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34,239 public-domain books, summarised. Page 422 of 714.

Cover of On the State of Lunacy and the Legal Provision for the Insane: With Observations on the Construction and Organization of Asylums

On the State of Lunacy and the Legal Provision for the Insane: With Observations on the Construction and Organization of Asylums

J. T. (John Thomas) Arlidge

Victorian psychiatric care stands at a disastrous crossroads where bureaucratic inertia, institutional overcrowding, and legal loopholes routinely trap the vulnerable in cycles of permanent pauperism.

Health & Medicine6 min read
Cover of Palæography: Notes upon the History of Writing and the Medieval Art of Illumination

Palæography: Notes upon the History of Writing and the Medieval Art of Illumination

Bernard Quaritch

Humanity records its memory in shifting scripts, shaping soft clay and vellum to preserve thought against decay.

Archaeology & Anthropology6 min read
Cover of Phemie Frost's Experiences

Phemie Frost's Experiences

Ann S. (Ann Sophia) Stephens

A sharp-eyed New England spinster tours the Gilded Age high-society circuit, skewering urban pretension with iron-clad mountain sense and unstoppable romantic ambition.

American Literature7 min read
Cover of Potash & Perlmutter: Their Copartnership Ventures and Adventures

Potash & Perlmutter: Their Copartnership Ventures and Adventures

Montague Glass

A volatile partnership in New York's garment district relies on fierce arguments, bad investments, and an unspoken mutual loyalty to survive.

American Literature6 min read
Cover of Practical pathology

Practical pathology

Aldred Scott Warthin

A rigorous manual of early twentieth-century pathology offers a systematic guide to dissecting the human body and preserving its cellular evidence.

Health & Medicine6 min read
Cover of Punch, or the London Charivari, Volume 99, July 19, 1890

Punch, or the London Charivari, Volume 99, July 19, 1890

Various

A sharp, satirical pulse beats through this late-nineteenth-century issue of the famous British periodical. It skewers the absurdities of Victorian high society, political paralysis, and literary pretensions with relentless, parodic energy.

British Literature6 min read
Cover of Remarks on the Uses of some of the Bazaar Medicines and Common Medical Plants of India: With a full index of diseases, indicating their treatment by these and other agents procurable throughout India

Remarks on the Uses of some of the Bazaar Medicines and Common Medical Plants of India: With a full index of diseases, indicating their treatment by these and other agents procurable throughout India

Edward John Waring

A clear-headed, practical manual of 19th-century colonial medicine, this volume maps out accessible treatments for common ailments using botanical and mineral remedies readily available across the Indian subcontinent.

Drugs/Alcohol/Pharmacology5 min read
Cover of Saint Athanasius, the Father of Orthodoxy

Saint Athanasius, the Father of Orthodoxy

F. A. (Frances Alice) Forbes

A young Egyptian deacon stands alone against emperors and heretics to save the foundational creed of the Christian faith.

Biographies6 min read
Cover of Scientific American, Vol. XLIII.—No. 1. [New Series.], July 3, 1880: A Weekly Journal of Practical Information, Art, Science, Mechanics, Chemistry, and Manufactures

Scientific American, Vol. XLIII.—No. 1. [New Series.], July 3, 1880: A Weekly Journal of Practical Information, Art, Science, Mechanics, Chemistry, and Manufactures

Various

A single weekly issue captures an era when steam efficiency, rapid industrial expansion, and small-town workshops shaped the American landscape.

Engineering & Technology5 min read
Cover of Sonny, a Christmas Guest

Sonny, a Christmas Guest

Ruth McEnery Stuart

This is a quiet, meditative portrait of a father’s profound devotion to his son, told through the lens of a life deeply rooted in the slow, rhythmic traditions of a rural community. It captures the transition from one generation to the next, framing the mundane joys of family life as a form of sacred stewardship.

American Literature6 min read
Cover of Sport in Abyssinia

Sport in Abyssinia

Mayo, Dermot Robert Wyndham Bourke, Earl of

Rough tracks, relentless heat, and unpredictable wilderness define an expedition into nineteenth-century East Africa. A young British officer recount his travels through terrain where game is elusive, logistics collapse, and local politics dictate survival.

Adventure6 min read
Cover of State of the Union Addresses of Barack Obama, 2009-2016

State of the Union Addresses of Barack Obama, 2009-2016

Barack Obama

Across eight years of executive addresses, a nation confronts economic collapse, foreign wars, and political division, constantly searching for common ground.

American Literature6 min read
Cover of Sussex Gorse: The Story of a Fight

Sussex Gorse: The Story of a Fight

Sheila Kaye-Smith

Driven by an obsession that outlives wives, drives away children, and consumes sixty years of his life, a Sussex farmer wages a ruthless, lifelong war against an wild, overgrown moorland to build an empire.

British Literature7 min read
Cover of Sylvia's Marriage: A Novel

Sylvia's Marriage: A Novel

Upton Sinclair

A privileged Southern woman discovers that her husband carries a devastating secret, prompting her to abandon her elite position and challenge the hypocrisies of her gilded society.

American Literature6 min read
Cover of Ten Girls from History

Ten Girls from History

Kate Dickinson Sweetser

Courage shapes the destiny of girls who dare to lead, endure, and protect their homelands.

Biographies6 min read
Cover of The Alps

The Alps

Arnold Lunn

Human perception of mountains has evolved from dread of dragons and high places to the deliberate pursuit of peaks for sport, insight, and self-discovery.

History - European7 min read
Cover of The Americans in the Great War

The Americans in the Great War

Unknown

A precise guide to the battlefields of eastern France, this volume traces the 1918 American offensive at Saint-Mihiel alongside the centuries of architectural and civic history embedded in the surrounding towns.

History - American6 min read
Cover of The Art of Politicks

The Art of Politicks

James Bramston

A satirical verse manual for aspiring eighteenth-century British politicians adapts classical poetic advice to the cynical, money-driven realities of parliamentary power.

British Literature5 min read
Cover of The Coming of the Friars

The Coming of the Friars

Augustus Jessopp

The medieval world was one of rigid hierarchies, oppressive systems, and devastating plagues. Yet amidst this, a movement emerged that challenged conventions, offered hope, and left an enduring legacy.

History - Medieval/Middle Ages6 min read
Cover of The curse of gold

The curse of gold

W. C. (Wilbur C.) Tuttle

Out in Piperock, high intentions and flying lead usually collide to prove that enforcing the law is mostly a matter of dodging your own side's bullets.

Short Stories7 min read
Cover of The Day of Judgment

The Day of Judgment

Joseph Hocking

A young loom-maker, unjustly imprisoned and burdened by his mother’s ruined past, discovers that the famous judge who presides over his region holds the key to his own identity.

Adventure8 min read
Cover of The Detection of Forgery: A Practical Handbook for the Use of Bankers, Solicitors, Magistrates' Clerks, and All Handling Suspected Documents

The Detection of Forgery: A Practical Handbook for the Use of Bankers, Solicitors, Magistrates' Clerks, and All Handling Suspected Documents

Douglas Blackburn

Dissecting forged documents requires shifting focus away from obvious surface shapes toward the mechanical, subconscious gestures that reveal a writer's true identity.

How To ...5 min read
Cover of The Elements of Agriculture: A Book for Young Farmers, with Questions Prepared for the Use of Schools

The Elements of Agriculture: A Book for Young Farmers, with Questions Prepared for the Use of Schools

George E. (George Edwin) Waring

Soil, plant, and air participate in a quiet, rigorous economy, where no single chemical element can be missing if a crop is to thrive.

Science - Biology6 min read
Cover of The Fertility of the Unfit

The Fertility of the Unfit

W. A. (William Allan) Chapple

Modern society faces a crisis not from a lack of resources, but from a profound demographic shift in which the most prudent citizens limit their families while the least capable multiply unchecked.

History - Modern (1750+)6 min read
Cover of The Fugitive: A Play in Four Acts

The Fugitive: A Play in Four Acts

John Galsworthy

A stifled woman attempts to escape the suffocating expectations of high-society marriage, only to find that the world offers no shelter for those who break its rules.

British Literature6 min read
Cover of The Game of Chess: A Play in One Act

The Game of Chess: A Play in One Act

Kenneth Sawyer Goodman

A ruthless governor transforms a deadly assassination attempt into a high-stakes psychological battlefield to prove his intellect remains absolute.

Plays/Films/Dramas5 min read
Cover of The Great Events by Famous Historians, Volume 06: (From Barbarossa to Dante)

The Great Events by Famous Historians, Volume 06: (From Barbarossa to Dante)

Unknown

A grand, sweeping record of the High Middle Ages, this volume captures a transformed world shaped by clashing faiths, rising crowns, and the foundational tremors of modern liberty.

History - European7 min read
Cover of The Hittites

The Hittites

A. H. (Archibald Henry) Sayce

A lost empire emerges from forgotten ruins and ancient inscriptions to reclaim its place in the history of the ancient world.

Archaeology & Anthropology5 min read
Cover of The King of the Golden River

The King of the Golden River

John Ruskin

A cruel drought ruined by greed finds its cure in a boy's selfless kindness. True riches spring not from hoarding gold, but from sharing what little one has with the suffering.

British Literature8 min read
Cover of The Lost Valley

The Lost Valley

J. M. (James Morgan) Walsh

A gold strike in the bush, a dying uncle’s puzzle, and a secluded Australian valley hold the key to a family's lost inheritance.

Adventure7 min read
Cover of The Mating of Lydia

The Mating of Lydia

Ward, Humphry, Mrs.

A reclusive miser hoards art and starves his estate, while a young female artist and a conflicted agent wrestle with love, duty, and dirty money in the Lake District.

British Literature6 min read
Cover of The Minority of Henry the Third

The Minority of Henry the Third

Kate Norgate

A nine-year-old child inherits a kingdom fractured by civil war and foreign invasion, leaving a fragile coalition of regents, prelates, and mercenary captains to rescue the English monarchy from absolute ruin.

History - British6 min read
Cover of The Mystery of the Iron Box: A Ken Holt Mystery

The Mystery of the Iron Box: A Ken Holt Mystery

Bruce Campbell

When a cold midnight draft inside his home leads high school reporter Ken Holt to suspicious footprints in the snow, a stolen watch repair tag puts him and his friend Sandy Allen on the trail of a massive counterfeiting ring.

Crime, Thrillers and Mystery6 min read
Cover of The New England Magazine, Volume 1, No. 4, Bay State Monthly, Volume 4, No. 4, April, 1886

The New England Magazine, Volume 1, No. 4, Bay State Monthly, Volume 4, No. 4, April, 1886

Various

An intricate tapestry of historical study, biographical profile, local lore, and editorial reflection captures the civic and intellectual life of late nineteenth-century New England.

Essays, Letters & Speeches5 min read
Cover of The Open Polar Sea: A narrative of a voyage of discovery towards the North pole, in the schooner "United States"

The Open Polar Sea: A narrative of a voyage of discovery towards the North pole, in the schooner "United States"

I. I. (Isaac Israel) Hayes

Driven by youth and scientific ambition, an American commander leads a small vessel into the frozen perils of the Far North, pursuing the legendary ice-free basin surrounding the Pole while testing the absolute limits of human endurance.

Adventure7 min read
Cover of The Pansy, November 1886, Vol. 14

The Pansy, November 1886, Vol. 14

Various

In an era of quiet domestic transitions and shifting social expectations, a nineteenth-century children's periodical offers a vibrant glimpse into the everyday hopes, struggles, and values of American youth.

Children & Young Adult Reading6 min read
Cover of The Prelude to Adventure

The Prelude to Adventure

Hugh Walpole

A sudden, violent act in a quiet Cambridge wood shatters a young man’s detached life, awakening a relentless spiritual presence he can neither escape nor ignore.

British Literature6 min read
Cover of The Shadow of the Czar

The Shadow of the Czar

John R. Carling

An English officer stumbles into a web of Balkan statecraft, secretly guarded princesses, and Russian intrigue in a forgotten principality.

Adventure6 min read
Cover of The Sperry Gyro-Compass

The Sperry Gyro-Compass

Sperry Gyroscope Company

Driven by the momentum of the planet itself, a spinning wheel turns toward the geographic pole, unlocking true orientation for modern steel ships.

Engineering & Technology5 min read
Cover of The Spoilers

The Spoilers

Rex Beach

A crooked receiver and a corrupt judge conspire to steal Alaska’s richest gold claim, forcing two prospectors into a lawless battle to reclaim their mine.

Adventure6 min read
Cover of The story of the 6th Battalion, the Durham Light Infantry

The story of the 6th Battalion, the Durham Light Infantry

Unknown

A relentless, unvarnished history of Western Front infantry combat, this chronicle follows a single British battalion through fire, mud, and total structural collapse.

History - Modern (1750+)6 min read
Cover of The Story of the Alphabet

The Story of the Alphabet

Edward Clodd

A vast network of marks—scratched into bone, painted on bark, pressed into clay, and carved on granite—gradually coalesces into the handful of letters that currently rest on the page.

History - Other7 min read
Cover of The Strand Magazine, Vol. 01, No. 03, March 1891: An Illustrated Monthly

The Strand Magazine, Vol. 01, No. 03, March 1891: An Illustrated Monthly

Various

A varied anthology of Victorian literature, profiles, and art commentary offers a fascinating glimpse into nineteenth-century life, storytelling, and public figures.

Art7 min read
Cover of The Tree of Appomattox

The Tree of Appomattox

Joseph A. (Joseph Alexander) Altsheler

Two cousins, divided by the tragic rupture of a nation, navigate the brutal, closing chapters of the American Civil War with unwavering loyalty to their separate causes.

American Literature8 min read
Cover of The War in Syria, Volume 2 (of 2)

The War in Syria, Volume 2 (of 2)

Charles Napier

The Middle East in the mid-nineteenth century becomes a high-stakes chessboard where naval power, fragile diplomatic alliances, and the personal ambitions of local rulers collide. This account captures the complex, often chaotic transition of power in Syria and Egypt as the Ottoman Empire fights to reclaim its…

History - European6 min read
Cover of Three Voyages for the Discovery of a Northwest Passage from the Atlantic to the Pacific, and Narrative of an Attempt to Reach the North Pole, Volume 2

Three Voyages for the Discovery of a Northwest Passage from the Atlantic to the Pacific, and Narrative of an Attempt to Reach the North Pole, Volume 2

Parry, William Edward, Sir

Navigating dense pack ice, brutal arctic wintering, and treacherous ice-floe treks requires a delicate mix of stoic discipline, ingenuity, and profound respect for the extreme environment.

Adventure6 min read
Cover of Touring Afoot

Touring Afoot

Claude P. (Claude Powell) Fordyce

Natural foot travel into the wild offers modern urbanites their best chance to reclaim vital health and primitive independence.

Health & Medicine6 min read
Cover of Traditions of the North American Indians, Vol. 1

Traditions of the North American Indians, Vol. 1

James Athearn Jones

An origin story born from the banks of a rising river finds its match in tales of spirit-wives, celestial hunters, and divine intervention.

History - American7 min read
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