religion/Spirituality6 min read
Cover of Tales from a Rolltop Desk

Tales from a Rolltop Desk

Christopher Morley

The literary life is a fragile, frantic pursuit where the boundary between the printed page and the pulse of reality often dissolves into shadow. This collection of linked narratives captures the precarious, bittersweet nature of ambition among those who live by the ink.

American Literature6 min read
Cover of That Little Girl of Miss Eliza's: A Story for Young People

That Little Girl of Miss Eliza's: A Story for Young People

Jean K. (Jean Katherine) Baird

A quiet, isolated woman’s life is transformed when she adopts a mysterious foundling. This gentle narrative explores how the choice to love a stranger can reshape a soul and open the world to hidden beauty.

Children & Young Adult Reading6 min read
Cover of The Birth of the Nation, Jamestown, 1607

The Birth of the Nation, Jamestown, 1607

Sara Agnes Rice Pryor

Three hundred years after the first English settlers landed in a strange, wild landscape, a history unfolds that captures the fragile, desperate beginnings of a nation born in the wilderness.

History - American6 min read
Cover of The Black Man, the Father of Civilization, Proven by Biblical History

The Black Man, the Father of Civilization, Proven by Biblical History

James Morris Webb

This work serves as a theological and historical argument reclaiming the ancient prominence of Black people, asserting that they were the original architects of civilization. It presents a robust defense of racial dignity, framing the Black experience through a biblical lens to challenge prevailing 20th-century…

History - Ancient6 min read
Cover of The boys' life of Edison

The boys' life of Edison

Wm. H. (William Henry) Meadowcroft

A relentless curiosity drives a young newsboy from the baggage cars of Michigan trains to the center of the electrical revolution. This account captures the restless, unvarnished life of an inventor who treated sleep as a luxury and failure as a necessary experiment.

Biographies6 min read
Cover of The Chautauquan, Vol. 03, May 1883

The Chautauquan, Vol. 03, May 1883

Chautauqua Literary and Scientific Circle

This publication serves as a window into the Victorian-era quest for universal education, capturing the earnest intellectual ambitions of the Chautauqua Literary and Scientific Circle. It stands as a time capsule of nineteenth-century American didactic culture, blending history, physiology, and literature to…

History - European6 min read
Cover of The Desert of Wheat

The Desert of Wheat

Zane Grey

A young farmer’s life is torn between his devotion to the golden wheat fields of the American Northwest and the brutal, encroaching reality of the First World War.

American Literature6 min read
Cover of The Fall River Tragedy: A History of the Borden Murders

The Fall River Tragedy: A History of the Borden Murders

Edwin H. Porter

A quiet morning in a Massachusetts home erupts into the most infamous double murder of the nineteenth century, leaving a nation to wonder how a daughter could stand accused of such violence. This is a sober, meticulous reconstruction of the crime and the subsequent legal struggle that captivated the American public.

Crime, Thrillers and Mystery7 min read
Cover of The history of our Navy from its origin to the present day, 1775-1897, vol. 4 (of 4)

The history of our Navy from its origin to the present day, 1775-1897, vol. 4 (of 4)

John Randolph Spears

This final volume chronicles the United States Navy’s transition from the age of sail to the era of steel, capturing the pivotal naval conflicts of the American Civil War.

History - American6 min read
Cover of The History of the Fifty-ninth Regiment Illinois Volunteers

The History of the Fifty-ninth Regiment Illinois Volunteers

David Lathrop

This chronicle of the Fifty-ninth Illinois Volunteers captures the raw, gritty reality of the American Civil War through the eyes of the men who marched from Missouri to the Deep South.

History - American6 min read
Cover of The History of the Lives and Bloody Exploits of the Most Noted Pirates

The History of the Lives and Bloody Exploits of the Most Noted Pirates

Ezra Baldwin Strong

This grim survey of maritime lawlessness chronicles the rise and inevitable ruin of the Atlantic world’s most notorious outlaws, balancing accounts of romanticized rebellion with the cold, bureaucratic finality of the gallows.

History - Other7 min read
Cover of The Life of Blessed John B. Marie Vianney, Curé of Ars: With a Novena and Litany to this Zealous Worker in the Vineyard of the Lord

The Life of Blessed John B. Marie Vianney, Curé of Ars: With a Novena and Litany to this Zealous Worker in the Vineyard of the Lord

Anonymous

A humble country priest transforms a village of religious indifference into a beacon of faith, laboring in near-total poverty to guide thousands of souls toward reconciliation and grace.

Biographies6 min read
Cover of The Love Affairs of a Bibliomaniac

The Love Affairs of a Bibliomaniac

Eugene Field

The obsession with books is a noble, incurable disease that transforms the collector into a lifelong student of history, friendship, and the imagination. These reflections celebrate the eccentric, often humorous journey of finding, buying, and living among one’s own library.

American Literature6 min read
Cover of The Magic of the Middle Ages

The Magic of the Middle Ages

Viktor Rydberg

The Middle Ages were not a void of ignorance, but a vibrant, terrifying world where the boundary between divine miracle and demonic sorcery governed every breath of human life.

History - Medieval/Middle Ages6 min read
Cover of The Measure of a Man

The Measure of a Man

Randall Garrett

The measure of a man is often the ability to distinguish between the desirable and the necessary, and then acting on that distinction when the cost is everything.

Science-Fiction & Fantasy5 min read
Cover of The Monikins

The Monikins

James Fenimore Cooper

A wealthy Englishman journeys to the poles and discovers a hidden society of tail-bearing monkeys whose absurd political habits mirror the vanities, legalisms, and hypocrisies of human civilization.

Humour7 min read
Cover of The Philippine Islands, 1493-1898: Volume 32, 1640: Explorations by early navigators, descriptions of the islands and their peoples, their history and records of the Catholic missions, as related in contemporaneous books and manuscripts, showing the political, economic, commercial and religious conditions of those islands from their earliest relations with European nations to the close of the nineteenth century

The Philippine Islands, 1493-1898: Volume 32, 1640: Explorations by early navigators, descriptions of the islands and their peoples, their history and records of the Catholic missions, as related in contemporaneous books and manuscripts, showing the political, economic, commercial and religious conditions of those islands from their earliest relations with European nations to the close of the nineteenth century

Diego Aduarte

The Chronicle of Faith A meticulous account of seventeenth-century mission life, this work details the relentless efforts of Dominican friars to plant Christianity in the Philippine Islands, Japan, and beyond.

History - Other6 min read
Cover of The Pioneer Woodsman as He Is Related to Lumbering in the Northwest

The Pioneer Woodsman as He Is Related to Lumbering in the Northwest

George Henry Warren

The pioneer woodsman vanishes into the unbroken forest to map the nation’s timber, living by his wits and an ax in a world where civilization is only as close as the nearest land office.

History - American6 min read
Cover of The Red Acorn

The Red Acorn

John McElroy

Amid the brutal churn of the American Civil War, a young man struggles to shed his reputation for cowardice while a woman finds her own battlefield in the chaos of the front lines.

American Literature5 min read
Cover of The Red Rover: A Tale

The Red Rover: A Tale

James Fenimore Cooper

A mysterious captain stalks the Atlantic under a blood-red flag, his vessel’s true purpose hidden from both the law and his own restless crew.

Adventure7 min read
Cover of The Salvaging of Civilization

The Salvaging of Civilization

H. G. (Herbert George) Wells

Humanity stands at a precipice following a catastrophic global war, requiring an urgent, unified shift in consciousness to prevent complete social dissolution. Only a deliberate, worldwide educational revolution can replace destructive nationalism with a stable, functioning World State.

History - Modern (1750+)7 min read
Cover of The Secrets of the Princesse de Cadignan

The Secrets of the Princesse de Cadignan

Honoré de Balzac

The Parisian aristocracy finds its most dangerous player in a woman who uses the mask of virtue to survive her own ruin. This is a masterclass in the theater of high society, where the most profound deceptions are performed with perfect grace.

French Literature6 min read
Cover of The Story of Porcelain

The Story of Porcelain

Sara Ware Bassett

This volume invites readers into the meticulous, fire-tempered world of ceramic creation, blending a boy’s quiet recovery with the history of a craft that turned mud into civilization. It is an exploration of how humanity’s oldest vessels have shaped our understanding of the past and the possibilities of our own…

Adventure6 min read
Cover of The Sword of Antietam: A Story of the Nation's Crisis

The Sword of Antietam: A Story of the Nation's Crisis

Joseph A. (Joseph Alexander) Altsheler

The young soldier stands at the center of a national storm, his path defined by the clash of vast, unforgiving armies and the fragile endurance of his own convictions.

Adventure6 min read