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Nightmare Abbey by Thomas Love Peacock
The great pleasure of Nightmare Abbey, which was inspired by Thomas Love Peacock’s friendship with Shelley, lies in the delight the author takes in poking fun at the romantic movement.
Spelling-Book for Advanced Classes by Oliver Optic
This work, as its title indicates, is intended for the use of Advanced Classes,—for scholars who are, to some extent, familiar with the principles of pronunciation and syllabication. It is not intended to supersede the ordinary Spelling-Book, but rather to follow it, as a practical application of the pupil’s knowledge, not only in spelling, but in dividing and pronouncing the more difficult words in common use.
“Bones”: Being Further Adventures in Mr. Commissioner Sanders’ Country by Wallace
You will never know from the perusal of the Blue Book the true inwardness of the happenings in the Ochori country in the spring of the year of Wish. Nor all the facts associated with the disappearance of the Rt. Hon. Joseph Blowter, Secretary of State for the Colonies.
We know (though this is not in the Blue Books) that Bosambo called together all his petty chiefs and his headmen, from one end of the country to the other, and assembled them squatting expectantly at the foot of the little hillock, where sat Bosambo in his robes of office (unauthorized but no less magnificent), their upturned faces charged with pride and confidence, eloquent of the hold this sometime Liberian convict had upon the wayward and fearful folk of the Ochori.
“Co. Aytch” Maury Grays, First Tennessee Regiment or, A Side Show of the Big Show by Samuel R. Watkins
The present book titled ‘”Co. Aytch,” Maury Grays, First Tennessee Regiment’ was written by famous anthropologist and writer Samuel R. Watkins. It was first published in the year 1882.
100%: the Story of a Patriot by Upton Sinclair by Upton Sinclair
The story of Peter Gudge, a poor young man who becomes embroiled in industrial spying and sabotage. Said to be based upon a real case of a bombing in San Francisco, Peter’s tale is compelling reading. Originally published by the author himself, “100%: The Story of a Patriot” is the story of a young man’s descent into fear and corruption, and eventual happy redemption.
1000 Things Worth Knowing by Nathaniel C. Fowler Jr.
This book contains more than one thousand facts, many of which are not generally known to the average person; but all of them are of interest to humankind, and a knowledge of many of them is essential.
2 B R 0 2 B by Kurt Vonnegut
2 B R 0 2 B’ is a short story by renowned science fiction writer Kurt Vonnegut. The title is pronounced as “2 B R naught 2 B”, referencing to the famous phrase “to be, or not to be” from William Shakespeare’s ‘Hamlet’. In this story, the title refers to the telephone number one dials to schedule an assisted suicide with the Federal Bureau of Termination. The setting is a society in which aging has been cured, individuals have indefinite lifespans, and population control is used to limit the population of the United States to forty million. This is maintained through a combination of infanticide and government-assisted suicide. In short, in order for someone to be born, someone must first volunteer to die. As a result, births are few and far between, and deaths occur primarily by accident.
30 Strange Stories by H. G. Wells
The buying of orchids always has in it a certain speculative flavour. You have before you the brown shrivelled lump of tissue, and for the rest you must trust your judgment, or the auctioneer, or your good-luck,
500 of the Best Cockney War Stories by Various
“From the countless tales collected by the London Evening News these five hundred, many of them illustrated by the great war-time artist, Bert Thomas, have been chosen as a fitting climax and perpetuation.” -Editor’s Foreword
A Barren Title by T. W. Speight
John Fildew at this time was about fifty-two years of age, but looked somewhat older. Thirty years previously he had been accounted a very handsome man, and there were still sufficient traces of bygone good looks to make credible such a tradition. But the once clear-cut aquiline nose was now growing more coarse and bibulous-looking with every year, and the once shapely waist was putting on a degree of convexity that troubled its possessor far more than any other change that time had seen fit to afflict him with. As yet he was by no means bald, and his iron-gray hair, however thin it might be at the crown, was still plentiful at the sides and back, and being seldom operated upon by the tonsorial scissors, its long, straggling ends mingled with the tangled growth of his whiskers and lay on the collar of his coat behind. Grizzled, too, were whiskers, beard, and mustache, but all unkempt and apparently uncared for, growing as they listed, and only impatiently snipped at now and again by Mr. Fildew himself, when his mustache had grown so long as to be inconvenient at meal-times. His eyes were his best feature. They were dark, piercing, and deep-set, and were overhung by thick, bushy brows, which showed as yet no signs of age. Their ordinary expression was one of cold, quiet watchfulness, but they were occasionally lighted up by gleams of a grim, sardonic humor, accompanied by a half-contemptuous smile and at such times it was possible to understand how it happened that many not over-observant people came to regard him as a genial, good-hearted, easy-tempered fellow, when, in truth, there was scarcely one touch of real geniality in his composition.
A Biblical and Theological Dictionary by Richard Watson
A Biblical and Theological Dictionary’ by Richard Watson consists explanatory notes about the history, manners, and customs of the Jews, and neighbouring nations. It was first published in the year 1832.
A Biography of the Signers of the Declaration of Independence and of Washington and Patrick Henry by L. Carroll Judson
The present book by L. Carroll Judson is a compandium of biographies of those leaders and eminent personalities of America whose constant efforts and solitude helped in the constitution of the United States of America. This book was first published in the year 1839.
A Book of Christian Sonnets by William Ferneley Allen
A collection of such distinct, separate little poems,—mostly written within a recent period,—and not mingled with other forms of poetry,—constitutes this little volume.
A Brief History of the King’s Royal Rifle Corps by Sir Edward Hutton
This abridged history of the Regiment has been prepared by certain members of the History Committee, and edited by the Chairman.
The Chairman (Lieut.-General Sir Edward Hutton) is indebted to the following members of the Regimental History Committee:—Major-General Astley Terry, Major the Hon. C. Sackville-West, Captain Hereward Wake, and also to Colonel Horatio Mends for the contribution, wholly or in part, of Part I, Sec. 3; Part II, Secs. 4 and 5; Part III, Secs. 9 and 10; and Part III, Secs. 7 and 8 respectively.
The existing short history, written by Major-General Astley Terry and Colonel Mends and published with the Standing Orders of the Regiment, has been taken as a basis.
A Brief History of the Worshipful Company of Ironmongers by T. C. (Theophilus Charles) Noble
To my brother Ironmongers, “root and branch,” I dedicate this “brief history” of our ancient Guild. Notwithstanding the innumerable facts printed in the following pages, the work must only be considered as an historical essay upon the tenth of the twelve “great” Livery Companies of the City of London.
A Budget of Christmas Tales by Charles Dickens and Others by Herbert W. Collingwood et al.
First compiled and published in the year 1859, the present book is a collection of classic short stories written by many of the best writers of the 19th century in Europe on the theme of Christmas.
A Capillary Crime, and Other Stories by Francis Davis Millet
NEAR the summit of the hill in the Quartier Montmartre, Paris, is a little street in which the grass grows between the paving-stones, as in the avenues of some dead old Italian city. Tall buildings border it for about one third its length, and the walls of tiny gardens, belonging to houses on adjacent streets, occupy the rest of its extent. It is a populous thoroughfare, but no wheels pass through it, for the very good reason that near the upper end it suddenly takes a short turn, and shoots up the hill at an incline too steep for a horse to climb.
A Captive of the Roman Eagles by Felix Dahn
Whoever has been at Friedrichshafen on beautiful Lake Constance, on a clear August day, and watched the sun setting in splendor behind the tops of the beeches of Manzell; whoever has seen the waves of the lake and the snow-capped peaks of the Alps from Sentis to the Allgau Mountains glow in the crimson light, while the notes of the Ave Maria float softly over forest, meadow, and water, will treasure the memory of the peaceful scene throughout his whole life.
A Child’s Garden of Verses by Robert Louis Stevenson
First published in the year 1885, the present book ‘A Child’s Garden of Verses’ is a collection of children’s poetry written by famous writer Robert Louis Stevenson. The poems are written in the style of pre-realism era, and depict real time situations with utmost innocence on behalf of children.
A Child’s Guide to Pictures by Charles H. Caffin
But it is not this view of pictures that we are going to talk about in the present book. I shall have very little to say about the subjects of pictures—partly because you can find out for yourselves what subjects interest you; but mostly, because the subject of a picture has so very little to do with its beauty as a work of art. For it is this view of a picture, as being a work of art, that I shall try to keep before you.
A Child’s History of England by Charles Dickens
A Child’s History of England is a book by Charles Dickens. It first appeared in serial form in Household Words, running from 25 January 1851 to 10 December 1853.
A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens
A Christmas Carol in Prose, Being a Ghost-Story of Christmas, commonly known as A Christmas Carol, is a novella by Charles Dickens.
A Christmas Carol in Prose; Being a Ghost Story of Christmas by Charles Dickens
Marley was dead: to begin with. There is no doubt whatever about that. The register of his burial was signed by the clergyman, the clerk, the undertaker, and the chief mourner. Scrooge signed it: and Scrooge’s name was good upon ’Change, for anything he chose to put his hand to. Old Marley was as dead as a door-nail.
Mind! I don’t mean to say that I know, of my own knowledge, what there is particularly dead about a door-nail. I might have been inclined, myself, to regard a coffin-nail as the deadest piece of ironmongery in the trade. But the wisdom of our ancestors is in the simile; and my unhallowed hands shall not disturb it, or the Country’s done for. You will therefore permit me to repeat, emphatically, that Marley was as dead as a door-nail.
A Code for the Government of Armies in the Field by Francis Lieber
A Code For the Government of Armies in the Field’ was printed as manuscript for the Board appointed by the Secretary of War “To propose amendments or changes in the rules and articles of war, and a code of regulations for the government of armies in the field, as authorized by the Laws and Usages of War.” Francis Lieber, Member of the Board, is recognized as the author of this document, which was published in February, 1863.
A Collection of Beatrix Potter Stories by Beatrix Potter
ONCE upon a time there were four little Rabbits, and their names were—
Flopsy, Mopsy, Cotton-tail, and Peter.
They lived with their Mother in a sand-bank, underneath the root of a very big fir tree.
“NOW, my dears,” said old Mrs. Rabbit one morning, “you may go into the fields or down the lane, but don’t go into Mr. McGregor’s garden: your Father had an accident there; he was put in a pie by Mrs. McGregor.”
A Collection of Stories, Reviews and Essays by Willa Cather
“No, Antone, I have told thee many times, no, thou shalt not sell it until I am gone.”
“But I need money; what good is that old fiddle to thee? The very crows laugh at thee when thou art trying to play. Thy hand trembles so thou canst scarce hold the bow. Thou shalt go with me to the Blue to cut wood to-morrow. See to it thou art up early.”
A Colonial Reformer, Vol. III (of 3) by Rolf Boldrewood
“In the strange exceptional condition of nervous tension up to which that marvellous instrument, the human ‘harp of a thousand strings,’ is capable of being wound, under the pressure of dread and perplexity, there is a type of visitor whose face is always hailed with pleasure. This is a fact as unquestionable as the converse proposition. For the bien-venu under such delicate and peculiar circumstances, helpfulness, sympathy, and decision are indispensable. of no avail are weakly condolences or mild assenting pity. The power to dispense substantial aid may or may not be wanting. But the friend in need must have the moral power and clearness of mental vision which render decisiveness possible and just. His fiat, favourable or unfavourable, lets in the light, separates real danger from undefined terror, offers security for well-grounded hope, or persuades to the calmness of resignation.” -an excerpt
A Comic History of the United States by Livingston Hopkins
A Comic History of the United States” by Livingston Hopkins. Published by Good Press. Good Press publishes a wide range of titles that encompasses every genre.
A Common-Sense View of the Mind Cure by Laura M. Westall
A Common-Sense View Of The Mind Cure uses New Thought to assist you in your daily life. It covers things like the nervous system, the brain, pain, attention, imagination, and emotions, and finishes off with some tips for practical applications.
A Commonplace Book of Thoughts, Memories, and Fancies. by Mrs. Jameson
Imust be allowed to say a few words in explanation of the contents of this little volume, which is truly what its name sets forth—a book of common-places, and nothing more. If I have never, in any work I have ventured to place before the public, aspired to teach, (being myself a learner in all things,) at least I have hitherto done my best to deserve the indulgence I have met with; and it would pain me if it could be supposed that such indulgence had rendered me presumptuous or careless.
A Complete Dictionary of Synonyms and Antonyms by Samuel Fallows
A complete dictionary of synonyms and antonyms… with an appendix embracing a dictionary of Briticisms, Americanisms, colloquial phrases, etc. … By the Rt. Rev. Samuel Fallows.
A Complete Guide to Heraldry by Arthur Charles Fox-Davies
Since the “Boke of St. Albans” was written, into the heraldic portion of which the author managed to compress an unconscionable amount of rubbish, books and treatises on the subject of Armory have issued from the press in a constant succession. A few of them stand a head and shoulders above the remainder. The said remainder have already sunk into oblivion. Such a book as “Guillim” must of necessity rank in the forefront of any armorial bibliography; but any one seeking to judge the Armory of the present day by the standards and ethics adopted by that writer, would find himself making mistake after mistake, and led hopelessly astray. There can be very little doubt that the “Display of Heraldry” is an accurate representation of the laws of Armory which governed the use of Arms at the date the book was written; and it correctly puts forward the opinions which were then accepted concerning the past history of the science.
A Concise Dictionary of Middle English from A.D. 1150 to 1580 by Walter W. Skeat; A. L. Mayhew
A Concise Dictionary of Middle English which consists of vocabulary used frequently from A.D. 1150 to 1580. This can serve both as a guide to understand the meaning of certain vocabs written in old books and to study the old style of English language system.
A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court by Mark Twain
First published in the year 1889, the present book ‘A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court’ was written by famous American writer, humorist, entrepreneur, publisher, and lecturer – Mark Twain. The story follows a Yankee engineer from Connecticut, who is accidentally transported back in time to the court of King Arthur, where he fools the inhabitants of that time into thinking that he is a magician, and soon uses his knowledge of modern technology to become a “magician” in earnest, stunning the English of the Early Middle Ages with such feats as demolitions, fireworks, and the shoring up of a holy well. He attempts to modernize the past, but in the end he is unable to prevent the death of Arthur and an interdict against him by the Catholic Church of the time, which grows fearful of his power.
A Country Doctor by Sarah Orne Jewett
A Country Doctor is a novel by American author Sarah Orne Jewett. The book, which was first published in 1884, was based on the relationship between Jewett and her physician father.
A Critical Examination of Socialism by W. H. Mallock
The Civic Federation of New York, an influential body which aims, in various ways, at harmonising apparently divergent industrial interests in America, having decided on supplementing its other activities by a campaign of political and economic education, invited me, at the beginning of the year 1907, to initiate a scientific discussion of socialism in a series of lectures or speeches, to be delivered under the auspices of certain of the great Universities in the United States. This invitation I accepted, but, the project being a new one, some difficulty arose as to the manner in which it might best be carried out—whether the speeches or lectures should in each case be new, dealing with some fresh aspect of the subject, or whether they should be arranged in a single series to be repeated without substantial alteration in each of the cities visited by me.
A Cynic Looks at Life by Ambrose Bierce
“The question “Does civilization civilize?” is a fine example of petitio principii, and decides itself in the affirmative; for civilization must needs do that from the doing of which it has its name. But it is not necessary to suppose that he who propounds is either unconscious of his lapse in logic or desirous of digging a pitfall for the feet of those who discuss; I take it he simply wishes to put the matter in an impressive way, and relies upon a certain degree of intelligence in the interpretation.” -an excerpt
A Damsel in Distress by P. G. Wodehouse
Lady Maud, the spirited young daughter of the Earl of Marshmoreton, is confined to her home, Belpher Castle in Hampshire, under aunt’s orders because of an unfortunate infatuation. Enter our hero, George Bevan, an American who writes songs for musicals and is so smitten with Maud that he descends on Hampshire’s rolling acres to see off his rival and claim her heart. Meanwhile, in the great Wodehousian tradition, the Earl of Marshmoreton just wants a quiet life pottering in his garden, supported by his portly butler Keggs and free from the demands of his bossy sister and his silly-ass son.
A Dangerous Flirtation by Laura Jean Libbey
Three young girls, as fair as youth and beauty could make them, stood with arms twined about one another on the sands of Newport one hot August afternoon.
Neither of the trio could have been over seventeen. All three were dressed in white, and looked as delightfully cool, sweet and airy, with their floating white ribbons and wind-blown curls, as summer maidens can possibly look.’ -an excerpt
Written in a style of narrative similar to Henry James, Laura Jean Libbey’s present novel ‘A Dangerous Flirtation’ is an engaging but longish romantic novel.
A Daughter of Jehu by Laura E. Richards
A daughter of Jehu by Laura Elizabeth Howe Richards. . From well-known classics & literary fiction and non-fiction to forgotten−or yet undiscovered gems−of world literature, we issue the books that need to be rea
A Daughter of the Snows by Jack London
A Daughter of the Snows is Jack London’s first novel. Set in the Yukon, it tells the story of Frona Welse, “a Stanford graduate and physical Valkyrie” who takes to the trail after upsetting her wealthy father’s community by her forthright manner and befriending the town’s prostitute.
A Day in a Colonial Home by Della R. Prescott
The average home to-day has conveniences to meet the demands of comfortable living. The heating and lighting are good. In nearly every home may be found a living room where the family assembles for rest and recreation. Here they read, sew, chat, and discuss the news. Similar scenes occurred in the colonial days, but in quite a different room. The kitchen took the place of our modern living room. The life of the colonists centered in it, for in the kitchen was the fireplace, often the one source of heat in the whole house. Its warmth and cheer and its use as a place for cooking made it the heart of the home. Here it was that the family interests and activities were centered; all the family group collected here to share the joys and sorrows of life.
A Day with a Tramp by Walter A. Wyckoff
The following narratives, like those published in the series of “The Workers,” East and West, are drawn from notes taken during an expedition made ten years ago. In the summer of 1891 I began an experiment of earning my living as a day laborer and continued it until, in the course of eighteen months, I had worked my way from Connecticut to California.
In justice to the narratives it should be explained that they are submitted simply for what they are, the casual observations of a student almost fresh from college whose interest in life led him to undertake a work for which he had no scientific training.
A Day with William Shakespeare by Maurice Clare
The present book ‘A Day with William Shakespeare’ by Maurice Clare is written as part of a series in which each of the books is a fictional account of a day of the respective renowned writer, poet or dramatist based on the information available about them through their works.
A Desert Drama: Being The Tragedy of The “Korosko” by Arthur Conan Doyle
A Desert Drama: Being The Tragedy of The “Korosko”‘ is a novel by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. It was first published in the year 1898. It narrated the adventures and thrill of a group of europeans on a trip to African deserts and their adbuction by an army of Dervish militants. What happens next, read!
A Desperate Character and Other Stories by Ivan Sergeevich Turgenev
Pyetushkov is the work of a young man of twenty-nine, and its lively, unstrained realism is so bold, intimate, and delicate as to contradict the flattering compliment that the French have paid to one another—that Turgenev had need to dress his art by the aid of French mirrors.
Although Pyetushkov shows us, by a certain open naïveté of style, that a youthful hand is at work, it is the hand of a young master, carrying out the realism of the ‘forties’—that of Gogol, Balzac, and Dickens—straightway, with finer point, to find a perfect equilibrium free from any bias or caricature. The whole strength and essence of the realistic method has been developed in Pyetushkov to its just limits. The Russians are instinctive realists, and carry the warmth of life into their pages, which warmth the French seem to lose in clarifying their impressions and crystallising them in art. Pyetushkov is not exquisite: it is irresistible. Note how the reader is transported bodily into Pyetushkov’s stuffy room, and how the major fairly boils out of the two pages he lives in! (pp. 301, 302). That is realism if you like. A woman will see the point of Pyetushkov very quickly. Onisim and Vassilissa and the aunt walk and chatter around the stupid Pyetushkov, and glance at him significantly in a manner that reveals everything about these people’s world. All the servants who appear in the tales in this volume are hit off so marvellously that one sees the lower-class world, which is such a mystery to certain refined minds, has no secrets for Turgenev.
A Dictionary of Slang, Cant, and Vulgar Words by John Camden Hotten
“Gipseys follow their brethren by numerous marks, such as strewing handfuls of grass in the day time at a four lane or cross roads; the grass being strewn down the road the gang have taken; also, by a cross being made on the ground with a stick or knife, the longest end of the cross denotes the route taken. In the night time a cleft stick is placed in the fence at the cross roads, with an arm pointing down the road their comrades have taken. The marks are always placed on the left-hand side, so that the stragglers can easily and readily find them.”—Snowden’s Magistrate’s Assistant, 1852, p. 444.
A Dictionary of The English Language by Samuel Johnson
Orthography is the art of combining letters into syllables, and syllables into words. It therefore teaches previously the form and sound of letters.
A Dictionary of the First or Oldest Words in the English Language by Coleridge
he present publication may be considered as the foundation-stone of the Historical and Literary portion of the Philological Society’s proposed English Dictionary. Its appearance in a separate form has been necessitated by the nature of the scheme, on which that work is being constructed. Without entering into details, which will be found in the Society’s published Prospectus, it will be sufficient for the present purpose to mention, that the raw material of the Dictionary, the words and authorities, are being brought together by a number of independent collectors, for whom it is consequently necessary to provide some common standard of comparison, whereby each may ascertain what he is to extract, and what to reject, from the author, or work, he has undertaken.
A Digit of the Moon: A Hindoo Love Story by F. W. Bain
The better to illustrate how, in Hindoo mythology, the ideas of a beautiful woman, the Moon, and the Sea, dissolve and disappear into one another, I have placed on the fly-leaf of this edition a single stanza, drawn from another part of my MS., which characteristically exemplifies that dissolving view: subjoining here, for the benefit of the uninitiated, a literal translation: