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47,382 public-domain books, summarised. Page 484 of 988.

Cover of Historia Calamitatum

Historia Calamitatum

Peter Abelard

Brilliant, contentious, and wrecked by his own passions, a preeminent medieval philosopher lays bare the undoing of his career and the violent ending of his grand romance.

Biographies6 min read
Cover of House of Torment: A Tale of the Remarkable Adventures of Mr. John Commendone, Gentleman to King Phillip II of Spain at the English Court

House of Torment: A Tale of the Remarkable Adventures of Mr. John Commendone, Gentleman to King Phillip II of Spain at the English Court

Guy Thorne

A high-stakes thriller of secret identities, royal intrigue, and devotion that braves the flames of Tudor London and the horrors of the Spanish Inquisition.

British Literature6 min read
Cover of Ireland in the Days of Dean Swift (Irish Tracts, 1720 to 1734)

Ireland in the Days of Dean Swift (Irish Tracts, 1720 to 1734)

Jonathan Swift

A fierce, brilliant campaign against economic subjugation, this collection captures a nation's desperation through unmatched satirical fury, moral clarity, and razor-sharp political prose.

History - British6 min read
Cover of Lectures on popular and scientific subjects

Lectures on popular and scientific subjects

Caithness, James Sinclair, 14th earl of

Human ingenuity turns underground coal fields, high mountain lakes, and simple children's playthings into the vital currents of modern civilization.

Economics6 min read
Cover of Letters from a Son to His Self-Made Father: Being the Replies to Letters from a Self-Made Merchant to His Son

Letters from a Son to His Self-Made Father: Being the Replies to Letters from a Self-Made Merchant to His Son

Charles Eustace Merriman

A rich, satirical volley between a pampered son and his meatpacking magnate father, exposing the friction between inherited privilege and self-made ambition.

American Literature6 min read
Cover of Life of Edwin Forrest, the American Tragedian. Volume 2 (of 2)

Life of Edwin Forrest, the American Tragedian. Volume 2 (of 2)

Alger, Horatio, Jr.

An actor’s body and voice can shake a theater, but his legacy depends on the fragile, biased memories of his contemporaries.

American Literature8 min read
Cover of Life on the Mississippi, Part 12

Life on the Mississippi, Part 12

Mark Twain

An observer tracks the swift forward march of nineteenth-century American commerce along the upper reaches of a great national river, recording both the booming modern cities and the vanishing wilderness legends in his wake.

American Literature5 min read
Cover of Liza

Liza

Ivan Sergeevich Turgenev

Quiet longing and rigid societal expectations collide in a provincial Russian town, where a second chance at happiness vanishes as swiftly as it appears.

Novels6 min read
Cover of Mantegna

Mantegna

N. D'Anvers

An early leap into Paduan guilds and an obsession with classical relief shaped a painter whose rigid, sculpted figures transformed the Italian Renaissance.

Art6 min read
Cover of Mercy Philbrick's Choice

Mercy Philbrick's Choice

Helen Hunt Jackson

A young New England woman must choose between her unyielding moral integrity and the comforting illusions of romantic devotion.

American Literature7 min read
Cover of Monumentum Ancyranum: The Deeds of Augustus

Monumentum Ancyranum: The Deeds of Augustus

Emperor of Rome Augustus

A sovereign’s final accounting becomes a monumental testament, carving personal ambition directly into the permanent civic memory of Rome.

Biographies6 min read
Cover of My leper friends

My leper friends

Alice M. Hayes

A white woman in British India crosses class lines and bureaucratic indifference to bring clothing, advocacy, and human warmth to Calcutta’s isolated, European and Eurasian lepers.

Archaeology & Anthropology6 min read
Cover of Natural History of the Prairie Vole (Mammalian Genus Microtus): [KU. Vol. 1 No. 7]

Natural History of the Prairie Vole (Mammalian Genus Microtus): [KU. Vol. 1 No. 7]

E. W. (Everett Williams) Jameson

Beneath the thick grass of eastern Kansas, small gray rodents build hidden engineering marvels and sustain an entire invisible network of parasites, predators, and plant life.

Nature/Gardening/Animals6 min read
Cover of Neotropical Hylid Frogs, Genus Smilisca

Neotropical Hylid Frogs, Genus Smilisca

William Edward Duellman

In the shadows of Central American rainforests, small tree frogs navigate shifting landscapes through subtle variations in color, call, and bone structure, revealing a rich story of evolutionary adaptation.

Nature/Gardening/Animals5 min read
Cover of Neuralgia and the diseases that resemble it

Neuralgia and the diseases that resemble it

Francis Edmund Anstie

A specialized nervous disorder causes excruciating, localized pain without structural decay, demanding precise medical separation from its many deceptive mimics to ensure proper care.

Health & Medicine6 min read
Cover of On the Indian Trail: Stories of Missionary Work among Cree and Salteaux Indians

On the Indian Trail: Stories of Missionary Work among Cree and Salteaux Indians

Egerton Ryerson Young

A missionary travels through the northern wilderness, discovering that kindness, shared hardship, and simple literacy can transform isolated communities.

History - American6 min read
Cover of Our Little Canadian Cousin

Our Little Canadian Cousin

Elizabeth Roberts MacDonald

Childhood in turn-of-the-century Maritime Canada is an unending outdoors adventure, where wooded hills, wide blue rivers, and seasonal rituals turn everyday home life into a quiet celebration.

Children & Young Adult Reading7 min read
Cover of Over the Brazier

Over the Brazier

Robert Graves

Childhood fantasies of innocent woods, magical beasts, and green-bound poetry books shatter against the frozen mud, stench, and sudden violent death of the Western Front.

British Literature6 min read
Cover of Pamela Giraud: A Play in Five Acts

Pamela Giraud: A Play in Five Acts

Honoré de Balzac

A working-class flower-maker imperils her reputation to provide a false alibi for a young aristocrat implicated in an anti-monarchical conspiracy.

French Literature6 min read
Cover of Paradoxes of Catholicism

Paradoxes of Catholicism

Robert Hugh Benson

The Catholic Church claims to be the divine presentment of Christ on earth, yet it operates through fallible human hands. This inherent dual nature produces a series of stark, unavoidable paradoxes that define its role in the world.

Essays, Letters & Speeches6 min read
Cover of Peg Woffington

Peg Woffington

Charles Reade

An actress in eighteenth-century London discovers that her noble admirer is secretly married, forcing a dramatic confrontation between theatrical illusion and moral truth.

British Literature6 min read
Cover of Pledged to the Dead

Pledged to the Dead

Seabury Quinn

A ghost in a light white gown and violet ribbons still holds power over a living lover's heart.

Crime, Thrillers and Mystery5 min read
Cover of Poems for Pale People: A Volume of Verse

Poems for Pale People: A Volume of Verse

Edwin Carty Ranck

A playful, unpretentious journey through the lighthearted landscapes of turn-of-the-century American verse, where absurdity, nostalgia, and everyday humor intermingle freely.

Humour6 min read
Cover of Polly of the Hospital Staff

Polly of the Hospital Staff

Emma C. Dowd

A bright, motherless girl wins the hearts of doctors, nurses, and fellow patients, bringing quiet transformations to a city hospital's convalescent ward.

Children & Young Adult Reading6 min read
Cover of Popular British Ballads, Ancient and Modern, Vol. 3 (of 4)

Popular British Ballads, Ancient and Modern, Vol. 3 (of 4)

Unknown

Love, murder, magic, and maritime peril collision-course through a vibrant tapestry of storytelling. These verse tales capture human passion and terror at their absolute extremes.

British Literature7 min read
Cover of Prairie Farmer, Vol. 56: No. 5, February 2, 1884.: A Weekly Journal for the Farm, Orchard and Fireside

Prairie Farmer, Vol. 56: No. 5, February 2, 1884.: A Weekly Journal for the Farm, Orchard and Fireside

Various

A single issue of a nineteenth-century agricultural journal captures the practical wisdom, daily struggles, and commercial life of Midwestern farm families in the winter of 1884.

Journals6 min read
Cover of Preliminary Report of the Commission Appointed by the University of Pennsylvania to Investigate Modern Spiritualism: In Accordance with the Request of the Late Henry Seybert

Preliminary Report of the Commission Appointed by the University of Pennsylvania to Investigate Modern Spiritualism: In Accordance with the Request of the Late Henry Seybert

University of Pennsylvania. Seybert Commission for Investigating Modern Spiritualism

A group of prominent academics sets out to rigorously evaluate claims of the paranormal, only to find every spirit message vanishing behind slipped slates, trick boxes, and concealed feet.

Religion/Spirituality6 min read
Cover of Proclaim Liberty!

Proclaim Liberty!

Gilbert Seldes

A clear-eyed call to civic action written during the dark opening months of World War II, this manifesto urges Americans to draw military strategy and wartime resolve directly from their nation's foundational democratic promises.

History - American7 min read
Cover of Quisisana

Quisisana

Friedrich Spielhagen

A aging bachelor returns to the valley of his youth, mistaking a young woman's gratitude for love, only to find that peace demands surrendering his last romantic illusion.

German Literature6 min read
Cover of Roger Ingleton, Minor

Roger Ingleton, Minor

Talbot Baines Reed

When a dying landholder conceals a second heir, a dutiful younger son sets off across Europe to surrender his own inheritance to a ruined long-lost brother.

British Literature6 min read
Cover of Rustic Chivalry (Cavalleria Rusticana): Melodrama in One Act

Rustic Chivalry (Cavalleria Rusticana): Melodrama in One Act

James Cartwright Macy

A passionate Sicilian village becomes the backdrop for a swift, lethal clash between betrayed affection and traditional honor on Easter morning.

Plays/Films/Dramas7 min read
Cover of Saracinesca

Saracinesca

F. Marion (Francis Marion) Crawford

A noble heart is tested by a treacherous world in a vanished Rome where honour, love, and political intrigue collide.

Historical Novels7 min read
Cover of Scenes in Switzerland

Scenes in Switzerland

American Tract Society

An autumn travel narrative through Alpine valleys becomes a spiritual pilgrimage, discovering that the true grandeur of Switzerland rests not in its icy peaks, but in the humble faith of its mountain villagers.

American Literature6 min read
Cover of Scientific American Supplement, No. 358, November 11, 1882

Scientific American Supplement, No. 358, November 11, 1882

Various

Nineteenth-century scientific progress unfolds through detailed engineering diagrams, public health statistics, and precise chemical experiments. This miscellany captures an era racing to industrialize, sanitize, and systematically categorize the natural world.

Engineering & Technology5 min read
Cover of Scientific American Supplement, No. 433, April 19, 1884

Scientific American Supplement, No. 433, April 19, 1884

Various

Industrial ambition and observational science meet in a weekly snapshot of late nineteenth-century invention, where practical craft and global curiosity converge.

Engineering & Technology6 min read
Cover of Spalding's Baseball Guide and Official League Book for 1889

Spalding's Baseball Guide and Official League Book for 1889

Unknown

A meticulous window into 1880s professional baseball, combining legal frameworks, detailed statistics, commercial enterprise, and raw seasonal narrative to capture an era when America’s national pastime was rapidly codifying its identity.

Encyclopedias/Dictionaries/Reference5 min read
Cover of Stand By: The Story of a Boy's Achievement in Radio

Stand By: The Story of a Boy's Achievement in Radio

Hugh McAlister

A curious boy turns an antique static machine into a lifelong mastery of wireless signals that saves an Arctic expedition.

Adventure6 min read
Cover of Stories for the Young

Stories for the Young

Hannah More

A sharp, moral vision of eighteenth-century English life where everyday choices carry eternal weight, tracing the narrow line between virtue and ruin.

British Literature6 min read
Cover of Stories from the trenches

Stories from the trenches

Carleton B. (Carleton Britton) Case

A cashiered officer redeems his name in the Foreign Legion, while home-front parents stuff a son with water and pork chops so he can pass the Navy scale.

History - Warfare6 min read
Cover of The Academic Gregories

The Academic Gregories

Agnes Grainger Stewart

A Scottish bloodline transforms from violent Highland outlawry into an unmatched dynasty of professors, mathematicians, and pioneering physicians across two centuries of university life.

Biographies5 min read
Cover of The American Missionary

The American Missionary

Various

Through financial records, field dispatches, and missionary accounts, a nineteenth-century organization reveals the expansive, gritty work of educating and evangelizing post-Civil War America.

History - American7 min read
Cover of The Apartment Next Door

The Apartment Next Door

William Johnston

A woman risks everything to uncover a deadly wartime plot, only to find her heart divided between duty to her country and her feeling for the suspect living right across the hall.

American Literature6 min read
Cover of The Atlantic Monthly, Volume 11, No. 68, June, 1863: A Magazine of Literature, Art, and Politics

The Atlantic Monthly, Volume 11, No. 68, June, 1863: A Magazine of Literature, Art, and Politics

Various

A mid-century monthly opens its leaves to reveal a nation wrestling with its own soul, where domestic practicalities, literary ambitions, and the shadows of a bleeding Union collide.

Health & Medicine6 min read
Cover of The Boys and I: A Child's Story for Children

The Boys and I: A Child's Story for Children

Mrs. Molesworth

A nine-year-old girl and her little brothers are uprooted to their uncle's London townhouse, where misunderstanding and domestic friction force them to find their own way toward warmth and belonging.

Children & Young Adult Reading6 min read
Cover of The Brute

The Brute

Frederic Arnold Kummer

An unyielding husband and an ambitious wife clash when an unexpected fortune tests the boundaries of pride, love, and moral compromise.

American Literature5 min read
Cover of The Building of Castello de San Marcos: National Park Service Interpretive Series, History No. 1

The Building of Castello de San Marcos: National Park Service Interpretive Series, History No. 1

Albert C. Manucy

A pirate attack forces Spain to construct an imperishable stone fortress on the Florida coast to safeguard its colonial empire.

History - American5 min read
Cover of The Canadian Girl at Work: A Book of Vocational Guidance

The Canadian Girl at Work: A Book of Vocational Guidance

Willison, Marjory MacMurchy, Lady

Practical wisdom meets moral purpose in a guide that treats a young woman's career choices as vital steps toward personal independence, personal health, and civic responsibility.

History - Other5 min read
Cover of The China Painter Instruction Book

The China Painter Instruction Book

George Erhart Balluff

Grinding pigments on a clean glass slab, balancing delicate washes of metallic lustres, and mastering the heat of an oil-fired kiln demand patience, exact preparation, and absolute cleanliness.

Art6 min read