Cautionary tales of the transmigration of the souls of naughty boys and girls, as elucidated by the mysterious Bramin, Mr Wiseman: “Having been gifted with the faculty of distinguishing those animals which are now animated by the souls of such human beings as formerly degraded themselves to a level with the unthinking brutes, I have taken the pains to provide a collection of beasts, birds, &c. most of which are inhabited by the souls of some naughty masters or misses, who died in the neighbourhood.” (David Barnes, quoting the Introduction)

Short and sweet stories for children.

Here we were, only a month married, and spending our honeymoon at a most charming summer resort, where there was no excuse for getting out of patience. Everything was beautiful and attractive: Little hotel, strange to say, quite delightful; no fault to find with surroundings and accommodations; my darling Bessie, as sweet as an angel and determined to be happy and to make me happy; everything, in short, calculated to give us a long summer of delight.
That is, if Bessie had only been an orphan. But there was her mother, who had joined us on our summer trip, after the first two weeks of unalloyed happiness, and threatened to accompany us through life. (excerpt from chapter 1)

The Song of Roland is an epic poem, originally sung in Old French. It tells the story of the Battle of Roncevaux Pass in 778. This is an English translation. Translated by Charles Kenneth Scott-Moncrieff.

Sketches of the fair sex, in all parts of the world. To which are added rules for determining the precise figure, the degree of beauty, the habits, and the age of women, notwithstanding the aids and disguise of dress. It is our design to present a pleasing and interesting miscellany, which will serve to beguile the leisure hour, and will at the same time couple instruction with amusement. We have used but little method in the arrangement: Choosing rather to furnish the reader with a rich profusion of narratives and anecdotes, all tending to illustrate the FEMALE CHARACTER, to display its delicacy, its sweetness, its gentle or sometimes heroic virtues, its amiable weaknesses, and strange d...

Het episch dierdicht “Van den Vos Reynaerde”, geschreven in het Middelnederlands in de 13e eeuw, geldt als een hoogtepunt in de Nederlandse middeleeuwse literatuur. Het epos verhaalt van de schurkenstreken van Reinaert de Vos, die zo listig is dat hij iedereen weet beet te nemen.

Deze vertaling uit 1885 is van Julius de Geyter. Uit zijn inleiding:
“Reinaart de Vos, dat meesterstuk onzer Letterkunde, bestaat uit twee deelen: het eene, dat men gewoonlijk het eerste boek noemt, is omtrent den jare 1250 in Vlaanderen geschreven door een man van genie; het zoogenaamde tweede boek, ongeveer 150 jaren later waarschijnlijk ook door een Vlaming opgesteld, is nauwelijks h...

A heartwarming collection of nursery rhymes that will take you back to your childhood!

An adorable picture book with 29 little lessons in German. Learn many simple and useful phrases, such as "How big the sea is!" and "Have you ever been to the farm?" The English parts of the book are read by Kara, and the German parts by Elli.

Sample a moment of magic realism from the Red Book of Hergest:

On one side of the river he saw a flock of white sheep, and on the other a flock of black sheep. And whenever one of the white sheep bleated, one of the black sheep would cross over, and become white; and when one of the black sheep bleated, one of the white sheep would cross over, and become black.

Before passing on to the Mabinogion proper, Lady Charlotte Guest devotes Volume I of her compilation of medieval Welsh tales to three brief romances of Arthur’s Court. The centrepiece is the story of Peredur, the Dumb Youth – known elsewhere as Perceval, Parzifal, the Holy Fool, et al.

This is the violent world...

“The Keepsake, or, Poems and Pictures For Childhood and Youth”, is a collection of twenty pastoral poems published as one collection in London, 1818. The topics are moral encouragement for children, young and old alike.