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34,093 public-domain books, summarised. Page 95 of 711.
A Christmas Carol: The original manuscript
Charles Dickens
A solitary miser discovers the true spirit of human connection when he is forced to confront his own hardened heart through a series of midnight supernatural visitations.
How to Add Ten Years to your Life and to Double Its Satisfactions
S. S. (Samuel Silas) Curry
Start your day with a stretch and a smile, for the most significant moment of your life is the precise instant you wake up. This guide reveals how simple, rhythmic movements can transform your daily vitality.
The Battle of the Books, and other Short Pieces
Jonathan Swift
In a world obsessed with hollow vanity and the pretense of intellectual superiority, the sharpest blade is often a well-crafted jest. These writings endure because they strip away the masks of self-importance to reveal the absurdity beneath.
The History of England in Three Volumes, Vol. I., Part A.: From the Britons of Early Times to King John
David Hume
This account of England’s early centuries traces the evolution of a nation from Roman provincial outpost to a complex feudal state, marked by the tension between royal ambition and the burgeoning rights of the nobility.
The Religion of the Ancient Celts
J. A. (John Arnott) MacCulloch
The Celts were a race of dreamers whose empire was built not of stone and iron, but of spirit and myth, shaping the cultural consciousness of the West long after their political power faded.
The Surprising Adventures of Baron Munchausen
Rudolf Erich Raspe
HOOOK: A boisterous traveler recounts impossible exploits with complete, unshakeable confidence, daring his audience to doubt the veracity of his most absurd claims.
Scaramouche: A Romance of the French Revolution
Rafael Sabatini
He was born with a gift of laughter and a sense that the world was mad. Thus begins the journey of a man who must navigate the lethal transition from a quiet lawyer to a masked revolutionary hero.
The Maltese falcon
Dashiell Hammett
A weary private investigator navigates a web of deceit when a beautiful, duplicitous client entangles him in a hunt for a priceless, long-lost statuette. In a world where truth is a tactical advantage, loyalty is the first thing sacrificed.
The sonnets, triumphs, and other poems of Petrarch
Francesco Petrarca
A restless heart navigates the landscape of unrequited love and the weight of history, seeking solace in verse that has echoed through the centuries.
Wisdom and Destiny
Maurice Maeterlinck
Wisdom and Destiny is a quiet, profound inquiry into how the inner life of the individual can reshape the external circumstances of fate. It serves as a philosophical bridge between passive endurance and active self-creation.
Grace, Actual and Habitual: A Dogmatic Treatise
Joseph Pohle
This rigorous theological inquiry maps the complex interplay between divine assistance and human freedom, meticulously defining the mechanics of grace within the Catholic tradition.
Mr. Punch's History of Modern England, Vol. 2 (of 4).—1857-1874
Charles L. (Charles Larcom) Graves
This chronicle captures the Victorian pulse through the biting, brilliant wit of a legendary humor magazine. It is a vivid, opinionated portrait of an empire grappling with its own contradictions between 1857 and 1874.
The Complete Poems of Paul Laurence Dunbar
Paul Laurence Dunbar
Through rhythmic verse that moves between standard English and vernacular dialect, these poems explore the endurance of love, the weight of history, and the complex interiority of the African American experience.
The Sacred Wood: Essays on Poetry and Criticism
T. S. (Thomas Stearns) Eliot
A sharp, discerning inquiry into the mechanics of poetry and the responsibilities of the critic, this collection recalibrates how we read, demanding that we look past the poet to the poem itself.
The Wonderful "One-Hoss-Shay", and Other Poems
Oliver Wendell Holmes
The verse of a master observer, this collection balances lighthearted wit against the sobering passage of time. Through rhythm and rhyme, it explores the fragile beauty of life, the inevitable decay of objects, and the fleeting nature of human memory.
The £1,000,000 bank-note, and other new stories
Mark Twain
A penniless clerk becomes the talk of London with a single, impossible banknote, while a collection of sketches and essays explores the quirks of human nature, travel, and the absurdity of the past.
The Plague of Lust, Vol. 1 (of 2): Being a History of Venereal Disease in Classical Antiquity
Julius Rosenbaum
The pursuit of historical truth regarding the origins of sexual pathology requires a meticulous examination of the ancients, stripping away centuries of myth to reveal the clinical and sociological realities of classical life.
Tobacco
E. R. Billings
The history of a single leaf has shaped the economies of empires, the habits of laborers, and the rituals of the elite. This survey explores that transformation from a New World curiosity to a global commodity.
The Northmen, Columbus and Cabot, 985-1503
Unknown
These primary narratives gather the firsthand accounts and foundational documents detailing the earliest European contacts with the Americas, spanning from the Norse sagas to the voyages of Christopher Columbus and John Cabot. By curating the words of the explorers themselves, the collection preserves the raw,…
Wonder-Box Tales
Jean Ingelow
These fairy tales weave enchantment into the lives of ordinary people, proving that magic is often found in the most unexpected corners of a quiet life. Through whimsical, moral, and sometimes melancholic narratives, the collection explores the weight of greed, the power of perseverance, and the delicate nature of…
A History of Sanskrit Literature
Arthur Anthony Macdonell
This comprehensive survey maps the vast, complex terrain of Indian literary history, tracing the evolution of language and thought from the ancient, oral hymns of the Vedic period to the sophisticated, artificial poetry of the classical age.
The best short stories of 1925, and the yearbook of the American short story
Unknown
A definitive catalog of a vanished era, this volume serves as both a vibrant anthology of mid-twenties fiction and a meticulous archive of a nation’s literary heartbeat. It captures a fleeting moment when the short story was the primary medium for American creative exploration.
The Naples Riviera
Herbert M. (Herbert Millingchamp) Vaughan
This evocative travelogue captures the sun-drenched, history-laden shores of the Bay of Naples at the turn of the twentieth century. It serves as an essential companion for those drawn to the intersection of classical antiquity and Mediterranean charm.
The Literary World Seventh Reader
Unknown
This collection serves as a foundational anthology of classic literature and adventure, curated to guide young readers through the pillars of Western storytelling, nature writing, and historical narrative. It functions as both a literary primer and a window into the educational values of the early twentieth century.
Twentieth Century Standard Puzzle Book: Three Parts in One Volume
Unknown
A collection of brain-teasers that invites you to sharpen your wits against the enduring, playful riddles of a bygone era.
First and Last Things: A Confession of Faith and Rule of Life
H. G. (Herbert George) Wells
A restless, searching mind attempts to map the chaos of existence into a coherent philosophy, asserting that even in an uncertain universe, our individual lives matter profoundly.
Paul Jones
Hutchins Hapgood
A bold and ambitious sailor, Paul Jones leaves a lasting legacy as a naval hero and adventurer.
The Atlantic Monthly, Volume 20, No. 121, November, 1867: A Magazine of Literature, Science, Art, and Politics
Various
A rich tapestry of 19th-century American life unfolds through essays, stories, poetry, and reflections, capturing the era’s social, political, and cultural currents with a blend of earnestness and literary craft.
The House of Atreus
Aeschylus
The House of Atreus is the only complete tragic trilogy to survive from ancient Greece, charting a terrifying cycle of generational blood-guilt that finally resolves into the birth of justice. It remains the foundational blueprint for Western dramatic storytelling.
The Criminal Prosecution and Capital Punishment of Animals
E. P. (Edward Payson) Evans
In the Middle Ages, the law did not stop at the human boundary. Animals—from swarming insects to homicidal pigs—were frequently hailed into court, granted legal counsel, and held fully accountable for their transgressions.
The Foundation of the Ottoman Empire
Herbert Adams Gibbons
The rise of the Osmanli power represents not merely the growth of a dynasty, but a fundamental, often misunderstood transformation of the medieval world through the convergence of Christian and Islamic societies.
The Invention of the Sewing Machine
Grace Rogers Cooper
The persistent ambition to automate the needle’s path transformed a humble domestic chore into a cornerstone of the industrial age. This technical history traces the mechanical evolution of the sewing machine from early, failed experiments to the widespread commercial success that fundamentally altered global…
The Mirror of the Sea
Joseph Conrad
A sailor’s life is a rhythmic cycle of departure and return, a craft defined by the silent, shifting mirror of the sea. These meditations explore the intimacy between men and ships, where the ocean acts as both a brutal adversary and a profound teacher.
A Guide to Stoicism
St. George William Joseph Stock
The Stoic path is a rigorous pursuit of reason, transforming the individual from a slave of fortune into a master of their own internal life.
A Sportsman's Sketches, Volume 2: Works of Ivan Turgenev, Volume 2
Ivan Sergeevich Turgenev
These sketches offer a quiet, lingering portrait of rural Russia, capturing the dignity and the decay of a world fading into history. They are not grand epics, but a collection of moments—a hunter’s observations of the countryside, the lives of peasants, and the fraying edges of the provincial gentry.
Of the Just Shaping of Letters
Albrecht Dürer
This manual serves as a rigorous architectural blueprint for the alphabet, transforming the act of writing from a casual habit into a precise exercise in geometry and optical balance. It remains an essential meditation on how technical discipline anchors artistic beauty.
Oliver Twist, Vol. 1 (of 3)
Charles Dickens
Born into a world that greets him with neglect, a young orphan navigates the brutal machinery of Victorian poverty. His journey leads from the cold indifference of the parish workhouse into the dark heart of London’s criminal underworld.
The Sayings of Confucius
Confucius
The path to wisdom lies not in distant, esoteric mysteries, but in the quiet cultivation of one’s own conduct and the sincerity of daily interactions. A gentleman is defined by what he does when no one is watching, and by his steadfast devotion to the integrity of his relationships.
Rosin the Beau
Laura Elizabeth Howe Richards
A lifetime of quiet devotion, told by a wandering fiddler to the young girl who has become his final, cherished companion. This memoir traces a heart’s journey from a humble Maine village to the ancestral towers of France and back again, finding that true nobility lies in character rather than station.
This Crowded Earth
Robert Bloch
This is a stark, cautionary vision of a world stifled by its own numbers, where the desperate search for order leads to the systematic manipulation of the human race.
The Idle Thoughts of an Idle Fellow
Jerome K. (Jerome Klapka) Jerome
This collection of contemplative essays offers a wry, companionable look at the trivial frustrations and profound questions that occupy a restless mind. It serves as a gentle reminder that the most ordinary human experiences are universal.
The Works of the Right Honourable Edmund Burke, Vol. 04 (of 12)
Edmund Burke
The structures of civil society are fragile, easily dismantled by ideological zeal, yet essential for the preservation of human liberty and order. This collection presents a rigorous defense of traditional governance against the chaos of revolutionary upheaval.
Child-life in Art
Estelle M. (Estelle May) Hurll
Children are timeless subjects for the artist, serving as vessels for innocence, divine grace, and the unfolding mysteries of human nature across centuries of creative expression.
Poems by Adam Lindsay Gordon
Adam Lindsay Gordon
In the rugged, sun-drenched landscapes of 19th-century Australia, a restless spirit finds rhythm in the gallop of a horse and the mournful cadence of a life lived against the grain.
Renaissance in Italy, Volume 1 (of 7): The Age of the Despots
John Addington Symonds
The Italian Renaissance was not a gentle awakening, but a chaotic, bloody, and brilliant crucible where the modern world was forged in the fires of despotic ambition and religious fervor.
The Crescent Moon
Rabindranath Tagore
A collection of luminous, rhythmic meditations, this work captures the fleeting wisdom of childhood and the profound, transformative love between a mother and her child.
Cottage Building in Cob, Pisé, Chalk and Clay: A Renaissance (2nd edition)
Clough Williams-Ellis
A call to action for the owner-builder, this technical manual revives the ancient art of constructing durable homes from the very earth beneath one's feet.
Kronstadt
Max Pemberton
HOOK A young woman is caught in a web of espionage within the formidable fortress of Kronstadt, where a Russian captain must choose between his military duty and his love for the accused spy.