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By: Mark Twain

Following the Equator: A Journey Around the World by Mark Twain Following the Equator: A Journey Around the World

Following the Equator (American English title) or More Tramps Abroad (English title) is a non-fiction travelogue published by American author Mark Twain in 1897. Twain was practically bankrupt in 1894 due to a failed investment into a “revolutionary” typesetting machine. In an attempt to extricate himself from debt of $100,000 (equivalent of about $2 million in 2005) he undertook a tour of the British Empire in 1895, a route chosen to provide numerous opportunities for lectures in the English language...

By: Jules Verne (1828-1905)

A Journey to the Interior of the Earth by Jules Verne A Journey to the Interior of the Earth

A historical manuscript penned by a medieval Norse poet. A mysterious code. Three intrepid explorers. A subterranean world filled with prehistoric creatures and proto-humans. These are some of the brilliant ideas that are superbly blended in A Journey to the Interior of the Earth by Jules Verne. Jules Verne, the French writer who created several works of science fiction, adventure stories and very popular novels, wrote A Journey to the Interior of the Earth in 1864. Some of his other books explore different aspects of geography, space and time travel...

Journey to the Centre of the Earth by Jules Verne Journey to the Centre of the Earth

The story involves a German professor (Otto Lidenbrock in the original French, Professor Von Hardwigg in the most common English translation) who believes there are volcanic tubes going toward the center of the Earth. He, his nephew Axel (Harry), and their guide Hans encounter many adventures, including prehistoric animals and natural hazards, eventually coming to the surface again in southern Italy.

Book cover Celebrated Travels and Travellers, vol. 1

The famous writer of great adventure stories Jules Verne wrote also several lesser known, but good non-fiction works. "Celebrated travels and travellers" tells the story of geographical discovery in the same well written and precise manner we are used to finding in Verne’s fiction books. This book is divided into 3 volumes. This is the first volume, named the "Exploration of the World" and it covers the period in the World's history of exploration from B.C. 505 to the close of the 17th century. The second and third volumes are respectively entitled "The great navigators of the 18th century" and "The great navigators of the 19th century".Coordinated by Kristine Bekere and Kajo.

By: H. G. Wells (1866-1946)

Floor Games by H. G. Wells Floor Games

H.G. Wells had so much fun playing with his children on the floor of their playroom, he decided to write a jovial little book to inspire other parents in their pursuit of quality time with the kids. While the raw materials available from hobby stores of his day were woefully short of the variety and quality of what can be bought easily now, he and his sons created their own worlds to rule. This short work describes two games of imagination played out upon the floor of his home – an archipelago of islands, and a thoroughly integrated city, conveniently organized with two mayoral positions for his sons “G...

By: Edgar Rice Burroughs (1875-1950)

At the Earth's Core by Edgar Rice Burroughs At the Earth's Core

This is the first book in the Pellucidar series. Pellucidar is a fictional Hollow Earth milieu invented by Edgar Rice Burroughs for a series of action adventure stories. The stories initially involve the adventures of mining heir David Innes and his inventor friend Abner Perry after they use an “iron mole” to burrow 500 miles into the earth’s crust. (adapted from Wikipedia)

Thuvia, Maid of Mars by Edgar Rice Burroughs Thuvia, Maid of Mars

Published in 1920, Thuvia, Maid of Mars is the fourth book in the Barsoom series and concentrates on Carthoris, the son of infamous John Carter, and Thuvia, the princess of Ptarth, as they find themselves entangled in a complex web of love and strict traditions of Barsoom. A typical Burroughs piece, the installment contains all the required elements of an effective pulp fiction, including a hero, a damsel in distress, unforeseen complications, and a generous supply of action. Welcoming a new...

Pellucidar by Edgar Rice Burroughs Pellucidar

Pellucidar is a fictional “Hollow Earth” milieu invented by Edgar Rice Burroughs for a series of action adventure stories. The stories initially involve the adventures of mining heir David Innes and his inventor friend Abner Perry after they use an “iron mole” to burrow 500 miles into the earth’s crust. This is the second book in the series.

By: Rudyard Kipling

The Light that Failed by Rudyard Kipling The Light that Failed

This novel, first published in 1890, follows the life of Dick Heldar, a painter. Most of the novel is set in London, but many important events throughout the story occur in Sudan or India. It was made into a 1916 film with Jose Collins and a 1939 film by Paramount starring Ronald Colman.

By: James Joyce (1882-1941)

Ulysses by James Joyce Ulysses

Banned in the United States and United Kingdom throughout the 1920s, Ulysses turned conventional ideas of the novel inside out with its bold new form, style and theme. Deeply rooted in the Greek myth of the hero of the Trojan War, Joyce bases his novel on Ulysses or Odysseus, who is doomed to voyage for ten years before returning home to Ithaca. Joyce had been deeply influenced by the Iliad and the Odyssey, which he had read from Charles Lamb's adaptations as a child. In fact, he considered him the epitome of the heroic ideal and constantly thought of giving the myth a new dimension in modern literature...

By: Stephen Leacock (1869-1944)

Book cover Chronicles of Canada Volume 20 - Adventurers of the Far North

This is volume 20 ofThe Chronicles of Canada series. This volume describes the explorers who braved the Canadian Arctic in search of the Northwest Passage, focusing on Samuel Hearne, Sir Alexander Mackenzie, and Sir John Franklin.

By: Henry James (1843-1916)

The Golden Bowl by Henry James The Golden Bowl

The Golden Bowl is a 1904 novel by Henry James. Set in England, this complex, intense study of marriage and adultery completes what some critics have called the “major phase” of James’ career. The Golden Bowl explores the tangle of interrelationships between a father and daughter and their respective spouses. The novel focuses deeply and almost exclusively on the consciousness of the central characters, with sometimes obsessive detail but also with powerful insight.

The Real Thing by Henry James The Real Thing

The Real Thing is, on one level, a somewhat ironic tale of an artist and two rather particular models. Yet it also raises questions about the relationship between the notion of reality in our humdrum world, and the means that an artist must use in trying to achieve, or reflect, that reality. Though the protagonist is an artist and illustrator of books, not a writer, it's not hard to imagine that James has himself, and other writers, in mind.

By: Nathaniel Hawthorne (1804-1864)

The Marble Faun by Nathaniel Hawthorne The Marble Faun

The Marble Faun is Hawthorne's most unusual romance. Writing on the eve of the American Civil War, Hawthorne set his story in a fantastical Italy. The romance mixes elements of a fable, pastoral, gothic novel, and travel guide. In the spring of 1858, Hawthorne was inspired to write his romance when he saw the Faun of Praxiteles in a Roman sculpture gallery. The theme, characteristic of Hawthorne, is guilt and the Fall of Man. The four main characters are Miriam, a beautiful painter who is compared...

By: Wilkie Collins (1824-1889)

The Woman in White by Wilkie Collins The Woman in White

Wilkie Collins’s The Woman in White tells the story of two half-sisters, Laura Fairlie and Marian Halcombe who were embroiled in the sinister plot of Sir Percival Glyde and Count Fosco to take over their family’s wealth. It’s considered to be one of the first “sensation novels” to be published. Like most novels that fall into this category, the protagonists here are pushed to their limits by the villains before they finally got the justice they deserved. The story begins with Walter Hartright helping a woman dressed in white who turned out to have escaped from a mental asylum...

By: Victor Appleton (1873-1962)

Tom Swift and the Visitor From Planet X by Victor Appleton Tom Swift and the Visitor From Planet X

If you haven't come across the 200-book series about Tom Swift Jr, this book would be an interesting one to start with. The series is aimed at the young adult readership, probably male, and the young adolescent hero, Tom Swift Jr is the son of Tom Swift Sr. The books portray the perennially 18-year-old Tom, a tall and angular youngster, possessed of a very high intelligence and presence of mind. Regular characters include his parents, younger sister Sandy, best buddy Bud Barclay, his regular date Phyllis Newton, and the comic roly-poly Chow Winkler...

By: Mary Roberts Rinehart (1876-1958)

Book cover Tenting To-Night; A Chronicle Of Sport And Adventure In Glacier Park And The Cascade Mountains

This is the second of two travelogues published by Mary Roberts Rinehart (1876-1958). Both deal with Glacier National Park, and this book also deals with the Cascade Mountains (The other is entitled Through Glacier Park). Rinehart wrote hundreds of short stories, poems, travelogues and articles, though she is most famous for her mystery stories. The region that became Glacier National Park was first inhabited by Native Americans and upon the arrival of European explorers, was dominated by the Blackfeet in the east and the Flathead in the western regions.

By: Garrett P. Serviss (1851-1929)

Edison's Conquest of Mars by Garrett P. Serviss Edison's Conquest of Mars

Edison’s Conquest of Mars, by Garrett P. Serviss, is one of the many science fiction novels published in the nineteenth century. Although science fiction was not at the time thought of as a distinct literary genre, it was a very popular literary form, with almost every fiction magazine regularly publishing science fiction stories and novels. “Edison’s Conquest of Mars” was published in 1898 as an unauthorized sequel to H. G. Wells’s The War of the Worlds, but did not achieve the fame of its predecessor. The book was endorsed by Thomas Edison, the hero of the book — though not by Wells.

By: Vachel Lindsay (1879-1931)

The Art of the Moving Picture by Vachel Lindsay The Art of the Moving Picture

"This 1922 book by poet and sometime cultural critic Vachel Lindsay might have been the first to treat the then-new medium of moving pictures as an art form, one that was potentially as rich, complex, mysterious as far older ones, and whose physical and aesthetic properties were only starting to be understood. The highlight of the book might be “The Motion Picture of Fairy Splendor,” which examines the relationship between film storytelling, magic, myths, legends and bedtime stories. It’s discombobulating, in a good way, to read Lindsay’s attempts to grapple with what, precisely, cinema is...

By: Bill Nye

Comic History of the United States by Bill Nye Comic History of the United States

For American journalist and humorist Edgar Wilson Nye who wrote under the pen name Bill Nye in the late 19th century, facts are not to be presented in their newborn, bare state. They should be properly draped and embellished before they can be presented before the public. Hence, in the Comic History of the United States published in 1894, he gives his readers the facts. But in a bid to make the historical figures more human he describes them as “people who ate and possibly drank, people who were born, flourished and died, not grave tragedians posing perpetually for their photographs...

By: Joshua Slocum (1844-1909)

Sailing Alone Around the World by Joshua Slocum Sailing Alone Around the World

A sailing memoir written by seaman and adventurer Joshua Slocum, who was the first person to sail around the world alone, documents his epic solo circumnavigation. An international best-seller, the book became a great influence and inspiration to travelers from each corner of the globe. Additionally, Slocum is an example that through determination, courage and hard work any dream can easily become a reality. Written in a modern and conversational tone, the autobiographical account begins with Slocum’s description of his hometown of Nova Scotia and its maritime history...

By: Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (1859-1930)

The Hound of the Baskervilles (dramatic reading) by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle The Hound of the Baskervilles (dramatic reading)

The Hound of the Baskervilles is the third of four crime novels by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle featuring the detective Sherlock Holmes. Originally serialised in The Strand Magazine from August 1901 to April 1902, it is set largely on Dartmoor in Devon in England's West Country and tells the story of an attempted murder inspired by the legend of a fearsome, diabolical hound.

By: Ernest Shackleton

South! The Story of Shackleton's Last Expedition 1914-1917 by Ernest Shackleton South! The Story of Shackleton's Last Expedition 1914-1917

The expedition was given the grand title of The Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition. Due to be launched in 1914, two ships were to be employed. The first, the lead vessel, fittingly named the Endurance was to transport the team to the Weddell Sea from where the great explorer Ernest Shackleton and five others would cross the icy wastes of Antarctica on foot. The second ship, the Aurora was to approach the continent from the other side and put down supplies at various points to help the explorers...

By: Sir Walter Scott (1771-1832)

Kenilworth by Sir Walter Scott Kenilworth

An Elizabethan era historical novel by Scotland’s master of fiction, Sir Walter Scott. With a cast of historical and created characters, including the Queen herself, Scott presents the sad history and tragic consequences of the secretive marriage of young Amy Robsart and the Earl of Leicester. (Summary by SK)

By: John Kendrick Bangs (1862-1922)

The Pursuit of the House-Boat by John Kendrick Bangs The Pursuit of the House-Boat

This sequel to Bangs' A House-Boat on the Styx continues the "thought-experiment" of bringing various historical and fictional figures together, detailing the adventures of the ladies of Hades after they are kidnapped by pirates and the attempts of the Associated Shades (led by Sherlock Holmes) to retrieve their house-boat. (Introduction by Emma Joyce)

Book cover R. Holmes and Co.

Raffles Holmes is introduced in these stories as the son of the great Sherlock Holmes. He is also revealed to be the grandson of A.J. Raffles, a gentleman thief pursued by Sherlock Holmes many years earlier. This apparently contradictory family background sets the stage for his colorful and amusing adventures.

By: Logan Marshall

The Sinking of the Titanic and Great Sea Disasters by Logan Marshall The Sinking of the Titanic and Great Sea Disasters

Logan Marshall's book "The Sinking of the Titanic and Great Sea Disasters" gives readers a first-hand account of the greatest sea disaster of all time straight from the survivors of the ill-fated sunken ship. Unlike many of the books about the Titanic that was written recently, Logan Marshall was fortunate that he was able to interview the survivors of the Titanic and access to all the important documents about the ship, including the diagrams, maps and actual photographs related to the disaster...

By: Maude L. Radford (1875-1934)

King Arthur and His Knights by Maude L. Radford King Arthur and His Knights

Published in 1903, King Arthur and His Knights by Maude L. Radford is an easy to read version of the Arthurian legends, made simple and interesting for children. Maude Lavinia Radford Warren was a Canadian born American who taught literature and composition at the University of Chicago between 1893-1907. Following the success of some of her books, she left teaching to take up writing as a full time career. She also served as a war correspondent for the New York Times magazine during WWI and contributed several remarkable features on the role of women in the conflict...

By: Charles Morris (1833-1922)

The San Francisco Calamity by Earthquake and Fire by Charles Morris The San Francisco Calamity by Earthquake and Fire

The first half of this book describes the devastating earthquake that hit San Francisco in 1906, and the subsequent destruction caused by fire. Various eyewitnesses and victims give their account on the tragedy. In the second half, a number of different other earthquakes and volcanic eruptions are retold, like the eruption of the Vesuvius that destroyed Pompeij or the explosion of the Krakatoa, together with scientific explanations for the causes of earthquakes and the eruption of volcanos.

By: Agnes Ethel Conway (1885-1950)

The Book of Art for Young People by Agnes Ethel Conway The Book of Art for Young People

This is a charming book on Art History for children (and everyone else). Each chapter focuses on a great painting, reproduced in color in the original text. The authors explain the story behind the paintings, as well as the life, times, and techniques of the artists.

By: Harry Houdini

The Miracle Mongers, an Exposé, by Harry Houdini The Miracle Mongers, an Exposé,

“A complete exposé of the modus operandi of fire eaters, heat resisters, poison eaters, venomous reptile defiers, sword swallowers, human ostriches, strong men, etc.”, [by Harry Houdini, from the subtitle].

By: Okakura Kakuzo (1863-1913)

The Book of Tea by Okakura Kakuzo The Book of Tea

The Book of Tea was written by Okakura Kakuzo in the early 20th century. It was first published in 1906, and has since been republished many times. – In the book, Kakuzo introduces the term Teaism and how Tea has affected nearly every aspect of Japanese culture, thought, and life. The book is noted to be accessibile to Western audiences because though Kakuzo was born and raised Japanese, he was trained from a young age to speak English; and would speak it all his life, becoming proficient at communicating his thoughts in the Western Mind...

By: John Ruskin (1819-1900)

Lectures on Landscape by John Ruskin Lectures on Landscape

A series of lectures on landscape painting delivered at Oxford in 1871, by artist, critic, and social commentator, John Ruskin.

The Two Paths by John Ruskin The Two Paths

"The Two Paths" is a collection of five lectures delivered in 1858 and 1859 by John Ruskin on art and architecture. This is how the author himself presents the book: "The following addresses, though spoken at different times, are intentionally connected in subject; their aim being to set one or two main principles of art in simple light before the general student, and to indicate their practical bearing on modern design. The law which it has been my effort chiefly to illustrate is the dependence of all noble design, in any kind, on the sculpture or painting of Organic Form." The most famous of these, the fifth lecture, is commonly known simply as "The Work of Iron"

The Seven Lamps of Architecture by John Ruskin The Seven Lamps of Architecture

The Seven Lamps of Architecture, published in May 1849, is an extended essay written by the English art critic and theorist John Ruskin. The 'lamps' of the title are Ruskin's principles of architecture, which he later enlarged upon in the three-volume The Stones of Venice. To an extent, they codified some of the contemporary thinking behind the Gothic Revival. At the time of its publication A.W.N. Pugin and others had already advanced the ideas of the Revival and it was well under way in practice...

The Stones of Venice, volume 1 by John Ruskin The Stones of Venice, volume 1

The Stones of Venice is a three-volume treatise on Venetian art and architecture by English art historian John Ruskin, first published from 1851 to 1853. Intending to prove how the architecture in Venice exemplified the principles he discussed in his earlier work, The Seven Lamps of Architecture, Ruskin examined the city in detail, describing for example over eighty churches. He discusses architecture of Venice's Byzantine, Gothic and Renaissance periods, and provides a general history of the city as well...

By: William Dean Howells (1837-1920)

Book cover Coast of Bohemia

William Dean Howells is at his iconoclastic best in this exploration of bourgeois values, particularly in the clash between respectable society and the dubious bohemian world of Art and Poetry. Cornelia Saunders has everything going for her in her middle-class world: comfort, good looks, attentive young men. She seems willing to risk it all for the sake of what might be an artistic Gift, venturing with great trepidation to put her foot over the line into Bohemia to see if it might be the thing for her. Skewering the conventions of sentimental literature as usual, Howells keeps the reader guessing to the end as to the fate of Cornelia and her Gift.

By: Fanny Dickerson Bergen (1846-1924)

Current Superstitions by Fanny Dickerson Bergen Current Superstitions

No matter how enlightened, chances are you’ve been raised around superstitious lore of one kind or another. Fanny Dickerson Bergen was one of the original researchers of North American oral traditions relating to such key life events and experiences as babyhood and childhood, marriage, wishes and dreams, luck, warts and cures, death omens and mortuary customs, and “such truck,” as Huck Finn would say. You’ll be surprised at how many of these old saws you’ll know. Here’s a quote from...

By: Roald Amundsen (1872-1928)

The South Pole; an account of the Norwegian Antarctic expedition in the Fram, 1910-12 by Roald Amundsen The South Pole; an account of the Norwegian Antarctic expedition in the Fram, 1910-12

In contrast to Scott’s South Pole expedition, Amundsen’s expedition benefited from good equipment, appropriate clothing, and a fundamentally different primary task (Amundsen did no surveying on his route south and is known to have taken only two photographs) Amundsen had a better understanding of dogs and their handling, and he used of skis more effectively. He pioneered an entirely new route to the Pole and they returned. In Amundsen’s own words: “Victory awaits him who has everything in order — luck, people call it...

By: U. Waldo Cutler

Stories of King Arthur and His Knights by U. Waldo Cutler Stories of King Arthur and His Knights

Stories of King Arthur and His Knights. Retold from Malory’s “Morte dArthur”.

By: Benvenuto Cellini ((1500-1571))

The Autobiography of Benvenuto Cellini by Benvenuto Cellini The Autobiography of Benvenuto Cellini

Cellini’s autobiographical memoirs, which he began writing in Florence in 1558, give a detailed account of his singular career, as well as his loves, hatreds, passions, and delights, written in an energetic, direct, and racy style. They show a great self-regard and self-assertion, sometimes running into extravagances which are impossible to credit. He even writes in a complacent way of how he contemplated his murders before carrying them out. He writes of his time in Paris: Parts of his tale recount...

By: Amy Steedman

Book cover Knights of Art - Stories of the Italian Painters

A children's version of the Lives of Artists by Vassari with many Illustrations. Of course we won't be able to show the paintings but the descriptions and the anecdotes are interesting and may lead a child to further interest.

By: Lawrence Beesley (1877-1967)

The Loss of the S. S. Titanic by Lawrence Beesley The Loss of the S. S. Titanic

This is a 1st hand account written by a survivor of the Titanic about that fateful night and the events leading up to it as well as the events that followed its sinking.

By: Marcus Vitruvius Pollio (75 BC - c. 15 BC)

Ten Books on Architecture by Marcus Vitruvius Pollio Ten Books on Architecture

On Architecture is a treatise on architecture written by the Roman architect Vitruvius and dedicated to his patron, the emperor Caesar Augustus as a guide for building projects. The work is one of the most important sources of modern knowledge of Roman building methods as well as the planning and design of structures, both large (aqueducts, buildings, baths, harbours) and small (machines, measuring devices, instruments). He is also the prime source of the famous story of Archimedes and his bath-time discovery.

By: Joseph Lewis French (1858-1936)

Great Pirate Stories by Joseph Lewis French Great Pirate Stories

Piracy embodies the romance of the sea at its highest expression. It is a sad but inevitable commentary on our civilization, that, so far as the sea is concerned, it has developed from its infancy down to a century or so ago, under one phase or another of piracy. If men were savages on land they were doubly so at sea, and all the years of maritime adventure–years that added to the map of the world till there was little left to discover–could not wholly eradicate the piratical germ.

By: Sir Wilfred Grenfell (1865-1940)

Adrift on an Ice-Pan by Sir Wilfred Grenfell Adrift on an Ice-Pan

This autobiographical work describes the author’s harrowing experience caught on a small drifting piece of ice, while crossing a frozen bay by dog team on the Northern Peninsula of Newfoundland.

By: Edward R. Shaw (1855-1903)

Discoverers and Explorers by Edward R. Shaw Discoverers and Explorers

Tales of the brave and daring explorers that ventured into the unknown “Sea of Darkness” where it was thought monsters and angry gods lived. They dared to sail near the equator which was thought to have such intense heat that it would boil the ocean water. It was also commonly thought at the time that the world was flat, and the ships would fall off the face of the earth. These men overcame these fears to explore and discover new lands.

By: Ruth Edna Kelley

The Book of Hallowe'en by Ruth Edna Kelley The Book of Hallowe'en

This book is intended to give the reader an account of the origin and history of Hallowe’en, how it absorbed some customs belonging to other days in the year,—such as May Day, Midsummer, and Christmas. The context is illustrated by selections from ancient and modern poetry and prose, related to Hallowe’en ideas.

By: K. Langloh Parker

Australian Legendary Tales Folk-Lore of the Noongahburrahs As Told To The Piccaninnies by K. Langloh Parker Australian Legendary Tales Folk-Lore of the Noongahburrahs As Told To The Piccaninnies

A Collection of Australian Aboriginal Legendary Folk-Lore Tales, legends of the Narran tribe, known among themselves as Noongahburrahs.

By: Mary MacGregor

Stories of King Arthur's Knights Told to the Children by Mary MacGregor Stories of King Arthur's Knights Told to the Children

A collection of Arthurian tales retold for children.

By: Théodule Ribot (1839-1916)

Essay on the Creative Imagination by Théodule Ribot Essay on the Creative Imagination

“It is quite generally recognized that psychology has remained in the semi-mythological, semi-scholastic period longer than most attempts at scientific formulization. For a long time it has been the “spook science” per se, and the imagination, now analyzed by M. Ribot in such a masterly manner, has been one of the most persistent, apparently real, though very indefinite, of psychological spooks. Whereas people have been accustomed to speak of the imagination as an entity sui generis, as a...

By: Lacy Collison-Morley

Greek and Roman Ghost Stories by Lacy Collison-Morley Greek and Roman Ghost Stories

A non-fiction work, comparing and collecting ghost stories by Classical Greek and Republican or Imperial Roman authors.

By: Carlton McCarthy (1847-1936)

Detailed Minutiae of Soldier Life in the Army of Northern Virginia, 1861-1865 by Carlton McCarthy Detailed Minutiae of Soldier Life in the Army of Northern Virginia, 1861-1865

The author, who fought as a private in the Army of Northern Virginia during the Civil War, describes the Confederate soldier’s daily struggles with hunger, illness, fear, and the perils of combat; as well as his pride of service, love of comrades, and courage in the face of overwhelming odds

By: Friedrich Kerst

Mozart, The Man and the Artist as Revealed  in His Own Words by Friedrich Kerst Mozart, The Man and the Artist as Revealed in His Own Words

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. His name is one of the most recognizable names in history and one of the most enduring of composers. At age 5, this “wunderkinder” took to the stage and began his life as a prolific and celebrated creator-genius of such luminous works the world has not known since. This collection of morsels taken from his personal letters is engaging and gives a look into the mind of the boy wonder. Was he mad? Was he miraculous?

By: Cornelia Mee

Exercises in Knitting by Cornelia Mee Exercises in Knitting

Mrs. Mee, her husband, and her sister ran a yarn and needlework import/warehouse business in Bath, England. Her books primarily contain practical everyday items that knit up quickly with the busy homemaker in mind. At this time, published knitting “receipts” did not contain abbreviations and were laborious to use. They were, however, rich in error! Later in her career, due to circumstances of war and the resulting social stress and poverty, many of her knitting books were printed for ladies’ charitable societies, which used her knitting “receipts” to clothe the poor mill workers who were out of work due to the American Civil War and the embargo of cotton.

By: George L. Apperson (1857-1937)

The Social History of Smoking by George L. Apperson The Social History of Smoking

This work tells the history of smoking in England from the social point of view. Thus it does not deal with the history of tobacco growing or tobacco related manufacture, but is rather the story of how smoking has fitted in with the fashions and customs throughout the ages, and the changes in the attitude of society towards smoking.

By: Padraic Colum (1881-1972)

The King of Ireland's Son by Padraic Colum The King of Ireland's Son

The King of Ireland's Son is a children's novel published in Ireland in 1916 written by Padraic Colum, and illustrated by Willy Pogany. It is the story of the eldest of the King of Ireland's sons, and his adventures winning and then finding Fedelma, the Enchanter's Daughter, who after being won is kidnapped from him by the King of the Land of Mist. It is solidly based in Irish folklore, itself being originally a folktale. (Introduction by Wikipedia)

By: Jennie Ellis Keysor

Great Artists by Jennie Ellis Keysor Great Artists

Biographies of Raphael Santi, Murillo, Peter Paul Rubens, and Albrecht Durer. This is a wonderful tool for art study as there are references for further study, as well as ideas for language arts to incorporate into the study.

By: Cecil Henry Bompas

Folklore of the Santal Parganas by Cecil Henry Bompas Folklore of the Santal Parganas

This is an intriguing collection of folklore from the Santal Parganas, a district in India located about 150 miles from Calcutta. As its Preface implies, this collection is intended to give an unadulterated view of a culture through its folklore. It contains a variety of stories about different aspects of life, including family and marriage, religion, and work. In this first volume, taken from Part I, each story is centered around a particular human character. These range from the charmingly clever (as in the character, The Oilman, in the story, “The Oilman and His Sons”) to the tragically comical (as in the character, Jhore, in the story “Bajun and Jhore”)...

By: Goldsworthy Lowes Dickinson (1862-1932)

The Greek View of Life by Goldsworthy Lowes Dickinson The Greek View of Life

“With the Greek civilisation beauty perished from the world. Never again has it been possible for man to believe that harmony is in fact the truth of all existence.”This elegantly-written work provides a splendid introduction to the Greeks of the classic period: how they thought, wrote, and organised their lives and loves. Although it dates from the 1890s, there is very little about it that has dated. To its author’s credit, the subject of “Greek love” is dealt with in a sane and factual context - despite the judicial assassination of Oscar Wilde going on in the background...

By: Giorgio Vasari (1511-1574)

Lives of the Most Eminent Painters, Sculptors and Architects by Giorgio Vasari Lives of the Most Eminent Painters, Sculptors and Architects

The Lives of the Most Excellent Italian Painters, Sculptors, and Architects, from Cimabue to Our Times, or Le Vite delle più eccellenti pittori, scultori, ed architettori, as it was originally known in Italian, is a series of artist biographies written by 16th century Italian painter and architect Giorgio Vasari, which is considered "perhaps the most famous, and even today the most- read work of the older literature of art", "some of the Italian Renaissance's most influential writing on art", and "one of the founding texts in art history"...

By: Harold Speed

The Practice and Science of Drawing by Harold Speed The Practice and Science of Drawing

THE PRACTICE & SCIENCE OF DRAWINGBY HAROLD SPEEDPREFACEPermit me in the first place to anticipate the disappointment of any student who opens this book with the idea of finding wrinkles on how to draw faces, trees, clouds, or what not, short cuts to excellence in drawing, or any of the tricks so popular with the drawing masters of our grandmothers and still dearly loved by a large number of people. No good can come of such methods, for there are no short cuts to excellence. But help of a very practical kind it is the aim of the following pages to give; although it may be necessary to make a greater call upon the intelligence of the student than these Victorian methods attempted...

By: George Hamilton

Voyage Round the World in His Majesty's Frigate Pandora by George Hamilton Voyage Round the World in His Majesty's Frigate Pandora

George Hamilton was the surgeon assigned to the frigate Pandora. The British Admiralty ordered the ship to the Pacific to arrest the Bounty mutineers and bring them back to England for trial. The commander, Captain Edward Edwards, also was ordered to chart the passage between Australia and New Guinea. While Edwards managed to arrest the mutineers still on Tahiti, he sank the Pandora on a reef near Australia. Hamilton tells this story and also the story of the crew’s fate after the Pandora sank.

By: Walter Pater

Book cover Appreciations, with an Essay on Style

Appreciations, with an Essay on Style, is a collection of Walter Pater's previously-published essays on literature. The collection was well received by public and critic since its first edition, in 1889. The volume includes an appraisal of the poems of Dante Gabriel Rossetti, first printed in 1883, a few months after Rossetti's death; an essay on Thomas Browne, whose Baroque style Pater admired; and a discussion of Measure for Measure, one of Pater's most often reprinted pieces. The second edition, published in 1890, had a few modifications, and is the basis for all other editions of the book.

By: Emily Burbank (?-?)

Woman as Decoration by Emily Burbank Woman as Decoration

A guide for women to complement their dress to their surroundings, be it in their own home, on outings or on stage. Please note that there is a separate chapter with the captions of the fashion plates which can be found in the online text.

By: Elsie Spicer Eells

Fairy Tales from Brazil by Elsie Spicer Eells Fairy Tales from Brazil

This book, subtitled "How and Why Tales from Brazilian Folk-Lore", is a collection of short stories, most of them etiologial myths from Brazilian Indian Folklore.

By: William Sangster (1808-1888)

Umbrellas and Their History by William Sangster Umbrellas and Their History

A whimsically serious look at the umbrella and society.

By: Thomas Tapper (1864-1958)

Book cover Music Talks With Children

"A book of this kind, though addressed to children, must necessarily reach them through an older person. The purpose is to suggest a few of the many aspects which music may have even to the mind of a child. If these chapters, or whatever may be logically suggested by them, be actually used as the basis of simple Talks with children, music may become to them more than drill and study. They should know it as an art, full of beauty and of dignity; full of pure thought and abounding in joy. Music with these characteristics is the true music of the heart...

By: Frederick Litchfield

Illustrated History of Furniture by Frederick Litchfield Illustrated History of Furniture

From the Earliest to the Present TimeBy Frederick Litchfield.PREFACE.In the following pages the Author has placed before the reader an account of the changes in the design of Decorative Furniture and Woodwork, from the earliest period of which we have any reliable or certain record until the present time. A careful selection of illustrations has been made from examples of established authenticity, the majority of which are to be seen, either in the Museums to which reference is made, or by permission of the owners; and the representations of the different interiors will convey an idea of the character and disposition of the furniture of the periods to which they refer...

By: Katharine Elizabeth Dopp (1863-1944)

The Tree-Dwellers by Katharine Elizabeth Dopp The Tree-Dwellers

Katharine E. Dopp was well-known as a teacher and writer of children’s textbooks at the turn of the 20th Century. She was among the first educators to encourage the incorporation of physical and practical activity into the elementary school curriculum at a time when such activities were becoming less commonplace in a child’s home environment. The Tree-Dwellers – The Age of Fear is the first in a series of elementary school texts written by Ms. Dopp that focus on the anthropological development of early human groups...

By: Ignatius Loyola Donnelly (1831-1901)

Book cover Atlantis: The Antediluvian World

"Atlantis: The Antediluvian World is a book published during 1882 by Minnesota populist politician Ignatius L. Donnelly, who was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania during 1831. Donnelly considered Plato's account of Atlantis as largely factual and attempted to establish that all known ancient civilizations were descended from this supposed lost land. Many of its theories are the source of many modern-day concepts we have about Atlantis, like the civilization and technology beyond its time, the origins of all present races and civilizations, a civil war between good and evil, etc."

By: Estelle M. Hurll (1863-1924)

Child-life in Art by Estelle M. Hurll Child-life in Art

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.

By: Dudley Landon Vaill (1873-?)

The County Regiment by Dudley Landon Vaill The County Regiment

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

By: William Hanford Edwards

Football Days: Memories of the Game and of the Men behind the Ball by William Hanford Edwards Football Days: Memories of the Game and of the Men behind the Ball

A book reminiscent of the days when football was gaining popularity in America by MHAIJH85

By: William Ralston Shedden-Ralston (1828-1889)

Book cover Russian Fairy Tales

Russian Fairy Tales is an anthology of stories by a noted Russian scholar and translator. The 51 stories are thematically organized with introductory material to put them both in the context of Russian folklore and in their relation to the myths of other cultures. This text has something for the intellectual reader as well as for someone who just likes a good fairy tale.

By: Apsley Cherry-Garrard (1886-1959)

Book cover Worst Journey in the World, Vol 1

The Worst Journey in the World is a memoir of the 1910–1913 British Antarctic Expedition led by Robert Falcon Scott. It was written and published in 1922 by a survivor of the expedition, Apsley Cherry-Garrard, and has earned wide praise for its frank treatment of the difficulties of the expedition, the causes of its disastrous outcome, and the meaning (if any) of human suffering under extreme conditions.

By: Richard Henry Dana, Jr. (1815-1882)

Book cover Two Years Before the Mast

By: John Charles Van Dyke

A Text-Book of the History of Painting by John Charles Van Dyke A Text-Book of the History of Painting

A TEXT-BOOK OF THE HISTORY OF PAINTINGBY JOHN C. VAN DYKE, L.H.D.PREFACE.The object of this series of text-books is to provide concise teachable histories of art for class-room use in schools and colleges. The limited time given to the study of art in the average educational institution has not only dictated the condensed style of the volumes, but has limited their scope of matter to the general features of art history. Archaeological discussions on special subjects and aesthetic theories have been avoided...

By: Carolyn Steward Taylor

Book cover Werewolf -- Five Pieces

Five stories and essays about werewolves.

By: Charles Alexander Eastman (1858-1939)

Book cover Indian Child Life

The author was raised as an American Indian and describes what it was like to be an Indian boy (the first 7 chapters) and an Indian Girl (the last 7 chapters). This is very different from the slanted way the white man tried to picture them as 'savages' and 'brutes.'Quote: Dear Children:—You will like to know that the man who wrote these true stories is himself one of the people he describes so pleasantly and so lovingly for you. He hopes that when you have finished this book, the Indians will seem to you very real and very friendly...

By: Wassily Kandinsky (1866-1944)

Book cover Concerning the Spiritual in Art

Published in 1911, Kandinsky's book compares the spiritual life of humanity to a pyramid -- the artist has a mission to lead others to the pinnacle with his work. The point of the pyramid is those few, great artists. It is a spiritual pyramid, advancing and ascending slowly even if it sometimes appears immobile. During decadent periods, the soul sinks to the bottom of the pyramid; humanity searches only for external success, ignoring spiritual forces.

By: Lord Redesdale (1837-1916)

Tales of Old Japan by Lord Redesdale Tales of Old Japan

Tales of Old Japan by Lord Redesdale is a collection of short stories focusing on Japanese life of the Edo period (1603 - 1868). It contains a number of classic Japanese stories, fairy tales, and other folklore; as well as Japanese sermons and non-fiction pieces on special ceremonies in Japanese life, such as marriage and harakiri, as observed by Lord Redesdale. The best know story of these is "The Forty-seven Ronins" a true account of samurai revenge as it happened at the beginning of 18th century Japan...

By: Talbot Hughes (1869-1942)

Dress Design: An Account of Costume for Artists and Dressmakers by Talbot Hughes Dress Design: An Account of Costume for Artists and Dressmakers

Explanations of Western European trends in men and women's fashion from prehistoric times to the Victorian Era.

By: Robert Wood Williamson

The Mafulu by Robert Wood Williamson The Mafulu

The Mafulu, Mountain People of British New GuineaBy Robert W. WilliamsonINTRODUCTION By Dr. A.C. Haddon It is a great pleasure to me to introduce Mr. Williamson's book to the notice of ethnologists and the general public, as I am convinced that it will be read with interest and profit. Perhaps I may be permitted in this place to make a few personal remarks. Mr. Williamson was formerly a solicitor, and always had a great longing to see something of savage life, but it was not till about four years ago that he saw his way to attempting the realisation of this desire by an expedition to Melanesia...

By: Marie D. Webster (1859-1956)

Book cover Quilts, Their Story and How to Make Them

Although the quilt is one of the most familiar and necessary articles in our households, its story is yet to be told. In spite of its universal use and intimate connection with our lives, its past is a mystery which -- at the most -- can only be partially unravelled. (from the Introduction)

By: Lucy Abbot Throop

Furnishing the Home of Good Taste by Lucy Abbot Throop Furnishing the Home of Good Taste

FURNISHING THE HOME OF GOOD TASTEA BRIEF SKETCH OF THE PERIOD STYLES IN INTERIOR DECORATION WITH SUGGESTIONS AS TO THEIR EMPLOYMENT IN THE HOMES OF TODAY BY LUCY ABBOT THROOP Preface To try to write a history of furniture in a fairly short space is almost as hard as the square peg and round hole problem. No matter how one tries, it will not fit. One has to leave out so much of importance, so much of historic and artistic interest, so much of the life of the people that helps to make the subject vivid, and has to take so much for granted, that the task seems almost impossible...

By: Arthur Gray (1859-)

Book cover Little Tea Book

After all, tea is the drink! Domestically and socially it is the beverage of the world. There may be those who will come forward with their figures to prove that other fruits of the soil—agriculturally and commercially—are more important. Perhaps they are right when quoting statistics. But what other product can compare with tea in the high regard in which it has always been held by writers whose standing in literature, and recognized good taste in other walks, cannot be questioned? (From the Preface) A Little Tea Book is a clever book about all things tea- Eastern and Western tea history, stories, culture, quotes, and even poetry. A good little read for tea lovers everywhere.

By: Thomas Stevens (1854-1935)

Around the World on a Bicycle, Vol. 1 by Thomas Stevens Around the World on a Bicycle, Vol. 1

Thomas Stevens was the first person to circle the globe by bicycle, a large-wheeled Ordinary. His journey started in April 1884 in San Francisco from where he cycled to Boston to take a steamer to England. Crossing England, France, Central Europe and Asia Minor before he was turned back at the borders of Afghanistan. He returned part of the way to take a ship to Karachi, from where he crossed India. Another steam ship brought him from Calcutta to Hong Kong, and from Shanghai he set over to Japan, finally ending his journey after actually cycling 13...

By: Ellen Churchill Semple

Influences of Geographic Environment by Ellen Churchill Semple Influences of Geographic Environment

INFLUENCES OF GEOGRAPHIC ENVIRONMENT ON THE BASIS OF RATZEL'S SYSTEM OF ANTHROPO-GEOGRAPHY BY ELLEN CHURCHILL SEMPLE PREFACE The present book, as originally planned over seven years ago, was to be a simplified paraphrase or restatement of the principles embodied in Friedrich Ratzel's _Anthropo-Geographie_. The German work is difficult reading even for Germans. To most English and American students of geographic environment it is a closed book, a treasure-house bolted and barred. Ratzel himself realized that any English form could not be a literal translation, but must be adapted to the Anglo-Celtic and especially to the Anglo-American mind...

By: William Scott-Elliot (?-1930)

Book cover Story of Atlantis and the Lost Lemuria

This volume contains two publications by W. Scott-Elliot, namely The Story of Atlantis (1896) and The Lost Lemuria (1904). A theosophist and believer of the Occult, W. Scott-Elliot gives us a description of the history and structure of Atlantis and Lemuria, along with what he considers evidence of this. The Story of Atlantis is prefaced by Alfred Percy Sinnett.

By: Barry Pain (1824-1928)

Book cover If Winter Don't

Barry Pain's parody takes a sharp knife to ASM Hutchinson's best selling novel 'If Winter Comes'.We follow the professional and marital decline of long suffering (and loving it), Luke Sharper, as his marriage to Mabel flounders while his love for Jona flourishes. It could only end in tears.....Or could it? (

By: Benedetto Croce (1866-1952)

Book cover Aesthetic as Science of Expression and General Linguistic

One of the earliest works of this Italian philosopher and literary critic, Aesthetic as Science of Expression and General Linguistic marks the beginning of Croce's elaboration of his highly influential ideas of aesthetics. Croce defines art in terms of intuition and expression, thus replacing beauty as the primary criterion for aesthetic evaluation.

By: Matthew A. Henson (1866-1955)

Book cover Negro Explorer at the North Pole

In this fascinating memoir, Matthew Henson describes the incredibly dangerous, exhausting, and bone-chilling trip to what was until then the never-before reached point on earth, the North Pole. "Robert Peary is remembered as the intrepid explorer who successfully reached the North Pole in 1909. Far less celebrated is his companion, Matthew Henson, a black man from Maryland. Henson's gripping memoir, first published in 1912, tells this unsung hero's story in his own words. Henson...was indispensable to the famous explorer's journey; he learned the language of the Eskimos, was an expert dog-sled driver and even built the sleds...

By: Frank Berkeley Smith (1869-1931)

Book cover Real Latin Quarter

"Cocher, drive to the rue Falguière"--this in my best restaurant French. The man with the varnished hat shrugged his shoulders, and raised his eyebrows in doubt. He evidently had never heard of the rue Falguière. "Yes, rue Falguière, the old rue des Fourneaux," I continued. Cabby's face broke out into a smile. "Ah, oui, oui, le Quartier Latin." And it was at the end of this crooked street, through a lane that led into a half court flanked by a row of studio buildings, and up one pair of dingy waxed steps, that I found a door bearing the name of the author of the following pages--his visiting card impaled on a tack...

By: Joseph Jacobs (1854-1916)

English Fairy Tales by Joseph Jacobs English Fairy Tales

Jack the Giant-Killer, Tom Thumb, Goldilocks and The Three Bears, Henny Penny, Dick Whittington, The Three Little Pigs, Red Riding Hood and a host of immortal characters are found in this delightful collection of English Fairy Tales by Joseph Jacobs. The book made its first appearance in 1890 and has remained a firm favorite with both young and old ever since. Fairy tales have traditionally emanated from France and Germany. The famous compilations by La Fontaine and the Brothers Grimm have overshadowed children's literature for centuries...

By: Various

Legend Land by Various Legend Land

Legend Land is a collection of some of the OLD TALES told in those Western Parts of Britain served by the GREAT WESTERN RAILWAY, now retold by LYONESSE

By: Unknown

Magna Carta by Unknown Magna Carta

The original document is in Latin so this can only be a fairly rough approximation of the actual content. The text used is the first version in the Gutenberg collection. – Magna Carta is the most significant early influence on the long historical process that has led to the rule of constitutional law today. Magna Carta was originally created because of disagreements between the Pope, King John and his English barons over the rights of the King. Magna Carta required the king to renounce certain rights and respect certain legal procedures and to accept that the will of the king could be bound by law.

By: Charles Dickens (1812-1870)

Charles Dickens 200th Anniversary Collection Vol. 1 by Charles Dickens Charles Dickens 200th Anniversary Collection Vol. 1

The Charles Dickens 200th Anniversary Collection comprises short works - fiction, essays, poetry, letters, magazine articles and speeches - and each volume will be a pot pourri of all genres and periods of his writing. This first volume is released on Dickens' 200th birthday, February 7th 2012. Further volumes will follow during the anniversary year.Volume 1 includes short stories including, amongst others, The Holly Tree, the first part of Holiday Romance and three pieces from Mugby Junction.Some...

By: John Lloyd Stephens (1805-1852)

Incidents of Travel in Central America, Chiapas, and Yucatan, Vol. 1 by John Lloyd Stephens Incidents of Travel in Central America, Chiapas, and Yucatan, Vol. 1

The year is 1838. The scene is the dense Honduran forest along the Copán River. Two men, John Lloyd Stephens and Frederick Catherwood, are about to rediscover Mayan civilization. Their guide, slashing through the rampant growth with his machete, leads them to a structure with steps up the side, shaped like a pyramid. Next they see a stone column, fourteen feet high, sculptured on the front with a portrait of a man, “solemn, stern and well fitted to excite terror,” covered on the sides with hieroglyphics, and with workmanship “equal to the finest monuments of the Egyptians...

By: Gaston Maspero (1846-1916)

Manual of Egyptian Archaeology and Guide to the Study of Antiquities in Egypt by Gaston Maspero Manual of Egyptian Archaeology and Guide to the Study of Antiquities in Egypt

A handbook of Egyptian archaeology, issued by the British Museum, considered suitable for British tourists travelling to Egypt in the 19th Century. (Introduction by Timothy Ferguson)


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