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44,127 public-domain books, summarised. Page 898 of 920.

Cover of The Literary Shop, and Other Tales

The Literary Shop, and Other Tales

James L. (James Lauren) Ford

In the late nineteenth century, the American literary landscape transformed into a vast, industrialized machine. This collection of satirical sketches unmasks the commercial pressures and hollow conventions governing the periodicals of the era.

American Literature6 min read
Cover of The Memoirs of Count Grammont

The Memoirs of Count Grammont

Hamilton, Anthony, Count

These memoirs offer a sharp, witty account of a life defined by the pursuit of pleasure, gambling, and the intricacies of high-stakes courtly romance. They capture the spirit of seventeenth-century European aristocracy with remarkable intimacy and cynicism.

Biographies6 min read
Cover of The Memoirs of Count Grammont

The Memoirs of Count Grammont

Hamilton, Anthony, Count

A vivid, cynical window into the Restoration court, where wit is the primary currency and reputation is a game of high-stakes musical chairs.

Biographies6 min read
Cover of The Mirror of Literature, Amusement, and Instruction. Volume 14, No. 396, October 31, 1829

The Mirror of Literature, Amusement, and Instruction. Volume 14, No. 396, October 31, 1829

Various

The world of 1829 reveals its breadth through a curated collection of travelogues, literary criticism, and scientific inquiry, offering a window into the intellectual appetites of the early nineteenth-century public.

Art6 min read
Cover of The Mirror of Literature, Amusement, and Instruction. Volume 17, No. 475, February 5, 1831

The Mirror of Literature, Amusement, and Instruction. Volume 17, No. 475, February 5, 1831

Various

This collection of miscellany offers a panoramic view of early nineteenth-century British culture, balancing whimsical antiquarian discoveries with the earnest, rhythmic pulse of romantic-era intellectual life. It serves as a time capsule for readers who delight in the intersection of rural folklore, natural…

British Literature7 min read
Cover of The Mirror of Literature, Amusement, and Instruction. Volume 19, No. 540, March 31, 1832

The Mirror of Literature, Amusement, and Instruction. Volume 19, No. 540, March 31, 1832

Various

This collection of miscellanies invites readers into the eclectic intellectual landscape of early nineteenth-century England, blending historical inquiry, artistic critique, and social observation.

History - British6 min read
Cover of The Miserly Robot

The Miserly Robot

R. J. Rice

A reckless heir commits a violent, impulsive act against his family's robotic financial advisor, only to discover that his greed has cost him his entire inheritance.

Novels6 min read
Cover of The penny magazine of the Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge, issue 31, September 29, 1832

The penny magazine of the Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge, issue 31, September 29, 1832

Unknown

This issue of a nineteenth-century educational serial serves as a curated cabinet of curiosities, offering nineteenth-century readers a dense, instructive window into art, mathematics, natural history, and biography. It captures the intellectual rigor and optimistic encyclopedism of the era, presenting complex…

General6 min read
Cover of The Princess of Ponthieu: (in) The New-York Weekly Magazine or Miscellaneous Repository

The Princess of Ponthieu: (in) The New-York Weekly Magazine or Miscellaneous Repository

Unknown

This tale of medieval devotion, betrayal, and unexpected survival traces the harrowing path of a noble couple separated by tragedy and reunited in the unlikeliest of foreign courts. It serves as a quintessential example of 18th-century romantic prose, blending high-stakes courtly drama with the moral fervor of a…

French Literature6 min read
Cover of The Prodigals and Their Inheritance

The Prodigals and Their Inheritance

Mrs. (Margaret) Oliphant

A daughter endures the crushing weight of her father’s volatile tyranny, caught between loyalty to her banished brothers and the terrifying prospect of inheriting his vast, hollow fortune.

British Literature6 min read
Cover of The Red Lottery Ticket

The Red Lottery Ticket

Fortuné Du Boisgobey

A desperate murder in a Parisian flat sets off a frantic hunt for a lost pocketbook containing letters that could destroy the reputations of high-society women.

French Literature6 min read
Cover of The Scandalized Martians

The Scandalized Martians

Arnold Marmor

A visionary director attempts to break the rules of Hollywood by filming a science fiction epic with real extraterrestrials. His stubborn refusal to compromise his artistic vision, however, threatens to ruin the most important collaboration in human history.

Humour5 min read
Cover of The Shaving of Shagpat; an Arabian entertainment

The Shaving of Shagpat; an Arabian entertainment

George Meredith

The struggle against a preposterous and magical vanity requires both a hero’s blade and a barber’s steady hand. This tale reimagines the absurdities of human belief through the lens of high-fantasy satire.

Adventure6 min read
Cover of The story of David Livingstone

The story of David Livingstone

Vautier Golding

This account of a legendary explorer captures the life of a man whose curiosity and conscience led him deep into a continent largely unknown to the West, eventually making him the primary catalyst for the abolition of the East African slave trade. It is a stirring, unsentimental portrait of a figure who traded…

Children & Young Adult Reading6 min read
Cover of The Supply at Saint Agatha's

The Supply at Saint Agatha's

Elizabeth Stuart Phelps

Saint Agatha’s is a story of a fashionable, insular church confronted by the sudden appearance of a mysterious, transcendent figure. It is a quiet, intense meditation on the cost of true devotion and the spiritual complacency of the wealthy.

American Literature6 min read
Cover of The Three Cities Trilogy: Lourdes, Volume 5

The Three Cities Trilogy: Lourdes, Volume 5

Émile Zola

The vast, rhythmic surge of human suffering flows toward a singular point of hope, only to return to the cold reality of a changing world. This meditation on faith, art, and the inexorable march of time examines the profound human hunger for the miraculous when science and reason fail to offer solace.

French Literature6 min read
Cover of The torch bearer

The torch bearer

Agnes E. Ryan

A meticulous insider account reveals how a tiny, underfunded office in Boston runs the premier voice of the American suffrage movement through sheer conviction and administrative grit.

Gender & Sexuality Studies6 min read
Cover of The watchers

The watchers

George H. (George Henry) Smith

A lone sentinel stands guard on the desolate moon of Thirty, tasked with watching the dark, silent reaches of space for the Rumi—a predatory race of cat-like beings that threaten the expansion of mankind.

Science-Fiction & Fantasy6 min read
Cover of The Watchers

The Watchers

Roger D. Aycock

This story follows a man who believes he has uncovered a cosmic conspiracy, only to find that his entire worldview is built upon a tragic misunderstanding of humanity's place in the universe.

Novels6 min read
Cover of The White Bees

The White Bees

Henry Van Dyke

A tapestry of lyrical verse celebrating the American landscape, the virtues of a life lived with purpose, and the enduring power of faith, friendship, and discovery.

American Literature6 min read
Cover of The Young Engineers on the Gulf

The Young Engineers on the Gulf

H. Irving (Harrie Irving) Hancock

Professional grit meets industrial sabotage on the Gulf Coast as two young civil engineers race to complete a massive breakwater project while dodging lethal vendettas.

Adventure6 min read
Cover of Tommy

Tommy

Joseph Hocking

This chronicle follows a young man’s moral and patriotic awakening as he leaves behind the drinking dens of his Lancashire hometown to face the brutal reality of the Great War. It is a portrait of an ordinary life transformed by the crucible of military service and the struggle against a cunning, hidden enemy.

British Literature6 min read
Cover of Toy Shop

Toy Shop

Harry Harrison

A clever toy rocket that seemingly defies gravity becomes a catalyst for scientific breakthrough when it lands in the hands of the very people who might solve its mystery.

Science-Fiction & Fantasy6 min read
Cover of Uncle Wiggily's silk hat

Uncle Wiggily's silk hat

Howard Roger Garis

A tall silk hat does more than look dashing in the woods; for one elderly rabbit, it is a versatile tool for rescuing milk, bailing out boats, and serving as a makeshift vase.

Adventure5 min read
Cover of Your part in poverty

Your part in poverty

George Lansbury

The struggle against poverty is not merely a matter of economic policy, but a profound moral test for the individual. True redemption from social evil requires a collective change of heart rooted in love and brotherhood.

Religion/Spirituality6 min read
Cover of A Letter to the Viscount Palmerston, M.P. &c. &c. &c. on the Monitorial System of Harrow School

A Letter to the Viscount Palmerston, M.P. &c. &c. &c. on the Monitorial System of Harrow School

C. J. (Charles John) Vaughan

The discipline of a great public school rests upon a delicate, often misunderstood tension between the authority of the master and the delegated power of the student. This defense of traditional governance argues that character is forged through internal responsibility rather than constant adult supervision.

Essays, Letters & Speeches7 min read
Cover of A Mere Chance: A Novel. Vol. 2

A Mere Chance: A Novel. Vol. 2

Ada Cambridge

A young woman finds herself trapped in a suffocating engagement to an older, controlling man, only to have her life irrevocably altered by a forbidden, magnetic encounter with a mysterious stranger.

British Literature6 min read
Cover of An Account of Our Arresting Experiences

An Account of Our Arresting Experiences

Conway Evans

The sudden, violent friction between the mundane and the catastrophic defines this account of three travelers caught in the gears of a world war. A seemingly routine European tour dissolves into a harrowing race for survival as civilization rapidly reorders itself into suspicion and hostility.

Biographies6 min read
Cover of An altruist

An altruist

Ouida

A well-meaning young idealist discovers the crushing weight of his own principles when he attempts to dismantle his life of privilege and marry into the working class.

British Literature6 min read
Cover of An Incident on Route 12

An Incident on Route 12

James H. Schmitz

The hunter has become the hunted, but in a way he could never have imagined. A desperate criminal finds himself caught in a trap, realizing too late that his stolen prize is merely bait for a far more alien harvest.

Crime, Thrillers and Mystery6 min read
Cover of Annals and Reminiscences of Jamaica Plain

Annals and Reminiscences of Jamaica Plain

Harriet Manning Whitcomb

A portrait of a changing New England village, this chronicle traces the heritage of Jamaica Plain from its colonial roots to its transformation into a nineteenth-century suburb of Boston.

History - American7 min read
Cover of Bluebeard

Bluebeard

Kate Douglas Smith Wiggin

A razor-sharp satire of the high-minded, overly earnest "lecture-recitals" of the early twentieth century, this musical fantasy presents an elaborate, mock-academic deconstruction of a supposed "lost" Wagnerian opera about the infamous wife-slayer.

Humour5 min read
Cover of Bobby of Cloverfield Farm

Bobby of Cloverfield Farm

Helen Fuller Orton

A young boy navigates the changing seasons of a bustling family farm, learning small, vital lessons about responsibility, nature, and the warmth of home.

American Literature6 min read
Cover of Boys' and Girls' Biography of Abraham Lincoln

Boys' and Girls' Biography of Abraham Lincoln

James H. Shaw

From the humble dirt floors of a Kentucky cabin to the tragic finality of Ford’s Theatre, this narrative tracks the ascent of a man who rose from obscurity to define a nation’s soul. It is a portrait of a president shaped by the frontier, defined by his integrity, and tested by the crucible of a fractured country.

Biographies6 min read
Cover of Bunny Brown and His Sister Sue

Bunny Brown and His Sister Sue

Laura Lee Hope

Bunny Brown and his sister Sue are two perpetually curious, wide-eyed children whose innocent attempts to explore their world frequently lead to unplanned escapades and gentle lessons in responsibility.

Children & Young Adult Reading6 min read
Cover of Camping at Cherry Pond

Camping at Cherry Pond

Henry Abbott

The woods offer a sanctuary where the absence of a trophy dinner is easily eclipsed by the quiet majesty of the natural world.

Adventure6 min read
Cover of Cap'n Jonah's fortune

Cap'n Jonah's fortune

James A. Cooper

An elderly mariner returns home to find his long-lost relatives are miserly opportunists, but his fortunes take a turn when an overlooked investment suddenly yields a hidden, life-changing bounty.

American Literature6 min read
Cover of Carey & Hart's Catalog (1852)

Carey & Hart's Catalog (1852)

Carey & Hart

A mid-nineteenth-century literary mirror opens wide, revealing the vibrant mix of humor, history, science, and art that shaped an emerging American readership.

Encyclopedias/Dictionaries/Reference5 min read
Cover of Chambers's Journal of Popular Literature, Science, and Art, Fifth Series, No. 49, Vol. I, December 6, 1884

Chambers's Journal of Popular Literature, Science, and Art, Fifth Series, No. 49, Vol. I, December 6, 1884

Various

This vintage issue of a long-running Victorian periodical serves as a cultural time capsule, blending sober social instruction with the escapist pleasures of serialized fiction. It offers a window into the Victorian preoccupation with domestic stability, proper conduct, and the underlying anxieties of a rapidly…

Journalism/Media/Writing6 min read
Cover of Chambers's Journal of Popular Literature, Science, and Art, fifth series, no. 137, vol. III, August 14, 1886

Chambers's Journal of Popular Literature, Science, and Art, fifth series, no. 137, vol. III, August 14, 1886

Various

This periodical collection acts as a Victorian-era mirror, reflecting the era’s fascination with global exploration, natural history, and the precariousness of life. It serves as a sprawling chronicle of a society navigating both modern progress and ancient dangers.

Journals6 min read
Cover of Christopher Columbus and the New World of His Discovery

Christopher Columbus and the New World of His Discovery

Filson Young

A navigator finds himself adrift in a sea of his own making, balancing the discovery of a new world against the crumbling authority of his colonial rule.

History - American6 min read
Cover of Come Into My Brain!

Come Into My Brain!

Robert Silverberg

A human volunteer ventures into the psychic landscape of a captured enemy to extract military secrets, only to discover that the battlefield of the mind is as treacherous and mutable as the physical war.

Science-Fiction & Fantasy6 min read
Cover of Comrades of the Saddle

Comrades of the Saddle

Frank V. Webster

The open range offers more than just adventure for two brothers from Ohio, as they trade their baseball bats for lassos and find themselves caught in a dangerous cattle war.

Adventure6 min read
Cover of Contraband

Contraband

G. J. (George John) Whyte-Melville

A dashing baronet maneuvers through the high-stakes world of Victorian society, where the pursuit of pleasure often masks a desperate struggle to outrun mounting debts and emotional entanglement.

British Literature6 min read
Cover of Diary of Samuel Pepys

Diary of Samuel Pepys

Samuel Pepys

A vivid, unvarnished portrait of seventeenth-century London emerges from the private records of a man obsessed with his own career, his household’s minutiae, and the unfolding drama of the Restoration court.

Biographies6 min read
Cover of Down Town Brooklyn: A Report to the Comptroller of the City of New York on Sites for Public Buildings and the Relocation of the Elevated Railroad Tracks now in Lower Fulton Street, Borough of Brooklyn

Down Town Brooklyn: A Report to the Comptroller of the City of New York on Sites for Public Buildings and the Relocation of the Elevated Railroad Tracks now in Lower Fulton Street, Borough of Brooklyn

N.Y.). Committee of Ten Brooklyn (New York

This report outlines an ambitious architectural and transit vision to revitalize Brooklyn’s civic heart, proposing a unified plan for public buildings and the relocation of intrusive elevated train tracks. It serves as a blueprint for transforming the borough’s chaotic downtown into a dignified center of government…

Architecture6 min read
Cover of Dual Control: Ship's Company, Part 8

Dual Control: Ship's Company, Part 8

W. W. (William Wymark) Jacobs

A timid young man finds himself caught in a domestic conspiracy, forced to act the part of a boisterous drunk to help a girl escape her uncle’s rigid control. This story explores the absurdity of social pretenses and the unexpected ways power shifts within a household.

British Literature6 min read
Cover of First Man

First Man

Clyde Brown

The moon is not a place for heroes, but for neighbors who accidentally stumble into the heavens while arguing over a borrowed trouble lamp. This is a story of two ordinary men, an impossible voyage, and the quiet absurdity of returning to a life that never noticed they were gone.

Humour5 min read