Fifteen short nonfiction works in the public domain, independently chosen by the readers. Volume 62 features several introspective essays: by T. S. Eliot , Stephen Leacock , Carlyle , and Jonathan Swift . Life questions are further explored by theologians Agrippa von Nettesheim and Spurgeon , while spiritualist Andrew Jackson Davis presents his understanding of death and dying .

Public and political life are examined by Eltwood Pomeroy , Henry Ward Beecher , Franklin Hanford , and Nicolas de Condorcet .

Vol. 62 includes biographical sketches of two men of genius, a scientist, Nikola Tesla and a painter, John Singer Sargent . Finally, a scientific look at the destructive power of sea waves is complemented by a meditation on nature's grandeur by poet Rupert Brooke, who visits Niagara Falls and is moved to " thoughts of destiny and the passage of empires." - Summary by Sue Anderson