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34,239 public-domain books, summarised. Page 392 of 714.

Gardens of the Caribbees, v. 1/2: Sketches of a Cruise to the West Indies and the Spanish Main
Ida May Hill Starr
A traveler’s account of a 1901 cruise through the Caribbean, this narrative captures the romantic, sensory, and often disorienting experience of early twentieth-century island-hopping. It is a vivid portrait of a bygone world of steamships, colonial outposts, and local color.

Gawayne and the Green Knight: A Fairy Tale
Charlton M. (Charlton Miner) Lewis
A knight’s oath, a phantom’s axe, and a maid raised by fairies converge in a lighthearted, witty retelling of an Arthurian classic.

Gorillas & Chimpanzees
R. L. (Richard Lynch) Garner
Seeking to bridge the gap between man and beast, a pioneer travels deep into the African jungle to observe the speech and habits of gorillas and chimpanzees from within a protective wire cage.

Guy and Pauline
Compton MacKenzie
The quiet, suffocating gravity of a first, ill-fated love unfolds against the slow cycle of seasons in a secluded English village.

Heathen Slaves and Christian Rulers
Elizabeth Wheeler Andrew
The moral integrity of colonial governance stands exposed when the systems designed to protect the vulnerable instead codify their exploitation. This account illuminates the dark intersection of state-sanctioned vice and the trade in human lives.

Henrik Ibsen: A Bibliography of Criticism and Biography with an Index to Characters
Ina Ten Eyck Firkins
An indispensable road map for navigating nineteenth-century drama, this volume maps the vast critical architecture surrounding one of modern theater's most formidable architects.

Heroines of Service: Mary Lyon, Alice Freeman Palmer, Clara Barton, Frances Willard, Julia Ward Howe, Anna Shaw, Mary Antin, Alice C. Fletcher, Mary Slessor of Calabar, Madame Curie, Jane Addams
Mary Rosetta Parkman
These profiles of pioneering women celebrate the transition from the secluded domestic sphere to a public life of meaningful, compassionate labor in the service of humanity.

History of the Reformation in Europe in the Time of Calvin, Vol. 6 (of 8)
J. H. (Jean Henri) Merle d'Aubigné
This sweeping chronicle captures the turbulent birth of the Reformation, tracking the spread of evangelical fervor from the rugged landscapes of Scotland to the decisive, contentious streets of Geneva. It is a work of immense scope, blending meticulous historical research with a deep, personal commitment to the…

Holinshed's Chronicles, vol. 1 of 6, slice 2 of 9. England, early history
Raphael Holinshed
A chronicle of ancient Britain traces its early inhabitants through patriarchal lineages, giant conquests, and exile, weighing competing myths to record the island's earliest origins.

How to know the ferns
Frances Theodora Parsons
A guide to the hidden, green world of American ferns, this work serves as an invitation to move beyond mere observation and into a lasting, intimate companionship with the natural landscape.

Humorous Readings and Recitations, in Prose and Verse
Unknown
This collection gathers an eclectic assortment of Victorian-era sketches, poems, and monologues designed to amuse parlor audiences through satire, absurdity, and the domestic trials of the nineteenth-century middle class.

In the High Valley: Being the fifth and last volume of the Katy Did series
Susan Coolidge
An English girl's rigid provincial pride meets the wide, generous spaces of the American West, where high elevations and shared labors slowly melt away her deep-seated prejudices.

Ireland Under Coercion: The Diary of an American (1 of 2): (2nd ed.) (1888)
William Henry Hurlbert
Ireland’s political turmoil is viewed through the sharp, skeptical lens of an American observer during the height of the agrarian and nationalist agitations of the late 1880s. This account captures the social fractures and the fierce ideological battle between traditional order and revolutionary change.

Liquid Drops and Globules, Their Formation and Movements: Three lectures delivered to popular audiences
Charles R. (Charles Robert) Darling
Observations on the subtle physics of liquid behavior reveal how invisible forces shape the mundane world, from the geometry of a falling drop to the chaotic dance of oil upon water.

Little Peter: A Christmas Morality for Children of any Age
Lucas Malet
A humble, reflective story for the season of Advent, this narrative follows a young boy and his family as they navigate the quiet, sometimes stern, realities of faith and mortality in the deep woods.

Lord Loveland Discovers America
C. N. (Charles Norris) Williamson
An arrogant British aristocrat arrives in America seeking a wealthy bride, only to be stripped of his title and identity, forcing him to navigate the harsh realities of the working class.

Love, Life & Work: Being a Book of Opinions Reasonably Good-Natured Concerning How to Attain the Highest Happiness for One's Self with the Least Possible Harm to Others
Elbert Hubbard
This collection of essays serves as a practical, idiosyncratic manual for navigating the complexities of human existence. It argues that personal fulfillment is not found in dogma or status, but through the deliberate cultivation of a radiant, useful, and independent character.

Marjorie Dean, High School Sophomore
Josephine Chase
A warm, bright sophomore year in a turn-of-the-century small town turns into a quiet test of character when an old friend's silent jealousy opens the door to a sharper, legacy-born rivalry.

Memoirs and Historical Chronicles of the Courts of Europe: Memoirs of Marguerite de Valois, Queen of France, Wife of Henri IV
Marguerite, Queen, consort of Henry IV, King of France
These memoirs offer a rare, intimate view into the volatile sixteenth-century French court, as told by a princess caught between shifting religious loyalties and the dangerous ambitions of her royal kin.

Mistress Spitfire: A Plain Account of Certain Episodes in the History of Richard Coope, Gent., and of His Cousin, Mistress Alison French, at the Time of the Revolution, 1642-1644
Unknown
The clash of royalist and parliamentarian loyalties forces a divided family into a desperate, clandestine struggle for survival amidst the chaos of the English Civil War.

Modern shipbuilding and the men engaged in it
David Pollock
This technical survey captures the rapid evolution of 19th-century British maritime engineering, documenting the transition from iron to steel and the rise of the high-speed transatlantic passenger trade. It serves as a meticulous industrial record of a transformative era.

Mr. Wu: Based on the Play "Mr. Wu" by H. M. Vernon and Harold Owen
Louise Jordan Miln
A powerful Chinese mandarin exacts a haunting, lifelong vengeance against an English youth who seduced and abandoned his daughter, leaving a permanent shadow over the young man’s future happiness.

My Uncle Florimond
Henry Harland
A neglected orphan clings to a dream of a noble life in France, only to discover that the truest worth is found in the humble, steadfast kindness of those he initially overlooks.

Nigeria
E. D. (Edmund Dene) Morel
This detailed survey of early twentieth-century Nigeria offers an observant, critical examination of the administrative, economic, and cultural dynamics defining the British Protectorate. It balances travelogue-style description with pointed commentary on colonial policy and the resilience of indigenous systems.

Notes and Queries, Number 201, September 3, 1853: A Medium of Inter-communication for Literary Men, Artists, Antiquaries, Genealogists, etc
Various
Curious minds gather in an Victorian print forum to untangle obscure historical details, decipher textual variants, record regional folklore, and trade sharp critical observations.

Official views of the World's Columbian Exposition
C. D. (Charles Dudley) Arnold
A vast city of plaster and light rises on the swampy shores of Lake Michigan, capturing the mechanical energy, architectural ambition, and global reach of a rapidly transforming nation.

Old Continental Towns
Walter M. (Walter Matthew) Gallichan
These historical vignettes celebrate the enduring spirit of Europe’s storied centers, mapping the architectural splendor and intellectual heritage that define our collective cultural identity.

On the Wallaby Through Victoria
Elinor Mordaunt
This intimate portrait captures the rugged spirit of early twentieth-century Victoria, blending personal memoir with a sharp-eyed assessment of a young nation finding its identity in the vast, open spaces of the Southern Hemisphere.

One Snowy Night: Long ago at Oxford
Emily Sarah Holt
Faithful Christians face severe persecution in medieval England when they dare to place Scripture above church authority.

Opium Eating: An Autobiographical Sketch by an Habituate
Anonymous
The path to ruin often begins with a desperate attempt to endure the unendurable, turning a temporary refuge into a lifelong prison.

Paper and Printing Recipes: A Handy Volume of Practical Recipes, Concerning the Every-Day Business of Stationers, Printers, Binders, and the Kindred Trades
John Sawtelle Ford
This collection of practical trade secrets serves as a quintessential guide for the nineteenth-century artisan, documenting the messy, chemical, and physical realities of the printing and stationery business.

Paz (La Fausse Maitresse)
Honoré de Balzac
A devoted exile preserves a friend’s marriage at the cost of his own heart, performing miracles of domestic management while silently worshipping the woman who remains oblivious to his true nature.

Personal Memoir of Daniel Drayton, for Four Years and Four Months a Prisoner (for Charity's Sake) in Washington Jail: Including a Narrative of the Voyage and Capture of the Schooner Pearl
Daniel Drayton
A common man’s conscience becomes a legal firestorm when he helps enslaved people pursue their freedom, leading to years of incarceration in the nation’s capital.

Practical Lithography
Alfred Seymour
This manual serves as a definitive bridge between the historical roots of lithographic stone-printing and the industrial mechanics of the early twentieth century.**

Ralph in the Switch Tower
Allen Chapman
Ralph Fairbanks is a young man of steady character and quick reflexes who finds his calling at the controls of a busy railway switch tower. He must outwit local criminals, protect his widowed mother’s interests, and maintain the complex, life-or-death schedules of the Great Northern Railroad.

Regeneration: Being an Account of the Social Work of The Salvation Army in Great Britain
H. Rider (Henry Rider) Haggard
This investigation provides an unfiltered, ground-level survey of early 20th-century social welfare through the lens of one of the era’s most controversial and ambitious charitable organizations. It serves as a rare, contemporary witness to the mechanics of urban poverty and reform.

Seven years in South Africa, volume 1 (of 2)
Emil Holub
This account documents a physician’s rigorous scientific expedition through the South African interior during the 1870s. It captures a landscape defined by harsh terrain, colonial expansion, and the complex social tapestry of the diamond fields.

Some Experiences of an Irish R.M
E. Oe. (Edith Oenone) Somerville
An English officer arrives in the Irish countryside as a resident magistrate, only to discover that local customs, fox-hunting, and cunning neighbors defy every expectation of order.

Southern Spain, Painted by Trevor Haddon, Described by A. F. Calvert
Albert Frederick Calvert
This journey through the sun-drenched landscapes of Southern Spain blends historical inquiry with the evocative observations of a traveler captivated by the region's Moorish legacy and architectural grandeur.

Sovereign Grace: Its Source, Its Nature and Its Effects
Dwight Lyman Moody
A sinner cannot earn redemption through good works or religious rituals; divine mercy is a free gift waiting to be claimed through simple trust.

Spain
Frederick A. (Frederick Albion) Ober
Spain offers a sweeping, panoramic chronicle of a nation shaped by centuries of conquest, shifting alliances, and profound cultural transformation. It bridges the gap between ancient Roman provincial life and the dramatic, final collision with the United States at the turn of the twentieth century.

St. Paul's Epistle to the Romans: A Practical Exposition. Vol. I
Charles Gore
A practical guide to understanding St. Paul's Epistle to the Romans, bridging biblical scholarship and everyday Christian life.

The American Architect and Building News, Vol. 27, No. 733, January 11, 1890
Various
A single issue of a 1890 trade journal captures an era when technical innovation, classical history, and urban expansion collided.

The Cathedrals of Southern France
M. F. (Milburg Francisco) Mansfield
A region's history lives written in its stones, where massive Romanesque vaults, sunlit cloisters, and soaring Gothic spires chart the long rise of a nation.

The Chronicle of the Canons Regular of Mount St. Agnes
à Kempis Thomas
A quiet hill near Zwolle becomes a sanctuary of steady work, common property, and shared prayer against the backdrop of medieval plague and war.

The Continental Monthly, Vol. 1, No. 6, June, 1862: Devoted To Literature and National Policy
Various
A Union monthly magazine published during the heat of the American Civil War blends fiery anti-slavery essays, wartime reporting, serialized fiction, and travel sketches into a singular portrait of a nation fighting to redefine itself.

The Contrast
Royall Tyler
A young nation finds its voice on the stage by setting plain home-spun virtue against the borrowed hypocrisy of European manners.

The discovery of Damaris
Amy Le Feuvre
A sheltered young woman leaves her lonely London life to trace her family’s roots in the country, discovering that true belonging requires both courage and a leap of faith.