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47,330 public-domain books, summarised. Page 792 of 987.
Black Priestess of Varda
Erik Fennel
A crippled man, thrust through a tear in space, finds himself the unlikely savior of an alien world locked in a brutal struggle for survival.
Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine, Vol. 74, No. 455, September, 1853
Various
The political discourse and cultural critiques of mid-Victorian Britain reveal a nation grappling with its imperial reach, its internal divisions, and the unsettling, shifting nature of historical truth.
Blood on my jets
Algis Budrys
This story follows Ash Holcomb, a cynical "Detached Operative" or hired gun, who finds himself entangled in a high-stakes conspiracy involving a stolen experimental drive, a beautiful woman from his past, and a rogue warlord threatening the survival of Earth.
Bulbs and Blossoms
Amy Le Feuvre
An orphan brother and sister from India face the harsh reality of their first English winter, discovering through an old gardener’s faith that the cycle of nature holds a promise of renewal beyond the grave.
Captivating Mary Carstairs
Henry Sydnor Harrison
A New York man embarks on an absurd, covert mission to spirit away a child, only to discover the complexities of adult secrets and his own unexpected double.
Challenge
Louis Untermeyer
This collection captures the restless, vibrating energy of the early twentieth-century American city, where the beauty of the natural world and the grim realities of labor collide in a single, impassioned breath. It is a work of fierce contradictions, oscillating between a love for the lyrical tradition and a…
Chambers's Journal of Popular Literature, Science, and Art, No. 706: July 7, 1877
Various
This issue of a Victorian-era miscellany presents a diverse snapshot of nineteenth-century curiosity, weaving together industrial biography, sentimental fiction, historical inquiry, and technical reportage. It captures the intellectual appetite of a reading public eager for both practical knowledge and moral…
"Chinkie's Flat": 1904
Louis Becke
In the harsh, sun-drenched frontier of 1904 Queensland, a struggling mining camp finds new life through the grit of a determined prospector and the sudden arrival of an independent young woman.
Circle of Confusion
George O. (George Oliver) Smith
HOOK A massive artificial sun, essential to the life of Pluto, shatters when a reckless pilot attempts to fly through its delicate gravitational lens.
Corbow's Theory
Lee Wallot
In a remote moon-based laboratory, two clashing physicists must reconcile their opposing visions of the past and future to overcome a fatal flaw in a revolutionary, cost-saving space travel theory.
Dancing, beauty and games
Stewart-Richardson, Constance, Lady
This work argues that physical training is an essential, neglected component of a moral life. It advocates for the holistic development of children through exercise, artistic appreciation, and a deeply felt, rather than rote, spiritual connection.
Dangerous deeds
Frank Cobb
HOOK A young waif, desperate to prove his worth, embarks on a high-stakes aerial mission across the ocean to protect a fortune in crown jewels from a band of ruthless international criminals.
Daniel Boone: Taming the Wilds
Katharine Elliott Wilkie
HOOK Driven by an insatiable need for "elbow room," a legendary woodsman carves a path through the American wilderness, balancing the precarious peace between settlers and the indigenous nations fighting for their ancestral hunting grounds.
David the Shepherd Boy
Amy Steedman
A young shepherd tends his flocks in the hills of Bethlehem, unaware that his quiet devotion is preparing him for a destiny that will change the fate of a nation.
Dead-sea fruit, Vol. 1 (of 3)
M. E. (Mary Elizabeth) Braddon
This is a sweeping Victorian narrative of hidden parentage, the bitter fruit of class disparities, and the precarious lives of those orbiting London’s literary and theatrical worlds. It explores how the shadows of a previous generation’s secrets inevitably darken the prospects of the next.
Death Points a Finger
Will Levinrew
A veteran scientist and an ambitious reporter untangle a web of staged suicides and kidnappings among a group of wealthy, aging men linked by a massive financial fund.
Deborah Dent and Her Donkey and Madam Fig's Gala: Two Humorous Tales
Unknown
A whimsical pair of nineteenth-century cautionary tales, this collection uses rhythmic verse to explore the perils of social ambition and the absurdity of forcing one’s dreams upon unwilling companions.
Deep Furrows
Herbert Joseph Moorhouse
This history chronicles the rise of the organized grain-growers' movement in Western Canada, detailing how pioneer farmers transformed from isolated, exploited laborers into a powerful cooperative force that challenged the financial establishment of the early 20th century.
Devonshire Witches
Paul Q. (Paul Quick) Karkeek
The history of the 1682 Bideford witch trials serves as a grim reflection of how fear and isolation can turn a community against its most vulnerable members. By examining the legal proceedings and confessions of three women, this account reveals the lethal intersection of superstition, religious fervor, and…
Discoveries and Inventions: A lecture by Abraham Lincoln delivered in 1860
Abraham Lincoln
Humanity’s relentless drive to improve its lot is a fundamental, unfolding story of intellectual triumph. This lecture explores the history of how we moved from a state of nature to a world of complex craftsmanship.
Don Garcia of Navarre
Molière
A prince finds his heroic quest for love constantly sabotaged by his own volatile, unfounded suspicions. This study of a tormented heart explores the thin line between deep passion and destructive possessiveness.
Down South
Oliver Optic
In this tale of navigation and intrigue, a resourceful young captain helms a steam-yacht through the waterways of Florida, navigating both treacherous rivers and the schemes of those who wish to seize his vessel.
Edward Fane's Rosebud (From "Twice Told Tales")
Nathaniel Hawthorne
A life bent out of shape by early heartbreak finds its final, uncanny purpose in the shadow of mortality.
Elsie's scholarship
Emma Leslie
When a young girl earns a life-changing scholarship, she discovers that true character is often measured not by what we gain, but by what we are willing to sacrifice for those we love.
Evening songs
Vítězslav Hálek
A poet’s heart remains awake, guarding the embers of love while the world around it drifts into silent slumber. This collection of verses captures the ache of longing and the transformative power of a devoted spirit.
Fairy Gold: Ship's Company, Part 4
W. W. (William Wymark) Jacobs
A husband’s scheme to reclaim his wife’s secret savings quickly devolves into a farce of misplaced trust and chimney-side deception.
Father Brighthopes
J. T. (John Townsend) Trowbridge
A gentle, wandering clergyman brings sunlight into a bustling farmhouse, teaching a young family that the true spirit of religion is found in kindness, contentment, and a deep appreciation for the natural world.
Fog of the Forgotten
Basil Wells
In the mist-shrouded world of Arba, a courageous outcast named Ho Dyak risks everything to reclaim the forbidden mechanical knowledge of his ancestors. His journey, fueled by the arrival of lost space travelers, bridges the gap between primitive superstition and a forgotten technological heritage.
Four Boy Hunters
Edward Stratemeyer
The four friends turn their marksmanship and youthful curiosity into a series of wilderness exploits, proving that the greatest treasures found in the woods are often the ones that require the most courage to secure.
Glyn Severn's Schooldays
George Manville Fenn
An Indian prince's jewelled heirloom vanishes from an English school. Two friends who know wild beasts and distant lands better than their classmates set out to quiet an escaped elephant and clear an innocent name.
Guest the One-Eyed
Gunnar Gunnarsson
A haunting, elegiac portrait of an Icelandic dynasty, this narrative traverses the rugged intersection of inherited trauma, the search for personal redemption, and the inescapable weight of the land itself.
Heather's mistress
Amy Le Feuvre
HOOK Two orphaned sisters face a crossroads between the strict, secluded piety of their upbringing and the allure of fashionable London life. Their journey reveals how duty and faith define a woman’s path to maturity.
In the Border Country
Josephine Daskam Bacon
An artist collapses under the strain of living for herself, her husband, and her children, and slips into a shadowy, dreamlike realm where three encounters with extraordinary women rewrite her understanding of womanhood and duty.
Jack Buntline
William Henry Giles Kingston
A classic tale of endurance and faith, this seafaring adventure traces the tumultuous life of a boy cast adrift by poverty and the unforgiving ocean.
John Holder's Weapon
Robert Moore Williams
HOOK A captive scientist discovers a terrifying mental power that allows him to disintegrate matter—and human beings—with a single thought.
Letters on International Copyright
Henry Charles Carey
A vigorous defense of open knowledge, this work argues that international copyright serves only to consolidate wealth among a few powerful publishers while restricting the intellectual growth of the reading public.
Lost in the backwoods
E. C. (Edith C.) Kenyon
A twelve-year-old boy and his father, separated in the vast American wilderness by a brutal act of violence, must navigate a dangerous frontier to find each other and a long-lost relative.
Lumber Lyrics
Walt Mason
A whimsical series of "prose rhymes" celebrates the unsung dignity of the retail lumber trade, insisting that the merchant who builds the world’s homes is a vital, spirited participant in human happiness.
Make me an offer
Con Blomberg
A bureaucrat’s attempt to pave over nature triggers a silent, coordinated insurrection by the women of New York. The city’s automated economy is brought to its knees by the simple power of a shared household chore.
Memoirs of a London doll
R. H. (Richard H.) Horne
HOOK Born in a dusky attic and traded for a pastry, a resilient doll navigates the shifting fortunes of Victorian London, from the heights of a grand opera house to the streets of a bustling city.
Miss Bracegirdle and others
Stacy Aumonier
A quiet, conventional life in a sleepy cathedral town serves as the launching pad for a series of harrowing and unexpected encounters across Europe. Through these stories, the mundane boundaries of duty and propriety are tested by the sudden intrusion of the macabre, the criminal, and the deeply human.
Mother America
Sam McClatchie
A geneticist orchestrates a national competition to select the perfect parents for a state-sponsored child, only to find himself entangled in a scheme to bypass the cold bureaucracy of artificial reproduction.
Nat Wolfe
Metta Victoria Fuller Victor
Nat Wolfe, a rugged frontier scout, finds his life irrevocably altered after he saves a young woman from a bison stampede, setting in motion a journey of discovery that bridges the wilderness and high society.
Notes and Queries, Number 200, August 27, 1853: A Medium of Inter-communication for Literary Men, Artists, Antiquaries, Geneologists, etc
Various
This is a nineteenth-century repository of curiosity, a bustling forum where scholars, antiquaries, and enthusiasts gather to trade fragments of knowledge and solve the minor mysteries of history, language, and custom.
Notes and Queries, Number 203, September 17, 1853: A Medium of Inter-communication for Literary Men, Artists, Antiquaries, Genealogists, etc
Various
This mid-nineteenth-century periodical serves as a vibrant, decentralized forum for Victorian intellectuals, where the collective curiosity of the era’s best minds solves the obscure puzzles of history, language, and art. It operates as a scholarly clearinghouse, inviting readers to document the forgotten and…
Notes and Queries, Number 44, August 31, 1850
Various
This weekly periodical serves as a Victorian-era clearinghouse for curious minds, bridging the gap between historical scholarship and the shared interests of a literate public. It represents a vibrant, collaborative effort to document the forgotten corners of human knowledge.
Physiology and histology of the Cubomedusæ: including Dr. F.S. Conant's notes on the physiology
E. W. (Edward William) Berger
The delicate, translucent Cubomedusae reveal their complex inner lives through rigorous physiological experiments and precise histological study. This inquiry bridges the gap between raw observation and the structural mechanics of marine life.
Pick a Crime
Richard Rein Smith
The future is a sanitized, silent cage where the state does not punish crime—it simply renders it impossible. This chilling portrait of a technocratic dystopia exposes the ultimate cost of a perfectly ordered society.