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Essays, Letters & Speeches — page 25
1,906 public-domain essays, letters & speeches books, summarised. Page 25 of 40.
State of the Union Addresses
William McKinley
These annual reports document a pivotal transformation in American life, tracing the nation’s rapid transition from an inward-looking republic to a global power at the dawn of the twentieth century.
The Atlantic Monthly, Volume 12, No. 70, August, 1863: A Magazine of Literature, Art, and Politics
Various
This volume captures the intellectual and political pulse of 1863, blending immediate commentary on the American Civil War with literary essays, travel sketches, and historical inquiries. It serves as a vivid time capsule of mid-nineteenth-century thought.
Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine, Volume 69, No. 425, March, 1851
Various
A mid-nineteenth-century British periodical captures a nation torn between technological pride and human misery, wrestling with economic collapse, moral responsibility, and the turbulent evolution of its culture.
Representation of the Impiety and Immorality of the English Stage (1704)
Unknown
This polemic captures the fierce seventeenth-century cultural war against the London theater, arguing that the stage served as a primary source of national moral corruption. It remains a fascinating relic of early moral activism.
Revisiting the Earth
James Langdon Hill
A tender look backward, this reflection on small-town American life honors the places that shape us and the silent passage of time.
Small Talk at Wreyland. First Series
Cecil Torr
An old man picks up a pencil to rescue local memory from oblivion, only to find himself tracing the quiet, interconnected currents of a changing English landscape.
The Scientific Spirit of the Age, and Other Pleas and Discussions
Frances Power Cobbe
A passionate, lucid defense of human emotion, moral duty, and spiritual reverence against the cold encroachments of unbridled Victorian materialism.
Letters of the Motor Girl
Ethellyn Gardner
Fourteen-year-old Elsie drives her beloved Franklin car through a whirlwind of early-twentieth-century road trips, outlandish family inventions, high-flying airship voyages, and comedic domestic misadventures.
State of the Union Addresses
James Buchanan
A leader presides over a nation rich in harvest and material wealth while watching its political fabric disintegrate beneath his feet.
Under the Trees and Elsewhere
Hamilton Wright Mabie
When a tired worker leaves a cluttered study, stepping into the outdoors reclaims a life lost to routine.
Graham's Magazine, Vol. XXXIV, No. 2, February 1849
Various
A mid-nineteenth-century literary mosaic captures the restless imagination, moral anxieties, and romantic longings of a rapidly changing American culture.
Idle Hours in a Library
William Henry Hudson
A literary scholar invites readers on four distinct excursions into the past, wandering through London’s vibrant streets, private diaries, early romantic fiction, and the fragile, impoverished attics of Parisian artists.
The historical novel
Herbert Butterfield
Fiction acts as a magnifying glass for time, rescuing human life from cold analytical charts and turning dead historical facts into vivid personal drama.
The Southern Literary Messenger, Vol. I., No. 3, November, 1834
Various
A vibrant mosaic of nineteenth-century American thought, this periodical captures a young nation wrestling with its literary identity, historical inheritance, and cultural ambitions.
Worrying Won't Win
Montague Glass
Taking down a nation's troubles over a cup of coffee and a newspaper, two garment traders offer a counterweight to wartime hysteria through common sense and sardonic wit.
Dialogue
Anthony Hope
Dialogue is a sophisticated inquiry into the mechanics of fictional speech, exploring how writers use talk to define character, advance plot, and resolve the paradox of authorship. It serves as a masterclass in literary craft.
Inaugural Presidential Address
Barack Obama
Delivered during a moment of profound national economic crisis and ongoing foreign wars, this speech offers a steady, disciplined reinterpretation of American purpose.
The Universal Reciter: 81 Choice Pieces of Rare Poetical Gems
Various
Whether facing down a battle, a burning volcano, or a stubborn plate of French food, these eighty-one dramatic recitations capture nineteenth-century public performance in all its high-flown, tragic, and absurd glory.
Books and Culture
Hamilton Wright Mabie
Great books do not demand endless leisure; they require only the deliberate, daily gathering of idle minutes.
Indian speeches (1907-1909)
John Morley
Preserving imperial control while expanding native representation creates a precarious balance between maintaining order and conceding power.
Ioläus: An Anthology of Friendship
Unknown
This collection gathers historical, poetic, and philosophical meditations to illuminate the profound, often romantic, role that deep friendship between men has played across diverse cultures and centuries. It serves as a scholarly but deeply felt archival project, intended to recover a lost or overlooked dimension…
Letters from Palestine: Written during a residence there in the years 1836, 7 and 8
J. D. (John D.) Paxton
An American traveler navigates the mountains, sacred sites, and ancient towns of the Ottoman Levant, recording the landscape with an eye split between biblical memory and practical observation.
Notes and Queries, Number 178, March 26, 1853: A Medium of Inter-communication for Literary Men, Artists, Antiquaries, Genealogists, etc
Various
A period periodical gathers scholars, antiquaries, and curious readers to unravel historical mysteries, etymological puzzles, and emerging Victorian technology.
The Atlantic Monthly, Volume 13, No. 77, March, 1864: A Magazine of Literature, Art, and Politics
Various
In the midst of the American Civil War, the March 1864 issue of the Atlantic Monthly gathers historical oddities, romantic fiction, philosophical musings, and urgent military analysis into a vivid portrait of a nation in crisis.
The Dance of Death
William (Author of The dance of death) Herman
A relentless moral crusade against the modern waltz, this scathing tract exposes the sensual perils hidden beneath the glittering surface of nineteenth-century high society.
The Feast of St. Friend
Arnold Bennett
Modern Christmas often feels like an exhausted obligation, but stripping away its ancient dogmas reveals a vital human necessity. By grounding the season in astronomical reality and active goodwill, we can reclaim its power to transform our daily relationships.
Consolations in Travel
Davy, Humphry, Sir
A dying philosopher travels through Italy and the Alps, using dialogue and vision to reconcile scientific truth with spiritual immortality.
Education and living
Randolph Silliman Bourne
The school stands as the most vital laboratory for human nature, where the rigid walls of traditional instruction must yield to a vibrant, living child-community. True learning is identical to the act of living itself.
Is the Vicar of Brompton a Tractarian? A Question for the Parishioners
Arthur Ellis
A quiet alarm rings through the pews of a mid-Victorian parish, where a concerned congregant questions whether his clergyman’s outward denials of sectarian loyalty mask a secret, dangerous devotion to the Oxford Movement.
Practical recitations
Caroline B. (Caroline Bigelow) Le Row
A compilation of literary selections designed to refine the voice and sharpen the mind, this guide serves as a practical toolkit for the student of elocution and the teacher of public speaking.
The Mirror of Literature, Amusement, and Instruction. Volume 20, No. 580, Supplemental Number
Various
This collection captures the Victorian appetite for miscellany, blending high-minded historical inquiry with the popular sentimental fiction and lighthearted social satire that defined the era’s literary landscape.
The Unpopular Review, Vol. 2, No. 4, October-December 1914, including Vol. 2 Index
Various
This collection of essays offers a bracing, contrarian look at the political, social, and economic anxieties of late 1914. It serves as a time capsule of intellectual debate at the dawn of the First World War.
Tirant lo Blanch
Joseph Anthony Vaeth
This sprawling fifteenth-century Catalan romance captures the transition between the idealized world of medieval chivalry and the gritty, realistic sensibilities of a changing Europe. It remains a foundational work of literature, famously cited by Cervantes as one of the few books worthy of being saved from the…
A Word to Women
Mrs. Humphry
The domestic sphere is an intricate tapestry of duty, etiquette, and quiet endurance. This guide offers a Victorian woman’s philosophy on maintaining harmony and grace within the home during a rapidly changing era.
Letters on the Cholera Morbus.: Containing ample evidence that this disease, under whatever
J. (James) Gillkrest
HOOK This polemic exposes the futility of quarantine during the 1831 cholera outbreaks, arguing that the disease is an environmental, atmospheric phenomenon rather than a personal contagion.
The Mirror of Literature, Amusement, and Instruction. Volume 13, No. 374, June 6, 1829
Various
This collection offers an eclectic glimpse into the cultural preoccupations, historical curiosities, and literary tastes of early nineteenth-century England. It serves as a fascinating, fragmented mirror of an era’s intellectual life.
The Religion of Numa: And Other Essays on the Religion of Ancient Rome
Jesse Benedict Carter
Ancient Rome’s religious evolution moves from the intimate, hearth-side worship of a tiny pastoral community to the grand, state-sponsored imperial cults of the Augustan era.
The Unknown Guest
Maurice Maeterlinck
The unseen forces of the human subconscious, once relegated to the realm of spirits and ghosts, are here brought into the light of rigorous, if speculative, inquiry. The investigation challenges the boundaries between the known world and the mysterious.
There's Pippins and Cheese to Come
Charles S. (Charles Stephen) Brooks
The quiet joys of a solitary mind are never better savored than when shared by a companion who understands the weight of a well-loved book or the simple magic of a glowing hearth.
Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine, Volume 61, No. 377, March 1847
Various
This volume gathers the intellectual currents of a Victorian era, offering a multifaceted window into mid-nineteenth-century concerns through essays, travelogues, and historical reflection. It serves as a vital record of contemporary thought, ranging from the urgent social crises of urban poverty to the exotic…
Finger Posts on the Way of Life
T. S. (Timothy Shay) Arthur
Navigating the complexities of life requires a moral compass, and this collection of stories serves as a series of signposts for those seeking to walk the path of virtue through the ordinary trials of existence.
Problems of Expansion: As Considered in Papers and Addresses
Whitelaw Reid
The United States stands at a pivotal crossroads, grappling with the newfound responsibility of governing distant island territories in the wake of a war that permanently altered its global role.
The Spirit of Place, and Other Essays
Alice Meynell
The world is not merely a collection of objects, but a vibrant, ringing chorus of signals—bells, shadows, and horizons—that wait only for the stillness of a receptive mind to be heard.
Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine, Volume 60, No. 370, August 1846
Various
This collection of essays, reviews, and narratives serves as a window into the intellectual and cultural preoccupations of mid-Victorian Britain, blending serious political critique with lighthearted social observation and literary analysis.
Gifts of fortune, and hints for those about to travel
H. M. (Henry Major) Tomlinson
The world is far larger and more indifferent than our maps suggest, and its true beauty is found only when we stop looking for what we were promised.
True Tales of the Weird: a record of personal experiences of the supernatural
Sidney Dickinson
A man attempts to reconcile his rational, professional life with a series of unexplained, haunting encounters. These testimonies bridge the gap between skepticism and the possibility of a world beyond the physical.
Discourses of Keidansky
Bernard G. Richards
To navigate the world with a sharp, irreverent, and deeply questioning mind is often a lonely business, yet it remains the only honest way to live. Through the eyes of a self-appointed social critic, existence becomes a series of paradoxes to be dismantled, poked, and held up to the light of truth.
Ethics in Service
William H. (William Howard) Taft
The professional life is a crucible of moral choices, and those who wield authority must balance the necessity of principled leadership with the practical demands of a complex, modern society.