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Essays, Letters & Speeches — page 6
1,469 public-domain essays, letters & speeches books, summarised. Page 6 of 31.
Toleration and other essays
Voltaire
A sharp, ironic mind dismantles religious bigotry and institutional cruelty, exposing the absurdity of dogmatic intolerance through historical indictment, biblical satire, and rationalist philosophy.
Shadowings
Lafcadio Hearn
Whispered folktales, the summer hum of cicadas, and the deep echoes of a forgotten world blend into a meditative exploration of memory and transience.
The Letters of S. Ambrose, Bishop of Milan
Ambrose, Saint, Bishop of Milan
Amid the crumbling structure of the late Roman Empire, a formidable bishop relies on ink and parchment to steady a shifting world. Through personal notes, political briefs, and theological arguments, he defends his flock and challenges imperial power.
The Book-Hunter at Home
P. B. M. (Philip Bertram Murray) Allan
A seasoned English bibliophile opens the doors to his quiet study, demystifying the arcane arts of book collecting with urbane charm, practical technical advice, and deep historic affection.
The Revision Revised: Three Articles Reprinted from the "Quarterly Review." I. The New Greek Text. II. The New English Version. III. Westcott and Hort's New Textual Theory. To Which is Added a Reply to Bishop Ellicott's Pamphlet in Defence of the Revisers and Their Greek Text of the New Testament: Including a Vindication of the Traditional Reading of 1 Timothy III. 16
John William Burgon
When nineteenth-century scholars attempted to replace the long-established English Bible, a fierce ecclesiastical defense arose to expose what it viewed as a disastrous betrayal of sacred manuscript evidence.
Short Studies on Great Subjects
James Anthony Froude
A grand inquiry into the moral underpinnings of human history, this collection balances sweeping cultural analysis with sharp biographical portraits of those who reshaped Western thought.
Main Currents in Nineteenth Century Literature - 2. The Romantic School in Germany
Georg Brandes
Poetry marries philosophy to chase a fleeting, ethereal ideal beyond real life.
The Law
Frédéric Bastiat
What happens when the weapon meant to protect your life and property becomes the very instrument used to strip them away?
We Women and Our Authors
Laura Marholm
Modern literature claims to liberate woman, but it really only seeks to reshape her into a mirror of man's own restless, divided mind.
Amenities of Literature: Consisting of Sketches and Characters of English Literature
Isaac Disraeli
Across centuries of shifting monarchs, social upheaval, and evolving dialects, the human mind leaves its indelible imprint in the written word, transforming ephemeral passions into the permanent intellectual history of a nation.
Fantasia of the Unconscious
D. H. (David Herbert) Lawrence
A defiant philosophy of human nature insists that true vitality lies not in mental ideals, but in the dark, physical centers of the individual soul. It challenges every modern impulse toward conformity and intellectualism.
Evolution and Ethics, and Other Essays
Thomas Henry Huxley
An unyielding scientific mind examines the moral duty of humanity, refusing to let nature or religious fanaticism dictate the rules of human conduct.
The Last Harvest
John Burroughs
Reflecting the deliberate, watchful eye of a seasoned naturalist, this final collection meditates on the enduring power of classic literature, the flaws of evolutionary theory, and the quiet constancy of the natural world.
U.S. Presidential Inaugural Addresses
United States. Presidents
An evolving tapestry of American leadership unfolds across centuries of transition, crisis, and renewal.
Bibliomania
Thomas Frognall Dibdin
A lively, eccentric investigation into the obsession with rare books, written as a multi-day conversation among passionate readers who analyze the symptoms, history, and tragic excesses of literary devotion.
The Declaration of Independence of The United States of America
Thomas Jefferson
A single foundational document reframes political obedience, asserting that a people possess the natural right to sever ties with a monarch when their liberties are systematically destroyed.
Essays in Rebellion
Henry Woodd Nevinson
Rebellion is not a distant historical curiosity, but a living imperative that animates human progress against tyranny, comfortable routine, and spiritual death.
Letters from Egypt
Duff Gordon, Lucie, Lady
Living along the Nile to ease her failing lungs, a 19th-century Englishwoman sets aside colonial distance to record the daily lives, suffering, and quiet dignity of her Arab and Coptic neighbors.
The Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, 1995, Memorial Issue
Various
A collection of historic essays, memoirs, and fiction traces the arduous march of African Americans from bondage toward full citizenship.
A Philosophical Dictionary, Volume 03
Voltaire
Human nature exposes its deepest contradictions when reasoned argument collides with ingrained superstition, political vanity, and fanatical belief. A sharp intellect dismantles these absurdities by weighing historical evidence against cold common sense.
Instigations: Together with An Essay on the Chinese Written Character
Ezra Pound
Genuine intellectual vitality requires dismantling monolingual parochialism through rigorous engagement with international poetry, prose, classical translation, and the vivid, visual mechanics of natural language.
Familiar Studies of Men and Books
Robert Louis Stevenson
Nine singular figures from disparate centuries and nations are brought to the light of a sharp, modern intelligence, revealing how the art of living and the art of writing continuously mold one another.
Recent Developments in European Thought
Unknown
Across philosophy, art, science, and politics, modern European thought wrestles with a single urgent question: how can human society preserve its moral unity and spiritual hope in an age dominated by rapid material change?
Epic and Romance: Essays on Medieval Literature
W. P. (William Paton) Ker
Epic poetry remains the most resilient vessel for the spirit of a heroic age, capturing the stark, individualistic struggle of man against his destiny. These essays explore how the primitive, unadorned narratives of the Germanic and Northern traditions evolved into the polished, often rhetorical, romances of later…
A Philosophical Dictionary, Volume 10
Voltaire
The sharp, biting wit of the Enlightenment finds its most potent expression here, dismantling centuries of dogma and superstition with nothing more than a scalpel of reason and a devastatingly dry sense of humor.
Prophets of Dissent
Otto Heller
These four intellectual titans challenged the foundations of their age, offering radical visions of humanity that continue to provoke and unsettle the modern reader.
The Alhambra
Washington Irving
This evocative blend of travelogue, history, and folklore captures the fading majesty of a Moorish fortress through the eyes of a romantic observer. It invites readers into the sun-drenched, labyrinthine ruins of a palace where ghosts of the past linger in every shadow.
In Defense of Women
H. L. (Henry Louis) Mencken
A provocative, biting, and often tongue-in-cheek social commentary, this analysis strips away Victorian-era sentimentalities to argue that women possess a superior, more realistic intellect than the men who claim to rule them.
Abraham Lincoln's First Inaugural Address
Abraham Lincoln
The Union is not a contract to be broken at will, but a perpetual bond. This address serves as a final, earnest appeal for peace before the descent into the violence of the American Civil War.
Falling in Love
Grant Allen
Science is often dismissed as a sterile collection of facts, but this collection serves as a vibrant counterargument, proving that the natural world is full of drama, humor, and wonder. It is a wide-ranging anthology of essays—originally published in popular magazines—that unpacks the biological and geological…
Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine - Volume 62, No. 384, October 1847
Various
This collection serves as a vibrant, multifaceted snapshot of the Victorian intellectual mind, blending literary criticism, travelogues, and moralistic storytelling into a cohesive, often acerbic, monthly periodical.
The Negro Problem
Unknown
The struggle for civil rights, economic self-sufficiency, and political agency defines the early twentieth-century American experience. These collected essays map a path toward justice for a people emerging from the long, dark shadow of slavery.
The Friendships of Women
William Rounseville Alger
Friendship among women is often misunderstood, yet it remains an essential, profound resource for the human soul. This exploration examines the history and potential of these bonds, advocating for their intentional cultivation.
Partial Portraits
Henry James
These essays are a masterclass in the art of reading, offering a discerning look at the writers who shaped the literary landscape of the nineteenth century. They serve as an intimate guide to the complexities of the craft, written with the focused intensity of a peer examining his own tools.
Twentieth Century French Writers: Reviews and Reminiscences
A. Mary F. (Agnes Mary Frances) Robinson
This collection offers an intimate, intellectual map of the French literary landscape during the first fourteen years of the twentieth century. It serves as a bridge between the Victorian past and a post-war future.
A Philosophical Dictionary, Volume 01
Voltaire
A sharp, spirited engagement with history and dogma, these pages invite readers to dismantle inherited superstitions through the power of wit and rational inquiry.
Medical Essays, 1842-1882
Oliver Wendell Holmes
Physicians bear a profound responsibility to bridge the gap between scientific observation and the well-being of their patients. This collection of essays serves as a rigorous, historically grounded call for intellectual humility and evidence-based practice in the medical arts.
Happiness: Essays on the meaning of life
Karl Hilty
True happiness is not a destination to be reached, but the byproduct of a life purposefully lived through disciplined work and unwavering moral resolve.
Modern Essays and Stories: A book to awaken appreciation of modern prose, and to develop ability and originality in writing
Unknown
Great writing is not a product of mechanical imitation, but a vital, personal expression that transforms the small, overlooked details of human life into permanent, meaningful art.
Utopia of Usurers and Other Essays
G. K. (Gilbert Keith) Chesterton
The modern world stands at a crossroads where the pursuit of profit has supplanted the pursuit of justice, turning citizens into cogs in a vast, impersonal machine of servitude. This collection of essays serves as a piercing critique of a society that has surrendered its humanity to the cold logic of the marketplace.
A Dialogue Concerning Oratory, or the Causes of Corrupt Eloquence: The Works of Cornelius Tacitus, Volume 8 (of 8)
Cornelius Tacitus
HOOK A sophisticated meditation on the decline of public speech, this work captures a pivotal debate among Roman intellectuals regarding whether true eloquence can survive in an age of stability.
Books and Habits, from the Lectures of Lafcadio Hearn
Lafcadio Hearn
This collection of lectures serves as an intimate bridge between Western literary tradition and the inquisitive minds of Japanese students at the turn of the twentieth century. It offers a rare perspective on how a seasoned critic translates the complex, often contradictory soul of English literature for an…
English Prose: A Series of Related Essays for the Discussion and Practice of the Art of Writing
Unknown
This collection of classic essays serves as a rigorous, curated companion for the study of composition, grounding the technical act of writing in the substantial weight of human inquiry.
Chips from a German Workshop, Volume 1: Essays on the Science of Religion
F. Max (Friedrich Max) Müller
The study of the divine is a journey into our shared past, revealing how disparate cultures have long reached for the same infinite truths through the unique, ancient languages of their own traditions.
Appreciations, with an Essay on Style
Walter Pater
This collection of essays offers a masterclass in literary discernment, guiding the reader through the architecture of language and the intimate, often melancholic lives of the writers who shaped the English canon.
Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine - Volume 55, No. 344, June, 1844
Various
What are the enduring echoes of a century past? This collection captures the vibrant, sprawling intellect of the Victorian era through the diverse voices of its most influential monthly magazine.
Five Years of Theosophy
Unknown
The quest for ancient wisdom reveals a hidden architecture of the human soul, bridging the gap between scientific inquiry and the eternal mysteries of the spirit.
The Poet's Poet
Elizabeth Atkins
The poet’s own words serve as our best guide to understanding the mysterious, often contradictory identity of the creative soul throughout the last century and a half.