"A London Plane-Tree - And Other Verse" is an 1889 collection of poetry by Amy Levy. Amy Judith Levy (1861—1889) was a British poet, novelist, and essayist. She was notably the first Jewish woman to study at Cambridge university, and she became well-known for her feminist positions as well as relationships with both male and female political and literature figures. Contents include: "A London Plane-Tree", "Love, Dreams, & Death", "Moods and Thoughts",...

The Physiology of Marriage (1829) is a book length essay by French writer Honoré de Balzac. Written from the point of view of an author who has overheard scandalous conversations between two women, The Physiology of Marriage is both a critique of the institution of marriage and a satirical attempt to scientifically explain the cause and frequency of marital infidelity. The essay was an early success for Balzac, gaining him a reputation as a talented...

An exploration and defense of immaterialism, Principles of Human Knowledge, details George Berkley's views on reality and perception. The book offers insight into the theory posited by one of the world's greatest philosophers. Principles of Human Knowledge, is a criticism of English philosopher John Locke and his beliefs surrounding conceptualism and realism. Berkley's theory of immaterialism is in direct opposition, stating that material objects...

Southern Horrors (1892) is a pamphlet by Ida B. Wells. Published several months after a white mob destroyed the office of her prominent Memphis newspaper, the Free Speech, Southern Horrors is an impassioned work of investigative journalism and political criticism from a leading activist of the nineteenth century. "Nobody in this section of the country believes the old thread-bare lie that Negro men rape white women. If Southern white men are not careful,...

The Aeneid of Virgil (19 BC) is an epic poem by Roman poet Virgil. Virgil's legendary epic is the story of the hero Aeneas, a castaway from Troy whose adventures across the Mediterranean led him to Italy, where he discovered what would later become the city of Rome. Presented here in an accessible prose translation, The Aeneid of Virgil is a treasure of classical literature and a story of romance, war, and adventure to rival the best of Homer. Fleeing...

"The first taste I had for books came to me from my pleasure in the fables of the Metamorphoses of Ovid. For at about seven or eight years of age I would steal away from any other pleasure to read them, inasmuch as this language was my mother tongue, and it was the easiest book I knew and the best suited by its content to my tender age." –Michel de Montaigne The Amores (16 BC) is a book of love elegies by Ovid. Divided into three books, The...

Are Women People? (1915) is a collection of poems by Alice Duer Miller. Inspired by her work as an activist for women's suffrage, Miller published many of these poems individually in the New York Tribune before compiling them into this larger work. Focusing on the opposition of politicians and citizens alike, Miller makes a compelling case for the extension of voting rights to women across the nation. With her keen eye for hypocrisy and even keener...

"The first taste I had for books came to me from my pleasure in the fables of the Metamorphoses of Ovid. For at about seven or eight years of age I would steal away from any other pleasure to read them, inasmuch as this language was my mother tongue, and it was the easiest book I knew and the best suited by its content to my tender age." –Michel de Montaigne Ars Amatoria; or, The Art of Love (2 AD) is an instructional poem by Ovid. Divided into...

Autobiography of Sir Walter Besant (1902) is a posthumously published autobiography by Walter Besant. Although he is more widely known for his works of fiction and book-length studies of the city of London, Besant was also a gifted autobiographer whose unique sense of self and rich memories make for an entertaining, informative read. "I am supposing that [man] has the choice offered him, together with an outline of the future-not a future of fate...

Josephine Brown presents a detailed biography of her father, William Wells Brown, who was born on a plantation but escaped to become a successful abolitionist. Biography of an American Bondman by His Daughter is a viable supplement to the original Narrative of William W. Brown: A Fugitive Slave Biography of an American Bondman by His Daughter gives new insight into William Wells Brown's eventful life. Josephine Brown presents a vivid account of his...