David Wales
And Thus He Came
These short stories, perhaps we might call them modern parables, are not the usual fare of warm and fuzzy Christmas stories (pleasing as tho…
London (Ancient And Modern) From The Sanitary And Medical Point Of View
This little book is an expansion of two addresses delivered in January, 1889. One deals with sanitary issues in London. The other deals with…
On Reading The Bible
These are three lectures (numbers 8, 9, 10) excerpted from the author’s 1920 book On The Art Of Reading. The lectures were delivered to stu…
The Prodigal Village; A Christmas Tale
Small town life in early twentieth century New York state. This is a piquant parable of human nature. Bacheller's lightly humorous voice is …
South-Sea Idyls
The American Charles Warren Stoddard (1843–1909) wrote quite popular travel books, especially those about Polynesia. South-Sea Idyls (1873)…
My Hunt After 'The Captain'
Holmes describes his frantic search through Civil War torn landscapes for his wounded son, the future Supreme Court Justice. Originally publ…
Mendelssohn And Certain Masterworks
In the compass of the present pamphlet it is impossible to give more than a cursory survey of Mendelssohn’s happy but extraordinarily crowde…
A Christmas Miscellany
A selection of eight short works, chapters, or poems about Christmas. - Summary by david wales
The City That Was
This 1911 history of the public health revolution that transformed New York City in the nineteenth century is also about every city and town…
Trivia (1917) And More Trivia (1921)
Logan Pearsall Smith (1865-1946) was an American-born British essayist who was known for his epigrams and aphorisms, often humorous. This re…
Hector Berlioz; A Romantic Tragedy
How much more futile is it to attempt on the minuscule scale of the following tiny, if rambling, pamphlet to touch upon even a thousandth of…
Two Diaries From Middle St. John's, Berkeley, South Carolina, February - May, 1865
Two diaries from Middle St. John’s, Berkeley, South Carolina, February – May, 1865. Journals kept by Miss Susan R. Jervey and Miss Charlott…
The Best Church Hymns
This 1898 book is the result of a survey of 107 hymn-books. The thirty-two hymns are ranked in order of popularity. The texts in this reco…
Tales Of English Minsters: Canterbury Cathedral Kent and Saint Paul's London
These simple stories of two of England’s greatest cathedrals were originally written for youth (1910) but adults will also enjoy them. St. …
Three Essays by James Freeman Clarke
Three diverse essays on souls in animals, a comparison of Buddhism and Christianity, and individualism in religion. Born in Hanover, New Ham…
The White Cowl
A Trappist monastery in nineteenth century Kentucky. A young monk. A young woman in distress. Whither? One might want to compare this story …
The Pinafore Picture Book: The Story Of H.M.S. Pinafore (Version 2)
Pinafore’s sublimely silly story is made even sillier by this (ostensibly for children) 1908 story version of the 1878 Gilbert and Sullivan …
Silly Verses: Selections From Shores, Carroll, Lear, and Gilbert
Silly Verses is an anthology of comic poetry, bringing together playful verse by Robert J. Shores, Lewis Carroll, Edward Lear, and W. S. Gil…
Letters From America
"[Rupert Brooke] started in May 1913 on a journey to the United States, Canada, and the South Seas, from which he returned next year at…
The Egregious English
This 1903 book is a tongue-in-cheek send-up of English people and subjects. Within the humor (or humour), the listener may be surprised by s…