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In the years when Victorian standards and ideals began to dance an increasingly rapid jig before amazed lookers-on, who presently found themselves dancing as madly as the rest-in these years, there lived in Mayfair, in a slice of a house. 

Transcribed from the 1894 Chapman and Hall edition of “Christmas Stories” by David Price

Personal Recollections of Joan of Arc, by the Sieur Louis de Conte is an 1896 novel by Mark Twain about Joan of Arc. It was Twain's last completed novel. The novel is presented as a translation (by "Jean Francois Alden") of memoirs by Louis de Conte. The novel describes itself as Freely Translated out of the Ancient French into Modern English from the Original Unpublished Manuscript in...

Roughing It is a book of semi-autobiographical travel literature written by American humorist Mark Twain. It was written during 1870–71 and published in 1872 as a prequel to his first book Innocents Abroad. This book tells of Twain's adventures prior to his pleasure cruise related in Innocents Abroad. Roughing It follows the travels of young Mark Twain through the Wild West during the...

The necessity for a comprehensive work, giving a full and detailed explanation of the Art of manufacturing Hair Work in all its various branches, has been so frequently urged upon the attention of the author, that, in compliance with an almost universal demand, he has concluded to publish a book which will clearly illustrate the Art of Hair Dressing, and making Hair Jewelry and Hair Work of every...

The Enchanted Island of Yew: Whereon Prince Marvel Encountered the High Ki of Twi and Other Surprising People is achildren's fantasy novel written by L. Frank Baum, illustrated by Fanny Y. Cory, and published by the Bobbs-Merrill Company in 1903. The first edition contained eight color plates and many colored-ink illustrations stamped over the text, and was dedicated to Kenneth Gage Baum, the...

The $30,000 Bequest and Other Stories (1906) is a collection of thirty comic short stories by the iconic American humorist and writer Mark Twain. The stories contained span the course of his career, from Advice to Young Girls in 1865 to the titular tale in 1904. Although Twain had ample time to refine his short stories between their original publication date and this collection, there is little...

This is a collection of short "stories", describing different types of young couples. As always, Dickens' scatterings of humour help make it an enjoyable read. It's mainly an exercise in characterisation, but each little chapter reads like a story, or part of a story. This book would be a useful tool to someone wanting to learn how to write. It may have been written quite some time ago, but human...

Collection of myths retold for children.

The Home and the World (in the original Bengali, ঘরে বাইরে Ghôre Baire, lit. "At home [and] outside") is a 1916 novel by Rabindranath Tagore. The book illustrates the battle Tagore had with himself, between the ideas of Western culture and revolution against the Western culture. These two ideas are portrayed in two of the main characters, Nikhil, who is rational and opposes...

The composer whom we call WOLFGANG AMADEUS MOZART was called Wolferl when he was a little boy. He had a sister, MARIA ANNA, who was called NANNERL. Nannerl was five years older than her brother. She had lessons from her father on a kind of piano called a harpsichord.

Two collections of rarely published early sketches by Dickens, one about Young Gentleman (including items like The Bashful Young Gentleman, The Military Young Gentleman and The Theatrical Young Gentleman) and one about (mostly) young couples (including items like The Young Couple, The Loving Couple and The Old Couple). The sketches are short with occasional illustrations and combine humor,...

Hugo's Napoleon the Little is a satirical comparison of Napoleon I and II, published in 1852. Earlier was monument of leadership, while latter a complete failure. During his reign, France went to an edge of ruin. This conscience-shaking work with references from other sources is illuminating for readers of all times!

The Hound of the Baskervilles is the third of the four crime novels written 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 Devonin England's West Country and tells the story of an attempted murder inspired by the legend of a fearsome, diabolical hound of supernatural...

Maurice Traherne is wrongly accused of fraud and gambling and must play a careful hand if he is to win his love, Octavia, from the grasp of other, less honorable men and retain the trust of those who had faith in him. Traherne is temporarily crippled saving the life of his well-born friend, Jaspar. Thus, Jaspar is assured of inheriting his father's estate, but it is expected that Traherne will...

WITH The Sea Fairies, my book for 1911, I ventured into a new field of fairy literature and to my delight the book was received with much approval by my former readers, many of whom have written me that they like Trot "almost as well as Dorothy." As Dorothy was an old, old friend and Trot a new one, I think this is very high praise for Cap'n Bill's little companion. Cap'n Bill is also a new...

The Lair of the White Worm (also known as The Garden of Evil) is a horror novel by Irish author Bram Stoker. It is partly based on the legend of the Lambton Worm. The book was published in 1911 by Rider and Son in the UK, the year before Stoker's death, with color illustrations by Pamela Colman Smith. In 1925, it was republished in a highly abridged and rewritten form. Over a hundred pages were...

The Life and Adventures of Santa Claus is a 1902 children's book, written by L. Frank Baum and illustrated by Mary Cowles Clark. Santa Claus, as a baby is found in the Forest of Burzee by Ak, the Master Woodsman of the World, and placed in the care of the lioness Shiegra. The Wood Nymph, Necile, breaks the law of the forest and takes the baby because she desires to raise a child of her own as...

A wonderful short story, which perfectly sets forth Francis Hodgson Burnett's philosophy of life in the form of an engaging narrative of a depressed and suicidal businessman who loses his way in a London fog and meets a number of strangers who change his outlook on life.

The Hunting of the Snark (An Agony in 8 Fits) is typically categorized as a nonsense poem written by Lewis Carroll, the pen name of Charles Lutwidge Dodgson. Written from 1874 to 1876, the poem borrows the setting, some creatures, and eightportmanteau words from Carroll's earlier poem "Jabberwocky" in his children's novel Through the Looking Glass (1871). Henry Holiday, the illustrator of the...