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32,123 public-domain books, summarised. Page 484 of 670.
Barclay of the Guides
Herbert Strang
The brutal, high-stakes chaos of the 1857 Indian Mutiny serves as the backdrop for a young man’s perilous quest to rescue his father from the heart of a besieged city.
Behind the Mirrors: The Psychology of Disintegration at Washington
Clinton W. (Clinton Wallace) Gilbert
The gilded curtains of Washington are pulled back to reveal a government not of statesmanship, but of faltering amateurs, divided interests, and the crumbling illusions of American "Progress.
Betty Lee, Freshman
Harriet Pyne Grove
Moving to a new city and navigating the intimidating hallways of a massive high school, a young girl discovers that growing up is the most moving adventure of all.
Camping and camp cooking
Frank A. Bates
Living under canvas requires more than just a tent; it demands a philosophy of self-reliance, good humor, and the ability to cook a decent meal over an open flame. This manual serves as a practical guide for the city-dweller seeking a restorative escape into the woods.
Cleek: the Man of the Forty Faces
Thomas W. Hanshew
A master of disguise, known as "The Man of the Forty Faces," forsakes his criminal past to outwit the most cunning villains in Edwardian London.
Dave Porter in the South Seas
Edward Stratemeyer
HOOK A young man sets sail for the South Seas to uncover the secrets of his own forgotten past. He finds instead a maritime conspiracy, a marooned crew, and the ultimate test of his own character.
Dave Porter on Cave Island
Edward Stratemeyer
A resourceful schoolboy tracks down two malicious rivals who have framed him for a jewelry store robbery, leading to a perilous chase across the sea and into the subterranean mazes of a remote tropical island.
Days in the Open
Lathan A. (Lathan Augustus) Crandall
The spirit of the wilderness and the quiet joy of the angling life call to those who appreciate the patience of the stream. This collection of sketches celebrates the profound, unhurried connection between the outdoors and the human heart.
Description of the Process of Manufacturing Coal Gas, for the Lighting of Streets Houses, and Public Buildings: With Elevations, Sections, and Plans of the Most Improved Sorts of Apparatus Now Employed at the Gas Works in London and the Principal Provincial Towns of Great Britain
Friedrich Christian Accum
Modern civilization is built on foundations of unseen infrastructure, and the story of urban light begins with the bold, industrial transformation of the early nineteenth century. This detailed technical manual serves as a primary record of the rapid, sweeping transition from oil lamps to the sophisticated,…
Dividing Waters
I. A. R. (Ida Alexa Ross) Wylie
The life of a young woman is irrevocably altered by a cross-cultural marriage that forces her to reconcile her English upbringing with the rigid, honor-bound social landscape of Imperial Germany.
Don't Shoot
Robert Zacks
An obsessed scientist confesses his role in a bizarre transformation, revealing that the legendary Abominable Snowman is actually a missing Hollywood mogul sent to the Himalayas by a malfunctioning matter-transmitter.
Engraving for Illustration: Historical and Practical Notes
Joseph Kirkbride
The history of image-making is a long, deliberate evolution, one where the human hand has moved from carving simple symbols on stone to capturing complex light through the precise, mechanical lens of modern science.
Essays on the Stage: Preface to the Campaigners (1689) and Preface to the Translation of Bossuet's Maxims and Reflections on Plays (1699)
Thomas D'Urfey
These documents capture the heated collision between seventeenth-century playwrights and their moralistic critics, offering a raw, unvarnished look at the early battle over the soul of the English stage.
Folk-Lore and Legends: Russian and Polish
Unknown
HOOK Miraculous snow-children, golden fish, and enchanted stoves populate these pages, where the ordinary world dissolves into a landscape of shifting moral fortunes and sudden, transformative magic.
From a College Window
Arthur Christopher Benson
Reflective and serene, these essays offer a meditation on how to navigate the complexities of life with sincerity, intellectual honesty, and grace.
From the Memoirs of a Minister of France
Stanley John Weyman
The trusted advisor to King Henry IV navigates the treacherous corridors of the French court, balancing the volatile passions of his sovereign with the preservation of the state. These episodes capture the intimate, often perilous life of a king’s right hand in a world of high-stakes intrigue.
Gas Burners Old and New: A historical and descriptive treatise on the progress of invention in gas lighting, embracing an account of the theory of luminous combustion
Owen Merriman
The flicker of a flame holds more history than we often realize, tracing a path from the simple, unpretentious apertures of the early nineteenth century to the sophisticated, scientific combustion of a later age. This technical record invites us to look closely at the evolution of artificial light, revealing that…
Half Hours in Bible Lands, Volume 2: Patriarchs, Kings, and Kingdoms
P. C. (Phineas Camp) Headley
HOOK This work presents a sweeping biographical survey of the figures and nations that shaped the biblical narrative, from the early patriarchs to the final fall of Jerusalem.
Happy House
Hutten zum Stolzenberg, Betsey Riddle, Freifrau von
A weary, overlooked novelist finds her quiet life upended when the shifting tides of the post-war world force her to confront her own fading relevance and her husband’s persistent, selfish instability.
Henry Is Twenty: A Further Episodic History of Henry Calverly, 3rd
Samuel Merwin
Henry Calverly is twenty, and the world is far too small to contain his ambition, his insecurity, and his erratic, surging genius. He is a young man struggling to find his footing in a town that expects him to be either a saint or a failure.
Holinshed's Chronicles, vol. 2 of 6, slice 09 of 12: England, 1272-1307, Edward I
Raphael Holinshed
This sweeping history chronicles the reign of Edward I, a monarch defined by unrelenting territorial ambition, institutional reform, and the brutal consolidation of the English state. It provides a foundational account of late thirteenth-century power, law, and conquest.
In Korea with Marquis Ito
George Trumbull Ladd
A seasoned academic offers a firsthand account of the Japanese administration in Korea during a pivotal moment of transition. This work documents the early years of the Japanese Protectorate through the eyes of a sympathetic observer.
International Weekly Miscellany of Literature, Art and Science
Various
This miscellany offers a curated window into the mid-19th-century intellectual landscape, blending literary criticism, scientific curiosities, and a serialized tale of artistic ambition and betrayal. It serves as a fascinating, multi-faceted portrait of Victorian-era sensibilities.
Last Words on Evolution: A Popular Retrospect and Summary
Ernst Haeckel
The biological history of human origins is a hard-won scientific truth, not a matter of faith, and its acceptance signals the triumph of reason over institutional dogma.
Letters to Sir William Windham and Mr. Pope
Bolingbroke, Henry St. John, Viscount
These collected epistles offer a sharp, polemical defense of a disgraced statesman’s reputation and a series of philosophical meditations on the limits of human knowledge.
Little Folks of North America: Stories about children living in the different parts of North America
Mary Hazelton Blanchard Wade
This wide-ranging survey captures the diverse environments and daily habits of children across North America, from the frozen shores of the Arctic to the sun-drenched plantations of the Caribbean. It serves as a gentle, observational guide to the continent at the turn of the twentieth century.
Maezli: A Story of the Swiss Valleys
Johanna Spyri
In a quiet Swiss valley, a widowed mother and her five spirited children find their lives intertwined with the long-shadowed secrets of a desolate, historic castle.
Manual of Taxidermy: A Complete Guide in Collecting and Preserving Birds and Mammals
C. J. (Charles Johnson) Maynard
This manual serves as a meticulous, hands-on guide for the nineteenth-century collector, detailing the precise techniques required to turn wild birds and mammals into preserved scientific specimens or decorative mounts.
Mary Cary: "Frequently Martha"
Kate Langley Bosher
A spirited, orphaned girl navigates the rigid confines of an asylum by balancing her cynical, observant "Martha" side with a growing, hopeful "Mary" spirit after a kind stranger changes her world.
Mike Fletcher: A Novel
George Moore
A charismatic drifter navigates the decadence of late-nineteenth-century London, chasing fleeting beauty and intense experience until the weight of his own detachment finally demands a reckoning.
Miscellaneous Pieces, in Prose
Mrs. (Anna Letitia) Barbauld
True intellectual curiosity requires both the rigor to pursue abstract truths and the sensitivity to appreciate the nuances of human experience. This collection offers a bracing, thoughtful companion for those who value clarity of thought.
Miss Esperance and Mr Wycherly
L. Allen (Lizzie Allen) Harker
The quiet rhythms of a Scottish village find new life when two orphaned brothers arrive on the doorstep of a spinster and her reclusive, scholarly boarder.
More Conjuring: Simple Tricks for Social Gatherings
Hercat
This guide offers a collection of accessible illusions designed to enliven quiet evenings with friends and family. It focuses on performance without the need for specialized equipment or complex sleight-of-hand.
On Adventure Island
Bess Moyer
HOOK Two adventurous twin sisters, both skilled pilots, navigate the skies of the Americas to save their family’s livelihood from a greedy, treacherous rival.
Practical Talks by an Astronomer
Harold Jacoby
This collection of essays offers a clear, accessible window into the mechanics of the heavens, written for the curious layperson who prefers genuine science over technical jargon.
Punch, or the London Charivari, Volume 159, August 11, 1920
Various
This collection captures the sharp, satirical pulse of British life in the summer of 1920, blending political bite with the whimsy of domestic absurdity.
Quotes and Images From the Works of John Galsworthy
John Galsworthy
The quiet struggles of the human heart are rarely fought on battlefields; they are fought in drawing rooms, behind closed doors, and within the suffocating embrace of rigid social expectations. This collection of observations serves as a map to a world where affection is frequently mistaken for ownership.
Reflections on the Rise and Fall of the Ancient Republicks: Adapted to the Present State of Great Britain
Edward Wortley Montagu
History offers a mirror to the present, revealing how the virtues that build a nation are often the very ones discarded as it drifts toward ruin.
Rogues and Vagabonds
George R. (George Robert) Sims
A man haunted by a shadowy past finds that the secrets of his former life are never truly buried, even as he attempts to build a respectable future. This is a story of narrow escapes, hidden identities, and the persistent reach of one’s history.
Rosemary and Rue, by Amber
Martha Everts Holden
The world is a tapestry of small, bright mercies and heavy, hidden sorrows, best navigated with a gentle heart and an eye for the quiet grace of a robin’s song or a child’s trust.
Sam's Chance, and How He Improved It
Alger, Horatio, Jr.
A former street urchin navigates the pitfalls of city life and the difficult work of personal reform, finding that steady habits and unexpected mentorship offer the only reliable path to a better future.
San Cristóbal de la Habana
Joseph Hergesheimer
A traveler finds in Havana a mirror to his own soul, discovering a city that feels more like home than the place of his birth.
Scientific American Supplement, No. 531, March 6, 1886
Various
This archival collection captures the Victorian obsession with industrial progress, providing a window into a world where engineering, botany, and physics converged to map the frontiers of human ingenuity.
Sebastian Bach
Reginald Lane Poole
This biography offers a scholarly yet accessible portrait of one of music's greatest masters, tracing his journey from a modest Thuringian organist to the architect of universal sacred art. It is a work of historical reclamation, grounding the life of a legend in the rigorous archival research of the nineteenth…
Sex and Common-Sense
A. Maude (Agnes Maude) Royden
This work invites readers to strip away the veils of Victorian prudery and fear, arguing that sex is a noble, creative force of nature. It serves as a compassionate, rational bridge between traditional Christian morality and the emerging psychological understandings of the early 20th century.
She and I, Volume 1: A Love Story. A Life History
John C. (John Conroy) Hutcheson
A quiet, sentimental record of mid-Victorian courtship, this narrative captures the fragile, earnest intensity of a young man’s first love in a sleepy London suburb.
Sonia Married
Stephen McKenna
The weight of the Great War presses upon the private lives of a fractured generation, as a young couple discovers that romantic impulse is a poor foundation for the endurance required by a crumbling world.
Speed the plough : A comedy, in five acts
Thomas Morton
A lively comedy of manners and mistaken identity, this play navigates the social hierarchies and hidden secrets of a rural English estate with warmth, wit, and a touch of dramatic intensity.