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Essays, Letters & Speeches — page 3
110 public-domain essays, letters & speeches books, summarised. Page 3 of 3.

The Arena, Volume 4, No. 22, September, 1891
Various
Bold debates on religious heresy, women's dress reform, and corporate wealth collide with quiet scenes of Midwestern small-town life in a vivid snapshot of late-nineteenth-century American reform culture.

Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine, Volume 57, No. 356, June, 1845
Various
An intimate, sweeping panorama of nineteenth-century European culture, this volume captures a restless era wrestling with literature, art, history, and the turbulent depths of the human mind.

The Essays of Arthur Schopenhauer
Arthur Schopenhauer
A dark, unyielding mirror is held up to human nature, stripping away societal pretenses to reveal the raw, instinctual urges that quietly drive our civilization.

By the Christmas Fire
Samuel McChord Crothers
A warm hearth fire provides the ideal setting to rethink human progress, challenge rigid idealism, and reclaim the joyful flexibility of childhood imagination.

The Atlantic Monthly, Volume 18, No. 107, September, 1866: A Magazine of Literature, Science, Art, and Politics
Various
In the wake of the American Civil War, a premier nineteenth-century periodical gathers fiction, political debate, natural philosophy, and poetic reflection to probe a rebuilding nation's soul.

The World's Best Poetry, Volume 10: Poetical Quotations
Unknown
Navigating the vast expanse of poetic history requires a map, and this volume offers a structured compass built from the memorable fragments of the Western literary canon.

Three Things
Elinor Glyn
Unrelenting personal responsibility and clear-eyed common sense are the only reliable foundations for lasting peace, personal growth, and domestic happiness.

The Perfect Gentleman
Ralph Bergengren
A gentle, wry look at the daily anxieties and small absurdities that make up a man's social existence.

The Continental Monthly , Vol. 2 No. 5, November 1862: Devoted to Literature and National Policy
Various
A nation tearing itself apart at home finds its fiery voice mirrored in print, where political arguments, serialized fiction, and cultural commentary converge to define a country fighting for its future.

Maxims and Reflections
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
A sharp observation can unlock centuries of human experience, transforming quiet personal reflection into universal truth.

The Atlantic Monthly, Volume 17, No. 102, April, 1866: A Magazine of Literature, Science, Art, and Politics
Various
A brilliant, turbulent old man dies in exile, while a community of readers suddenly remembers he was still alive.

Early Greek Philosophy & Other Essays: Collected Works, Volume Two
Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche
A fiercely iconoclastic mind tears back the polished façade of classical civilization to expose the blood, violence, and glorious instincts that truly drive human culture.

Thoughts Out of Season, Part II
Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche
In a culture numbed by historical data and superficial progress, genuine existence requires a radical shift away from mere knowledge toward the cultivation of genius.

Franklin's Way to Wealth
Benjamin Franklin
A crowd of anxious country folk gather at an auction to complain about crushing taxes, only to be offered an unsparing lecture on how their own laziness, vanity, and financial recklessness exact a far heavier toll.