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42,801 public-domain books, summarised. Page 772 of 892.

Cover of The Happy Clown

The Happy Clown

Alice Eleanor Jones

In a society where absolute conformity is synonymous with happiness, a young man struggles to hide his individuality from a system that views dissent as a disease. This story follows his desperate attempt to remain himself before the machinery of perfection ultimately claims him.

Science-Fiction & Fantasy6 min read
Cover of The Herriges Horror in Philadelphia: A Full History of the Whole Affair. A Man Kept in a Dark Cage Like a Wild Beast for Twenty Years, As Alleged, in His Own Mother's and Brother's House

The Herriges Horror in Philadelphia: A Full History of the Whole Affair. A Man Kept in a Dark Cage Like a Wild Beast for Twenty Years, As Alleged, in His Own Mother's and Brother's House

Anonymous

This anonymous account documents the 1870 discovery of John Herriges, a man allegedly kept in a wooden cage within his own Philadelphia home for two decades. It serves as both a sensationalist exposé and a snapshot of Victorian-era attitudes toward mental illness and familial duty.

History - American6 min read
Cover of The house of five gables

The house of five gables

Mary Johnson Holmes

The House of Five Gables is a somber, atmospheric domestic drama that explores the crushing weight of hidden sins within an isolated nineteenth-century West Virginia estate.

Historical Novels6 min read
Cover of The Impending Sword: A Novel (Vol. 3 of 3)

The Impending Sword: A Novel (Vol. 3 of 3)

Edmund Yates

HOOK A devoted wife faces the sudden, violent murder of her husband, only to discover that the killer is a figure from her own shadowed past.

British Literature6 min read
Cover of The Irish Penny Journal, Vol. 1 No. 03, July 18, 1840

The Irish Penny Journal, Vol. 1 No. 03, July 18, 1840

Various

This diverse collection of essays, lore, and commentary captures the spirit of early nineteenth-century Ireland, offering a window into the country’s architectural majesty, its rural tragedies, and the keen, often humorous, Irish perspective on foreign observation.

Architecture6 min read
Cover of The Island Camp

The Island Camp

Ethel Talbot

Three siblings stranded by a quarantine turn their summer into an adventurous survival mission, only to uncover a long-buried family secret hidden within the walls of their ancestral home.

Adventure6 min read
Cover of The Isles of Sunset

The Isles of Sunset

Arthur Christopher Benson

The Isles of Sunset is a collection of allegorical tales that explore the quiet, often painful, intersections of human ambition, spiritual longing, and the search for peace. It serves as a meditation on the necessity of sacrifice and the ultimate futility of earthly pride.

British Literature6 min read
Cover of The Juvenile Scrap-book for 1849: A Christmas and New Year's present for young people

The Juvenile Scrap-book for 1849: A Christmas and New Year's present for young people

Unknown

A collection of stories, poems, and moral lessons, this volume serves as a gentle guide for the character development of 19th-century youth. It offers a window into the values and educational priorities of its era through a diverse array of vignettes.

Children & Young Adult Reading6 min read
Cover of The King's Scapegoat

The King's Scapegoat

Hamilton Drummond

A desperate man navigates the treacherous web of Louis XI’s court, where royal favor is a death trap and salvation requires a gambit as dangerous as treason.

French Literature6 min read
Cover of The Last Martian

The Last Martian

Ray Van Houten

A stranded Earthman and a weary, isolated Martian caretaker form an unlikely alliance to revive a dying civilization’s crumbling infrastructure.

Adventure6 min read
Cover of The lost chimes, and other poems

The lost chimes, and other poems

Gustav Melby

A collection of lyrical meditations that move from the ruins of ancient empires to the quiet, rolling landscapes of the American Midwest, finding beauty in the fleeting nature of human endeavor.

Poetry6 min read
Cover of The man who was pale

The man who was pale

Jack Sharkey

A well-meaning landlady’s intrusive habit of worrying leads to a fatal misunderstanding when she attempts to improve the life of her most unusual, and very nocturnal, new tenant.

Humour6 min read
Cover of The mill house mystery

The mill house mystery

Florence Warden

A companion finds her life at a remote estate unraveling as she discovers her employer’s wife is entangled in a dangerous web of theft, betrayal, and violence.

British Literature6 min read
Cover of The Mirror of Literature, Amusement, and Instruction. Volume 12, No. 330, September 6, 1828

The Mirror of Literature, Amusement, and Instruction. Volume 12, No. 330, September 6, 1828

Various

This collection serves as a vibrant, multifaceted snapshot of 1828, offering a curious reader a window into the intellectual appetites, artistic anxieties, and social pastimes of early nineteenth-century London.

British Literature6 min read
Cover of The Mirror of Literature, Amusement, and Instruction. Volume 13, No. 362, March 21, 1829

The Mirror of Literature, Amusement, and Instruction. Volume 13, No. 362, March 21, 1829

Various

This collection offers a vibrant, eclectic mosaic of early nineteenth-century life, blending architectural critique, Arctic exploration, and tragic short fiction into a window upon the intellectual habits of the Regency era.

Architecture6 min read
Cover of The Mirror of Literature, Amusement, and Instruction. Volume 20, No. 574, November 3, 1832 Title

The Mirror of Literature, Amusement, and Instruction. Volume 20, No. 574, November 3, 1832 Title

Various

A nineteenth-century miscellany of history, natural curiosities, and personal anecdotes, offering a window into the intellectual pursuits and curiosities of the late Georgian era.

British Literature6 min read
Cover of The Mouse and The Moonbeam

The Mouse and The Moonbeam

Eugene Field

On Christmas Eve, a tiny mouse, an old grandfather clock, and a drifting moonbeam share sacred stories and moral fables in the quiet dark of a child's bedroom.

Children & Young Adult Reading7 min read
Cover of The mystery of Deneb IV

The mystery of Deneb IV

Robert Silverberg

HOOK A lone navigator answers a desperate SOS, only to find himself trapped by an alien telepath that turns human minds into tools for galactic conquest.

Novels5 min read
Cover of The Old Miracle Plays of England

The Old Miracle Plays of England

Netta Syrett

These medieval dramas, once performed on mobile wooden stages before open-mouthed crowds, capture a long-lost world of faith, fear, and folk spectacle. They endure as the vivid, tactile ancestors of modern theater.

Children & Young Adult Reading6 min read
Cover of The Only Woman in the Town, and Other Tales of the American Revolution

The Only Woman in the Town, and Other Tales of the American Revolution

Sarah J. (Sarah Johnson) Prichard

This collection of Revolutionary-era stories captures the intimate, domestic side of the American struggle for independence through the eyes of those who kept the hearths burning while the world transformed.

History - American6 min read
Cover of The Outdoor Chums After Big Game

The Outdoor Chums After Big Game

Quincy Allen

Four inseparable friends trade their local lake for a rugged Pacific Northwest wilderness, facing grizzly bears, stampeding herds, and treacherous rapids in a quest for adventure.

Adventure5 min read
Cover of The riddle of Three-Way Creek

The riddle of Three-Way Creek

Ridgwell Cullum

In the rugged, unforgiving wilderness of the Canadian north, a fugitive finds salvation in a hidden valley, only to become the guardian of other outcasts seeking a fresh start beyond the reach of the law.

Adventure6 min read
Cover of The Rider of Golden Bar

The Rider of Golden Bar

William Patterson White

A laconic, overlooked cowhand finds himself thrust into the role of sheriff in a corrupt territory, where he must navigate political betrayals, deadly ambushes, and his own shifting reputation to survive.

Adventure5 min read
Cover of The Rover Boys in Alaska

The Rover Boys in Alaska

Edward Stratemeyer

The Rover brothers must set aside their college studies and family business to rescue their adventurous brother, whose mysterious head injury has driven him to seek gold in the frozen, dangerous wilderness of Alaska.

Adventure5 min read
Cover of The Rural Magazine, and Literary Evening Fire-Side, Vol. 1 No. 11 (1820)

The Rural Magazine, and Literary Evening Fire-Side, Vol. 1 No. 11 (1820)

Various

This collection of essays, practical advice, and verse offers a window into the intellectual and material life of an American farming community in 1820. It captures the quiet rhythms of a society bridging traditional labor and scientific progress.

Archaeology & Anthropology6 min read
Cover of The Scaring off of Teddy Dawson: A Comedy in One Act

The Scaring off of Teddy Dawson: A Comedy in One Act

Harold Brighouse

A protective mother discovers her young daughter is courting a local ne'er-do-well and decides that the best way to end the romance is not with a belt, but by welcoming the suitor with suffocating enthusiasm.

British Literature6 min read
Cover of The Second Honeymoon

The Second Honeymoon

Ruby M. (Ruby Mildred) Ayres

The story of a young, impulsive man who realizes too late that his marriage was a mistake, only to find that true love requires more than just a change of heart.

British Literature6 min read
Cover of The southern literary messenger, Vol. II., No. 12, November, 1836

The southern literary messenger, Vol. II., No. 12, November, 1836

Various

This volume serves as a time capsule of 1836 American intellectual life, gathering the disparate voices of a nascent literary culture into a single, cohesive periodical. It captures the era’s hunger for both moral instruction and romantic escapism.

American Literature6 min read
Cover of The Story of a Candy Rabbit

The Story of a Candy Rabbit

Laura Lee Hope

A sweet sugar bunny with pink glass eyes experiences the perils of the physical world while longing to protect his young owner's household.

Children & Young Adult Reading7 min read
Cover of The Story of a Plush Bear

The Story of a Plush Bear

Laura Lee Hope

A plush bear journeys from the magical workshops of the North Pole to a seaside vacation, navigating the perils of being a forgotten plaything in a world of giants.

Children & Young Adult Reading6 min read
Cover of The three sphinxes, and other poems

The three sphinxes, and other poems

George Sylvester Viereck

The poet stands at the intersection of history and desire, searching for meaning in the wreckage of broken gods and fleeting loves. These verses trace a restless journey through the tension between the spirit and the senses.

American Literature6 min read
Cover of The truce of God: A tale of the eleventh century

The truce of God: A tale of the eleventh century

George H. (George Henry) Miles

A tragic feudal blood feud threatens to consume two noble families until the church intervenes with a solemn mandate of peace.

Historical Novels6 min read
Cover of The Turquoise Cup, and, the Desert

The Turquoise Cup, and, the Desert

Arthur Cosslett Smith

Two distinct tales of devotion explore how love defies social, religious, and material boundaries in Venice and the Sahara.

Novels6 min read
Cover of The Vee-Boers: A Tale of Adventure in Southern Africa

The Vee-Boers: A Tale of Adventure in Southern Africa

Mayne Reid

A group of colonial farmers, stripped of their livestock by the hazards of the African wilderness, must navigate a perilous river journey to reclaim their fortunes and return to their Transvaal home.

Adventure6 min read
Cover of The Winning of the West, Volume 3: The Founding of the Trans-Alleghany Commonwealths, 1784-1790

The Winning of the West, Volume 3: The Founding of the Trans-Alleghany Commonwealths, 1784-1790

Theodore Roosevelt

The young nation’s survival depends on the unruly, rifle-bearing frontiersmen who claim the western woods. Amidst broken treaties, brutal skirmishes, and shifting allegiances, these pioneers test whether a democracy can expand without shattering into pieces.

History - American6 min read
Cover of The wooing of Leola

The wooing of Leola

Miller, Alex. McVeigh, Mrs.

A young woman’s romantic fate hangs in the balance, caught between a sinister guardian’s schemes, a jealous rival’s deceptions, and the heroic devotion of a man who traveled across the country to find her.

Novels6 min read
Cover of The Wreck of the Grosvenor, Volume 3 of 3: An account of the mutiny of the crew and the loss of the ship when trying to make the Bermudas

The Wreck of the Grosvenor, Volume 3 of 3: An account of the mutiny of the crew and the loss of the ship when trying to make the Bermudas

William Clark Russell

The sea is a place of absolute indifference where only the strongest survive, but even in the deepest despair, human connection becomes the final, fragile rigging that keeps a soul afloat against the crushing weight of the waves.

Adventure5 min read
Cover of Trapped in 'Black Russia': Letters June-November 1915

Trapped in 'Black Russia': Letters June-November 1915

Ruth Pierce

Caught in the web of wartime bureaucracy, an American woman records the grim realities of the Russian home front as freedom turns into house arrest.

Biographies6 min read
Cover of Tumbleweeds

Tumbleweeds

Hal G. (Hal George) Evarts

The encroaching fences of progress spell the end for a vanishing breed of drifters, forcing a choice between the freedom of the open range and the permanence of a settled life.

American Literature6 min read
Cover of Under the Liberty Tree: A Story of The 'Boston Massacre'

Under the Liberty Tree: A Story of The 'Boston Massacre'

James Otis

In 1770, four Boston boys find themselves caught in the escalating tension between British troops and local citizens, culminating in a tragedy that alters the course of American history.

American Literature6 min read
Cover of Valencia and Murcia, a glance at African Spain

Valencia and Murcia, a glance at African Spain

Albert Frederick Calvert

The sun-drenched plains of Valencia and Murcia reveal a land where ancient Moorish ingenuity still sustains a modern, thriving garden. This account captures the vibrant, precarious intersection of human industry and the relentless heat of the Spanish south.

Archaeology & Anthropology6 min read
Cover of Vick's Illustrated Monthly Magazine, Volume 17, No. 5, March, 1894

Vick's Illustrated Monthly Magazine, Volume 17, No. 5, March, 1894

Various

A seasonal guide for the nineteenth-century gardener, this collection balances practical horticultural advice with the era’s distinct social values and a relentless spirit of commerce.

Journals6 min read
Cover of Wanderlust

Wanderlust

Alan Edward Nourse

The call of the stars is a siren song that no amount of earthly love or reasoning can silence. For a father who has tasted that dangerous freedom, the hardest lesson is learning when to let his son walk into the void.

Adventure6 min read
Cover of Wessex

Wessex

Charles G. (Charles George) Harper

The rugged, ancient landscapes of southwest England offer a window into history where rural tradition and literary imagination converge. This tour invites travelers to step away from the modern world and into a place of enduring legends.

Travel Writing6 min read
Cover of When Polly Was Eighteen

When Polly Was Eighteen

Emma C. Dowd

A young woman balances the heavy emotional demands of a volatile suitor with her newfound, deeply fulfilling role as a nurse to children in need.

American Literature6 min read
Cover of Words for the Wise

Words for the Wise

T. S. (Timothy Shay) Arthur

This collection of moral tales serves as a mirror for the nineteenth-century American conscience, illustrating how small personal choices ripple outward into life-altering consequences. It is a straightforward, didactic exploration of integrity, vanity, and the heavy costs of living without self-reflection.

Short Stories6 min read
Cover of Yuletide entertainments

Yuletide entertainments

Ellen M. (Ellen Melville) Willard

A Victorian-era manual of festive performance, this collection provides the essential blueprints for school and parlor celebrations, blending heartfelt recitations with precise, rhythmic drills to capture the magic of the holiday season.

Children & Young Adult Reading5 min read
Cover of A Child's Anti-Slavery Book: Containing a Few Words about American Slave Children and Stories

A Child's Anti-Slavery Book: Containing a Few Words about American Slave Children and Stories

Various

By contrasting the natural rights of free children with the brutal realities of human bondage, these stories serve as an urgent, compassionate plea for the abolition of American slavery.

Children & Young Adult Reading7 min read