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34,239 public-domain books, summarised. Page 281 of 714.

Cover of The Harim and the Purdah: Studies of Oriental Women

The Harim and the Purdah: Studies of Oriental Women

Elizabeth Cooper

A secluded world of domestic tradition, religious devotion, and quiet strength yields its secrets as an observant Western traveller steps past the veiled thresholds of early twentieth-century Eastern homes.

Gender & Sexuality Studies6 min read
Cover of The Lunatic at Large

The Lunatic at Large

J. Storer (Joseph Storer) Clouston

An escaped asylum patient effortlessly assumes new identities, outwits aristocrats across England, and turns every absurd turn of fortune into a hilarious social victory.

British Literature7 min read
Cover of The Odes and Carmen Saeculare of Horace

The Odes and Carmen Saeculare of Horace

Horace

A delicate, rigorous verse translation captures the quiet ironies, domestic warmth, and public duties of Rome’s most celebrated lyric voice.

Classics of Literature5 min read
Cover of The Outlet

The Outlet

Andy Adams

Moving thousands of cattle across a changing continent turns out to be less about the trail and more about the backroom deals, crooked inspectors, and pure physical grit required to open up the West.

Adventure6 min read
Cover of The Poetical Works of William Lisle Bowles, Vol. 2

The Poetical Works of William Lisle Bowles, Vol. 2

William Lisle Bowles

A reflective journey through memory, faith, and the quiet beauty of the English countryside awaits within these verse collections.

Poetry5 min read
Cover of The Rush for the Spoil (La Curée): A Realistic Novel

The Rush for the Spoil (La Curée): A Realistic Novel

Émile Zola

Speculation, luxury, and betrayal shape a ruined woman’s gilded life in Second Empire Paris.

French Literature5 min read
Cover of What I Saw in California: A Description of Its Soil, Climate, Productions, and Gold Mines, with the Best Routes and Latest Information for Intending Emigrants

What I Saw in California: A Description of Its Soil, Climate, Productions, and Gold Mines, with the Best Routes and Latest Information for Intending Emigrants

Edwin Bryant

Across the vast and uncharted expanse of 1840s North America lies a fertile territory poised on the brink of transformation, documented with meticulous clarity by a observer who lived its pivotal moments.

History - American5 min read
Cover of Yorkshire—Coast and Moorland Scenes

Yorkshire—Coast and Moorland Scenes

Gordon Home

A rugged ribbon of road leads away toward the desolate heights, inviting the curious traveler to leave behind civilized towns and lose themselves among the vast, purple-capped heather.

Travel Writing6 min read
Cover of A Literary & Historical Atlas of America

A Literary & Historical Atlas of America

J. G. (John George) Bartholomew

A coordinate grid lays bare the vast shape of the Western Hemisphere, anchoring centuries of exploration, bloody encounters, and human ambitions to exact lines of latitude and longitude.

Encyclopedias/Dictionaries/Reference6 min read
Cover of Adventures in Swaziland: The Story of a South African Boer

Adventures in Swaziland: The Story of a South African Boer

Owen Rowe O'Neil

In the shadow of the Drakensberg mountains, a young Boer boy learns that survival on the South African veldt requires understanding both the harsh law of his people and the bloody court of the Swazi kings.

Adventure5 min read
Cover of "Buffalo Bill" from Prairie to Palace: An Authentic History of the Wild West

"Buffalo Bill" from Prairie to Palace: An Authentic History of the Wild West

John M. Burke

Before the footlights of European courts and American cities, a former plainsman transforms the bloody realities of the Western frontier into the world’s most celebrated theatrical spectacle.

Adventure5 min read
Cover of Horrors of vaccination exposed and illustrated

Horrors of vaccination exposed and illustrated

Chas. M. (Charles Michael) Higgins

A treatise against state-mandated medical procedures argues that bodily autonomy is a foundational civil right. It asserts that forced inoculations spread deadly animal contagions, corrupting public health under the guise of disease prevention.

Health & Medicine6 min read
Cover of Hunter Quatermain's Story

Hunter Quatermain's Story

H. Rider (Henry Rider) Haggard

An African wilderness hunt turns disastrously sour, leaving a veteran woodsman and his companions stripped of all supplies and forced into a harrowing trek toward safety.

Adventure6 min read
Cover of Lord Chatham, His Early Life and Connections

Lord Chatham, His Early Life and Connections

Rosebery, Archibald Philip Primrose, Earl of

Crippled by inherited gout and driven by theatrical ambition, a young cornet of horse maneuvers through political factions to seize the destiny of an empire.

Biographies7 min read
Cover of My Aunt Margaret's Mirror

My Aunt Margaret's Mirror

Walter Scott

A quiet walk through a changing Scottish landscape opens into a haunted parlor where long-dead grievances, forbidden magic, and family betrayals are brought into the light.

British Literature6 min read
Cover of The Black Moose in Pennsylvania

The Black Moose in Pennsylvania

Henry W. (Henry Wharton) Shoemaker

A mammoth beast once roamed the high ridges of the Alleghenies, leaving its mark on the land before vanishing into mountain legend.

Environmental Issues6 min read
Cover of The Confessions of Jean Jacques Rousseau

The Confessions of Jean Jacques Rousseau

Jean-Jacques Rousseau

A young man wanders through 18th-century Europe, guided less by reason than by intense passions, unvarnished eccentricities, and an insatiable desire to understand his own heart.

Biographies13 min read
Cover of The Curse of Koshiu: A Chronicle of Old Japan

The Curse of Koshiu: A Chronicle of Old Japan

Lewis Wingfield

A doomed family's blood-soaked tyranny crumbles under a executed farmer’s curse, tearing apart brotherly bonds, imperial court politics, and a land pushed to the brink of collapse.

Historical Novels6 min read
Cover of The Forgotten Man, and Other Essays

The Forgotten Man, and Other Essays

William Graham Sumner

A quiet, relentless defense of individual liberty, this essay collection exposes how well-meaning state interventions invariably penalize the quiet, industrious citizen to subsidize politically favored groups.

Economics8 min read
Cover of The Gallery of Portraits: with Memoirs. Volume 5 (of 7)

The Gallery of Portraits: with Memoirs. Volume 5 (of 7)

Arthur Thomas Malkin

History is shaped not by abstract forces, but by the precise, often flawed decisions of individuals. From the laboratories of Parisian chemists to the turbulent parliaments of England, human progress is driven by brilliant, contradictory minds.

Biographies7 min read
Cover of The History of Burke and Hare, and of the Resurrectionist Times: A Fragment from the Criminal Annals of Scotland

The History of Burke and Hare, and of the Resurrectionist Times: A Fragment from the Criminal Annals of Scotland

George Mac Gregor

Driven by the lucrative demands of early nineteenth-century medical schools, two men in Edinburgh turned from grave robbing to cold-blooded murder to supply dissecting tables with fresh human corpses.

History - British5 min read
Cover of The Ivory Child

The Ivory Child

H. Rider (Henry Rider) Haggard

An old shadow lengthens across the English countryside, drawing an African hunter back to the brush in search of a stolen noblewoman, a ivory idol, and an ancient monster that demands a final accounting.

Adventure6 min read
Cover of The Travels and Adventures of Monsieur Violet in California, Sonora, and Western Texas

The Travels and Adventures of Monsieur Violet in California, Sonora, and Western Texas

Frederick Marryat

A exiled French youth travels from European courtly exile into the heart of the nineteenth-century American wilderness, navigating Indian nations, political betrayals, and the lawless frontiers of North America.

Adventure6 min read
Cover of A Dominie in Doubt

A Dominie in Doubt

Alexander Sutherland Neill

This is a restless, searching inquiry into the nature of freedom and authority in the classroom, written by a teacher who is perpetually questioning his own methods.

British Literature6 min read
Cover of Betty Wales, Freshman

Betty Wales, Freshman

Edith K. (Edith Kellogg) Dunton

A sheltered girl ventures into the boisterous world of college life, discovering that navigating friendships and faculty expectations is far more challenging—and rewarding—than her initial naivety suggests.

American Literature7 min read
Cover of Canned Fruit, Preserves, and Jellies: Household Methods of Preparation

Canned Fruit, Preserves, and Jellies: Household Methods of Preparation

Maria Parloa

This guide serves as a practical manual for the art of preserving the harvest, offering scientifically grounded methods for canning, jelly-making, and syrup preparation. It transforms the kitchen into a space of both health and industry.

Cooking & Drinking6 min read
Cover of Dragons of the Air: An Account of Extinct Flying Reptiles

Dragons of the Air: An Account of Extinct Flying Reptiles

H. G. (Harry Govier) Seeley

These ancient, winged reptiles occupy a mysterious middle ground between the cold-blooded lizard and the soaring bird. This account reconstructs their history through the enduring language of their fossilized bones.

Science - Biology6 min read
Cover of Fifty Years a Detective: 35 Real Detective Stories

Fifty Years a Detective: 35 Real Detective Stories

Thomas Furlong

The law is a blunt instrument, and justice, as one veteran operative learns, is often a matter of patience, carefully placed informants, and the grim reality of a well-aimed bullet.

Biographies6 min read
Cover of Observations of a Naturalist in the Pacific Between 1896 and 1899, Volume 1: Vanua Levu, Fiji

Observations of a Naturalist in the Pacific Between 1896 and 1899, Volume 1: Vanua Levu, Fiji

H. B. (Henry Brougham) Guppy

The volcanic heart of a Pacific island reveals its deep-time history through the patient, methodical examination of its peaks, springs, and coastal rock formations.

Nature/Gardening/Animals7 min read
Cover of Old Christmas

Old Christmas

Washington Irving

This observant journey captures the fading charm of traditional English yuletide customs, offering a window into a world where communal warmth once defied the winter chill.

British Literature6 min read
Cover of Satan's Invisible World Discovered

Satan's Invisible World Discovered

George Sinclair

This collection serves as a seventeenth-century polemic against skepticism, arguing that the existence of the supernatural is a prerequisite for a moral universe. It remains a grim, authoritative record of a worldview where the veil between the physical and the demonic was considered paper-thin.

History - Early Modern (c. 1450-1750)6 min read
Cover of Tablets

Tablets

Amos Bronson Alcott

The garden is the threshold of the soul, a place where the simple labor of tending soil ripens into the deeper cultivation of one’s own character. Through quiet observation and rhythmic toil, the world’s noise falls away, leaving only the truth of the present moment.

Philosophy & Ethics6 min read
Cover of The Botanist's Companion, Volume II: Or an Introduction to the Knowledge of Practical Botany, and the Uses of Plants. Either Growing Wild in Great Britain, or Cultivated for the Puroses of Agriculture, Medicine, Rural Oeconomy, or the Arts

The Botanist's Companion, Volume II: Or an Introduction to the Knowledge of Practical Botany, and the Uses of Plants. Either Growing Wild in Great Britain, or Cultivated for the Puroses of Agriculture, Medicine, Rural Oeconomy, or the Arts

William Salisbury

Practical botany in the early nineteenth century serves as both a scientific pursuit and a manual for survival. This volume functions as a bridge between the wild flora of Great Britain and the necessities of domestic, agricultural, and medical life. It captures a time when the study of a plant’s anatomy was…

Science - Biology6 min read
Cover of The Call of the South: 1908

The Call of the South: 1908

Louis Becke

This is a collection of vivid, loosely linked recollections from the South Pacific, capturing the grit, beauty, and frequent violence of colonial-era island life. It serves as a rugged, first-hand record of a world defined by the sea and the shifting fortunes of those who traversed it.

Adventure6 min read
Cover of The Moon of Skulls

The Moon of Skulls

Robert E. (Robert Ervin) Howard

A lone, iron-willed Puritan ventures into a hidden African kingdom to rescue a captive girl, confronting an ancient, blood-drenched civilization ruled by a vampire queen.

Novels6 min read
Cover of The Sixty-First Second

The Sixty-First Second

Owen Johnson

A stolen ruby triggers a high-stakes investigation that mirrors the precarious collapse of a financial empire. In this tense drama of New York society, the truth is obscured by the frantic ambitions of the city’s elite.

American Literature7 min read
Cover of The Splash of a Drop

The Splash of a Drop

A. M. (Arthur Mason) Worthington

The fleeting, microscopic grace of a falling drop is captured here, unveiling a hidden architecture of liquid motion. Science transforms the ephemeral into a permanent, exquisite record of physical laws.

Science - Physics6 min read
Cover of Villages of the Algonquian, Siouan, and Caddoan Tribes West of the Mississippi

Villages of the Algonquian, Siouan, and Caddoan Tribes West of the Mississippi

David I. (David Ives) Bushnell

The expansive American frontier once hummed with the daily lives of native nations, whose architecture reflected both the ingenuity of their cultures and their intimate relationship with the land.

Archaeology & Anthropology6 min read
Cover of Wild Bill's Last Trail

Wild Bill's Last Trail

Ned Buntline

HOOK Haunted by the ghosts of the men he has killed, the legendary gunslinger Wild Bill Hickok discovers that the past has finally tracked him into the rugged wilderness of the Black Hills.

Adventure6 min read
Cover of A Girl's Ride in Iceland

A Girl's Ride in Iceland

Mrs. (Ethel) Alec-Tweedie

A spirited account of an adventurous journey across the wild landscapes of Iceland, this narrative captures the wonder of Northern exploration through the eyes of a Victorian woman determined to see the world on her own terms.

Adventure6 min read
Cover of A Journey Through France in War Time

A Journey Through France in War Time

Joseph G. (Joseph Green) Butler

An industrialist’s firsthand account of a mission to wartime France, this chronicle captures the resilience of a nation under fire and the deep, historic ties between the French and American people.

History - European6 min read
Cover of A Little Book of Old Time Verse: Old Fashioned Flowers

A Little Book of Old Time Verse: Old Fashioned Flowers

Unknown

This collection of English verse gathers the enduring echoes of romantic longing, capturing the fleeting nature of beauty and the relentless passage of time through centuries of song. It offers a meditative retreat into the classic language of the heart.

Poetry6 min read
Cover of A Little Bush Maid

A Little Bush Maid

Mary Grant Bruce

A spirited young girl living on a vast Australian sheep station navigates the joys of childhood and the complexities of the wild, forming an unlikely bond with a mysterious, reclusive neighbor.

Adventure6 min read
Cover of A Select Collection of Old English Plays, Volume 01

A Select Collection of Old English Plays, Volume 01

Unknown

These early dramatizations mark the literal birth of English theater, moving from the pulpit to the public square. They serve as a foundational archive of how humanity first began to stage its own moral and intellectual struggles.

British Literature6 min read
Cover of Adventures in Contentment

Adventures in Contentment

David Grayson

Seeking a reprieve from the feverish pursuit of material success, a man retreats to the soil of a small farm to discover that true wealth lies in the simple beauty of daily work and companionship.

Essays, Letters & Speeches6 min read
Cover of Ambassador Morgenthau's Story

Ambassador Morgenthau's Story

Henry Morgenthau

The eyewitness account of a diplomat reveals how Germany orchestrated the entry of the Ottoman Empire into the First World War and enabled the catastrophic destruction of the Armenian people.

Biographies5 min read
Cover of At Last: A Novel

At Last: A Novel

Marion Harland

Happiness is a labor of endurance, a long-term reclamation of the self from the wreckage of early misunderstandings and the crushing weight of family expectation.

American Literature6 min read
Cover of Beaumont and Fletcher's Works, Vol. 09 of 10

Beaumont and Fletcher's Works, Vol. 09 of 10

John Fletcher

These plays capture the volatile spirit of Jacobean drama, blending sharp wit, desperate survival, and high-stakes romance across five distinct, character-driven narratives.

British Literature6 min read
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