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A Simple Story
Mrs. Inchbald 试读
A Simple Story is one of those books which, for some reason or other, have failed to come down to us, as they deserved, along the current of time, but have drifted into a literary backwater where only the professional critic or the curious discoverer can find them out. "The iniquity of oblivion blindly scattereth her poppy;" and *where more blindly than in the republic of letters. If we were to inquire how it has happened that the true value of Mrs. Inchbald's achievement has passed out of general recognition, perhaps the answer to our question would be found to lie in the extreme difficulty with which the mass of readers detect and appreciate mere quality in literature. Their judgment is swayed by a hundred side-considerations which have *thing to do with art, but happen easily to impress the imagination, or to fit in with the fashion of the hour. The reputation of Mrs. Inchbald's contemporary, Fanny Burney, is a case in point. Every one has heard of Fanny Burney's *vels, and Evelina is still widely read. Yet it is impossible to doubt that, so far as quality alone is concerned, Evelina deserves to be ranked considerably below A Simple Story. But its writer was the familiar friend of the greatest spirits of her age; she was the author of one of the best of diaries; and her work was immediately and immensely popular. Thus it has happened that the name of Fanny Burney has maintained its place upon the roll of English *velists, while that of Mrs. Inchbald is forgotten.
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The Mysterious Stranger
Mark Twain 试读
Purchase one of 1st World Library's Classic Books and help support our free internet library of downloadable eBooks. Visit us online at www.1stWorldLibrary.ORG - - It was in 1590-winter. Austria was far away from the world, and asleep it was still the Middle Ages in Austria, and promised to remain so forever. Some even set it away back centuries upon centuries and said that by the mental and spiritual clock it was still the Age of Belief in Austria. But they meant it as a compliment, not a slur, and it was so taken, and we were all proud of it. I remember it well, although I was only a boy and I remember, too, the pleasure it gave me. Yes, Austria was far from the world, and asleep, and our village was in the middle of that sleep, being in the middle of Austria. It drowsed in peace in the deep privacy of a hilly and woodsy solitude where news from the world hardly ever came to disturb its dreams, and was infinitely content. At its front flowed the tranquil river, its surface painted with cloud-forms and the reflections of drifting arks and stone-boats behind it rose the woody steeps to the base of the lofty precipice from the top of the precipice frowned a vast castle, its long stretch of towers and bastions mailed in vines beyond the river, a league to the left, was a tumbled expanse of forest-clothed hills cloven by winding gorges where the sun never penetrated and to the right a precipice overlooked the river, and between it and the hills just spoken of lay a far-reaching plain dotted with little homesteads nested among orchards and shade trees.
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The Firefly of France
Marion Polk Angellotti 试读
This is an EXACT reproduction of a book published before 1923. This IS NOT an OCR’d book with strange characters, introduced typographical errors, and jumbled words. This book may have occasional imperfections such as missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. that were either part of the original artifact, or were introduced by the scanning process. We believe this work is culturally important, and despite the imperfections, have elected to bring it back into print as part of our continuing commitment to the preservation of printed works worldwide. We appreciate your understanding of the imperfections in the preservation process, and hope you enjoy this valuable book.
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Love and hatred
Marie Belloc Lowndes 试读
Laura Pavely did not raise her voice, but there was trembling pain, as well as an almost incredulous surprise, in the way she uttered the five words which may mean so much—or so little.
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The Spartan Twins
Lucy Fitch Perkins 试读
Under the arcade in the court there was a small wooden table. Chloe and Daphne lifted it and brought it near the fire. Then they brought a plain wooden bench that also stood under the thatch and placed it beside the table. They arranged cushions of lamb's wool upon the bench, and near the foot set a low stool. Daphne brought the dishes, and when everything was ready, Lydia sent Chloe to call her husband and the Stranger, while she herself went out to the farm-yard. She found Dion and Argos sitting side by side on the wood-pile in dejected silence.
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Old Greek Stories
James Baldwin 试读
Perhaps no other stories have ever been told so often or listened to with so much pleasure as the classic tales of ancient Greece. For many ages they have been a source of delight to young people and old, to the ignorant and the learned, to all who love to hear about and contemplate things mysterious, beautiful, and grand. They have become so incorporated into our language and thought, and so interwoven with our literature, that we could not do away with them now if we would. They are a portion of our heritage from the distant past, and they form perhaps as important a part of our intellectual life as they did of that of the people among whom they originated.
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Fires of Driftwood
Isabel Ecclestone Mackay 试读
Isabel Ecclestone Mackay (1875-1928) was a Canadian poet, playwright and novelist. She was born in Woodstock, Ontario. She received her education in Ontario and moved to Vancouver along with her husband, Peter J. Mackay, in 1909. There she wrote all her major works. She is the author of several novels, a book of lyrics, and a volume of poems for children. Her play Treasure (1926) won the open, all Canadian I.O.D.E. Contest in 1926.
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From Place to Place
Irvin S. Cobb 试读
THIS man that I have it in mind to write about was, at the time of which I write, an elderly man, getting well along toward sixty-five. He was tall and slightly stooped, with long arms, and big, gnarled, competent-looking hands, which smelled of yellow laundry soap, and had huge, tarnished nails on the fingers.
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An Historical Mystery
Honoré de Balzac 试读
The autumn of the year 1803 was one of the finest in the early part of that period of the present century which we now call "Empire."' (Excerpt from text)
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The Old English Baron – a Gothic Story
Clara Reeve 试读
As this Story is of a species which, though not new, is out of the common track, it has been thought necessary to point out some circumstances to the reader, which will elucidate the design, and, it is hoped, will induce him to form a favourable, as well as a right judgment of the work before him.
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A History of Science--Volume 2
Henry Smith Williams 试读
he studies of the present book cover the progress of science from the close of the Roman period in the fifth century A.D. to about the middle of the eighteenth century. In tracing the course of events through so long a period, a difficulty becomes prominent which everywhere besets the historian in less degree—a difficulty due to the conflict between the strictly chronological and the topical method of treatment.
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Fifty Famous Stories Retold
James Baldwin 试读
There are numerous time-honored stories which have become so incorporated into the literature and thought of our race that a knowledge of them is an indispensable part of one's education. These stories are of several different classes. To one class belong the popular fairy tales which have delighted untold generations of children, and will continue to delight them to the end of time. To another class belong the limited number of fables that have come down to us through many channels from hoar antiquity. To a third belong the charming stories of olden times that are derived from the literatures of ancient peoples, such as the Greeks and the Hebrews. A fourth class includes the half-legendary tales of a distinctly later origin, which have for their subjects certain romantic episodes in the lives of well-known heroes and famous men, or in the history of a people.
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Lilith, a romance
George MacDonald 试读
"Lilith is equal if not superior to the best of Poe," raved poet W. H. Auden about this classic Victorian novel. Known as the father of fantasy literature, George MacDonald was a Scottish minister who later turned to writing poetry and novels, gaining acclaim for his children's books and influencing J. R. R. Tolkien and C. S. Lewis. Lilith is considered to be one of the most important visionary novels of the nineteenth century. Written in 1895, Lilith is a fantasy novel for adults that's rich with symbolism and suspense. A recent heir to his parents' English country manor, Mr. Vane has been troubled by visions of an elderly gentleman in his library. Curious, he follows the old man through a passageway and discovers a dusty mirror that leads him on a spiritual journey into another world. As he travels through time in scenes that range from the beautiful to the grotesque, he encounters a series of mysteries that reveal a deeper reality. Is Vane dreaming . . . or going mad? With classic themes of good and evil, identity and free will, suffering and salvation, Lilith is a thought-provoking, sometimes puzzling, allegory that will challenge your intellect and stay with you long after the last page is turned.
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The Human Chord
Algernon Blackwood 试读
"WANTED, by Retired Clergyman, Secretarial Assistant with courage and imagination. Tenor voice and some knowledge of Hebrew essential; single; unworldly. Apply Philip Skale." Robert Spinrobin needed the work, and he took the bait. He possessed the necessary qualifications: a thin tenor voice, not unmusical; a smattering of Hebrew which he had picked up at Cambridge because he liked the fine, high-sounding names of deities and angels; and courage and imagination.It was a job he lived to regret. For he was meant to be the final note in a "human chord" designed to call out the true name of God . . . which could prove the greatest blessing or the worst curse in all of creation!
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The Tale of Peter Rabbit
Beatrix Potter 试读
"The Amazing Pop-up Tale of Peter Rabbit" retells the much-loved story of Peter Rabbit and his adventures in Mr. McGregor's garden. It contains Beatrix Potter's original illustrations and text, but is brought to life through an amazing series of flaps, pull-tabs and pop-ups. It is delightful book for all ages.
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New Chronicles of Rebecca
Kate Douglas Smith Wiggin 试读
This is a reproduction of a book published before 1923. This book may have occasional imperfections such as missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. that were either part of the original artifact, or were introduced by the scanning process. We believe this work is culturally important, and despite the imperfections, have elected to bring it back into print as part of our continuing commitment to the preservation of printed works worldwide. We appreciate your understanding of the imperfections in the preservation process, and hope you enjoy this valuable book.
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The All Souls Real-time Reading Companion
Deborah Harkness 试读
A richly illustrated real-time reading guide that brings to life the world created by Deborah Harkness in A Discovery of WitchesandShadow of Night retracing the events of the bestselling novels with illuminating behind-the-scenes details;A world of witches, vampires, and;daemons. A manuscript that holds the secrets of their past and the key to their future.Diana and Matthew—the forbidden love at the heart of the adventure.
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MOBY DICK
Herman Melville 试读
Herman Melville's peerless allegorical masterpiece is the epic saga of the fanatical Captain Ahab, who swears vengeance on the mammoth white whale that has crippled him. Often considered to be the Great American Novel, MOBY-DICK is at once a starkly realistic story of whaling, a romance of unusual adventure, and a searing drama of heroic courage, moral conflict, and mad obsession. It is world-renowned as the greatest sea story ever told. MOBY-DICK, widely misunderstood in its own time, has since become an indubitable classic of American literature. Washington Square Press Enriched Classics presents the world's greatest literature in timeless editions designed for modern readers. Special features include a lively introduction with essential biographical and historical background, several critical perspectives, from traditional to contemporary, and a unique visual essay composed of authentic period illustrations and photographs that help bring every word to life.
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A CHRISTMAS CAROL
Charles Dickens 试读
Merry Christmas, everyone!"Bah!" said Scrooge. "Humbug!" With those famous words unfolds a tale that renews the joy and caring that are Christmas. Whether we read it aloud with our family and friends or open the pages on a chill winter evening to savor the story in solitude, Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol is a very special holiday experience. It is the one book that every year will warm our hearts with favorite memories of Ebenezer Scrooge, Tiny Tim, Bob Cratchit, and the Ghosts of Christmas Past, Present, and Future—and will remind us with laughter and tears that the true Christmas spirit comes from giving with love.With a heartwarming account of Dickens' first reading of the Carol, and a biographical sketch.
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Emile
Jean-Jacques Rousseau 试读
Rousseau creates an ideal model of one-on-one tutelage from infancy to manhood with himself as the child's mentor. As in so many of his other famous works, here, Rousseau asserts his main thesis that human beings are by nature good; it is only the distorting influences of civilization that have corrupted them.
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Grimms Fairy Tales
Jacob Grimm 试读
The Brothers Grimm The Grimm brothers were early 19th century writers best known for their fairy tales coming from Scandinavian, Icelandic and Germanic origins. By 1807 there was a growing interest in German folk tales. The Grim brothers were academics who invited friends to their home and asked them to relate stories they had heard. They soon published their first collection of tales and from there several more volumes followed. Included in this collection are Hansel and Gretel, Briar Rose, The Fisherman and His Wife, Rapunzel, The Frog Prince, Little Red Riding Hood, Rumpelstiltshin, Tom Thumb and many more. These stories are a delight to read and will rekindle up many childhood memories as they are reread.
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Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl Written by Herself
Harriet Ann Jacobs 试读
Born into slavery, Linda spends her early years in a happy home with her mother and father, who are relatively well-off slaves. When her mother dies, six-year-old Linda is sent to live with her mother's mistress,who treats her well and teaches her to read.After a few years, this mistress dies and bequeaths Linda to a relative. Her new masters are cruel and neglectful,and Dr. Flint,the father,takes an interest in Linda and tries to force her into a sexual relationship with him. Linda continues to thwart his attempts and maintain her distance.Knowing that Flint will do anything to get his way,Linda consents to a love affair with a white neighbor,Mr.Sands.She is ashamed at her discretion,but she knows it is better than being raped by Dr.Flint.During their affair,Mr.Sands and Linda have two children.Their names are Benjamin,who is often called Benny in the narrative,and Ellen.Throughout her narrative,Jacobs argues that a powerless slave girl cannot be held to the same standards of morality as a free woman.She also has practical reasons for agreeing to the affair:she hopes that when Flint finds out about it,he will sell her to Sands in disgust.Instead,the vengeful Flint sends Linda to his son's plantation to be broken in as a field hand.
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King Henry V
William Shakespeare 试读
Shakespeare based on life,king Henry v of England in 1599 created the famous historical plays, describes emphatically agincourt during the war of one hundred.Young Henry v longer than counsel,is good at fighting,the subordinates is deep affection.Because of unwilling French prince insult,he invaded France,expedition edge palace on the battlefield.With superhuman courage, he led the nobles and dorks defeated the French army in the war,forced French king to sign the contract and to marry a French princess Kathleen, become the heir to the throne of France.
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Lady Susan
简·奥斯汀 试读
Written in 1795, Jane Austen's epistolary novel Lady Susan brims with satire and wit. The recently widowed Lady Susan is beautiful and attractive, yet selfish and manipulative. She flirts atrociously in order to secure a good marriage not only for herself but for her daughter as well.
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Le Rouge et le noir
Stendhal 试读
The hero Julien was born in the small owner family, obsessed with Napoleon valiant record him, want to rise head and shoulders above others, helpless at that time France was in Bourbon Restoration period. The army without the door he chose the Church Road, due to be able to recite the whole of the "New Testament", even by the local mayor fancy, become his home tutor, after church recommend, as the royalist Marquess of Larmor served as a private secretary to representative. But in the end, a letter informing messenger he be destroyed on one day be successful in one's official career. This book is not only a realistic novel, but also created the "psychological novel" precedent. The author used the exquisite brushwork in even the contradiction of rich inner world, he struggled between ambition and love.
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A System Of Logic Ratiocinative And Inductive
John Stuart Mill 试读
This two-volume work,first published in 1843,was John Stuart Mill's first major book.It reinvented the modern study of logic and laid the foundations for his later work in the areas of political economy,women's rights and representative government.In clear,systematic prose,Mill (1806 73) disentangles syllogistic logic from its origins in Aristotle and scholasticism and grounds it instead in processes of inductive reasoning.An important attempt at integrating empiricism within a more general theory of human knowledge,the work constitutes essential reading for anyone seeking a full understanding of Mill's thought.Volume 1 contains Mill's introduction,which elaborates upon his definition of logic as 'not the science of Belief,but the science of Proof,or Evidence'.It also discusses methods of logical reasoning propositions and syllogisms.Volume 2 contains 'On the Logic of the Moral Sciences',in which Mills applies empirical reasoning to human behaviour.
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Barnaby Rudge – a tale of the Riots of eighty
Charles Dickens 试读
Charles Dickens's first historical novel–set during the anti—Catholic riots of 1780–is an unparalleled portrayal of the terror of a rampaging mob,seen through the eyes of the individuals swept up in the chaos. Those individuals include Emma,a Catholic,and Edward,a Protestant,whose forbidden love weaves through the heart of the story; and the simpleminded Barnaby,one of the riot leaders,whose fate is tied to a mysterious murder and whose beloved pet raven,Grip,embodies the mystical power of innocence. The story encompasses both the rarified aristocratic world and the volatile streets and nightmarish underbelly of London,which Dickens characteristically portrays in vivid,pulsating detail. But the real focus of the book is on the riots themselves,depicted with an extraordinary energy and redolent of the dangers,the mindlessness,and the possibilities–both beneficial and brutal–of the mob. One of the lesser—known novels,Barnaby Rudge is nonetheless among the most brilliant–and most terrifying–in Dickens's oeuvre.
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The Invisible Man
赫伯特·乔治·威尔斯 试读
The Penguin English Library Edition of The Invisible Man by H. G. Wells'People screamed. People sprang off the pavement ... "The Invisible Man is coming! The Invisible Man!"'With his face swaddled in bandages, his eyes hidden behind dark glasses and his hands covered even indoors, Griffin - the new guest at The Coach and Horses - is at first assumed to be a shy accident-victim. But the true reason for his disguise is far more chilling: he has developed a process that has made him invisible, and is locked in a struggle to discover the antidote. Forced from the village, and driven to murder, he seeks the aid of an old friend, Kemp. The horror of his fate has affected his mind, however - and when Kemp refuse to help, he resolves to wreak his revenge.The Penguin English Library - 100 editions of the best fiction in English, from the eighteenth century and the very first novels to the beginning of the First World War.
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The Violet Fairy Book
Andrew Lang 试读
The stories in this Violet Fairy Book, as in all the others of the series, have been translated out of the popular traditional tales in a number of different languages. These stories are as old as anything that men have invented. They are narrated by naked savage women to naked savage children. They have been inherited by our earliest civilised ancestors, who really believed that beasts and trees and stones can talk if they choose, and behave kindly or unkindly. The stories are full of the oldest ideas of ages when science did not exist, and magic took the place of science.
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Three Men in a Boat
Jerome K. Jerome 试读
Relates the adventures and mishaps of three late-Victorian gentlemen and a dog on holiday on the Thames. With picaresque digressions and asides, Jerome depicts the group's attempts to keep themselves afloat and cope with the English weather.
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100%:the Story of a Patriot
Upton Sinclair 试读
Upton Sinclair, the prolific socialist author who is best-remembered for his groundbreaking 1906 fictional expose of labor abuses and the American meat-packing industry, "The Jungle," began by writing jokes and juvenile adventure stories to finance his education at the City College of New York. Although born to an aristocratic Southern family, Sinclair's father was an alcoholic, so the family's fortunes varied wildly during his youth. A remarkably successful socialist candidate for Governor of California in the 1930s, many of Sinclair's novels revolved around his social concerns.
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A Bicycle of Cathay
Frank Richard Stockton 试读
I was beginning to move more rapidly along the little path, well worn by many rubber tires, which edged the broad roadway, when I perceived the doctor's daughter standing at the gate of her father's front yard. As I knew her very well, and she happened to be standing there and looking in my direction, I felt that it would be the proper thing for me to stop and speak to her, and so I dismounted and proceeded to roll my bicycle up to the gate. "Your wheel does seem to be a sort of a companion," she said "not so good as a horse, but better than nothing. I should think, traveling all by yourself in this way, you would have quite a friendly feeling for it. Did you ever think of giving it a name " -- "Oh yes," said I. "I have named it. I call it a 'Bicycle of Cathay.'"
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Nine Short Essays
Charles Dudley Warner 试读
Charles Dudley Warner (1829-1900) was an American essayist and novelist. He worked with a surveying party in Missouri studied law at the University of Pennsylvania practiced in Chicago was assistant editor (1860) and editor (1861-1867) of The Hartford Press, and after The Press was merged into The Hartford Courant, was co-editor with Joseph R Hawley in 1884 he joined the editorial staff of Harper's Magazine, for which he conducted The Editors Drawer until 1892, when he took charge of The Editor's Study. He travelled widely, lectured frequently, and was actively interested in prison reform, city park supervision, and other movements for the public good. He was the first president of the National Institute of Arts and Letters. He first attracted attention by the reflective sketches entitled My Summer in a Garden (1870). Amongst his other works are Saunterings (1872), Backlog Studies (1873), Being a Boy (1878), In the Wilderness (1878), Captain John Smith (1881), Washington Irving (1881), A Little Journey in the World (1889), As We Were Saying (1891) and That Fortune (1899).
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Sesame and Lilies
John Ruskin 试读
1851. Ruskin, the greatest Victorian bar Victoria, was an artist, scientist, poet, environmentalist, philosopher, and the preeminent art critic of his time. Ruskin's Sesame and Lilies stands as a classic 19th-century statement on the natures and duties of men and women. This volume contains three lectures by Ruskin titled: Of Kings' Treasuries Of Queens' Gardens and Of the Mystery of Life. John Of Kings' Treasuries, in which Ruskin critiques Victorian manhood, and Of Queens' Gardens, in which he counsels women to take their places as the moral guides of men and urges the parents of girls to educate them to this end. See other titles by this author available from Kessinger Publishing.
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The Age of Innocence
伊迪丝·华顿 试读
The Age of Innocence (1920) is a novel by Edith Wharton, which won the 1921 Pulitzer Prize.The story is set in upper-class New York City in the 1870s.
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The History of the Peloponnesian War
Thucydides 试读
Thucydides (c. 460 B.C. - c. 395 B.C.) was a Greek historian and author of the History of the Peloponnesian War. Thucydides is considered the father of "scientific history," because of his strict standards of evidence-gathering and analysis in terms of cause and effect without reference to the intervention of the gods. The History of the Peloponnesian War is the history of the 5th century B.C. struggle between Athens, a democratic state and sea power, and the states of the Peloponnese headed by Sparta, a conservative power with an efficient military force.
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Handwork in Wood
William Noyes 试读
William Noyes (1862-1928) was an author and Assistant Professor, Department of Industrial Arts. His works include: Handwork in Wood (1910) and Wood and Forest (1928). "The rough and ready methods common in American logging operations are the result partly of a tradition of inexhaustible supply, partly of the fear of fire and the avoidance of taxes, partly of an eagerness to get rich quick. Most of the logging has been done on privately owned land or on shamelessly stolen public land, and the lumberman had no further interest in the forest than to lumber it expeditiously. "
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Daisy
Susan Warner 试读
"You are a foolish boy " said Aunt Gary. "Of course if you fill Daisy's head with notions, she will not get them out again. If you have anything of that sort to say, you had better say it where she will not hear.""Daisy has eyes -- and a head," said Preston.As soon as I was able for it Preston took me out for short walks and as I grew stronger he made the walks longer. The city was a strange place to me very unlike New York there was much to see and many a story to hear and Preston and I enjoyed ourselves. Aunt Gary was busy making visits, I think. There was a beautiful walk by the sea which I liked best of all and when it was not too cold my greatest pleasure was to sit there looking over the dark waters and sending my whole soul across them to that unknown spot where my father and mother were. "Home," that spot was to me. Preston did not know what I liked the Esplanade for he sometimes laughed at me for being poetic and meditative when I was only sending my heart over the water. But he was glad to please me in all that he could and whenever it was not too cold, our walks always took me there.
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National Epics
Kate Milner RabbHarrison Fisher 试读
Many of the earliest books, particularly those dating back to the 1900s and before, are now extremely scarce and increasingly expensive. We are republishing these classic works in affordable, high quality, modern editions, using the original text and artwork.
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Daniel Boone The Pioneer of Kentucky
John S. C. (John Stevens Cabot) Abbott 试读
Daniel Boone was gentle, kindly, modest, peace-loving, absolutely fearless, strong as a bear and active as a panther his life was lived in danger, almost perpetual hardship and exposure yet he died in his bed at almost 90 years of age. This outstanding American's story is one that will inspire any young person today.
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Jack Mason, the Old Sailor
Francis C 试读
Francis Channing Woodworth (1812-1859), who wrote under the pseudonyms Uncle Frank and Theodore Thinker, was the author of Stories About Animals (1850), Stories About Birds (1851), Woodworth's Cabinet of Curious Things (1852), The Holiday Book (1853), Balloon (1854), Young American's Life of Fremont (1856), Jack Mason, The Old Sailor, Uncle Reuben and his Budget of Stories, Wreaths of Friendship, The Diving Bell or, Pearls to be Sought for, A Peep at our Neighbors and Willow Lane Stories. "Jack Mason had been to sea a great many times when I first knew him, and he has been a great many times since. He has sailed in a ship almost all over the world. Such a host of stories as he can tell Why, I do believe if he could find little boys and girls to talk to, he would begin in the morning as soon as he had got through his breakfast, and do nothing but tell stories about what he has seen, until it was time to go to bed at night. I don't know but he would want to stop once or twice to eat. Jack loves a good dinner as well as anybody. "
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Macaria
Augusta J. (Augusta Jane) Evans 试读
The town-clock was on the last stroke of twelve, the solitary candle measured but two inches from its socket, and as the summer wind rushed through the half-closed shutters, the melted tallow dripped slowly into the brightly-burnished brazen candlestick. The flickering light fell upon the pages of a ledger, and flashed fitfully in the face of the accountant, as he bent over his work. Sixteen years growth had given him unusual height and remarkable breadth of chest, and it was difficult to realize that the stature of manhood had been attained by a mere boy in years.
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A Beautiful Possibility
Black,Edith Ferguson 试读
In one of the fairest of the West Indian islands a simple but elegant villa lifted its gabled roofs amidst a bewildering wealth of tropical beauty. Brilliant birds flitted among the foliage gold and silver fishes darted to and fro in a large stone basin of a fountain which threw its glittering spray over the lawn in front of the house and on the vine-shaded veranda hammocks hung temptingly and low wicker chairs invited to repose.
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A Christmas Carol
Charles Dickens 试读
The tale begins on Christmas Eve seven years after the death of Ebenezer Scrooge's business partner Jacob Marley. Scrooge is established within the first stave (chapter) as a greedy and stingy businessman who has no place in his life for kindness, compassion, charity, or benevolence. After being warned by Marley's ghost to change his ways, Scrooge is visited by three additional ghosts "each in its turn" who accompany him to various scenes with the hope of achieving his transformation. The first of the spirits, the Ghost of Christmas Past, takes Scrooge to the scenes of his boyhood and youth which stir the old miser's gentle and tender side by reminding him of a time when he was more innocent. The second spirit, the Ghost of Christmas Present, takes Scrooge to several radically differing scenes (a joy-filled market of people buying the makings of Christmas dinner, the family feast of Scrooge's near-impoverished clerk Bob Cratchit, a miner's cottage, and a lighthouse among other sites) in order to evince from the miser a sense of responsibility for his fellow man. The third spirit, the Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come, harrows Scrooge with dire visions of the future if he does not learn and act upon what he has witnessed. Scrooge's own neglected and untended grave is revealed, prompting the miser to aver that he will change his ways in hopes of changing these "shadows of what may be." In the fifth and final stave, Scrooge awakens Christmas morning with joy and love in his heart, then spends the day with his nephew's family after anonymously sending a prize turkey to the Crachit home for Christmas dinner. Scrooge has become a different man overnight, and now treats his fellow men with kindness, generosity, and compassion, gaining a reputation as a man who embodies the spirit of Christmas. The story closes with the narrator confirming the validity, completeness, and permanence of Scrooge's transformation.
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Rachel Ray
Anthony Trollope 试读
Oh, Dolly, do not speak with that terrible voice, as though the world were coming to an end,'' she said, in answer to the first note of objurgation that was uttered; but the notes that came afterwards were so much more terrible, so much more severe, that Rachel found herself quite unable to stop them by any would-be joking tone.
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Yolanda:Maid of Burgundy
Charles Major 试读
Like the Israelites of old, mankind is prone to worship false gods, and persistently sets up the brazen image of a sham hero, as its idol. I should like to write the history of the world, if for no other reason than to assist several well-established heroes down from their pedestals.
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Madame Midas
Fergus Hume 试读
This scarce antiquarian book is a facsimile reprint of the original. Due to its age, it may contain imperfections such as marks, notations, marginalia and flawed pages. Because we believe this work is culturally important, we have made it available as part of our commitment for protecting, preserving, and promoting the world's literature in affordable, high quality, modern editions that are true to the original work.
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X Y Z A Detective Story
Anna Katharine Green 试读
Sometimes in the course of his experience, a detective, while engaged in ferreting out the mystery of one crime, runs inadvertently upon the clue to another. But rarely has this been done in a manner more unexpected or with attendant circumstances of greater interest than in the instance I am now about to relate.
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Twenty Years After
Alexandre Dumas 试读
This titleincludes an introduction by A. M. de Medeiros, University of Kentat Canterbury. A year after the publication of "The ThreeMusketeers", Alexandre Dumas produced a sequel worthy in everyrespect of the original. In "Twenty Years After" the much belovedD'Artaganan, Athos, Porthos and Aramis reunite to fight the forcesof evil. In the original novel they defeated Milady, a formidablefoe; now they need to face her vengeful son Mordaunt, as well ascountering the machinations of the sinister Cardinal Mazarin. Theiradventures also take them to England, where Cromwell is about totopple Charles I. Meanwhile, they must overcome the obstacles whichthe passing of time has placed between them. Rediscovering strengthin unity, they fight for Queen and country. "The Musketeer" novelswere a huge success in Dumas' own lifetime, and have lost none oftheir original appeal. Translated into many languages and adaptedfor cinema and television, they have helped to make Dumas arguablythe most successful exporter of French culture to the widerworld.
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The Red Romance Book
Andrew Lang 试读
Originally published in 1921. Contents include: How William of Palermo was carried off by the Werwolf - The Disenchantment of the Werwolf - The Slaying of Hallgerda's Husbands - The Death of Gunnar - Njal's Burning - The Lady of Solace - Una and the Lion - How the Red Cross Knight slew the Dragon - Amys and Amyle - The Tale of the Cid - The Knight of the Sorrowful Countenance - The Adventure of the Two Armies who turned out to be Flocks of Sheep - The Adventure of the Bobbing Lights - The Helmet of Mambrino - How Don Quixote was Enchanted while guarding the Castle - Don Quixote's Home-coming - The Meeting of Huon and Oberon, King of the Fairies - How Oberon saved Huon - Havelok and Goldborough - Cupid and Psyche - Sir Bevis the Strong - Ogier the Dane - How the Ass became a Man again - Guy of Warwick - How Bradamante conquered the Wizard - The Ring of Bradamante - The Fulfilling of the Prophecy - The Knight of the Sun - How the Knight of the Sun rescued his Father. Author: Andrew Lang Language: English Keywords: Literature (Novel) / Fairy Stories / High Adventure Many of the earliest books, particularly those dating back to the 1900s and before, are now extremely scarce and increasingly expensive. Obscure Press are republishing these classic works in affordable, high quality, modern editions, using the original text and artwork.
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Rome in 1860
Edward Dicey 试读
This book was converted from its physical edition to the digital format by a community of volunteers. You may find it for free on the web. Purchase of the Kindle edition includes wireless delivery.
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A Field Book of the Stars
William Tyler Olcott 试读
1907. With Fifty Diagrams. From the Introduction: Considering the ease with which a knowledge of the constellations can be acquired, it seems a remarkable fact that so few are conversant with these time-honored configurations of the heavens. Aside from a knowledge of the Dipper and the Pleiades, the constellations to the vast majority, are utterly unknown. To facilitate and pop...
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Tales from Bohemia
Robert Neilson Stephens 试读
Large Format for easy reading. A collection of tales, depicts all walks of bohemian inner city life at the fringes of respectable society at the turn of the century.
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Dolly and I A Story for Little Folks
Oliver Optic 试读
William Taylor Adams (1822-1897) was a noted academic, author, and Massachusetts state legislator. He was born in Medway, Massachusetts. He became a teacher in the Boston, Massachusetts public schools in 1845, and remained in that capacity through 1865. He served as a member of the School Board of Dorchester, Massachusetts, for 14 years. In 1869, he became a member of the Massachusetts General Court. He wrote many books of fiction for boys under the pseudonym Oliver Optic, including All Aboard or, Life on the Lake (1855), Poor and Proud or, The Fortunes of Katy Redburn (1858), The Soldier Boy or, Tom Somers in the Army (1863), The Birthday Party: A Story for Little Folks (1864), Outward Bound or, Young America Afloat (1867), Now or Never or, The Adventures of Bobby Bright (1872), Taken by the Enemy (1888), Little by Little or, The Cruise of the Flyaway (1888), On The Blockade (1890), Within the Enemy's Lines (1890), Stand by the Union (1891), Fighting for the Right (1893), A Victorious Union (1893), Haste and Waste or, the Young Pilot of Lake Champlain (1894), and Across India or, Live Boys In The Far East (1895).
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Idolatry A Romance
Julian Hawthorne 试读
Manetho's devotion to Helen seems unwavering yet sometimes it is hard not to suspect a secret understanding between him and Salome. He has ceased to wear his diamond ring, and once we caught a diamond-sparkle from beneath the thick folds of lace which cover Helen's bosom but, on the other hand, we fear his arm has been round the gypsy's graceful waist, and that she has learnt the secret of the private chamber. Is demure Manetho a flirt, or do his affections and his ambition run counter to each other Helen would bring him the riches of this world, - but what should a clergyman care for such vanities - while Salome is far the prettier, livelier, and more attractive woman of the two. Brother Hiero, whimsical and preoccupied, sees nothing of what is going on. He is an antiquary - an Egyptologist - and thereto his soul is wedded. He has no eyes nor ears for the loves of other people for one another.
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When A Mans A Man
Harold Bell Wright 试读
This book was converted from its physical edition to the digital format by a community of volunteers. You may find it for free on the web. Purchase of the Kindle edition includes wireless delivery.