Project Gutenberg

Edgar Rice Burroughs · Thomas Babington Macaulay · Andrew Murray · Claude Bragdon

Latest release: January 1, 2013

Series

62

Books

1

Volumes

The Nervous Housewife

Book 1·Apr 2005

"One of the commonest and saddest of transformations is the change of the gay, laughing young girl, radiant with love and all aglow at the thought of union with her man, into the housewife of a decade -- complaining, fatigued, and disillusioned." So Abraham Myerson describes the "nervous housewife," the discontented woman who finds that marriage isn't all it's cracked up to be. In this book, originally published in 1920, Myerson explores the phenomenon of those who "pass through life with pains and aches of the body and soul." Myerson explains that industrialization has taken away some of the homemaker's basic tasks; that feminism has encouraged women to be taken seriously; and that divorce and the nervousness of the housewife are both manifestations of the discontent of women. Myerson also touches on topics such as the effects of monotony, the types of housewife, childbearing, and happiness. ABRAHAM MYERSON held many prestigious posts, including that of clinical professor of psychiatry at Harvard University, and he was one of the examining psychiatrists for the Sacco-Vanzetti trial. In addition to The Nervous Housewife, Myerson also wrote Foundations of Personality, Inheritance of Mental Diseases, When Life Loses Its Zest, Psychology of Mental Disorders, Social Psychology, and Eugenical Sterilization.

From the Earth to the Moon and 'Round the Moon

Book 1·Jul 2006

This darkness... showed that the projectile has passed the atmospheric strata, for the diffused light spread in the air would have been reflected on the metal walls, which reflection was wanting. This light would have lit the window, and the window was dark. Doubt was no longer possible; the travelers had left the earth."I have lost," said Nicholl."I congratulate you," replied Ardan."Here are the nine thousand dollars," said the captain, drawing a roll of paper dollars from his pocket."Will you have a receipt for it?" asked Barbicane, taking the sum."If you do not mind," answered Nicholl; "it is more business-like." This is the legendary novel of technological speculation and social satire that launched an entire genre of adventure fiction: Verne's From the Earth to the Moon and 'Round the Moon is the first story of space exploration and remains a beloved work of daring exploits-and surprisingly accurate scientific conjecture. When the members of the Baltimore Gun Club-bored Civil War veterans-decide to fill their time by embarking on a project to shoot themselves to the moon, the race is on to raise money, overcome engineering challenges, and convince detractors that they're anything but "Lunatics." With this work, Verne inspired the first science fiction film, 1902's Le Voyage dans la lune, and accurately predicted that that ideal location for a spacebase is in Florida. First published in France in 1865, this replica 1918 edition includes the sequel, 1870's Round the Moon.Also available from Cosimo Classics: Verne's Five Weeks in a BalloonOF INTEREST TO: science fiction fans, readers of 19th-century literatureFrench author JULES GABRIEL VERNE (1828-1905) is considered the father of modern science fiction. Among his many groundbreaking books are Journey to the Center of the Earth (1864), 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea (1870), and Around the World in Eighty Days (1872).

Common Sense and How to Exercise It

Book 1·Dec 2005

"The most admirable inventions would never have been known if common sense had not helped them to be produced, strengthening those who conceived them by the support of logic, which demonstrated to them the truth of their presumptions...."Would one not say that the Shogun, in writing these lines, foresaw the magnificent efforts which we are witnessing each day and that from the depths of time he caught a glimpse of these brave conquerors of the air and of space, whose great deeds, seeming at times the result of a crazy temerity, are in reality only homage rendered to common sense, which has permitted them to calculate the value of their initiative without mistake?-from "Great Aspirations"Was Yoritomo-Tashi really the "venerable Shogun" the publishers insist he was in their "Announcement"? Or was "Yoritomo-Tashi" the pseudonym of a mysterious "Mme. Blanchard"? Whether this 1916 classic of "mental efficiency" is the wisdom of an ancient Japanese philosopher-warrior or the solid advice of a sensible Frenchwoman, it is essential reading for anyone floundering on the modern civic battlefields of business, politics, or society at large.An excellent companion to The Art of War, and just as applicable today whether its guidance is a hundred or a thousand years old, this compact volume will help the adherent concentrate the mind, hone the perception, achieve calmness of spirit, and exercise self-control, all with the aim of cultivating a practical approach to success.YORITOMO-TASHI-or MME. BLANCHARD-also wrote Timidity: How to Overcome It and Influence: How to Exert It.

My Life and Work

Book 1·Nov 2005

Ideas are of themselves extraordinarily valuable, but an idea is just an idea. Almost any one can think up an idea. The thing that counts is developing it into a practical product. - from the Introduction The lessons of Henry Ford, one of America's greatest business innovators, are as fresh and vital today as they were in 1922, when this extraordinary book was first published. Though the title suggests the autobiographical, this is in fact a bible of business philosophy from the man many considered "insane" for the very innovations we hail as visionary today: the assembly line, reduced working hours, a minimum wage, the five-day work week. Ford explains: . how his experiences as an employee influenced his philosophies as an employer . why saving money isn't always a good thing . the absolute worst time to approach a bank for a loan . why lowering prices below production costs can be a smart move . and much more. It's easy to see that much of Ford's wisdom has been forgotten today-and that individual entrepreneurs and global corporations alike would do well to take another look. American entrepreneur, inventor, and philanthropist HENRY FORD (1863-1947) was born in Michigan and trained as a machinist and engineer before founding, in 1903, the Ford Motor Company.

Dutch Fairy Tales for Young Folks

Book 1·Nov 2005

Above all things, the most fun for a young Oni is to get into a crockery shop. Once there, he jumps among the cups and dishes, hides in the jars, straddles the shelves and turns somersaults over the counter.-from "The Oni on His Travels"This collection of traditional myths and legends from Holland sings with the spirit of that charming land, and delves into its culture to illuminate the nation's sprightly personality. First published in 1918, it features a bewitching selection of fairy tales: The Entangled Mermaid The Boy Who Wanted More Cheese The Elves and Their Antics The Legend of the Wooden Shoe The Curly-Tailed Lion Santa Klaas and Black Pete The Goblins Turned to Stone and many more.Children and adults alike will continue to find this a delightful read today.American author, educator, and theologian WILLIAM ELLIOT GRIFFIS (1843-1912) was born in Philadelphia. He is also the author of Welsh Fairy Tales, The Firefly's Lovers, The Unmannerly Tiger, Brave Little Holland, and Bonnie Scotland.

Four-Dimensional Vistas

Book 1·Nov 2005

The partial waking state is the soil in which remembered dreams develop most luxuriously.... Such dreams belong to both worlds, partly to the three-dimensional and partly to the fourth-dimensional. -from "Sleep and Dreams" One of the most extraordinary figures of the popular intellectualism of the early 20th century, Claude Bragdon was an architect and designer who turned his mathematically fueled artistic bent toward the metaphysical... and anticipated the new quantum physics with a philosophy of existence that bridged the rational and the transcendent. Here, in this lyrical exploration of the expansiveness of human consciousness-first published in 1916-Bragdon considers how humanity's ever-changing understanding of the universe results in an ever-growing appreciation for our own powers of thought, feeling, and experience. Other works by Bragdon available from Cosimo Classics: Yoga for You, The Eternal Poles, Projective Ornament, The Beautiful Necessity, Architecture and Democracy, Episodes from An Unwritten History, and A Primer of Higher Space (The Fourth Dimension). American architect, stage designer, and writer CLAUDE FAYETTE BRAGDON (1866-1946) helped found the Rochester Architectural Club, in the city where he made his greatest mark as a building designer with structures including Rochester Central Station, Rochester Institute of Technology, and the First Universalist Church; he also designed Peterborough Bridge in Ontario. In later life, Bragdon worked on Broadway as scenic designer for 1930s productions of Cyrano de Bergerac and Hamlet, among others.

The Dawn And the Day, Or, the Buddha And the Christ

Book 1·Dec 2005

Strange dreams by night and troubled thoughts by dayDisturb the prince and banish quiet sleep.He dreamed that darkness, visible and dense, Shrouded the heavens and brooded o'er the earth, Whose rayless, formless, vacant nothingnessCurdled his blood and made his eyeballs ache;When suddenly from out this empty voidA cloud, shining with golden light, was borne...-from "Book III"This collection of inspirational poetry, first published in 1894, had almost been lost to obscurity-now, its song of faith and brotherhood and universal enlightenment is available to readers again. A bridge of verse between Christianity and Buddhism, it is a lyrical tale of unhappy princes and kings of India and their embrace of the Buddha and his wise lessons. Seekers after peace will find solace in this serene work.American lawyer and writer HENRY THAYER NILES (1829-1901) also wrote Railroad Transportation: Its Regulation by State and National Authority (1881).

In the Wilderness

Book 1·Nov 2005

The instinct of barbarism that leads people periodically to throw aside the habits of civilization, and seek the freedom and discomfort of the woods, is explicable enough; but it is not so easy to understand why this passion should be strongest in those who are most refined, and most trained in intellectual and social fastidiousness. -from Chapter VI: "Camping Out" Hilariously snide and sarcastic, these essays of an American Victorian gentleman's adventures in the great outdoors are strikingly contemporary; for all that they were first published in 1878. Warner relates his encounters with such denizens of the wildness as the bear (who "minds his own business more thoroughly than any person I know") and the deer ("who would like to be friendly with men, but whose winning face and gentle ways are no protection from the savageness of man"), shares his feelings on the "unromantic" Adirondacks ("I suppose the red Indian lived here in his usual discomfort"), and regales us with the kind of misadventures that "some people call pleasure." American essayist and novelist CHARLES DUDLEY WARNER (1829-1900) served on the editorial staffs of the Hartford Press, the Hartford Courant, and Harpers Magazine. He was the first president of the National Institute of Arts and Letters, and published numerous books, including My Summer in a Garden (1870), My Winter on the Nile (1876), and a biography of Washington Irving (1881).

Tarzan and the Jewels of Opar

Book 1·Nov 2005

The woman rushed forward and seized the ape-man's hands in hers. "Do not leave me!" she cried. "Stay, and you shall be High Priest. La loves you. All Opar shall be yours. Slaves shall wait upon you. Stay, Tarzan of the Apes, and let love reward you." The ape-man pushed the kneeling woman aside. "Tarzan does not desire you," he said, simply, and stepping to Werper's side he cut the Belgian's bonds and motioned him to follow. Panting--her face convulsed with rage, La sprang to her feet. "Stay, you shall!" she screamed. "La will have you--if she cannot have you alive, she will have you dead.,." ~~~ Edgar Rice Burroughs created one of the most iconic figures in American pop culture, Tarzan of the Apes, and it is impossible to overstate his influence on entire genres of popular literature in the decades after his enormously winning pulp novels stormed the public's imagination. Tarzan the Jewels of Opar, first published in 1918, is the fifth installment in Burroughs' tales of the ape-man, and is considered by devotees to be one of the best. Here, Tarzan journeys to the gold-mining city of Opar, steeped in myth and legend, to contend with greedy villains and the amorous attentions of La, the High Priestess of the Flaming God. American novelist EDGAR RICE BURROUGHS (1875-1950) wrote dozens of adventure, crime, and science fiction novels that are still beloved today, including Tarzan of the Apes (1912), At the Earth's Core (1914), A Princess of Mars (1917), The Land That Time Forgot (1924), and Pirates of Venus (1934). He is reputed to have been reading a comic book when he died.

Betty Gordon in Washington

Book 1·Dec 2005

Lighting the lamp in her room, Betty glanced toward her trunk mechanically. She had left it locked, but the lid was now ajar. Had some one been tampering with the lock?"He's opened it!" she cried to herself, making a hasty examination. "How did he dare! And look at the mess everything's in!"-from "Good-by to Bramble Farm"The Stratemeyer Syndicate, prodigious producers of children's series fiction, was famous for its Nancy Drew and Hardy Boys books. But its less well-known series are just as entertaining, and just as revealing of the cultures of their era. In this 1920 installment in the Betty Gordon series, the young orphan heads to the national capital to search for her uncle, and thus ensue numerous urban exploits with her pals Libbie and Bobby (the traditional tomboy with a boy's name). Their "strange adventures in a great city" are delightful reading for children and adults alike.ALICE B. EMERSON was one of the pen names used by the anonymous authors of the Stratemeyer Syndicate. Other books in the Betty Gordon series include Betty Gordon at Boarding School and Betty Gordon in the Land of Oil. "Emerson" also wrote the Ruth Fielding series of young adult novels.

Book 1·Dec 2005

"I have passed through a series of rather remarkable adventures since I came to Lutha," said Barney apparently quite irrelevantly, after the two had remained silent for a moment. "Shortly after my car fell upon you I was mistaken for the fugitive King Leopold by the young lady whose horse fell into the ravine with my car. She is a most loyal supporter of the king, being none other than the Princess Emma von der Tann. From her I learned to espouse the cause of Leopold." ~~~ Edgar Rice Burroughs created one of the most iconic figures in American pop culture, Tarzan of the Apes, and it is impossible to overstate his influence on entire genres of popular literature in the decades after his enormously winning pulp novels stormed the public's imagination. The Mad King, first published in book form in 1926 and difficult to find in print, is the rollicking yarn of American Barney Custer, who is mistaken for a deranged sovereign in the faraway land of Lutha. Perhaps Burroughs's most outrageously grandiloquent work, this tale of daring swordfights, damsels in distress, and diabolical villains is a favorite among true Burroughs devotees. American novelist EDGAR RICE BURROUGHS (1875-1950) wrote dozens of adventure, crime, and science-fiction novels that are still beloved today, including Tarzan of the Apes (1912), At the Earth's Core (1914), A Princess of Mars (1917), and Pirates of Venus (1934). He is reputed to have been reading a comic book when he died.

At the Earth's Core

Book 1·Dec 2005

The aborigine, apparently uninjured, climbed quickly into the skiff, and seizing the spear with me helped to hold off the infuriated creature. Blood from the wounded reptile was now crimsoning the waters about us and soon from the weakening struggles it became evident that I had inflicted a death wound upon it. Presently its efforts to reach us ceased entirely, and with a few convulsive movements it turned upon its back quite dead. And then there came to me a sudden realization of the predicament in which I had placed myself. I was entirely within the power of the savage man whose skiff I had stolen. ~ ~ ~ Edgar Rice Burroughs created one of the most iconic figures in American pop culture, Tarzan of the Apes, and it is impossible to overstate his influence on entire genres of popular literature in the decades after his enormously winning pulp novels stormed the public's imagination. At the Earth's Core, first published in 1914, is the first in the series of thrilling science-fiction adventures featuring David Innes's exploration of the subterranean world of Pellucidar, where he encounters stone-age savages battles the intelligent lizard-people who rule this underground domain. American novelist EDGAR RICE BURROUGHS (1875-1950) wrote dozens of adventure, crime, and science fiction novels that are still beloved today, including Tarzan of the Apes (1912), A Princess of Mars (1917), The Land That Time Forgot (1924), and Pirates of Venus (1934). He is reputed to have been reading a comic book when he died.

Little Folded Hands: Prayers for Children

Book 1·Dec 2005

Keep my little tongue to-day, Keep it gentle while I play; Keep my hands from doing wrong, Keep my feet the whole day long; Keep me all, O Jesus mild, Keep me ever Thy dear child. Amen. -from Little Folded Hands Charmingly nostalgic and yet perfectly appropriate for today's youth, this classic collection of prayers for children includes a variety of simple appeals and devotions: morning prayers . evening prayers . prayers for before and after meals . prayers for healing and health . birthday prayers prayers for school and church . Christmas prayers . and more.

The Soul of a Child

Book 1·Dec 2005

A feast was not a feast without more than plenty. Eating was always in order. An offer of a dish was as good as a command to partake. A refusal bordered on the offensive. Pressing a reluctant guest was the highest form of hospitality. Dietary precautions were apparently unheard of except in the case of certain chronic ailments, and then they were accepted as one of life's worst evils. To eat well was to be well, and the natural conclusion was that the best cure in case of trouble was to eat. -from Chapter XVI The American immigrant experience is unique in the world in that it involved not a leaving behind of "the old country" but an absorption of traditions into the melting-pot culture of the New World. This lovely 1922 novel is a reminder of how a life in another world lingers with the settler from abroad: Journalist Edwin Bjrkman, a Swedish emigrant to the U.S., drew on his own childhood to create a loving portrait of a young boy's life in Stockholm. Woven throughout the tale and limned with love are the customs and manners of that long-ago life that have clearly been neither forgotten or abandoned but adapted and assimilated. Sweetly sentimental and bursting with treasured memories, this is a work to cherish... no matter where you were born. American author EDWIN BJRKMAN (1866-1951) wrote numerous works of translation and literary criticism. His work appeared in, among other sources, the journals The Reviewer and Mother Earth.

Book 1·Dec 2005

I cannot think that "natural selection," working upon small, fortuitous, indefinite, unintelligent variations, would produce the results we see around us. One wants something that will give a more definite aim to variations, and hence, at times, cause bolder leaps in advance. One cannot but doubt whether so many plants and animals would be being so continually saved "by the skin of their teeth..".-from "Lamarck and Mr. Darwin"George Bernard Shaw called him "the greatest English writer of the latter half of the nineteenth century." Samuel Butler, the son of an Anglican clergyman who grew up to be one of the most prominent freethinkers of the Victorian era, was a vocal apologist for theism, and his Life and Habit, published in 1877, is a beautifully written critique of Charles Darwin and his theory of natural selection, one that laments its lack of call for a creative mind behind the evolution of life. This is a vital work for appreciating Butler's other criticisms of scientific rationalism, including his 1879 book Evolution, Old and New, as well as the evolution of the concept of evolution itself.Also available from Cosimo Classics: Butler's God the Known and God the Unknown.British author SAMUEL BUTLER (1835-1902) is best known for his satire Erehwon.

John Ward, Preacher

Book 1·Dec 2005

"With your help I could endure any pain. I wonder," he went on, in a lower voice, as though thinking aloud, "if this strength of yours could inspire me to bear the worst pain there could be for me, - I mean, if I had to make you suffer in any way?" Helen looked down at him, surprised, not quite understanding. "Suppose," he said, - "of course one can suppose anything, - that for your best good I had to make you suffer: could I, do you think?" -from John Ward, Preacher The fiction of 19th-century novelist Margaret Deland was greatly concerned with the particular challenges faced by the women in her era: the fight for suffrage, the public disgrace of single motherhood, and the secret shame of adultery. Her first novel, 1888's John Ward, Preacher, is her most sensational, a story of a Calvinist minister, his freethinking wife, Helen, and their clash over religious doctrine-and in particular the concept of eternal damnation-that ultimately destroys them. A daring and original work about a woman asserting her intellectual independence, this is a lost classic that will electrify readers of American feminist literature. American poet and novelist MARGARET DELAND (1857-1945) was a contributor to Harper's Magazine. She also wrote the novels Sidney (1890), Philip and His Wife (1894), and The Awakening of Helena Richie (1906), among others. Old Chester Tales (1898) is a collection of her short fiction.

The Spiritual Life and the Word of God

Book 1·Dec 2005

Who at this day can believe that the delight of adultery is hell in man, and that the delight of marriage is heaven in him, consequently so far as he is in the one delight he is not in the other, since so far as man is in hell he is not in heaven?-from "VI: The Sixth Commandment"Emanuel Swedenborg, an 18th-century inventor and man of science, experienced a spiritual epiphany at the age of 56, when he began to explore Christianity from a mystic standpoint, a stunning change of heart that has since intrigued and fascinated generations of rationalists and philosophers, from Immanuel Kant to Arthur Conan Doyle to C.G. Jung. Did Swedenborg go mad, or is he a genuine prophet? In this work, an extract from Swedenborg's 1757 Apocalypse Explained, he explores the meaning of each of the 10 commandments and discusses good, truth, and what it means to live a righteous life.Swedish scientist and philosopher EMANUEL SWEDENBORG (1688-1772) made notable contributions in the fields of biology, geology, and astronomy before embarking upon his Scriptural commentary. His religious writings include The Divine Love and Wisdom, The Apocalypse Revealed, The True Christian Religion, and The Last Judgment.

The Ascent of the Soul

Book 1·Dec 2005

There is also a right and a wrong way to use thought, emotion, will. The mind which has hospitality only for holy thoughts will become clearer, and its vision more distinct; but the mind which harbors impure thoughts, gradually, but surely, confuses evil with good, obscures its vision, and becomes a fountain of moral miasm.-from "The First Steps"Around the turn of the 20th century, interest in matters spiritual-from the traditionally religious to the outrageously paranormal-consumed the attention of the American public. This 1902 classic of devotional writing attempts to apply a diffuse, pan-religious theosophically minded doctrine to Christian thought, describing an awakening to Jesus as a mystery of "elemental processes and forces [that] are all silent" moving along "pathways of growth." Believers surely continue to find inspiration in his beautifully written work, but readers in comparative mythology, particularly those interested in theosophy and the "New Thought" movement of the early 20th century will be intrigued by the cross-pollination of competing philosophies of the human spirit.

Children's Edition of Touching Incidents and Remarkable Answers to Prayer

Book 1·Dec 2005

All know that children like pictures but we fear very few realize how lasting is the impression they make upon minds and hearts. Pictures that awaken foolish, impure or unkind thoughts have a tendency to poison the mind and destroy the soul forever. On the other hand, the pictures in this book will suggest thoughts of God and heaven and awaken desires to live pure lives which will sooner or later result in the salvation of many of our young readers.-from "Prefatory Note"This fully illustrated 1895 book of religious stories and inspiration for children is chock full of stimulating lessons and pointed tales, including those of: .The Converted Infidel.The Golden Rule Exemplified.The Dying Child's Prayer for Her Drunken Father.The Little Swiss Girl, Who Died to Save Her Father's Life.Little Jennie's Sickness and Death.How Three Sunday School Children Met Their Fate."I'll Never Steal Again-If Father Kills Me for It."Triumphant Death of a Little Child.and many more.SOLOMON BENJAMIN SHAW also wrote The Great Revival in Wales (1905).

Evolution of the Japanese: Social and Psychic

Book 1·Dec 2005

An important reason for our Western thought, that the Japanese have had no independence in philosophy, is our ignorance of the larger part of Japanese and Chinese literature. Oriental speculation was moving in a direction so diverse from that of the West that we are impressed more with the general similarity that prevails throughout it than with the evidences of individual differences. Greater knowledge would reveal these differences. In our generalized knowledge, we see the uniformity so strongly that we fail to discover the originality. -from Chapter XVI American educator and missionary SIDNEY LEWIS GULICK (1860-1945) spent his life building a bridge between East and West during a period of immense confusion between the two diverse traditions. During the more than 25 years he spent in Japan as a teacher and lecturer in a variety of subjects, including English and religion, he learned as much about Japanese society as he taught about Western culture, and midway through his sojourn in the slowly modernizing nation, he wrote this forgotten classic of social science. First published in 1903, Evolution of the Japanese is a startling clear-eyed assessment of a foreign way of life, yet one that evinces an atypical awareness on the writer's part of his own cultural assumptions about everything from the relative position of women and the habits of marital relationships to such traits of national character as cheerfulness, industry, jealousy, and suspicion. Art and family, intellectualism and morality, religion and philosophy-Gulick discusses them all in this intriguing work, one that reveals as much about the Western mind at the turn of the 20th century as it does about the Eastern.