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Classics of Literature — page 8
448 public-domain classics of literature books, summarised. Page 8 of 10.
Graham's Magazine, Vol. XXXIV, No. 4, April 1849
Various
To enter this issue is to step into a vibrant mid-nineteenth-century literary parlor where high romanticism, popular drama, moral reflection, and cultural criticism meet.
Sappho: A New Rendering
Sappho
The voice of an ancient world, preserved in shards of light, reaches across the centuries to speak of desire, beauty, and the ache of the human heart. These fragments offer a window into an era that survives only as a haunting, elegant echo.
Don Quixote of the Mancha, Retold by Judge Parry
Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra
A delusional country gentleman, driven mad by tales of knighthood, sets off across 16th-century Spain on a frail horse to right the world's wrongs.
The sacred tree
Murasaki Shikibu
A single indiscretion destroys a fragile peace, sending a golden prince into coastal exile and forcing a court to confront the quiet weight of time, longing, and political ruin.
The History of Don Quixote, Volume 1, Part 06
Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra
The dream of chivalry collides with the hard, indifferent stone of reality in this portrait of a man who mistakes a squalid inn for a castle and its inhabitants for the figures of his noble fantasies.
![Cover of Two Dyaloges (c. 1549): Wrytten in laten by the famous clerke, D. Erasm[us] of Roterodame, one called Polyphemus or the gospeller, the other dysposyng of thynges and names, translated in to Englyshe by Edmonde Becke](https://cdn.myebooksbuy.com/c/two-dyaloges-c-1549-wrytten-in-laten-by-the-famous-clerke-d-erasm-us-of.webp)
Two Dyaloges (c. 1549): Wrytten in laten by the famous clerke, D. Erasm[us] of Roterodame, one called Polyphemus or the gospeller, the other dysposyng of thynges and names, translated in to Englyshe by Edmonde Becke
Desiderius Erasmus
These two sharp-edged dialogues strip away the pretenses of sixteenth-century life, exposing how easily people trade the substance of integrity for the mere appearance of holiness and status.
Greek tragedy
Gilbert Norwood
The ancient stage pulses with religious ritual, technical innovation, and the raw, enduring power of human suffering. This scholarly examination uncovers the structural brilliance and dramatic heart of the works that defined the tragic form.
The collected works of Henrik Ibsen, Vol. 01 (of 11)
Henrik Ibsen
These plays offer a rigorous, unsparing look at the friction between individual passion and the suffocating weight of social obligation. They capture the early development of a playwright who would eventually reshape the landscape of modern drama.
The Satyricon
Petronius Arbiter
The fraying edges of high-stakes decadence and the absurd vanity of the Roman underworld collide in a frantic, unvarnished pursuit of pleasure and survival.
The collected works of Henrik Ibsen, Vol. 06 (of 11)
Henrik Ibsen
Small-town ambition clashes with moral compromise when public posturing hides private rot, forcing two men to choose between reputation and truth.
The History of Don Quixote, Volume 1, Part 04
Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra
A middle-aged Spanish country gentleman loses his wits to romances of chivalry, equips himself with rusted armor, and rides out onto the open plains to right the world's wrongs.
Hunger
Knut Hamsun
A young writer wanders the streets of late nineteenth-century Christiania, caught between the fever of literary creation and the slow agony of real starvation.
La Fiammetta
Giovanni Boccaccio
A privileged woman surrenders to an intoxicating extramarital affair, only to be cast into a long, agonizing descent when her lover departs and leaves her to grieve in secret.
Atalanta in Calydon
Algernon Charles Swinburne
Bound by ancestral duty and the inescapable wrath of the gods, a royal family fractures as a mother’s devotion turns into a fatal curse.
The History of Don Quixote, Volume 2, Part 33
Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra
A peasant takes the reins of a mock government, discovering that the weight of true authority is not found in titles, but in the grueling, hungry reality of duty.
The Satyricon of Petronius Arbiter
Petronius Arbiter
A sprawling, fragmented journey through the debauchery and artifice of Imperial Rome, this narrative captures the hollow opulence of a society fueled by vanity, excess, and the relentless pursuit of self-interest.
Essays of Michel de Montaigne
Michel de Montaigne
The human mind is a house of mirrors, and these observations serve as the lantern we carry into its dark corners to see what we truly believe. By questioning everything from the power of habit to the folly of formal schooling, these reflections invite a life of examined judgment rather than inherited prejudice.
Trilbyana: The Rise and Progress of a Popular Novel
Joseph Benson Gilder
A massive cultural phenomenon turns out to be a story about memory, art, and the overwhelming force of a hypnotic voice.
Essays of Michel de Montaigne
Michel de Montaigne
A quiet revolution in human thought unfolds through self-examination, discarding rigid dogma to discover how a mind actually moves, learns, and lives with its own limitations.
The Divine Comedy by Dante, Illustrated, Hell, Volume 08
Dante Alighieri
A living traveler descends into the deeper, darker abysses of the dead, guided by a classical master through horrors where physical torment matches earthly corruption.
Twenty-Two Goblins
Arthur W. (Arthur William) Ryder
A nocturnal king, a hanging corpse, and twenty-two unanswerable riddles where a single mistake guarantees a shattered skull.
The Satyricon
Petronius Arbiter
Trapped aboard a Tarentine galley by their own past misdeeds, a band of clever rogues must shave their heads and fake branding marks to evade their vengeful pursuers, only to find that even a violent sea storm cannot quiet their endless bickering or halt their spontaneous poetry recitations.
The Fourth Book of Virgil's Aeneid and the Ninth Book of Voltaire's Henriad
Virgil
A comparative journey through two epic traditions, placing the tragic abandonment of Dido by Aeneas alongside the romantic entanglements of Henry IV and Gabrielle d’Estrées.
The History of Don Quixote, Volume 2, Part 35
Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra
This volume follows the iconic knight and his squire as they leave the comfort of a ducal palace, only to find that their reputation—and a fraudulent sequel—has arrived at their destination before them. It is a profound meditation on identity, authorship, and the burden of fame.
The Life and Adventures of Guzman D'Alfarache, or the Spanish Rogue, vol. 1/3
Mateo Alemán
A young man of questionable parentage traverses the landscape of Spain, turning to a life of deception and petty crime as he navigates a world that rewards cunning over virtue.
Index of the Project Gutenberg Works of Rabelais
François Rabelais
A master key to the wild, expansive universe of Renaissance satire, this compilation charts the entire comic architecture of a giant's lineage, a nation's absurdities, and a legendary sea voyage toward truth.
The History of Don Quixote, Volume 2, Part 32
Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra
A delusion-blinded knight endures nighttime tricks in a ducal castle while his illiterate squire administers island justice, exposing the comedy and sorrow of human self-deception.
The History of Don Quixote, Volume 2, Part 27
Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra
Delusion and harsh reality collide on the dusty roads of Spain when a high-minded knight-errant and his earthy squire attempt to right the world's wrongs.
Tragedies of sex
Frank Wedekind
A youth’s raw, suppressed vitality clashes with a cold, unyielding society, unleashing a chain reaction of tragedy and ruin.
The Visions of Quevedo
Francisco de Quevedo
A satirical journey through hell, exposing the vices and follies of humanity with wit and moral insight.
Two Dramatizations from Vergil: I. Dido—the Phœnecian Queen
Virgil
Fate, divine intervention, and human vulnerability clash when exiled leaders strive to build new homes from the ashes of war.
The Mentor: Walter Scott, Vol. 4, Num. 15, Serial No. 115, September 15, 1916
Hamilton Wright Mabie
The Wizard of the North stands as a towering figure whose literary genius and personal integrity defined the romantic spirit of an age. His life and works remain a testament to the enduring power of storytelling.
The Visions of the Sleeping Bard
Ellis Wynne
A slumbering poet is swept into a series of supernatural revelations, where he traverses the vanity of the world, the finality of death, and the grotesque machinery of the infernal abyss.
The Divine Comedy by Dante, Illustrated, Hell, Volume 09
Dante Alighieri
A journey through the deepest circles of the afterlife reveals the horrific physical and moral consequences of human betrayal, guided by a poet’s unyielding pursuit of divine justice.
A Translation of Octavia, a Latin Tragedy, with Notes and Introduction
Elizabeth Twining Hall
This classical drama offers a stark, haunting look at the final days of a Roman empress, exploring the intersection of unchecked imperial power and the quiet, inevitable machinery of tragic fate.
The History of Don Quixote, Volume 1, Part 02
Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra
A delusional country gentleman takes up a lance, mounts a worn-out hack, and sets out across the Spanish countryside to right the world's wrongs.
The Divine Comedy by Dante, Illustrated, Hell, Volume 05
Dante Alighieri
A trembling pilgrim descends into the burning city of Dis, guided by a poet through circles where heretics burn in open tombs and tyrants boil in rivers of blood.
Essays of Michel de Montaigne
Michel de Montaigne
A man who admits he is made of "patch and motley" invites you to sit in his library and examine the human condition, not through grand theories, but through the honest, messy reality of his own soul.
The Orations of Lysias
Lysias
These speeches serve as a masterclass in Athenian litigation, capturing the sharp-tongued, high-stakes rhetoric of a society obsessed with justice, reputation, and the survival of democracy. They offer a window into the raw, often brutal, mechanics of ancient legal combat.
The Divine Comedy by Dante, Illustrated, Purgatory, Volume 3
Dante Alighieri
A traveler journeys through the mountain of repentance, seeking to wash away the stains of his humanity and ascend toward the stars. This epic poem maps the difficult, necessary labor of the soul as it sheds earthly pride for divine light.
The Roman Poets of the Republic, 3rd edition
W. Y. (William Young) Sellar
The Roman Republic’s greatest poets, from the rugged early dramatists to the refined voices of its final years, emerge here as architects of a national spirit defined by gravity, moral authority, and an unyielding sense of majesty.
The History of Don Quixote, Volume 2, Part 30
Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra
In this late stage of the knight-errant’s journey, a noble mind loses its footing in reality, leading a faithful squire into a labyrinth of elaborate, performative deceits.
Translations from Lucretius
Titus Lucretius Carus
To confront the universe with a steady gaze, stripping away the terrors of superstition and the fear of death: this is the singular, bracing ambition of an ancient Roman masterpiece.
Andreas: The Legend of St. Andrew
Robert K. (Robert Kilburn) Root
This translation of a foundational Old English epic breathes new life into the dramatic journey of an apostle facing down impossible odds. It serves as a bridge for the modern reader to experience the rugged, mythic cadence of early literature.
The Fall of the Nibelungs
Margaret Armour
This epic of the medieval German tradition chronicles the rise of the legendary hero Siegfried, his tragic betrayal, and the catastrophic, blood-soaked vengeance that ultimately obliterates an entire royal house. It is a foundational work of Western literature, enduring through centuries for its unflinching…
The History of Don Quixote, Volume 2, Part 38
Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra
A knight-errant of legendary devotion finds his reality tested by those who treat his madness as a public curiosity. He wanders through an urban landscape where his own fame—and his own story—begin to outpace him.
The Shopkeeper Turned Gentleman
Molière
A foolish man spends his fortune attempting to buy the refinement of the nobility, only to find himself the target of an elaborate and hilarious ruse.
The History of Don Quixote, Volume 1, Part 08
Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra
This chronicle of a deluded knight-errant and his pragmatic squire explores the thin, shifting line between madness and idealism. It captures the comic and melancholy friction of two vastly different worldviews colliding in the wilderness.