Seventeen short nonfiction works in the public domain, independently chosen by the readers. Topics include science and natural history--the donkey, forestry, grape vines, astronomy, historian Agnes Mary Clerke, and Greek botanist Theophrastus ; philosophy-- Nicholas of Cusa and Emmanuel Kant; Sommerset Maugham's reminiscences of Spain; Joseph Conrad's sea stories; an encounter with a long-ago companion who has contracted leprosy ; working in the dead-letter office; a dinner the painter Benjamin Hayden hosted for Wordsworth, Keats, and Charles Lamb; a portrait of Margaret Fuller by R.W. Emerson; a 19th century account of English character written for the Chinese; and celebrations of American ideals of freedom and self government--Makers of the Flag, An Oration on Thomas Paine, and Thomas Jefferson's 4th of July letter. - summary by Sue Anderson