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47,382 public-domain books, summarised. Page 293 of 988.

Cover of Mrs. Mary Robinson, Written by Herself,: With the lives of the Duchesses of Gordon and Devonshire

Mrs. Mary Robinson, Written by Herself,: With the lives of the Duchesses of Gordon and Devonshire

Mary Robinson

A celebrated beauty of the eighteenth century recounts her rise from fragile domesticity to the perilous heights of London fashion. Her memoir serves as a poignant testament to the fragility of reputation and the harsh cost of fame.

Biographies7 min read
Cover of Nerves and Common Sense

Nerves and Common Sense

Annie Payson Call

An invitation to reclaim one’s vitality by identifying and dropping the habitual mental and physical tensions that masquerade as necessary reactions to the demands of daily life.

Health & Medicine6 min read
Cover of Newton Forster

Newton Forster

Frederick Marryat

A young merchant sailor navigates the brutal realities of impressment, war, and societal ambition, eventually discovering his own path to fortune amidst the unpredictable tides of the nineteenth-century British maritime world.

Adventure6 min read
Cover of Other Things Being Equal

Other Things Being Equal

Emma Wolf

HOOK A young woman navigates the delicate, often painful friction between her traditional upbringing and an unexpected, cross-cultural love in late nineteenth-century San Francisco.

American Literature6 min read
Cover of Practical Hand Book of Gas, Oil and Steam Engines: Stationary, Marine, Traction

Practical Hand Book of Gas, Oil and Steam Engines: Stationary, Marine, Traction

John B. Rathbun

This technical manual serves as an exhaustive guide to the mechanics, operation, and maintenance of early twentieth-century power plants. It demystifies the complex inner workings of stationary, marine, and traction engines for the practical operator.

Engineering & Technology6 min read
Cover of Quaint Korea

Quaint Korea

Louise Jordan Miln

A traveler’s candid, observant journey into the heart of a "hermit" nation, capturing the beauty and fading traditions of a land on the precipice of irrevocable change.

Travel Writing6 min read
Cover of Saturday's Child

Saturday's Child

Kathleen Thompson Norris

Saturday’s child must work for her living, and Susan Brown finds that lesson to be the defining rhythm of her young adulthood. This story tracks her journey from a clerk in a San Francisco office to the center of a life built on grit, sacrifice, and the quiet rewards of a shared home.

American Literature7 min read
Cover of Sir Christopher: A Romance of a Maryland Manor in 1644

Sir Christopher: A Romance of a Maryland Manor in 1644

Maud Wilder Goodwin

Amid the volatile tensions of 1644 Maryland, a loyalist nobleman faces false accusations of murder, fighting to reclaim his honor and protect those he loves from the reach of a ruthless adversary.

American Literature6 min read
Cover of Sketches in Canada, and rambles among the red men

Sketches in Canada, and rambles among the red men

Mrs. (Anna) Jameson

A woman of refined sensibilities navigates the raw, rugged Canadian frontier, documenting her encounters with both colonial settlers and the Indigenous peoples of the Great Lakes region.

History - Other6 min read
Cover of Slave Narratives: A Folk History of Slavery in the United States from Interviews with Former Slaves, Volume VIII, Maryland Narratives

Slave Narratives: A Folk History of Slavery in the United States from Interviews with Former Slaves, Volume VIII, Maryland Narratives

United States. Work Projects Administration

These accounts offer a direct, unvarnished look at the final generation of individuals who lived through the era of American enslavement. They preserve the lived experience of human beings who navigated a system designed to strip them of agency.

Biographies6 min read
Cover of Some Remarks on the Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark, Written by Mr. William Shakespeare (1736)

Some Remarks on the Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark, Written by Mr. William Shakespeare (1736)

Unknown

This eighteenth-century critical essay offers an early, scene-by-scene analysis of a monumental tragedy, evaluating its construction, character logic, and emotional resonance through the refined, rational lens of the Augustan age.

Essays, Letters & Speeches6 min read
Cover of Stories from the Iliad

Stories from the Iliad

Jean Lang

The ancient echoes of a legendary war find new life in these pages, capturing the raw intensity and tragic beauty of a conflict that defined the classical world.

Children & Young Adult Reading6 min read
Cover of Sydney Smith

Sydney Smith

George William Erskine Russell

A brilliant wit and a tireless advocate for justice, a nineteenth-century clergyman finds his true pulpit in the pages of political satire.

Biographies5 min read
Cover of Tempest and Sunshine

Tempest and Sunshine

Mary Jane Holmes

The lives of two Kentucky sisters—one a tempest of volatility, the other a steady sunshine of goodness—diverge as they navigate love, deception, and the rigid expectations of the nineteenth-century social order.

American Literature6 min read
Cover of The Adopted Daughter: A Tale for Young Persons

The Adopted Daughter: A Tale for Young Persons

Elizabeth Sandham

A wealthy widow finds purpose by adopting a farmer’s daughter, navigating the complexities of class, character, and the long-shadowed return of a wayward father.

British Literature6 min read
Cover of The Awakening of the Desert

The Awakening of the Desert

Julius Charles Birge

A group of men venture from Wisconsin into the vast, untamed Western frontier, witnessing the final, transformative years of the Oregon Trail before the arrival of the railroad.

Adventure6 min read
Cover of The Blockade Runners

The Blockade Runners

Jules Verne

A daring Scottish skipper risks his life and his ship to navigate the treacherous Union blockade, all to rescue a prisoner of the American Civil War and win the heart of the man’s daughter.

Adventure6 min read
Cover of The Boy Who Knew What the Birds Said

The Boy Who Knew What the Birds Said

Padraic Colum

A young boy gains the extraordinary power to understand the secrets of the birds, leading him on a transformative journey through the realms of myth, magic, and destiny.

Children & Young Adult Reading6 min read
Cover of The Boys' Life of Lafayette

The Boys' Life of Lafayette

Helen Nicolay

A young French nobleman abandons a life of courtly privilege to fight for the American Revolution, forever linking his fate to the struggle for liberty on two continents.

Biographies5 min read
Cover of The Face and the Mask

The Face and the Mask

Robert Barr

A collection of short stories that navigates the thin, often blurred line between human tragedy and the performative masks we wear to survive.

Crime, Thrillers and Mystery6 min read
Cover of The Fall of the Year

The Fall of the Year

Dallas Lore Sharp

The crisp air of an approaching season carries the scent of dry leaves and the promise of a long, cold sleep. Through the eyes of a keen observer, the natural world prepares for the inevitable turn of the year.

Nature/Gardening/Animals6 min read
Cover of The Geographical Distribution of Animals, Volume 2: With a study of the relations of living and extinct faunas as elucidating the past changes of the Earth's surface

The Geographical Distribution of Animals, Volume 2: With a study of the relations of living and extinct faunas as elucidating the past changes of the Earth's surface

Alfred Russel Wallace

Understanding the earth’s past requires mapping the living and extinct threads of its biological tapestry across every continent and island. This monumental work serves as a foundational atlas for the field of zoogeography, meticulously tracing the distribution of animal life to reveal the history of our changing…

Environmental Issues9 min read
Cover of The History of Rome, Book II: From the Abolition of the Monarchy in Rome to the Union of Italy

The History of Rome, Book II: From the Abolition of the Monarchy in Rome to the Union of Italy

Theodor Mommsen

The birth of a republic from the ashes of monarchy, this account tracks Rome’s grueling transformation into the dominant power of the Italian peninsula through relentless political and military struggle.

History - Ancient6 min read
Cover of The Hymn-Book of the Modern Church: Brief studies of hymns and hymn-writers

The Hymn-Book of the Modern Church: Brief studies of hymns and hymn-writers

Arthur E. (Arthur Edwin) Gregory

Hymns are the belles-lettres of devotion, serving as a liberal education for the soul while mirroring the shifting tides of church history and private faith.

History - Religious6 min read
Cover of The Lady of Lyons

The Lady of Lyons

Lytton, Edward Bulwer Lytton, Baron

The path to true love is paved with deception, but redemption arrives for those brave enough to trade pride for honor. This classic drama captures the volatile intersection of social ambition and genuine feeling.

British Literature6 min read
Cover of The legend of Perseus, Volume 1 (of 3)

The legend of Perseus, Volume 1 (of 3)

Edwin Sidney Hartland

The myth of Perseus serves as a gateway to understanding how ancient stories, rituals, and the deepest human questions about life and death have migrated across cultures for millennia.

Archaeology & Anthropology6 min read
Cover of The Papers and Writings of Abraham Lincoln

The Papers and Writings of Abraham Lincoln

Abraham Lincoln

A nation cannot remain indefinitely divided against itself, half slave and half free. This collection chronicles a pivotal struggle to define the moral and legal future of a fractured republic.

Essays, Letters & Speeches5 min read
Cover of The Rival Submarines

The Rival Submarines

Percy F. (Percy Francis) Westerman

A naval officer finds himself caught in a high-stakes duel between two rival submarine commanders, one a shadowy vigilante and the other a rogue pirate threatening international peace.

Adventure6 min read
Cover of The romance of the microscope

The romance of the microscope

C. A. (Charles Aubrey) Ealand

This accessible volume serves as an enthusiastic introduction to the unseen world revealed by the microscope, blending historical curiosity with practical, hands-on guidance for the amateur enthusiast. It invites readers to look beyond the surface of everyday objects, from pond water to garden spiders, transforming…

History - Modern (1750+)6 min read
Cover of The Rover Boys at Colby Hall

The Rover Boys at Colby Hall

Edward Stratemeyer

Four young cousins leave the comforts of home to face the rigid, demanding world of a prestigious military boarding school. They must navigate intense academic pressure, athletic rivalries, and the schemes of jealous bullies.

Adventure6 min read
Cover of The Voice: Its Production, Care and Preservation

The Voice: Its Production, Care and Preservation

Frank E. (Frank Ebenezer) Miller

The human voice is a delicate instrument of infinite complexity, requiring not just disciplined training but a profound, subconscious harmony between the singer’s mental intent and their physical anatomy.

Health & Medicine6 min read
Cover of Tom Swift and His Air Glider

Tom Swift and His Air Glider

Victor Appleton

A young inventor faces global peril and high-altitude storms to rescue a political exile from the Siberian wilderness, relying on his own ingenious aeronautical designs to survive.

Adventure6 min read
Cover of Uller Uprising

Uller Uprising

H. Beam Piper

A colonial governor finds himself caught in a sudden, planet-wide insurrection when a local population, long dismissed as backward, turns sophisticated weapons against their corporate overseers.

Novels6 min read
Cover of Underground Man

Underground Man

Gabriel de Tarde

The solar fire fades, and humanity must choose between extinction on the surface or a new, claustrophobic existence deep within the earth’s crust. This imaginative work explores the radical transformation of our species when forced into total, subterranean confinement.

Novels6 min read
Cover of Venice

Venice

Clara Erskine Clement Waters

Venice—that white swan of cities—emerges in these pages not merely as a destination, but as a living, breathing entity whose history is a reflection of the unyielding devotion of its people.

History - European6 min read
Cover of Washington Irving

Washington Irving

Charles Dudley Warner

This biography offers a balanced, intimate portrait of America’s first world-renowned man of letters, tracing his evolution from a charming socialite to a dedicated, globally celebrated chronicler of history and folklore.

American Literature7 min read
Cover of What Germany Thinks

What Germany Thinks

Thomas F. A. Smith

The German nation was not merely led by a military elite; it was an active participant in a war it had been told was inevitable, guided by a state-sponsored culture of resentment and self-justification.

History - European6 min read
Cover of Winged Wheels in France

Winged Wheels in France

Michael Myers Shoemaker

A spirited account of an early motoring tour, this narrative captures the freedom and frustration of navigating the French countryside by automobile at the dawn of the twentieth century.

French Literature6 min read
Cover of A desert drama

A desert drama

Arthur Conan Doyle

This account of a mid-19th-century Nile excursion gone wrong explores how sudden, violent displacement forces a group of disparate travelers to confront their own shallow priorities and deep-seated fears.

Adventure6 min read
Cover of A Selection from the Comedies of Marivaux

A Selection from the Comedies of Marivaux

Pierre Carlet de Chamblain de Marivaux

The heart is a puzzle, and these comedies are the blueprints of its most intricate, tender, and often ridiculous deceptions.

French Literature6 min read
Cover of A Set of Rogues: Namely Christopher Sutton, John Dawson, the Señor Don Sanchez Del Castillo De Castelaña and Moll Dawson

A Set of Rogues: Namely Christopher Sutton, John Dawson, the Señor Don Sanchez Del Castillo De Castelaña and Moll Dawson

Frank Barrett

A troupe of penniless actors attempts a desperate, elaborate swindle involving a stolen identity and a secret fortune. What begins as a lark spirals into a harrowing journey of sacrifice, slavery, and redemption.

Adventure6 min read
Cover of Animal Heroes

Animal Heroes

Ernest Thompson Seton

This collection of biographies follows the lives of exceptional animals, documenting the courage, cunning, and endurance displayed by creatures who navigate a world increasingly dominated by human expansion and mechanical progress.

Nature/Gardening/Animals6 min read
Cover of Aspects of Literature

Aspects of Literature

John Middleton Murry

The critic must be a sovereign spirit, treating literature not as a collection of static monuments, but as a living, breathing expression of the human soul. This volume serves as an essential map of that conviction.

Essays, Letters & Speeches6 min read
Cover of Astronomy Explained Upon Sir Isaac Newton's Principles: And made easy to those who have not studied mathematics

Astronomy Explained Upon Sir Isaac Newton's Principles: And made easy to those who have not studied mathematics

James Ferguson

The stars are not mere distant points of light but intricate, inhabited worlds governed by precise physical laws. This classic work transforms the complex mechanics of the heavens into a clear, accessible guide for the non-mathematician.

Science - Physics8 min read
Cover of Biographia Epistolaris, Volume 2: being The Biographical Supplement of Coleridge's Biographia Literaria

Biographia Epistolaris, Volume 2: being The Biographical Supplement of Coleridge's Biographia Literaria

Samuel Taylor Coleridge

These letters trace the final decades of a brilliant, fragmented mind, offering a raw, unvarnished look at the struggle between high philosophical ambition and the crushing weight of physical and emotional decline.

Biographies6 min read
Cover of Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine, No. 404, June, 1849

Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine, No. 404, June, 1849

Various

This mid-nineteenth-century miscellany captures the restless spirit of an era, balancing colonial ambition, theological anxiety, and the shifting geopolitical tides of a Europe in the throes of revolution.

British Literature7 min read
Cover of Captains All and Others

Captains All and Others

W. W. (William Wymark) Jacobs

A series of sharp, witty tales set among the river-folk and villagers of turn-of-the-century England, these stories follow the clever schemes of sailors, craftsmen, and rascals who are perpetually trying to get the better of one another.

British Literature6 min read
Cover of Devil's Ford

Devil's Ford

Bret Harte

The sudden discovery of gold transforms a struggling wilderness outpost into a hub of frenzied, naive ambition. This story captures the fragile intersection of frontier grit, social aspiration, and the crushing weight of hidden pasts.

American Literature6 min read