Sixteen short nonfiction works in the public domain, independently chosen by the readers. Topics include Science and Exploration–a tribute to Egyptologist Amelia Edwards, and discourses on gravitation and relativity by Georges-Louis Le Sage and Ralph Sampson; Sociology and Society–Julio Guerrero on the Mexican character, reflections on life from Kierkegaard’s Diapsalmata, Immanuel Kant on religious education, the fate of romance in the King of Siam’s harem, nickelodeons, and the tragic results of an 1851 fire on small businesses in New York’s Bowery; Nature–how weeds spread, animal coloration, and mountaineering in the Rockies; as well as a biography of Buster Keaton, and a treatise on British hat making in the age of Top Hats with styles named the Bang-Up and the Vis-a-Vis. (summary by Sue Anderson)     [chương_files]  

Seventeen short nonfiction works in the public domain, independently chosen by the readers. Topics include Nature and Science–fall scenery, rose oil, large type books for low vision, the pulmotor, and the method of scientific investigation; Philosophy and Thought–Joseph Priestly, Kierkegaard, Rousseau, and A.C. Bradley on poetry; History and Travel–John Johnston founder of Sault St. Marie, eating in Berlin, and Sir John Mandeville’s travels; a Japanese folk tale; a defense of Lady Bryon by Harriet Beecher Stowe, and a Virginia slave narrative by Minnie Fulkes. (Summary by Sue Anderson) “Preparation for a Christian Life” was translated by Lee M. Hollander.     [chương_files]  

Eighteen short nonfiction works in the public domain, independently chosen by the readers. Topics include philosophy and thought — Plato, Aristotle, Leonhard Euler, Henri Amiel, and the French Rights of Man; adventure and mystery — the ascent of Aconcagua and the mystery ship Mary Celeste; science — a new comet and lichen dyes; portraits of the seasons by Lucy Maud Montgomery: biographies of Charles Dickens and Clara and Robert Schuman; a history of the Transcendental utopia Fruitlands by Louisa May Alcott, and an essay on reading by Isaac Disraeli. summary by Sue Anderson     [chương_files]  

Nineteen short nonfiction works in the public domain, independently chosen by the readers. Topics include wives, widows, and women scorned–the “Baby Doe Tabor” scandal, the trials of literary marriages, and colonial women; history–Wounded Knee, the Underground Railroad, Edward Bellamy’s “nationalism,” and English railroads; inspiring places–the Alhambra and Squaw Rock; invention–the marine chronometer; and essays on the Constitution, the natural equality of men, old age, the consolation of reading, and on the fantastic imagination. (Summary by Sue Anderson) The Art of Dying by August Strindberg was translated by Claud Field. The Natural Equality of Men to be Acknowledged by Samuel Pufendorf was translated by Andrew Tooke.     [chương_files]