A few of Lincoln's most famous speeches and the Lincoln-Douglas debate make for historic reading.

On Thursday, November 19, 1863, Abraham Lincoln gave a brief address at the dedication of the Soldier's National Cemetery in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. This speech is now considered one of the greatest in American history and one of the finest examples of English public oratory. To mark its 150th anniversary, Librivox volunteers bring you 15 recordings of the Gettysburg Address. (from Wikipedia and LA Walden)

After having written and released an initial draft of this proclamation in September of 1862, minor changes were made and Lincoln signed it on January 1st, 1863. It declared free the slaves in 10 states not then under Union control, with exemptions specified for areas already under Union control in two states. Lincoln spent the next 100 days preparing the army and the nation for emancipation, while Democrats rallied their voters in the 1862 off-year elections by warning of the threat freed slaves posed to northern whites...

The Metal Monster is an Abraham Merritt fantasy novel.Dr. Goodwin is on a botanical expedition in the Himalayas. There hemeets Dick Drake, the son of one of his old science acquaintances. They are witnesses of a strange aurora-like effect, but seemingly a deliberate one. As they go out to investigate, they meet Goodwin’s old friends Martin and Ruth Ventnor, brother and sister scientists. The two are besieged by Persians as Darius III led when Alexander of Macedon conquered them more than two thousand years ago.(Wikipedia)

Dr. David Throckmartin’s scientific expedition to the South Sea Islands discovers among ancient ruins a portal into Muria, an unknown underground world. After the disappearance of Throckmartin, his wife and two companions, his old friend Dr. Walter Goodwin enters Muria with a rescue party, only to confront an fantastic world filled with incredible beings, astounding scientific advances, and the worship of the most evil of all creatures, The Dweller. (Introduction by Mark Nelson)

“Perceiving that much of the intrinsic value of these Journals would consist in a proper understanding of the historical facts to which allusions are made in them, I prevailed upon Mr. Lossing, the well-known author of the “Pictorial Field-Book of the Revolution” to illustrate and elucidate these diaries by explanatory notes. His name is a sufficient guaranty for their accuracy and general usefulness”

Ada Cambridge (November 21, 1844 – July 19, 1926), later known as Ada Cross, was an English born Australian writer. While she gained recognition as Australia’s first woman poet of note, her longer term reputation rests on her novels. Overall she wrote more than twenty-five works of fiction, three volumes of poetry and two autobiographical works.[1] Many of her novels were serialised in Australian newspapers, and were never published in book form. The story pans over three – four decades revolving the four Pennycuick sisters.

The first in a trilogy of books known together as 'The Little Ottleys', this is a sparkling social comedy set in Edwardian London. Ada Leverson was a great friend and staunch supporter of Oscar Wilde and shared his love for sharp, witty writing. Like Wilde, her work is characterised by a wonderful ear for dialogue and deft characterization. 'Love's Shadow' introduces us to Bruce and Edith Ottley and their friends, who are to all appearances living the bright and carefree lives of the well-to-do. But there are cracks appearing in the facade...

The second of the 'Little Ottleys' trilogy, an Edwardian comedy of manners. Several years have passed since the events in 'Love's Shadow', but Bruce Ottley is as difficult and irksome as ever. His beautiful wife Edith continues to gently manage his foibles, and regards him with a fond tolerance. But then she meets the enchanting - and very handsome - Aylmer Ross. The attraction between them is undeniable, and Edith's quiet serenity is shattered. Could this spell the end for the Ottley's marriage?...

Adah Isaacs Menken's short life was full and eventful. Probably born in the American South, she travelled, wrote journalism, became famous as an actress, successfully navigated press scandals about her private life and wrote poetry. This volume collects her poems, which explore, among other things, Judaism, the position of women in society and contemporary events such as the American Civil War. By turns introspective and ferocious, her poetry is as varied and fresh as it was when first published.

On Christmas Eve, two children, a brother and sister, leave their grandmother's house in an Alpine village and get lost in the mountain snow. They become trapped among the rock crystals of the frozen glacier. This short and gripping novel, by 19th century Austrian master Adalbert Stifter, influenced Thomas Mann and others with its suspenseful, simple, myth-like story and majestic depictions of nature. Poet W.H. Auden called the work "a quiet and beautiful parable about the relation of people to places, of man to nature."(Introduction by Greg W.)

Adam Lindsay Gordon was an Australian poet, jockey and politician.

Adam Smith’s “The Wealth of Nations” gives an in-depth discussion of different economic principles like the productivity, division of labor and free markets. Although written and published more than 200 years ago, it’s still hailed as one of the most original works in the field of economics and is still used as a reference by many modern economists. “An Inquiry Into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations” is the complete title of this book and it was first published in 1776, the same year that the American colonies declared their independence from Britain...

“How selfish soever man may be supposed, there are evidently some principles in his nature, which interest him in the fortunes of others, and render their happiness necessary to him, though he derives nothing from it, except the pleasure of seeing it.” (from The Theory of Moral Sentiments) Adam Smith considered his first major book, The Theory of Moral Sentiments, his most important work. Indeed, the tome was a wild success upon its publication, selling out immediately. It has not lost popularity since...

Adelaide Anne Procter was an English poet and philanthropist. She worked prominently on behalf of unemployed women and the homeless, and was actively involved with feminist groups and journals. She became unhealthy, possibly due to her charity work, and died of tuberculosis at the age of 38. Procter's literary career began when she was a teenager; her poems were primarily published in Charles Dickens's periodicals Household Words and All the Year Round and later published in book form. Her charity work and her conversion to Roman Catholicism appear to have strongly influenced her poetry, which deals most commonly with such subjects as homelessness, poverty, and fallen women...