Recollections of Life in Ohio, from 1813 to 1840
Recollections of Life in Ohio is the autobiography of William Cooper Howells (1807-1894), father of the American novelist William Dean Howells. The Howells were Welsh woolen mill owners. William Cooper's father brought the family to America in 1808--at a time when Great Britain actually forbid skilled workmen from emigrating, thus putting the father's practical knowledge of mill machinery in great demand. Small scale industries--paper and woolen mills, flour mills, and distilleries were sprouting apace with farms in the newly opened lands of Ohio, where the Howells settled in 1813. This was a time and place where neighbors joined together to raise log barns and husk corn, where loc...
Phillips Brooks
Phillips Brooks (1835 - 1893) was one of the finest and most famous clergyman in the nineteenth century; he was acknowledged as a masterful preacher. His teachings were filled with understanding, compassion, and encouragement. He spent most of his life as rector of Trinity Church, Boston, and served briefly as Episcopal bishop of Massachusetts at the end of it (1891 - 1893). His life was a course of gaining an increasing name as preacher and patriot. In addition to his moral stature, he was a man of great physical bearing as well, standing six feet four inches tall. During the American Civil War he upheld the cause of the North and opposed slavery, and his sermon on the death of Abraham L...
The Mystery of the Locks
Davy's Bend was a dying, lonely, uncared for river town. So when a stranger showed up one day and bought the old unoccupied house called 'The Locks' one dreary day, the inhabitants of the town were naturally very curious about the stranger, and very curious about his reasons for buying the old house. The Locks had been known for years to display at nighttime a single light showing up in one room, and there was one room in the house which was strictly off-limits to anyone. What was the history behind The Locks that nobody dared to talk about? What was the reason for the stranger's unannounced arrival and purchase of The Locks? Small, dying towns tend to keep their secrets to themselves, an...
A Shropshire Lad
This is a lovely collection of melodic poems, many melancholy in tone, many featuring Housman's constant theme of living this short life to the fullest.
Hindle Wakes (with accompanying essay)
Alan Jeffcote, son of Nat Hawthorn, Hindle's richest factory owner, meets Fanny Hawthorn, daughter of Nat's 'slasher' and oldest friend, in Blackpool and the two go off for what they believe to be secret fling in Llandudno. But after the death of Fanny's friend, Mary, in a pleasure boat accident at Blackpool the secret is revealed and the the two families are thrown into disarray. The leading light of the so-called Manchester School of realist dramatists, Stanley Houghton wrote Hindle Wakes in 1911 and it was a hit both in Mrs. Horniman's Gaiety Theatre in Manchester and the Aldwych Theatre, London in the following year. Houghton's best known play, Hindle Wakes has been filmed five times,...
Good Morning, Boys and Girls!
Forty simple, delightful sermons for children. The stories cover a full school year, all Sundays and a few holydays in between. Under such engaging chapter titles, as Chasing Rainbows, Caterpillars, The Best Christmas Gift, and Breakfast of Champions, the book entertains while it instructs. Here Heaven takes on a new closeness as “God’s Home”; the Bible is a collection of “Letters from God”; while the devil is called “a Real Bogeyman.” Such important subjects as beauty of soul, gratitude, Sunday Mass, the foolishness of sin, the Rosary, and temptation are dealt with in a refreshing manner guaranteed to capture the interest of every child.
A Thief in the Night
Gentleman thief A.J. Raffles burgles his way through a series of homes in late Victorian England. A Thief in the Night is a short story collection and Hornung's third book in the Raffles series.
Mr. Justice Raffles
A. J. Raffles is a British gentleman thief of some renown who, in this, the hero's final adventure, ironically demonstrates a sense of morality by teaching a London East End loan shark a lesson. The book was later made into a movie, as well as a British television series.
Tempest and Sunshine
Tempest and Sunshine is the first book written by Mary Jane Holmes. Set in the pre-Civil War south, it follows the struggles and romances of two sisters, as different as night and day; blonde Fanny and dark haired Julia. (Introduction by jedopi)
Dramatic Reader for Lower Grades
Despite the title's bland sounding name, this book is a charming collection of 16 plays for children. These little plays—well-known stories done into dialogue—were written for children who like to imagine themselves living with their favorite characters in forest, in palace, or in fairyland. Included are Cinderella, Robin Hood, William Tell, Hansel and Gretel and many more.