ffred's nearly-forgotten treasures

In my literary ramblings, occasionally I stumble across old books that are worth reading, yet are at best available as what I term "scan-offs:" over-priced, minimally processed cheesy clones of free online resources. Not so the entries in this list: they are labors of enthusiasm. These are actual e-texts that I have carefully transcribed, spell-checked, proof-read, and published on Amazon in Kindle format.

Last updated: 2025-08-29

An Educational Introduction

  1. The Monk's Revenge — by Samuel Spring.
    Romantic historical novel based on Cardinal Julian Cesarini and his role in the breaking of the Peace of Szeged during the Crusades.
  2. My Century Plant — by Lois Waisbrooker.
    Eminently quotable exposition of feminist philosophy; treating on equality, justice, sex, spirituality, and freedom of motherhood.
  3. Giafar al Barmeki — by Samuel Spring.
    Sympathetic historical romance based on a popular legend of Harun al-Rashid and the Barmakids; purportedly praised by Edgar Allan Poe.
  4. Mayweed Blossoms — by Lois Waisbrooker.
    A collection of fugitive poetry and short prose: reflections on love, spirituality, and justice. Includes the classic story "Charity."
  5. Pastourel — by Frédéric Soulié.
    Rare English translation of a classic "Gothic" novel, rich in twists, invention, mystery, intrigue, and humor; vastly entertaining.
  6. The Price of Silence — by Mollie Evelyn Moore Davis.
    Melodramatic story of mystery, romance, greed, racism, and blackmail, enhanced by its vivid description of Creole culture.
  7. Hilary St. Ives — by William Harrison Ainsworth.
    A well-crafted romantic tale of mayhem, mischief, misunderstandings, melodrama, murder, and marriage; a true Victorian treat.
  8. Perfect Motherhood — by Lois Waisbrooker.
    Loosely written, yet entertaining story; the central thesis being that the quality of humanity depends upon the quality of motherhood.
  9. The White Slave — by Charles Frederick Henningsen.
    Ground-breaking 19th-century exposé set in contemporary Russia, describing its feudalistic society; a masterpiece of humor and pathos.
  10. The Wire-Cutters — by Mollie Evelyn Moore Davis.
    A romantic story of Louisiana and West Texas, featuring themes of psychological manipulation and its conquest by steadfast principles.
  11. Albert Lunel — by Henry Brougham.
    A curiously carved gem in an antique setting: rich with religious and political reflection, repartée, and a strong anti-slavery theme.
  12. Under the Man-Fig — by Mollie Evelyn Moore Davis.
    A tale of ante- and postbellum Texas, of malicious gossip, self-deception, and tragedy, yet full of warmth, humor, heroism, and romance.
  13. Sixty Years Hence — by Charles Frederick Henningsen.
    Political and economic satire posing as science fiction; a prescient tale of greed, intrigue, and a nanotech plague.
  14. The Little Chevalier — by Mollie Evelyn Moore Davis.
    Highly entertaining historical romance set in New Orleans in 1752, with a twist that begs, almost immediately, a second reading.
  15. Anastasius — by Thomas Hope.
    Clever, audacious, richly researched historical novel set in the Middle East during the late 1700's; a masterpiece of prose style.
  16. Prudence Palfrey — by Thomas Bailey Aldrich.
    Witty, entertaining tale of doomed dreams, deception, and romantic constancy, deftly combining New England satire and Western adventure.
  17. An Elephant's Track, and other Stories — by Mollie Evelyn Moore Davis.
    Richly painted romantic tales about life and death in postbellum Texas and Louisiana: alternately gritty, comic, tragic, and even ghostly.
  18. Phœbe — by Miriam Coles Harris.
    Elegant, sympathetic moral fable; a tragicomedy of errors that delves deep into the internal misfortunes of miscommunication.
  19. John Maribel — by Maria Darrington-Deslonde.
    Delightfully well-crafted melodramatic tale, replete with heroes, villains, tragic victims, and a happy ending. Break out the popcorn.
  20. The Sutherlands — by Miriam Coles Harris.
    Historical novel set in 18th century New York Catskills; a tragic tale of slavery, romance, religious devotion, and brutal murder.
  21. The Miller of Silcott Mill — by Maria Darrington-Deslonde.
    Impeccably civilized, yet observant, this novel of the Deep South examines love, scandal, crime, and class (both real and affected).
  22. So very Human — by Alfred Bate Richards.
    "A Tale of the Present Day" indeed; a cornucopia of life in the social strata of Victorian England. Are things so very different today?
  23. The City of the Jugglers, and Other Stories — by William North.
    Satire of capitalism and commentary on intellectual enlightenment, social justice, universal (male) suffrage, and journalistic integrity.
  24. Tales and Fables — by François Fénelon.
    Written to entertain and instruct a young prince on such topics as morality, industry, justice, and avoidance of hypocrisy.
  25. The Albigenses — by Charles Maturin.
    Historical novel set during the 13th century Albigensian Crusade: a tale of superstition, bigotry, rapacity, and revenge.
  26. Helen Harlow's Vow — by Lois Waisbrooker.
    Inspirational exposition on questioning and overcoming social injustice through personal strength and conviction; a feminist classic.
  27. The Nazarene and Adonai — by George Lippard.
    Lippard's unfinished sequel to The Quaker City, paired with his most developed exposition on religion, social justice, and revolution.
  28. Adventures of Telemachus — by François Fénelon.
    Written privately to instruct a future monarch, yet tremendously popular when published; a masterpiece of moral and political commentary.
  29. Washington and his Generals — by George Lippard.
    Popular and influential reverent romance, a sensationalist blend of fact and fiction posing as a representation of actual history.
  30. The Quaker City — by George Lippard.
    Controversial Gothic "dreadful," an outrageous tale of lust, corruption, and violence; America's best-selling novel at the time.
  31. The Virginia Comedians — by John Esten Cooke.
    Historical romance set in the hard-partying, chivalric, silk-and-velvet days of colonial Virginia, rose-tinted glasses included.
  32. The Money-Maker, and Other Tales — by Jane C. Campbell.
    Strait-laced but worthy collection of fables on the follies of vice and conspicuous consumption and the virtues of quiet domestic life.
  33. Wensley, and Other Stories — by Edmund Quincy.
    Immaculate, scholarly, sympathetic, and reverently humorous, these tales speak vividly of times and persons nearly forgotten when written.
  34. Zoë, or the Quadroon's Triumph — by Elizabeth D. Livermore.
    Ostensibly a tale of racism, more accurately a treatise on feminism and Unitarianism; long-winded at times, but has enjoyable moments.
  35. Virginia in a Novel Form — by Rebecca Brodnax Hicks.
    Short, sweet, clever, delightful confection. A witty domestic comedy of life in the Old Dominion, almost worthy of Oscar Wilde.
  36. Working a Passage, and Other Stories — by Charles Frederick Briggs.
    Anthology of novellas and short works, including Working a Passage, Asmodeus, and selections from The Knickerbocker and Putnam's Monthly.
  37. The Wherefore Investigating Company — by Lois Waisbrooker.
    An enjoyable progressive story, examining themes of land laws and their abuses, marriage, inheritance, slavery, racism, and capitalism.
  38. Nothing Like It — by Lois Waisbrooker.
    Radical, high-spirited, thought-provoking account of warriors against injustice; notable as an early depiction of the Social Gospel.
  39. Alice Vale — by Lois Waisbrooker.
    Didactic, melodramatic, eye-rolling at times, yet delightfully lambastic treatment of contemporary society.
  40. The Second Son — by Margaret Oliphant and Thomas Bailey Aldrich.
    Sometimes genteel, sometimes brutal, an ironic jab at conventions of sex, class, and inheritance in Victorian England.
  41. Jamie Parker, the Fugitive — by Emily Clemens Pearson (as Emily Catharine Pierson).
    Published before Uncle Tom's Cabin, but not as widely-read; a rough, fiery, unabashed piece of abolitionist muck-raking.
  42. The Adventures of Private Miles O'Reilly — by Charles G. Halpine.
    Rare, surviving example of military humor dating from the Civil War; a satire of wartime bureaucracy, politics, and corruption.
  43. The History of Rinaldo Rinaldini — by Christian August Vulpius, John Hinckley.
    Infamous, yet tremendously popular during the early 1800's, widely imitated, just as quickly forgotten; a premier example of pulp fiction.
  44. Bankrupt Stories — by Charles Frederick Briggs.
    Dickensesque, sordid, sardonic tale of fraud, murder, deception, and dissolution, set in the markets of antebellum New York City.
  45. Hannah Thurston — by Bayard Taylor.
    Dry and satirical, intelligent, yet unabashedly Victorian romance, set in upstate New York; an amusing, guilty pleasure.
  46. Widow Spriggins, and Other Sketches — by Frances M. Whitcher.
    Companion volume to the hilarious classic Widow Bedott, containing earlier and later works, including the poignant, unfinished Mary Elmer.
  47. Up the River — by Frederick W. Shelton
    Gently humorous and engaging sketches of life in the Hudson River valley in the early 1850's: a collage of joys, irritants, and chickens.
  48. Neal's Charcoal Sketches — by Joseph C. Neal.
    Comprehensive compilation of character sketches from one of America's earliest, foremost, yet all-but-forgotten urban humorists.
  49. The Sparrowgrass Papers — by Frederic S. Cozzens.
    Amusing anecdotes of an 1850's family moving from the city to a house in the country.
  50. The Attorney — by John Treat Irving, Jr.
    Enticing, gritty, melodramatic novel of crime in the mean streets of antebellum Manhattan; not flawless, but worthwhile.
  51. The Widow Bedott Papers — by Frances M. Whitcher.
    Priceless conversational sketches of Yankee characters and their foibles; a hilarious though sometimes unsettling social commentary.
  52. The Trippings of Tom Pepper — by Charles Frederick Briggs.
    Epic serial satire of antebellum New York, notorious for its unflattering depiction of the literary scene, and other aspects of urban life.
  53. A Knickerbocker Anthology — by Various Authors
    Compilation of noteworthy short prose pieces published in the Knickerbocker Magazine between 1851 and 1861.
  54. The Van Gelder Papers — by John Treat Irving, Jr.
    Collection of mixed humorous and tragic short stories of Knickerbocker country, by a nephew of Washington Irving.
  55. The Hive of the "Bee-Hunter" — by Thomas Bangs Thorpe.
    Easy-going, fast-shooting antecedent of Mark Twain; an entertaining collection of essays and tales of the Southwest frontier.
  56. The Slave of the Lamp — by William North.
    Influential forerunner of New York's Bohemian literary movement: romantic, bathetic, yet fiercely devoted to intellectual liberty.
  57. Temple House — by Elizabeth Stoddard.
    Psychological, insightful, and thoroughly entertaining character study, warts and all: a significant predecessor of modern literature.
  58. Two Men — by Elizabeth Stoddard.
    Ahead of its time: a brilliant, unflinching dissection of a uniquely Yankee view of human pride, romance, and racial prejudice.
  59. The Knickerbocker Gallery — by Lewis Gaylord Clark.
    A feast of short works, many by writers still famous today, in tribute to the editor of the monthly literary magazine of the early 1800's.
  60. The Adventures of Harry Franco — by Charles Frederick Briggs.
    Delightful, satirical depiction of Manhattan life and nautical merchants during the 1830's, notable as an early Abolitionist literary work.
  61. The Adventures of Gil Blas de Santillane — by Alain René Lesage, Tobias Smollett.
    First English translation of a widely influential French comic classic: a prototype of the naif and his adversities in the human jungle.
  62. Modern Chivalry — by H. H. Brackenridge.
    One of the earliest, yet often overlooked, U.S. novels: a hilarious picture of politics in Pennsylvania during the Whiskey Rebellion.
  63. Krilof and his Fables — by Ivan Krylov, W. R. S. Ralston.
    First English prose translation of Russia's celebrated fabulist, whose works were often political, satirical, penetrating, and elegant.

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