The endeavour has been made in this volume to bring together the heroic men of different races, periods and types; and in the selection of material the most attractive, intelligent and authoritative literature has been drawn upon. In cases in which the material selected belongs distinctively to the best literature, no changes have been made, although narratives have been abbreviated; in cases in which the material has a historical rather than a distinctively literary quality, the text has been treated for "substance of doctrine," and omissions have been freely made, and connecting words, phrases and even sentences have been introduced to give the narrative clear connection and completeness...

The author investigates the world of work against a backdrop of culture. Each of the 25 essays focuses on one aspect of the topic. For example, the first essay, "Tool or Man?" looks at two views of man. One is that of strength as the provider of security. The other is that of aesthete, as an enthusiast of the arts or academics or religion. In our culture, provider of security is the winner every time. Man as a source of multiple talents cannot be allowed. As the author frames the argument, "Specialisation has been carried so far that it has become an organised tyranny...

This story is based upon the experiences of two Belgian refugees in World War I. When their parents are marched of by Germans, Jan and Marie are left alone. Now they, along with their dog, have to find their parents!

The Dutch Twins are Kit and Kat, 5 years old and not yet big enough to be called by their real names, Christopher and Katrina. They live in a typical Dutch household, around the turn of the last century. The book follows their day-to-day adventures and accidental mishaps. The book is the first of a series of stories about twins in different countries, meant to give children an idea of life and customs in various parts of the world.

This is Engels' first book (since considered a classic account of England's working class in the industrial age), which argues that workers paid a heavy price for the industrial revolution that swept the country. Engels wrote the piece while staying in Manchester from 1842 to 1844, based on th bohis observations and several contemporary reports conducted over the period.

Penelope's English Experiences is a fictional travelogue, which documents the experiences of three American ladies on a visit to England. Included are scenes in London and the village of Belvern, containing fanciful sketches of a West-end ball, portraits of domestic originals, etc., characterized by humorous trifling and droll exaggeration of English traits. By the author Mother Carey's Chickens, A Cathedral Courtship, etc.

A romantic comedy. A pretty young American girl tours English Cathedrals, with her very blue-blooded Aunt. Then boy meets girl. Boy chases girl. Boy loses girl. Boy finds girl. Finally, girl catches boy with the help of a mad bull.

Rose Wiley is a pretty country girl. She's engaged to Stephen Waterman, a country boy. She is quite content, until Claude Merril, a man from Boston, tells her that her love is ruining Stephen's life. A cute coming-of-age novel.

While a columnist for The Chicago Record humorist George Ade penned numerous “fables” which were subsequently collected into books. Fables in Slang is the first of these collections. It contains 26 satirical stories that lampoon phrenologists, idealists, snobs, fanatics and other ignorant fools of the day, most of which still wander through our modern lives. Jean Shepherd considered Ade a predecessor who made writers like James Thurber, Mike Royko, and himself possible. Fables in Slang was first published in 1899 by Herbert S. Stone and Company.

David "Davy" Crockett (August 17, 1786 – March 6, 1836) was a celebrated 19th century American folk hero, frontiersman, soldier and politician. He is commonly referred to in popular culture by the epithet “King of the Wild Frontier.” He represented Tennessee in the U.S. House of Representatives, served in the Texas Revolution, and died at the Battle of the Alamo. This narrative attempts faithfully to record the influences under which David Crockett was reared and the incidents of his wild and wondrous life...

A history of Russia from 500 B.C. to 1855 A.D., written by John Stevens Cabot Abbott, the brother of Jacob Abbott.

The Monadology (La Monadologie, 1714) is one of Gottfried Leibniz’s best known works representing his later philosophy. It is a short text which sketches in some 90 paragraphs a metaphysics of simple substances, or monads. What he proposed can be seen as a modification of occasionalism developed by latter-day Cartesians. Leibniz surmised that there are indefinitely many substances individually ‘programmed’ to act in a predetermined way, each program being coordinated with all the others. This is the pre-established harmony which solved the mind body problem at the cost of declaring any interaction between substances a mere appearance, something which Leibniz accepted...

Rudin is the first and perhaps least known novel by Ivan Turgenev, a famous Russian writer best known for his short stories and the novel Fathers and Sons. The story focuses on a romantic involvement between Rudin and Natalya, a serious, intelligent young woman. The topic of the “superfluous man” and his inability to act, which was a major theme of Turgenev's literary work, is explored. – Adapted from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rudin by Lee Smalley

On the Eve appeared in 1860, two years before Fathers and Sons, Turgenev's most famous novel. It is set in the prior decade (by the end of the novel, the Crimean War (1853-56) has already broken out. It centers on the young Elena Nikolaevna Stakhov, daughter of Nikolai Arteyemvitch and Anna Vassilyevna Stahov. Misunderstood by both her parents (Nikolai Artemyevitch is at least as interested in his German mistress as in members of her family) she is on friendly terms with both the would-be professor Andrei Petrovitch Bersenyev and the rising young sculptor Pavel Yakovitch Shubin, both of whom might be -- or might not be -- in love with her...

One of the most beloved French plays of all time, Cyrano de Bergerac is a clever and tragic tale of truth concealed and love denied. Its titular character is a proud, daring swordsman and genius poet who has one terrible flaw: an abnormally large nose. Too afraid of rejection to confess his love for the beautiful Roxane, Cyrano helps her brainless but handsome suitor Christian to woo her, providing him with love letters while resolutely keeping his own passion a secret.

The Royal Book of Oz (1921) is the fifteenth in the series of Oz books, and the first to be written by Ruth Plumly Thompson after L. Frank Baum’s death. Although Baum was credited as the author, it was written entirely by Thompson. The Scarecrow is upset when Professor Wogglebug tells him that he has no family, so he goes to where Dorothy Gale found him to trace his “roots.” Then he vanishes from the face of Oz. Dorothy and the Cowardly Lion mount a search for their friend, but when that is successful, they will need to become a rescue party!

When Jenny goes to stay with her Aunt Abby, a caretaker in a grand old manor-house, she discovers a wonderful twisting passage on the second floor with an array of colourful characters living in the rooms along it – each of them with a story to tell.

The Summa Theologica (or the Summa Theologiae or simply the Summa, written between 1265–1274) is the most famous work of Thomas Aquinas, even though it was never finished. It was intended as a manual for beginners and a compilation of all of the main theological teachings of that time. It summarizes the reasoning for almost all points of Christian theology in the West, which, before the Protestant Reformation, subsisted solely in the Roman Catholic Church. The Summa's topics follow a cycle: the existence of God, God's creation, Man, Man's purpose, Christ, the Sacraments, and back to God...

The Summa Theologica (or the Summa Theologiae or simply the Summa, written 1265–1274) is the most famous work of Thomas Aquinas (c. 1225–1274) although it was never finished. It was intended as a manual for beginners and a compilation of all of the main theological teachings of that time. It summarizes the reasoning for almost all points of Christian theology in the West, which, before the Protestant Reformation, subsisted solely in the Roman Catholic Church. The Summa's topics follow a cycle: the existence of God, God's creation, Man, Man's purpose, Christ, the Sacraments, and back to God...

The horse is perfect in all its parts—a splendid steed, saddled, bridled, and otherwise completely caparisoned. In it there appears nothing amiss—nothing to produce either wonder or alarm. But the man—the rider? Ah! About him there is something to cause both—something weird—something wanting! By heavens! it is the head! (Excerpt from the Prologue) The Headless Horseman is a novel by Mayne Reid written in 1865 or 1866 and is based on the author's adventures in the United States. The Headless Horseman or a Strange Tale of Texas was set in Texas and based on a South Texas folk tale...

Gwendoline Wynn, our heroine, is an orphan-heiress who lives on the river Wye. She will live with aunt until she comes of age and her money. Vivian Ryecroft, our hero and a captain in the Hussars, is on a leave of absence in Herefordshire, salmon fishing on the Wye. Gwen and Vivian have a chance, and brief, encounter on the Wye, and Vivian is enchanted. Will our hero and heroine find love? Will it last?

"Unroll the world’s map, and look upon the great northern continent of America. Away to the wild west, away toward the setting sun, away beyond many a far meridian, let your eyes wander. Rest them where golden rivers rise among peaks that carry the eternal snow. Rest them there. You are looking upon a land whose features are un-furrowed by human hands, still bearing the marks of the Almighty mould, as upon the morning of creation; a region whose every object wears the impress of God’s image...

A plant hunter, Karl Linden, and his brother Caspar are on their way to the Himalayas to collect the plants of that region. Many adventures befell the brothers and their guides, all of which led to their being trapped in the mountains. This is a story of their escape from those mountains. (Ann Boulais)

The Young Yägers, Hans and Hendrik Von Bloom, Groot Willem and Arend Van Wyk, are again on a hunting expedition. This time, the reader will find their old acquaintances in Africa, on the banks of the Limpopo River. Here our young adventurers are looking for sport and wild animals.

The Lives of the Queens of England is a multi-volumed work attributed to Agnes Strickland, though it was mostly researched and written by her sister Elizabeth. These volumes give biographies of the queens of England from the Norman Conquest in 1066. Although by today's standards, it is not seen as a very scholarly work, the Stricklands used many sources that had not been used before.Volume one includes the biographies of Matilda of Flanders, Matilda of Scotland, Adelicia of Louvaine, Matilda of Boulogne and Eleanora of Aquitaine.(Introduction by Ann Boulais)

Willie Spence may have been a bit eccentric by most standards, but he had a knack for creating gadgets in his small workshop at his home on Cape Cod. Whenever he was 'ketched' by an 'idee' he had to see it to completion, and always did. His small cottage on the Cape had become a labyrinth of string and wires tacked here and there so as to make life a bit challenging for his housekeeper Celestina. But she and most everyone else among the coastal towns and villages loved the old man for all his eccentricities as Willie spent his waning years just waiting for his ship to come in.

Mr. Clark and Donald spend a year out west to the Crescent Ranch in Idaho learning about raising sheep.

The play is set in Bath in the 18th century, a town legendary for conspicuous consumption and fashion at the time. Wealthy, fashionable people went there to "take the waters", which were believed to have healing properties. The plot centres on the two young lovers, Lydia and Jack. Lydia, who reads a lot of popular novels of the time, wants a purely romantic love affair. To court her, Jack pretends to be "Ensign Beverley", a poor officer. Lydia is enthralled with the idea of eloping with a poor soldier in spite of her guardian, Mrs...

Richard Brinsley Sheridan's comedy was first performed in 1777 and focuses on the intrigues and scandals of the British upper classes. Lady Sneerwell wants to marry Charles Surface, while Joseph Surface wants to marry Maria, an heiress and ward of Sir Peter Teazle. Maria, however, prefers Charles over Joseph. In order to detach her from Charles, Lady Sneerwell and Joseph spread rumors about an affair between Charles and Lady Teazle, Sir Peter's new young wife. Meanwhile, Sir Oliver Surface, newly returned from the East Indies, assumes various disguises to test his nephews' characters. Misunderstandings, mistaken identities, gossip, and bad behavior abound in this uproarious comedy.

Published posthumously in 1919, this collection of diary entries presents a scathing picture of army life and is said to be one of the most vivid accounts of daily life in the trenches. It chronicles West's increasing disillusion with war and his move toward pacifist and atheist beliefs. The final part consists of his powerful war poems, including God, How I Hate You, You Young Cheerful Men, and Night Patrol. West was killed by a sniper in 1917. In view of some of his poems, one wonders if death was not unwelcome. (Introduction adapted from Wikipedia by Ruth Golding)

The Fortunes of Philippa is based on the author's mother, Angelica Brazil, who had grown up in Rio de Janeiro and attended an English boarding school at the age of 10, finding the English culture, school life and climate confronting.

Although best known for his Winnie the Pooh stories, A.A. Milne spent years as an editor at the English humor magazine Punch. These sprightly essays were chosen from the hundreds he wrote during that period. As usual, they are funny, wry, and poke fun at almost all of our human foibles. There are 6 short one act plays that he wrote to demonstrate the 6 allowable plots for amateur playwrights and they are absolutely hilarious. The other topics run the gamut from dogs to dates.

The poetry of childhood is full of attractiveness to the artist, and many and varied are the forms in which he interprets it. The Christ-child has been his highest ideal. All that human imagination could conceive of innocence and purity and divine loveliness has been shown forth in the delineation of the Babe of Bethlehem. The influence of such art has made itself felt upon all child pictures. It matters not whether the subject be a prince or a street-waif; the true artist sees in him something which is lovable and winning, and transfers it to his canvas for our lasting pleasure.

This is a letter to the Toronto Board of Trade regarding Canadian copyrights. Morang requested an appearance before the Toronto Board of Trade but was denied. This is his letter in response. He wished to make clear his position.

Twenty-year-old Mary Alice is bored with her home life and envious of the beautiful, poised, popular girls she sees at parties. At her mother's advice, she reluctantly visits her Godmother in New York, who teaches Mary Alice a little homemade "magic" and the one great Secret that will put her at ease with other people. How can Mary Alice learn to use these gifts to bring happiness into her own life and other lives? Although this charming novelette is subtitled "A True Fairy Story," it reveals that most of the "magic" in life can be found within ourselves. (Introduction by Jan MacGillivray)

Cattleman J.G. Whittemore, owner of the Flying U ranch in Montana, trusts the task of meeting his sister at the train to only one man, Chip. Chip’s not too keen on women. In his experience they come in only a few types: prissy “sweet young thing”, annoying cowgirl, or old maid that wants to drag him to church. He isn’t prepared for Miss Della Whittemore, the “Little Doctor.” She turns the ranch upside down, but can she turn Chip head over heels?

Phil Thurston was born on the range where the trails are dim and silent under the big sky. It was the place his father loved, the place he had to be. After the death of his father when he was five, his mother brought him back to the city, where he grew up and became a writer. To revive his stale writing, he returns to the West, and may just find what he is really missing.

Imagine a young, twenty-something woman in 1860, reared “in the indolent life of the ordinary Southern girl” (which means she has never learned to cook); married to a professional man who knows “nothing of manual labor;” who is mother to a young son; and who has just found out she is pregnant with their second child. Imagine that this couple has become “embarrassed financially” by “imprudent speculations,” and that they are discussing what to do. They decide to buy a wagon and three yoke of unbroke oxen and head overland to California...

Elbert Hubbard is best known as the author of the "Little Journeys To The Homes of Famous People". These 11 short stores show the side of him that celebrated caring, friendship love among humans. The first describes how 5 frightened orphan children from a foreign country were cared for on a railroad journey of a thousand miles; all by strangers without any planning and without a word of English being spoken or needed. He observed caring human men and women of all ages doing whatever was necessary to see they reached their destination in whatever comfort could be provided...

LITTLE JOURNEYS TO THE HOMES OF THE GREATBY Elbert HubbardGEORGE ELIOTMay I reach That purest heaven, be to other souls The cup of strength in some great agony, Enkindle generous ardor, feed pure love, Beget the smiles that have no cruelty-- Be the good presence of a good diffused, And in diffusion ever more intense. So shall I join the choir invisible Whose music is the gladness of the world. Warwickshire gave to the world William Shakespeare. It also gave Mary Ann Evans. No one will question that...

LITTLE JOURNEYS TO THE HOMES OF AMERICAN STATESMENBy ELBERT HUBBARDBERT HUBBARD A little more patience, a little more charity for all, a little more devotion, a little more love; with less bowing down to the past, and a silent ignoring of pretended authority; a brave looking forward to the future with more faith in our fellows, and the race will be ripe for a great burst of light and life. --Elbert Hubbard It was not built with the idea of ever becoming a place in history: simply a boys' cabin in the woods...

In this selection... the aim has been to bring within moderate compass a collection of these songs of the people which should fairly represent the range, the descriptive felicity, the dramatic power, and the genuine poetic feeling of a body of verse which is still, it is to be feared, unfamiliar to a large number of those to whom it would bring refreshment and delight.

The stories about Münchhausen were first collected and published by an anonymous author in 1781. An English version was published in London in 1785, by Rudolf Erich Raspe, as Baron Munchhausen's Narrative of his Marvellous Travels and Campaigns in Russia, also called The Surprising Adventures of Baron Munchhausen. It is not clear how much of the story material derives from the Baron himself; however, it is known that the majority of the stories are based on folktales that have been in circulation for many centuries before Münchhausen's birth.

Inspired by Jane Eyre, Dinah Maria Craik's 1850 novel, Olive, was one of the first to feature a disabled central character. 'Slightly deformed' from birth, Olive believes that she will never be able to marry like other women, so she devotes her life to her art, her mother, and above all, her religion. It takes a dark secret from the past and a new, fascinating acquaintance, to make her realize what her life could be.

Mrs. Mary Jemison was taken by the Indians, in the year 1755, when only about twelve years of age, and has continued to reside amongst them to the present time. Containing an account of the murder of her father and his family; her sufferings; her marriage to two Indians; her troubles with her children; barbarities of the Indians in the French and Revolutionary Wars; the life of her last husband, and many historical facts never before published.

This detailed biography covers the places in Lincoln's life: Indiana, Illinois, Washington. It also traces his various roles as storekeeper, serviceman, state legislator, lawyer, politician, Republican Party leader, and of course President. Along the way we learn about his days of hardship as a beginning lawyer, his love for Anne Rutledge, such myths as "Honest Abe," and his deep concerns over the issue of slavery. The author uses Lincoln's correspondence with others to show his personality traits and opinions about topics of his world.

The short story of a young man who came to terms with himself and became a man on a day when he had proven to be a failure to his family, his friends, his classmates, the girl he liked, and most importantly to himself.

This is the story of a little girl from New York who moves with her family to Florida in the late 19th Century. Parental warning: as this book was first published in 1903 and set in the American South, and although the author tries to be open-minded, please be aware that there are slang words used for African Americans.

The star Mira was unpredictably variable. Sometimes it was blazing, brilliant and hot. Other times it was oddly dim, cool, shedding little warmth on its many planets. Gresth Gkae, leader of the Mirans, was seeking a better star, one to which his "people" could migrate. That star had to be steady, reliable, with a good planetary system. And in his astronomical searching, he found Sol.With hundreds of ships, each larger than whole Terrestrial spaceports, and traveling faster than the speed of light, the Mirans set out to move in to Solar regions and take over...

A sky pirate armed with superior weapons of his own invention... First contact with an alien race dangerous enough to threaten the safety of two planets... The arrival of an unseen dark sun whose attendant marauders aimed at the very end of civilization in this Solar System. These were the three challenges that tested the skill and minds of the brilliant team of scientist-astronauts Arcot, Wade, and Morey. Their initial adventures are a classic of science-fiction which first brought the name of their author, John W. Campbell, into prominence as a master of the inventive imagination.

As Earth's faster-than-light spaceship hung in the void between galaxies, Arcot, Wade, Morey and Fuller could see below them, like a vast shining horizon, the mass of stars that formed their own island universe. Morey worked a moment with his slide rule, then said, "We made good time! Twenty-nine light years in ten seconds! Yet you had it on at only half power...." Arcot pushed the control lever all the way to full power. The ship filled with the strain of flowing energy, and sparks snapped in the air of the control room as they raced at an inconceivable speed through the darkness of intergalactic space...

The famous scientific trio of Arcot, Wade and Morey, challenged by the most ruthless aliens in all the universes, blasted off on an intergalactic search for defenses against the invaders of Earth and all her allies. World after world was visited, secret after secret unleashed, and turned to mighty weapons of intense force--and still the Thessian enemy seemed to grow in power and ferocity. Mighty battles between huge space armadas were but skirmishes in the galactic war, as the invincible aliens savagely advanced and the Earth team hurled bolt after bolt of pure ravening energy--until it appeared that the universe itself might end in one final flare of furious torrential power....

Written in the 14th century by the Gawain poet, 'Pearl' is an elegiac poem reflecting on the death of a young daughter, pictured as a pearl lost in a garden. It is considered a masterpiece of Middle English verse, incorporating both the older tradition of alliterative poetry as well as rhyme, centered around the development of an intricately structured image. Sophie Jewett's translation from the Northern dialect of the original renders much of the poem's liveliness and beauty accessible to modern readers, whilst encouraging them to pursue their reading further, to read the original itself.This recording is dedicated to the memory of Pearl Jean Shearman, 1914-2012.

The scene of this story is laid in Kentucky. Its heroine is a small girl, who is known as the Little Colonel, on account of her fancied resemblance to an old-school Southern gentleman, whose fine estate and old family are famous in the region. (Introduction taken from original book.)

This is the story of Joyce, an American girl who has been sent abroad to France to study, and of her adventures in France, - the wonderful house with the gate of The Giant Scissors, Jules, her little playmate, Sister Denis, the cruel Brossard, and her dear Aunt Kate.

In This volume the Little Colonel returns to us like an old friend, but with added grace and charm. She is not, however, the central figure of the story, that place being taken by the “two little knights,” Malcolm and Keith, little Southern aristocrats, whose chivalrous natures lead them through a series of interesting adventures.

A charming 'coming of age' story about a young girl, Mary Marie, whose young life is thrown into turmoil as her parents divorce. As she leads two lives, she comes to realize that her parents still love one another, and engineers a reunion. In the end, we discover the long-lasting effect of this turmoil on the adult Mary Marie, and her own marriage."

"What a joy! How exciting! Margret Kendall returned home, to her loving and equally beloved mother's arms after 4 years in the slums of New York City- where she endured unimaginable hardships. This hardship made the naturally brilliant nine-years-old strong, resourceful, and full of questions which her mother finds it hard to answer. But this is not the end of the problems she would have to face. Those will include her mother's intended marriage, her need to get along with her stepfather's people, and her ever present worry about her poor friends from New York who were there for her in her darkest moments...

These 18 wonderful short stories by Eleanor H. Porter, the author of Pollyanna, deal with those marvelous and maddeningly frustrating creatures: human beings. As always, Porter describes real people with sensitivity and an insight into all of their variety that makes you say "I knew someone just like that". She is able to capture the faded, but not quite extinguished, dreams of the elderly and the bright hopes of youth. The theme of this collection is how we humans deal with life and love throughout our lives, "Across the Years", no matter where we are or what era we live in.

Along the coast of Maine are littered thousands of small islands. One such, named 'Pocket Island' by the locals was so called because of a pocket formed twice daily by the waning of the tides. The coast of Maine holds many secrets and legends, and Pocket Island was no exception. Subtitled "A Story of Country Life in New England", this story holds such varied and fascinating glimpses into the lives of a few individuals, and is not limited to merely a story of ghosts, of war, of barn dances, friendship, tales of rum-runners, smugglers, and seafarers...

This book is about Norah Linton, her brother Jim, her father David and Jim's chum Wally from Australia. They all move to England during WWI because Jim and Wally want to fight in the war.When a Irish friend of the family dies, Norah inherits a big house in Surrey: Homewood. To keep up the Irishman's memory they want to use the house to help the war effort. They turn it into a home for "Tired People"--soldiers recovering from injuries, or soldiers on leave that have no family to go home to, can come here to have a good time and enjoy the country-side, so that they can go back to their regiments fully rested and restored...

An Australian childrens' classic about life on a ranch around the same time of A Little Florida Lady, with a similarly plucky tomboy heroine. Also, like the latter story, expect some racial stereotyping of Asian and Aboriginal characters. This originally ran as a newspaper serial and it shows in the episodic nature of the chapters, such as a vivid trip to the circus sandwiched by talk of a mad killer and an unexpectedly sentimental ending.

In 1933, Forman Brown wrote, under the pseudonym Richard Meeker, a controversial novel called Better Angel, about a young man coming to terms with his homosexuality. This novel is regarded as "the first American novel to present the 'gay' experience in a healthy light."

The Masquerader is one of two Katherine Cecil Thurston’s books that appeared on the Publisher’s Weekly best-sellers list in 1905. The Masquerader is part mystery, part romance and part political thriller – all tied up in one neat package. Nature has a way of sometimes making two people nearly indistinguishable in appearance. Such is the premise for this book. John Chilcote, a British politician, and John Loder, a man down on his luck meet by accident one night during one of London’s worst fogs...

Clodagh, 18 years old, is the eldest daughter of Dennis Asshlin, an Irish gentleman who lives in an area of Ireland called Orristown. Dennis is passionate, proud and indebted to no one. But, Dennis has an obsession with gambling that is leading the family to ruin. When tragedy strikes, Clodagh finds herself in a situation where she must defend the family honor because “no Asshlin is ever obliged to anyone”. She marries a man she does not love who is many times her age and is thrust from adolescence to adulthood literally overnight...

AMUSEMENTS IN MATHEMATICSby HENRY ERNEST DUDENEYPREFACEIn issuing this volume of my Mathematical Puzzles, of which some have appeared in periodicals and others are given here for the first time, I must acknowledge the encouragement that I have received from many unknown correspondents, at home and abroad, who have expressed a desire to have the problems in a collected form, with some of the solutions given at greater length than is possible in magazines and newspapers. Though I have included a few old puzzles that have interested the world for generations, where I felt that there was something new to be said about them, the problems are in the main original...

Once on a time there was a poor husbandman who had so many children that he hadn’t much of either food or clothing to give them. Pretty children they all were, but the prettiest was the youngest daughter, who was so lovely there was no end to her loveliness.So one day, ’twas on a Thursday evening late at the fall of the year, the weather was so wild and rough outside, and it was so cruelly dark, and rain fell and wind blew, till the walls of the cottage shook again. There they all sat round the fire, busy with this thing and that...

Dora Maria Sigerson Shorter was an Irish poet and sculptor, who after her marriage in 1895 wrote under the name Dora Sigerson Shorter. She was born in Dublin, Ireland, the daughter of George Sigerson, a surgeon and writer, and Hester (née Varian), also a writer. She was a major figure of the Irish Literary Revival, publishing many collections of poetry from 1893. Her friends included Katharine Tynan, Rose Kavanagh and Alice Furlong, writers and poets.

Vizetelly, writing under the pseudonym J. Tyrwhitt Brooks, recalls an expedition to California he took between 1847-1848 . Originally, he planned to enlist as a surgeon for the US Army during the Mexican war, but conflicts had ended by the time he applied. In a quick change of plans, he joined a group of prospectors on their way to the newly found gold fields of California. While he might not find service in the military, his training as a physician made him a valuable addition to the ragtag team of explorers...

A look at some of the famous women in European history. Includes biographies on Cleopatra; Isabella of Castile; Joan of Arc; Maria Theresa; Josephine; Elizabeth of England; Mary of Scotland; Catherine of Russia; Marie Antoinette; and Madame Roland. Mr. Jenkins, whose name remains on the title-page of this volume, was prevented from finishing the work for a long time by sickness, and finally by death. The first chapter is from his pen, and the rest has been written according to his instructions by one whom he selected, and who has had access to works rare in this country, such as Monstrelet's Chronicles, Tooke's Life of Catherine II...

Lysistrata read by the Classics Drama Company at DePaul. The Classics Drama Company at DePaul is a new gathering of Thespians and Classicists dedicated to performing and understanding ancient literature. If you live in Chicago and attend DePaul University, we welcome new additions to our group. Contact Dr. Kirk Shellko (kshellko@depaul.edu), if interested.First performed in classical Athens c. 411 B.C.E., Aristophanes’ Lysistrata is the original battle of the sexes. One woman, Lysistrata, brings together the women of all Greece, exhorting them to withhold sexual contact from all men in order that they negotiate a treaty...

"This comical children's tale about the funny adventures of a funny pig written by an unknown author. The publisher has hired authors to write children's tales, and gave them "house names". The "name" of the author who wrote this tale is Richard Barnum. It became very successful, the most well known of Richard Barnum's tales. So, if you want to laugh a little, even if you are not a child, read this book".

Watkin Tench was an officer of the British Marines in the First Fleet to settle NSW. This is an interesting and entertaining account of his experiences during that time (Introduction by Tabithat)

The Chemical History of a Candle is a series of 6 lectures on chemistry presented to a juvenile audience in 1848. Taught by Michael Faraday - a chemist and physist, and regarded as the best experimentalist in the history of science - it is probably the most famous of the Christmas Lectures of the Royal Society. Taking the everyday burning of a candle as a starting point, Faraday spans the arc from combustion and its products, via the components of water and air (oxygen, hydrogen, nitrogen, carbon), back to the type of combustion that happens in the human body when we breathe...

A sketch of the second regiment of Connecticut volunteer heavy artillery, originally the Nineteenth Volunteer Infantry, in the Civil War.

Have you seen a human fairy? Meet Alice Morrow, the dainty fairy of the snows, who will dance her way right into your heart! Get ready to laugh and cry as you follow the antics and trials of the Morrow family, living in early 20th Century Cincinnati. (Introduction by Anne Elizabeth)

Tom Playfair; Or Making a Start is a book by a Roman Catholic priest, originally published in 1890, and written for youth ages 9-12.The story opens with 10-year-old Tom Playfair being quite a handful for his well-meaning but soft-hearted aunt. (Tom's mother has died.) Mr. Playfair decides to ship his son off to St. Maure's boarding school — an all-boys academy run by Jesuits — to shape him up, as well as to help him make a good preparation for his upcoming First Communion. Tom is less than enthusiastic, but his adventures are just about to begin: life at St. Maure's will not be dull.

The Damnation of Theron Ware (published in England as Illumination) is an 1896 novel by American author Harold Frederic. It is widely considered a classic of American realism. The novel reveals a great deal about turn-of-the-century provincial America, religious life, and the depressed state of intellectual and artistic culture in small towns.The novel centers on the life of a Methodist pastor named Theron Ware who has recently moved to a fictional small town in the Adirondack Mountains of upstate New York, which Frederic modeled after Utica, New York...

The National Gambling Impact Study Commission was given the task of conducting a comprehensive legal and factual study on the social and economic implications of gambling in the United States. This report presents the principal findings of that work and recommendations for action.

This is the tale of a perilous voyage aboard a clipper ship told by the second mate. He looks up to Trunnell, the first mate, who somehow manages to hold things together between a murdering former captain, a captain who may not actually be a captain, and a crew inclined to mutiny. This all leads to a surprising and satisfying ending. The author, Hains, wrote frequently of the sea. He is the author who (under a pen name) had a story on the newsstands about a liner hitting an iceberg and sinking, while Titanic was doing precisely that!

Constitución vigente en España actualmente, fruto de la Transición a la democracia tras la muerte de Francisco Franco. (Introducción por AGV)

Elizabeth Stuart Phelps's 1877 novel is set in a New England college town, and focuses on Avis Dobell, a professor's daughter. Avis is a talented painter, and bucks against the constraints placed on women in the 19th century. She wants to pursue a career as an artist and rejects marriage and motherhood, until she meets the charismatic young professor Philip Ostrander. Phelps's novel is a beautifully-written examination of the conflicts between marriage and career for women that is still relevant today.

Percy Keese Fitzhugh (September 7, 1876 - July 5, 1950) was an American author of nearly 100 books for children and young adults. The bulk of his work revolves around the fictional town of Bridgeboro, New Jersey and has a scouting theme. One of his major characters was Pee-Wee Harris. The title, Pee-Wee Harris, was the first in a series of 13 Pee-Wee Harris books. Pee Wee is just that; small in stature but huge in heart and ever so loyal as a scout should be. In the first installment, Pee-Wee visits his Aunt Jamsiah and Uncle Eb in a small New Jersey backwoods village called Everdoze...

Phineas Taylor Barnum (July 5, 1810 – April 7, 1891) was an American showman, businessman, and entertainer, remembered for promoting celebrated hoaxes and for founding the circus that became the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus.(br />His successes may have made him the first "show business" millionaire. Although Barnum was also an author, publisher, philanthropist, and for some time a politician, he said of himself, "I am a showman by profession...and all the gilding shall make nothing else of me," and his personal aims were "to put money in his own coffers". (Reference: Wikipedia.org)

Sir Richard Francis Burton (1821 – 1890) was an English explorer, translator, writer, soldier, orientalist, ethnologist, linguist, poet, hypnotist, fencer and diplomat. He was known for his travels and explorations within Asia and Africa as well as his extraordinary knowledge of languages and cultures. According to one count, he spoke 29 European, Asian, and African languages.Burton's best-known achievements include traveling in disguise to Mecca, The Book of One Thousand Nights and A Night, an...

This is a collection of stories of authors who have lost their fortunes and sometimes their lives after writing a book. The liberty of a person's conscience was unknown in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries; Why should a man be drawn and quartered for writing what we know is the truth? What must it have been like to have lived in that era. At the time it was dangerous to say that the earth went around the sun and many other theories were treated in the same way.

Although the origin of this book is much debated it remains, perhaps, one of the earliest recorded histories of Britain. It was believed that Nennius wrote the book around 796AD. If indeed he wrote this record, Nennius is recognised as being a teller, and embellisher, of historic characters and events.This book remains notable however, as one of the earliest that mention Arthur (The King of Arthurian legend).

Donald Alexander Mackenzie was a Scottish journalist and prolific writer on religion, mythology and anthropology in the early 20th century. His works included Indian Myth and Legend, Celtic Folklore and Myths of China and Japan.As well as writing books, articles and poems, he often gave lectures, and also broadcast talks on Celtic mythology.This volume deals with the myths and legends of Babylonia and Assyria, and as these reflect the civilization in which they developed, a historical narrative has been provided, beginning with the early Sumerian Age and concluding with the periods of the Persian and Grecian Empires...

This volume describes, in verse, the mythical creatures and people of ancient Scotland. It also includes explanatory notes about about the characters and folk tales that inspired the author's poetry. (Introduction by Matthew Reece)

Selma Lagerlöf was born in Vaermland, Sweden, in 1858 and enjoyed a long and very successful career as a writer, receiving the Nobel-Prize in Literature in 1909. She died in Vaermland in 1940. The Treasure (Herr Arnes penningar) is a fairly short Novel, both a Drama and a Ghost Story. Published in 1904 and the English translation in 1923. The story is set in Bohuslaen on the West coast of Sweden in the middle of the 16th Century. Herr Arne, the old Parson in Solberga and all his household are brutally murdered, and his great Treasure stolen...

The Ingoldsby Legends are a collection of myths, legends, ghost stories and poetry supposedly written by Thomas Ingoldsby of Tappington Manor, actually a pen-name of Richard Harris Barham.The legends were first printed in 1837 as a regular series in Bentley's Miscellany and later in New Monthly Magazine. The legends were illustrated by John Leech and George Cruikshank. They proved immensely popular and were compiled into books published in 1840, 1842 and 1847 by Richard Bentley. They remained popular through the Victorian era but have since fallen out of fame. An omnibus edition appeared in 1879: The Ingoldsby Legends; or Mirth and marvels.

Few stories of shipwreck and survival can equal that of the 16th century Spaniard Alvar Núñez Cabeza de Vaca who, cast ashore near present day (USA) Tampa Bay, Florida, in 1528, survived eight years of hand-to-mouth existence among the Indians of the South and Southwest, and who walked on foot across the plains to the Pacific Coast, arriving in Mexico in 1536. In 1542 he published an account of his adventures, and the present reading is based on Fanny Bandelier’s English translation of that text...

In 1770, Baron D'Holbach published his masterpiece, "Systeme de la Nature", which for a long time passed as the posthumous work of M. de Mirabaud. That text-book of "Atheistical Philosophy" caused a great sensation, and two years later, 1772, the Baron published this excellent abridgment of it, freed from arbitrary ideas; and by its clearness of expression, facility, and precision of style, rendered it most suitable for the average student. This text is based on an undated English translation of "Le Bon Sens" published c. 1900. The name of the translator was not stated.

Idylls of the King, published between 1856 and 1885, is a cycle of twelve narrative poems by the English poet Alfred, Lord Tennyson which retells the legend of King Arthur, his knights, his love for Guinevere and her tragic betrayal of him, and the rise and fall of Arthur's kingdom. The whole work recounts Arthur's attempt and failure to lift up mankind and create a perfect kingdom, from his coming to power to his death at the hands of the traitor Mordred. Individual poems detail the deeds of various knights, including Lancelot, Geraint, Galahad, and Balin and Balan, and also Merlin and the Lady of the Lake.

The Princess is a serio-comic blank verse narrative poem, written by Alfred Tennyson, published in 1847. The poem tells the story of an heroic princess who forswears the world of men and founds a women's university where men are forbidden to enter. The prince to whom she was betrothed in infancy enters the university with two friends, disguised as women students. They are discovered and flee, but eventually they fight a battle for the princess's hand.

The Story of the Pony Express offers an in depth account behind the need for a mail route to connect the eastern U.S. with the rapidly populating west coast following the gold rush of California, the springing up of lumber camps, and all incidental needs arising from the settling of the western frontier. Here we learn of the inception of the Pony Express, its formation, successes, failures, facts, statistics, combined with many anecdotes and names of the people who were an integral part of this incredible entity which lasted but less than two years, yet was instrumental in the successful settlement of two thirds of the land mass comprising the expanding country...

He was a painter, a poet, a novelist. He lived during the Hungarian revolution and his love of freedom meant his life was often in peril. She was his first love, this girl with the eyes like the sea. She was at heart noble, good and loving. What an excellent lady might have been made out of this woman, if she had only met with a husband who, in the most ordinary acceptance of the word, had been a good fellow, as is really the case with about nine men out of every ten. But she always managed to draw the unlucky tenth out of the urn of destiny...

Móric Jókay de Ásva, known as Mór Jókai or Maurus Jokai, was a Hungarian dramatist and novelist. He was a very prolific writer from an early age and wrote hundreds of novels, novellas, and short stories in his lifetime. The nine stories in this selection tell about hard times in Eastern Europe, especially in Hungary (Jokai was involved in the Hungarian uprising of 1848), as well as of ancient superstitions and folk lore. In the novella "The City of the Beast", Jokai gives his version of the sinking of Atlantis.

Allan Pinkerton (1819-1884), a Scotsman by birth and a barrel-maker by trade, settled in Chicago in its infancy and founded the Pinkertons, the world's first detective agency. Though events associated with the agency after his death have tarnished the name, Pinkerton himself was one of the original human rights advocates. He was a dear friend to John Brown, an advisor to Abraham Lincoln, and 80 years ahead of his time in hiring female detectives. He was also stubborn, irascible, and an egomaniac...

This novel, which Shakespeare adapted in his pastoral comedy As You Like It, is the archetypal pastoral adventure. Two young persons of high birth, who have recently lost their fathers (one to death, one to banishment), fall in love but are separated almost at once and forced to flee to the Forest of Arden. There they meet again, but as Rosalynde is disguised for safety as a boy, named Ganymede, her lover Rosader does not recognize her. Once Rosader has confided his love to Ganymede, they play a game in which the "boy" poses as Rosalynde to give Rosader practice in wooing...