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5,112 public-domain books, summarised. Page 96 of 107.
Twentieth Century Standard Puzzle Book: Three Parts in One Volume
Unknown
A collection of brain-teasers that invites you to sharpen your wits against the enduring, playful riddles of a bygone era.
First and Last Things: A Confession of Faith and Rule of Life
H. G. (Herbert George) Wells
A restless, searching mind attempts to map the chaos of existence into a coherent philosophy, asserting that even in an uncertain universe, our individual lives matter profoundly.
Paul Jones
Hutchins Hapgood
A bold and ambitious sailor, Paul Jones leaves a lasting legacy as a naval hero and adventurer.
The Atlantic Monthly, Volume 20, No. 121, November, 1867: A Magazine of Literature, Science, Art, and Politics
Various
A rich tapestry of 19th-century American life unfolds through essays, stories, poetry, and reflections, capturing the era’s social, political, and cultural currents with a blend of earnestness and literary craft.
The House of Atreus
Aeschylus
The House of Atreus is the only complete tragic trilogy to survive from ancient Greece, charting a terrifying cycle of generational blood-guilt that finally resolves into the birth of justice. It remains the foundational blueprint for Western dramatic storytelling.
The Criminal Prosecution and Capital Punishment of Animals
E. P. (Edward Payson) Evans
In the Middle Ages, the law did not stop at the human boundary. Animals—from swarming insects to homicidal pigs—were frequently hailed into court, granted legal counsel, and held fully accountable for their transgressions.
The Foundation of the Ottoman Empire
Herbert Adams Gibbons
The rise of the Osmanli power represents not merely the growth of a dynasty, but a fundamental, often misunderstood transformation of the medieval world through the convergence of Christian and Islamic societies.
The Invention of the Sewing Machine
Grace Rogers Cooper
The persistent ambition to automate the needle’s path transformed a humble domestic chore into a cornerstone of the industrial age. This technical history traces the mechanical evolution of the sewing machine from early, failed experiments to the widespread commercial success that fundamentally altered global…
The Mirror of the Sea
Joseph Conrad
A sailor’s life is a rhythmic cycle of departure and return, a craft defined by the silent, shifting mirror of the sea. These meditations explore the intimacy between men and ships, where the ocean acts as both a brutal adversary and a profound teacher.
A Guide to Stoicism
St. George William Joseph Stock
The Stoic path is a rigorous pursuit of reason, transforming the individual from a slave of fortune into a master of their own internal life.
A Sportsman's Sketches, Volume 2: Works of Ivan Turgenev, Volume 2
Ivan Sergeevich Turgenev
These sketches offer a quiet, lingering portrait of rural Russia, capturing the dignity and the decay of a world fading into history. They are not grand epics, but a collection of moments—a hunter’s observations of the countryside, the lives of peasants, and the fraying edges of the provincial gentry.
Of the Just Shaping of Letters
Albrecht Dürer
This manual serves as a rigorous architectural blueprint for the alphabet, transforming the act of writing from a casual habit into a precise exercise in geometry and optical balance. It remains an essential meditation on how technical discipline anchors artistic beauty.
Oliver Twist, Vol. 1 (of 3)
Charles Dickens
Born into a world that greets him with neglect, a young orphan navigates the brutal machinery of Victorian poverty. His journey leads from the cold indifference of the parish workhouse into the dark heart of London’s criminal underworld.
The Sayings of Confucius
Confucius
The path to wisdom lies not in distant, esoteric mysteries, but in the quiet cultivation of one’s own conduct and the sincerity of daily interactions. A gentleman is defined by what he does when no one is watching, and by his steadfast devotion to the integrity of his relationships.
Rosin the Beau
Laura Elizabeth Howe Richards
A lifetime of quiet devotion, told by a wandering fiddler to the young girl who has become his final, cherished companion. This memoir traces a heart’s journey from a humble Maine village to the ancestral towers of France and back again, finding that true nobility lies in character rather than station.
This Crowded Earth
Robert Bloch
This is a stark, cautionary vision of a world stifled by its own numbers, where the desperate search for order leads to the systematic manipulation of the human race.
The Idle Thoughts of an Idle Fellow
Jerome K. (Jerome Klapka) Jerome
This collection of contemplative essays offers a wry, companionable look at the trivial frustrations and profound questions that occupy a restless mind. It serves as a gentle reminder that the most ordinary human experiences are universal.
The Works of the Right Honourable Edmund Burke, Vol. 04 (of 12)
Edmund Burke
The structures of civil society are fragile, easily dismantled by ideological zeal, yet essential for the preservation of human liberty and order. This collection presents a rigorous defense of traditional governance against the chaos of revolutionary upheaval.
Child-life in Art
Estelle M. (Estelle May) Hurll
Children are timeless subjects for the artist, serving as vessels for innocence, divine grace, and the unfolding mysteries of human nature across centuries of creative expression.
Poems by Adam Lindsay Gordon
Adam Lindsay Gordon
In the rugged, sun-drenched landscapes of 19th-century Australia, a restless spirit finds rhythm in the gallop of a horse and the mournful cadence of a life lived against the grain.
Renaissance in Italy, Volume 1 (of 7): The Age of the Despots
John Addington Symonds
The Italian Renaissance was not a gentle awakening, but a chaotic, bloody, and brilliant crucible where the modern world was forged in the fires of despotic ambition and religious fervor.
The Crescent Moon
Rabindranath Tagore
A collection of luminous, rhythmic meditations, this work captures the fleeting wisdom of childhood and the profound, transformative love between a mother and her child.
Cottage Building in Cob, Pisé, Chalk and Clay: A Renaissance (2nd edition)
Clough Williams-Ellis
A call to action for the owner-builder, this technical manual revives the ancient art of constructing durable homes from the very earth beneath one's feet.
Kronstadt
Max Pemberton
HOOK A young woman is caught in a web of espionage within the formidable fortress of Kronstadt, where a Russian captain must choose between his military duty and his love for the accused spy.
Our Vanishing Wild Life: Its Extermination and Preservation
William T. (William Temple) Hornaday
The clock is ticking on the survival of North America’s wild heritage, and only a radical, immediate, and unified legislative response can prevent the total extinction of the continent’s most iconic species.
The Mouse Miller and other stories
Cooke Don-Carlos
This collection of fairy tales explores the thin veil between mundane hardship and magical transformation. Through humble heroes and dark enchantment, it celebrates the enduring power of kindness, perseverance, and the simple, quiet wisdom of the heart.
Educating by story-telling
Katherine Dunlap Cather
A masterclass in the art of narrative pedagogy, this work provides a comprehensive framework for using storytelling to cultivate a child’s imagination, character, and intellect through every stage of development.
The Campaign of Trenton 1776-77
Samuel Adams Drake
A harrowing account of the Continental Army’s darkest hour, where a desperate commander-in-chief transforms a retreating, fractured remnant of men into a force capable of turning the tide of the American Revolution.
The People of the Abyss
Jack London
The misery of the London poor is not a failure of nature, but a crime of society. A firsthand account of life among the city’s most desperate, this work exposes the structural rot beneath the imperial capital.
The Sea: Its Stirring Story of Adventure, Peril, & Heroism. Volume 4
Frederick Whymper
The vast, untamed ocean serves as both a highway for human ambition and a realm of profound, alien mystery. This chronicle captures the grandeur and the peril of those who venture upon the deep.
The Diary of John Evelyn (Volume 1 of 2)
John Evelyn
A scholar’s lifelong observation of seventeenth-century turmoil, this chronicle captures the shifting landscape of England through the eyes of a man caught between his love for tradition and the necessity of survival.
Printers' Marks: A Chapter in the History of Typography
W. (William) Roberts
Early printers rarely signed their work, leaving their identity to be traced through the intricate, symbolic woodcuts they stamped onto their title pages. This volume serves as an essential guide for navigating those forgotten visual signatures.
The Correspondence of Thomas Carlyle and Ralph Waldo Emerson, 1834-1872, Vol. I
Thomas Carlyle
Across the expanse of the Atlantic, two of the nineteenth century’s most profound thinkers sustain a lifelong intellectual intimacy through the patient, deliberate medium of the written letter.
The Glories of Ireland
Unknown
This compendium serves as a comprehensive, academic inventory of Irish contributions to global civilization, tracing the nation’s profound influence on religion, literature, art, and military history across two millennia.
The Sense of Beauty: Being the Outlines of Aesthetic Theory
George Santayana
Beauty is not a mystical quality inherent in the world, but rather pleasure objectified. It is the silent, internal spark that turns a mundane sensation into a cherished experience.
The Tempest
William Shakespeare
An exiled magician orchestrates a shipwreck to restore his usurped dukedom and secure a future for his daughter. Through storms and illusions, old grievances meet the possibility of reconciliation on a desolate, enchanted island.
Miscellaneous Writings, 1883-1896
Mary Baker Eddy
An urgent call to spiritual awakening, this collection records the formative years of a religious movement, emphasizing the triumph of divine Mind over the limitations of material existence.
The Atlantic Monthly, Volume 15, No. 87, January, 1865: A Magazine of Literature, Art, and Politics
Various
This collection captures the intellectual pulse of the United States in January 1865, offering a vibrant mosaic of wartime commentary, travelogues, and literary analysis. It serves as a vital bridge between the turbulence of the Civil War and the burgeoning national identity of the post-conflict era.
The First Printed Translations into English of the Great Foreign Classics: A Supplement to Text-Books of English Literature
William James Harris
Tracing the genealogy of English literature reveals a bridge between disparate cultures and languages, built by the patient work of early translators. This bibliography serves as a map to that intellectual landscape, cataloging the first English arrivals of foreign classics.
Toaster's Handbook: Jokes, Stories, and Quotations
Unknown
This curated collection offers a rescue for anyone dreading the podium. It provides a lighthearted, practical repository of jokes and quotations designed to transform an awkward public speaking moment into a polished, memorable performance.
Commentary on Genesis, Vol. 1: Luther on the Creation
Martin Luther
The foundations of the world and the origins of human struggle are examined through a lens of unyielding faith and rigorous scrutiny. This commentary serves as a profound, often combative, exploration of the early chapters of Genesis, offering a window into the mind of a pivotal historical figure as he grapples…
Diego Collado's Grammar of the Japanese Language
Diego Collado
Language reveals the soul of a culture, even when filtered through the rigid, Latinate structures of a seventeenth-century missionary. This meticulous guide serves as both a historical relic and a testament to the complex challenge of translation.
The Chronicle of Jocelin of Brakelond: A Picture of Monastic Life in the Days of Abbot Samson
Jocelin, de Brakelond, active 1173-1215
A vivid, granular account of twelfth-century monastic life, this record captures the inner workings of a powerful English abbey under the exacting rule of a transformative leader.
The Luck of Roaring Camp and Other Tales: With Condensed Novels, Spanish and American Legends, and Earlier Papers
Bret Harte
The wild, lawless atmosphere of the early California gold camps serves as the backdrop for these stories of unlikely redemption and biting, satirical humor. Through a blend of rough-hewn sentimentality and sharp-edged parody, this collection captures the fleeting, often harsh reality of frontier life.
The New York and Albany Post Road: From Kings Bridge to "The Ferry at Crawlier, over against Albany," Being an Account of a Jaunt on Foot Made at Sundry Convenient Times between May and November, Nineteen Hundred and Five
C. G. (Charles Gilbert) Hine
The Old Post Road is a storied spine of American history, and this account follows the winding, scenic path from Manhattan’s northern edge all the way to the capital.
American Adventures: A Second Trip 'Abroad at home'
Julian Street
The South serves as the stage for a sprawling, inquisitive travelogue that bridges the gap between the end of the nineteenth century and the modernizing impulses of the twentieth. Through a series of vignettes, the narrative explores the tension between a romanticized, aristocratic past and the creeping, inevitable…
Six Centuries of Painting
Randall Davies
This survey traces the evolution of European painting from the medieval transition to the rise of the Pre-Raphaelites. It examines how artists moved from rigid iconography toward the expressive realism that defines the Western canon.
The Frogs
Aristophanes
An odyssey of wit and desperation, this comedy follows a god’s perilous descent into the afterlife to retrieve a savior for his dying city. It remains a singular blend of slapstick absurdity and biting literary critique.