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4,129 public-domain books, summarised. Page 77 of 87.

Cover of Plain Facts for Old and Young

Plain Facts for Old and Young

John Harvey Kellogg

This guide offers a clinical, moralistic, and physiological examination of sexual health, aiming to curb what the author deems the widespread, dangerous consequences of sexual excess and ignorance in late nineteenth-century American society.

Health & Medicine6 min read
Cover of Sesame and Lilies

Sesame and Lilies

John Ruskin

To read these lectures is to invite a demanding, eloquent mentor into your library to challenge your reading habits, your social conscience, and your understanding of duty.

British Literature7 min read
Cover of The Georgics

The Georgics

Virgil

The earth yields its bounty only to the hand that is willing to shape it, offering a partnership between the soil, the seasons, and the soul.

Classics of Literature7 min read
Cover of Character

Character

Samuel Smiles

True greatness is not found in genius or in rank, but in the quiet, consistent cultivation of the individual spirit. This work serves as an enduring manual on how to build a life of purpose, integrity, and self-mastery.

Philosophy & Ethics7 min read
Cover of A History of Norwegian Immigration to the United States: From the Earliest Beginning down to the Year 1848

A History of Norwegian Immigration to the United States: From the Earliest Beginning down to the Year 1848

George T. (George Tobias) Flom

The westward movement of early Norwegian pioneers transformed the American landscape, turning isolated wilderness into flourishing rural communities. These accounts chronicle the courageous journey of those who left their ancestral homes to build anew in the nineteenth-century Northwest.

History - American6 min read
Cover of Apologia pro vita sua

Apologia pro vita sua

John Henry Newman

A man of profound intellect defends the integrity of his life and conscience after a public accusation of dishonesty threatens to dismantle his reputation.

Biographies7 min read
Cover of Gypsy Sorcery and Fortune Telling: Illustrated by numerous incantations, specimens of medical magic, anecdotes and tales

Gypsy Sorcery and Fortune Telling: Illustrated by numerous incantations, specimens of medical magic, anecdotes and tales

Charles Godfrey Leland

An exhaustive exploration of Romani occult traditions, this work bridges the gap between ancient Shamanic roots and the pragmatic, often deceptive, arts of fortune-telling. It serves as an essential, if idiosyncratic, historical record of European folk-magic.

Archaeology & Anthropology6 min read
Cover of The Craft of Fiction

The Craft of Fiction

Percy Lubbock

A novel is not merely a story told; it is a structure built. This guide examines how the greatest masters of fiction have engineered their worlds to hold the reader’s attention.

Essays, Letters & Speeches6 min read
Cover of Parmenides

Parmenides

Plato

The abstract nature of reality is often hidden in plain sight, waiting for the mind to untangle the knotted threads of unity and difference. This dialogue serves as a rigorous, if dizzying, exercise in testing the absolute limits of logic.

Classics of Literature6 min read
Cover of Poems of Paul Verlaine

Poems of Paul Verlaine

Paul Verlaine

This collection gathers the essence of a singular voice, capturing the movement from restless, shadowy melancholy to a hard-won, meditative peace. It offers a glimpse into a soul that learns to trade the turbulence of youth for the quietude of grace.

French Literature6 min read
Cover of Jane Austen and her works

Jane Austen and her works

Sarah Tytler

A literary guide that bridges the gap between a classic novelist and a modern reader, offering a thoughtful, condensed pathway into the heart of English domestic fiction.

Biographies6 min read
Cover of Northern Nut Growers Association Report of the Proceedings at the 13th Annual Meeting: Rochester, N.Y. September, 7, 8 and 9, 1922

Northern Nut Growers Association Report of the Proceedings at the 13th Annual Meeting: Rochester, N.Y. September, 7, 8 and 9, 1922

Unknown

Nut trees are not merely ornaments but vital, untapped sources of protein and fat, waiting for a more widespread adoption in the American agricultural landscape.

Nature/Gardening/Animals6 min read
Cover of The Mark of Cain

The Mark of Cain

Andrew Lang

A man of noble birth, desperate to protect a dark secret, finds himself ensnared in a web of his own lethal deception. This Victorian mystery tracks the tragic intersection of a scholar’s philanthropy and a criminal’s cold calculation.

British Literature6 min read
Cover of The Uncommercial Traveller

The Uncommercial Traveller

Charles Dickens

An observant wanderer traverses the hidden corners of Victorian England, documenting the dignity, absurdity, and quiet suffering of those overlooked by a rapidly industrializing society.

British Literature7 min read
Cover of The Erotic Motive in Literature

The Erotic Motive in Literature

Albert Mordell

A daring attempt to decode the hidden lives of authors through the lens of early psychoanalysis, this work argues that every poem, novel, and play is a secret diary of its creator’s unconscious desires.

Essays, Letters & Speeches6 min read
Cover of Songs of Childhood

Songs of Childhood

Walter De la Mare

This collection of verse captures the elusive threshold between the waking world of childhood and the shimmering, often unsettling realm of the imagination. It is a work of quiet intensity, lingering in the memory like a half-remembered dream.

Children & Young Adult Reading6 min read
Cover of A History of Literary Criticism in the Renaissance: With special reference to the influence of Italy in the formation and development of modern classicism

A History of Literary Criticism in the Renaissance: With special reference to the influence of Italy in the formation and development of modern classicism

Joel Elias Spingarn

The Renaissance transformed the ancient Greek understanding of poetry into a rigid system of rules, a shift that defined the literary standards of the modern world for centuries to come.

Essays, Letters & Speeches5 min read
Cover of Christmas Light

Christmas Light

Ethel Calvert Phillips

HOOK A young girl in ancient Bethlehem discovers the true meaning of hope after a miraculous encounter with the Holy Family.

Children & Young Adult Reading5 min read
Cover of Americanism

Americanism

Theodore Roosevelt

This collection of addresses serves as a forceful, urgent manifesto on the nature of American identity and the responsibilities of citizenship. It argues that a successful republic requires a unified national spirit, undivided loyalty, and a commitment to duty over individual rights.

Essays, Letters & Speeches7 min read
Cover of My man Jeeves

My man Jeeves

P. G. (Pelham Grenville) Wodehouse

A well-meaning, dim-witted bachelor survives the tribulations of high society and his own poor judgment solely through the quiet, omniscient intervention of his incomparable valet.

British Literature6 min read
Cover of Psychology for beginners

Psychology for beginners

Hereward Carrington

Psychology is a vast, evolving science that reaches far beyond the simple study of consciousness to investigate the hidden mechanisms of the human mind. This primer serves as an accessible map to the complex terrain of mental life.

General6 min read
Cover of The Malay Archipelago, Volume 1: The Land of the Orang-utan and the Bird of Paradise

The Malay Archipelago, Volume 1: The Land of the Orang-utan and the Bird of Paradise

Alfred Russel Wallace

A naturalist’s meticulous, multi-year survey of the East Indies, charting the staggering biological diversity of the islands while uncovering the shifting boundaries of nature’s grand design.

Archaeology & Anthropology6 min read
Cover of Translations of Shakuntala and Other Works

Translations of Shakuntala and Other Works

Kālidāsa

These enduring Sanskrit masterpieces capture the heartbeat of human emotion, weaving tales of love, loss, and restoration that resonate across centuries with singular, crystalline beauty. Through poetry and drama, they map the vast landscape of the human heart.

Mythology, Legends & Folklore6 min read
Cover of U.S. Copyright Renewals, 1967 July - December

U.S. Copyright Renewals, 1967 July - December

Library of Congress. Copyright Office

A ledger of intellectual property, this document captures the precise moment in 1967 when authors and heirs claimed continued ownership over works originally published decades prior. It serves as a bureaucratic snapshot of the American literary landscape during the middle of the twentieth century.

Encyclopedias/Dictionaries/Reference6 min read
Cover of Something Else Again

Something Else Again

Franklin P. (Franklin Pierce) Adams

This collection of verse captures the sharp, playful spirit of a legendary newspaper columnist at the height of his powers. It offers a witty, rhythmic lens through which to view the anxieties and absurdities of early twentieth-century life.

Humour6 min read
Cover of The Happy Prince, and Other Tales

The Happy Prince, and Other Tales

Oscar Wilde

Beauty and cruelty walk hand in hand through these pages, where the smallest acts of sacrifice are met with either profound grace or complete indifference. These stories remain as sharp and haunting as the day they were written.

British Literature6 min read
Cover of Home Geography for Primary Grades

Home Geography for Primary Grades

C. C. Long

HOOK The world is a classroom waiting to be observed, and this guide invites young students to look beneath their feet and above their heads to understand the earth’s mechanisms.

Children & Young Adult Reading6 min read
Cover of Oscar Wilde, Art and Morality: A Defence of "The Picture of Dorian Gray"

Oscar Wilde, Art and Morality: A Defence of "The Picture of Dorian Gray"

Unknown

Art is a mirror, not a moral compass, yet the world often mistakes the reflection for the observer’s own soul. This collection examines the firestorm ignited by a single novel, tracing the collision between a writer’s uncompromising vision and a public’s hunger for censorship.

Art6 min read
Cover of Crowd-horror

Crowd-horror

Robert E. (Robert Ervin) Howard

A naturally gifted but psychologically fragile heavyweight boxer struggles to overcome a debilitating, trance-like obsession with the crowd's roar until the love of a devoted woman becomes his ultimate, stabilizing anchor.

Short Stories6 min read
Cover of The White Company

The White Company

Arthur Conan Doyle

A young monk leaves his cloister to seek the world, only to find himself entangled in the perilous, chivalric quest of a veteran knight during the Hundred Years' War.

Adventure7 min read
Cover of The Man Who Knew Too Much

The Man Who Knew Too Much

G. K. (Gilbert Keith) Chesterton

A man burdened by the terrible clarity of his own political insight moves through a world of shadows, secrets, and high-stakes intrigue. He is the quiet observer of a collapsing social order, witnessing the hidden rot behind the pageantry of power.

British Literature6 min read
Cover of Murder at the vicarage

Murder at the vicarage

Agatha Christie

The quiet, claustrophobic atmosphere of an English village proves a deadly setting when a local magistrate is found shot dead in the vicar’s study. A seemingly mismatched pair of sleuths must cut through a tangle of false confessions and local gossip to uncover the truth.

Crime, Thrillers and Mystery6 min read
Cover of The Adventures of Jimmy Skunk

The Adventures of Jimmy Skunk

Thornton W. (Thornton Waldo) Burgess

The Imp of Mischief is a restless, whispering force that leads even the most cautious animals into trouble. Once a prank begins, it rolls forward with the unpredictable, bouncing momentum of a runaway barrel.

Children & Young Adult Reading5 min read
Cover of The Best of the World's Classics, Restricted to prose. Volume III (of X) - Great Britain and Ireland I

The Best of the World's Classics, Restricted to prose. Volume III (of X) - Great Britain and Ireland I

Unknown

This collection gathers the foundational voices of British literature, charting the evolution of prose from the medieval world to the dawn of the Enlightenment. It offers a panoramic view of how English writers have navigated the complexities of faith, politics, and the human spirit over five centuries.

British Literature6 min read
Cover of Crimes of Preachers in the United States and Canada

Crimes of Preachers in the United States and Canada

M. E. Billings

This collection gathers newspaper reports of clerical misconduct to challenge the moral exceptionalism often attributed to the clergy. It functions as a somber, encyclopedic record of human frailty within the ministry.

History - Religious6 min read
Cover of Glimpses into plant-life

Glimpses into plant-life

Mrs. (Eliza Elder) Brightwen

This guide invites young readers to step outdoors and observe the intricate, living mechanisms of the botanical world through simple, practical field study.

General6 min read
Cover of Lectures on the Science of Language

Lectures on the Science of Language

F. Max (Friedrich Max) Müller

Language is a natural, evolving organism rather than a static invention of human artifice. These lectures provide a foundational framework for understanding how words grow, branch, and reveal the history of the human intellect.

Language & Communication6 min read
Cover of The Continental Monthly, Vol. 6, No 4, August, 1864: Devoted To Literature And National Policy

The Continental Monthly, Vol. 6, No 4, August, 1864: Devoted To Literature And National Policy

Various

This mid-nineteenth-century periodical serves as a vibrant, immediate record of a nation in the throes of civil war, blending urgent political commentary with the literary sensibilities of its time. It acts as both a battlefield dispatch and a reflection on the soul of a democracy.

Essays, Letters & Speeches6 min read
Cover of The tale of Grumpy Weasel

The tale of Grumpy Weasel

Arthur Scott Bailey

Grumpy Weasel is a tale of a notoriously ill-tempered, slender rascal whose attempts to bully and outwit his neighbors in Pleasant Valley lead to a series of comedic, often narrow, escapes.

Children & Young Adult Reading6 min read
Cover of Can Such Things Be?

Can Such Things Be?

Ambrose Bierce

This collection explores the thin, terrifying veil between the rational world and the supernatural, where human obsession often invites the very haunting it seeks to escape.

American Literature5 min read
Cover of Magic, Stage Illusions and Scientific Diversions, Including Trick Photography

Magic, Stage Illusions and Scientific Diversions, Including Trick Photography

Albert A. (Albert Allis) Hopkins

The secrets of the stage are rarely found in the performance itself, but in the gears, mirrors, and hidden mechanisms that manufacture wonder for a captivated audience.

Art7 min read
Cover of The history of steam navigation

The history of steam navigation

John Kennedy

The evolution of the steamship represents one of the most transformative leaps in human industry and global travel. This work tracks the relentless ingenuity that bridged the divide between sail and engine.

Engineering & Technology6 min read
Cover of The Secrets of the Self (Asrar-i Khudi)

The Secrets of the Self (Asrar-i Khudi)

Iqbal, Muhammad, Sir

A philosophical manifesto in verse, this work serves as an urgent summons for the individual to cast off passivity and forge a powerful, self-directed identity. By blending theological rigor with a call to worldly action, it argues that true greatness—both for the person and the community—is found in the courageous…

Philosophy & Ethics6 min read
Cover of The Tales of Mother Goose: As First Collected by Charles Perrault in 1696

The Tales of Mother Goose: As First Collected by Charles Perrault in 1696

Charles Perrault

These foundational French fairy tales capture the archetypal struggle between virtue and vice, embedding moral lessons within a landscape of wonder that has captivated readers for over three centuries. They serve as an enduring mirror for the anxieties and aspirations of both children and the adults who guide them.

Children & Young Adult Reading6 min read
Cover of Shawn of Skarrow

Shawn of Skarrow

James Tandy Ellis

This narrative follows the coming-of-age of a young man in rural Kentucky, tracking his journey from a river-bound childhood to a life defined by professional purpose and the enduring bonds of his home community.

American Literature6 min read
Cover of Table Talk: Essays on Men and Manners

Table Talk: Essays on Men and Manners

William Hazlitt

These essays serve as a masterclass in the art of thinking aloud, capturing the fleeting sparks of human observation with the steady, unpretentious hand of a seasoned conversationalist. They turn the mundane details of daily life into profound meditations on the nature of character, ambition, and the quiet dignity…

Essays, Letters & Speeches7 min read
Cover of Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Chapters 01 to 05

Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Chapters 01 to 05

Mark Twain

This is the story of a boy caught between the suffocating expectations of "civilized" society and the violent, inescapable gravity of his own past. It is a work of wit, rebellion, and profound unease.

Adventure5 min read
Cover of The gunsmith's manual

The gunsmith's manual

J. Parish (James Parish) Stelle

A technical guide for the nineteenth-century artisan, this compendium offers an exhaustive look at the mechanics, maintenance, and fabrication of the firearms that defined an era of rapid industrial transition.

Engineering & Technology6 min read
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