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Humour — page 12
558 public-domain humour books, summarised. Page 12 of 12.
The Coo-ee Reciter: Humorous, Pathetic, Dramatic, Dialect, Recitations & Readings
Various
The stage is set for a spirited evening of performance, where stories of colonial struggle, high-seas drama, and domestic comedy collide. This collection captures the vibrant, varied heartbeat of an era through the voices of those who lived it.
The Little French Lawyer: A Comedy
John Fletcher
This comedy of manners and misadventure explores the absurd lengths to which men will go to defend their honor and the complicated schemes women devise to navigate a world governed by such rigid pride. Through a series of overlapping deceptions, the play examines the friction between the performative nature of…
Bob's Redemption: Captains All, Book 5
W. W. (William Wymark) Jacobs
When a calculating sailor tries to trade a rescue for his crewmate's fiancée, he gets a hilarious lesson in East End justice. W. W. Jacobs turns the dockside barque into a stage for human folly.
Her Majesty the King
James Jeffrey Roche
The Pasha of Ubikwi faces a dynastic crisis when his only child is born a daughter, threatening his succession and his standing with the Sultan. To survive, he and his sharp-witted wife, Kayenna, decide to pass the girl off as a boy.
Punch, or the London Charivari, Volume 156, January 22, 1919
Various
This collection captures the fractured, weary, and dryly irreverent spirit of post-Armistice England, where the absurdity of bureaucracy competes with the fading echoes of a global catastrophe. It serves as a quintessential time capsule of a society attempting to laugh while picking up the pieces of a vanished world.
Punchinello, Volume 1, No. 08, May 21, 1870
Various
Through satirical reports, mock dispatches, and sharp social commentary, a nineteenth-century weekly magazine turns a critical, comedic eye on post-Civil War American politics and culture.
Zeritsky's Law
Ann Warren Griffith
This chronicle of human ingenuity and greed explores what happens when a miraculous discovery is placed in the hands of the wrong people. It is a cautionary tale about the unintended consequences of cheating time.
Death Makes a Mistake
William P. McGivern
A habitual drinker finds his day interrupted by a clumsy, inexperienced agent of Death. He must use his wits and a few stiff martinis to bargain for his own life.
The Age of Science: A Newspaper of the Twentieth Century
Frances Power Cobbe
A Victorian-era satire reveals a grim future where the medical profession has supplanted all other authority, reducing human life to a series of laboratory experiments in a cold, godless society.
The Celestial Hammerlock
Donald Colvin
A stranded wrestling troupe and their brash manager navigate the culture clash of a lifetime when they bring high-impact athletics to a planetoid governed by intellectual pacifists.
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.
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.
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.
Hilaria. The Festive Board
Unknown
This collection of late 18th-century verse captures the raucous, irreverent, and deeply divided spirit of Georgian England, where high politics and bawdy humor constantly collide. It serves as a candid window into the tavern culture of 1798, documenting a society that found equal room for loyalist sentiment and…
The devil downstairs
P. F. Costello
This surreal fantasy explores the nature of evil through the lens of a domestic crisis: what happens when a private investigator captures the Devil and tries to keep him under control at home?
Satan and the Comrades
Ralph Bennitt
Satan returns from a sabbatical to find Hell in need of a modern overhaul, leading to a celestial prank that inadvertently triggers a global revolution.
All That Goes Up
Kirby Brooks
A father’s quiet evening of relaxation turns into an agonizing, days-long ordeal when a stray experiment in his son’s bedroom leaves them permanently pinned to the ceiling.
Image of Splendor
Lu Kella
The space between worlds is long, lonely, and governed by a rigid, gendered hierarchy—until a stowaway from Venus disrupts the peace of a routine Earth-bound freighter. This brisk science fiction tale explores the delicate power dynamics of two planets, one where women hold supreme authority and another where men…
The Martians and the Coys
Mack Reynolds
An extraterrestrial invasion force meets its match in the Kentucky hills. A lone, simple-minded moonshiner inadvertently dismantles a high-tech Martian offensive through sheer, uncomprehending immunity.
A Night Out
Edward Peple
A pampered Persian cat discovers the thrill of the wild after befriending a scarred street cat, leading to a transformative night of adventure, theft, and a brutal brawl. This lighthearted tale celebrates the untamable spirit that persists even beneath the finest silks and collars.
Punchinello, Volume 2, No. 27, October 1, 1870
Various
A satirical lens turned upon nineteenth-century American life captures a boisterous mix of parody, political ribbing, and local color.
Show Business
Boyd Ellanby
A Venusian grifter spins a tall tale of Martian vaudeville to a weary acquaintance in a lunar bar, but the punchline reveals more about the nature of truth than the performance itself.
Jimsy and the Monsters
Walter J. Sheldon
When a Hollywood film set needs terrifying alien monsters for a psychological thriller, an eccentric scientist's teleportation beam delivers creatures that turn out to fear nothing more than an insufferable child star.
Sam's Ghost: Deep Waters, Part 4
W. W. (William Wymark) Jacobs
A night-watchman’s quiet vigil on a river wharf is shattered by the supposed haunting of a drowned mate, leading to a desperate scheme involving a disputed pocket watch and a very earthly deception.
Transient
William Harris
A wandering cosmic consciousness takes refuge inside a laboratory computer, offering strange astrological prophecies to a bewildered biologist and a friendly night-cleaning crew.
Honeymoon in bedlam
Nelson S. Bond
When a space freighter is unexpectedly dispatched to investigate a mysterious rogue planet, a newlywed couple and a hungover crew find themselves trapped in a colossal, sticky alien web of doom.
Death of a B.E.M
Berkeley Livingston
A weary writer and artist, exhausted by the creative grind of churning out science-fiction clichés, find themselves abducted by the very monsters they have spent their careers inventing.
Punch, or the London Charivari, Vol. 108, May 11th, 1895
Various
A vibrant, satiric snapshot of late-Victorian England, capturing the sharp wit, political maneuvering, and social absurdities that defined the era.
Sonnets of a Budding Bard
Nixon Waterman
A self-proclaimed literary prodigy navigates the trials of boyhood, from the agony of schoolwork to the mysteries of young love. These humorous verses capture the earnest, awkward, and delightful perspective of an aspiring poet observing the adult world.
Punch, or the London Charivari, Volume 158, March 3rd, 1920
Various
Gentlemen in top hats negotiate with rogue street vendors, while returning veterans swap outrageous war yarns and politicians trade jabs across the aisle.