Literary Collections

"Well, Christy, how do you feel this morning?" asked Captain Passford, one bright morning in April, at Bonnydale on the Hudson, the residence of the former owner of the Bellevite, which he had presented to the government. "Quite well, father; I think I...

Freaks of Fortune; or, Half Round The WorldAuthor: Oliver OpticPublisher: Createspace Independent Publishing PlatformPublication Date: Sep 04, 2015Number of Pages: 138 pagesBinding: Paperback or SoftbackISBN-10: 151719296XISBN-13: 9781517192969

In School and Out; or, The Conquest of Richard GrantAuthor: Oliver OpticPublisher: Createspace Independent Publishing PlatformPublication Date: Sep 04, 2015Number of Pages: 132 pagesBinding: Paperback or SoftbackISBN-10: 1517193001ISBN-13: 9781517193003

Make or Break; or, The Rich Man's DaughterAuthor: Oliver OpticPublisher: Createspace Independent Publishing PlatformPublication Date: Sep 04, 2015Number of Pages: 150 pagesBinding: Paperback or SoftbackISBN-10: 1517193354ISBN-13: 9781517193355

"In The Saddle" is the second of the "Blue and Gray-On Land." In the first volume a New Hampshire family was transplanted to the southern part of one of the Border States just before the breaking out of the Great Rebellion, now happily an event of the...

"She is a fine little steamer, father, without the possibility of a doubt," said Lieutenant Passford, who was seated at the table with his father in the captain's cabin on board of the Bronx. "I don't feel quite at home here, and I don't quite like the...

"Taken by the Enemy" from Oliver Optic. Noted academic, author, and Massachusetts state legislator (1822-1897).Author: Oliver OpticPublisher: Createspace Independent Publishing PlatformPublication Date: Sep 04, 2015Number of Pages: 162 pagesBinding:...

"Who's there?" demanded Christy Passford, sitting up in his bed, in the middle of the night, in his room on the second floor of his father's palatial mansion on the Hudson, where the young lieutenant was waiting for a passage to the Gulf. There was no...

The Yacht Club; or, The Young Boat-BuilderAuthor: Oliver OpticPublisher: Createspace Independent Publishing PlatformPublication Date: Sep 27, 2015Number of Pages: 166 pagesBinding: Paperback or SoftbackISBN-10: 1517194741ISBN-13: 9781517194741

I am about to write a very curious history, as the reader will agree with me when he has read this book. We have more than one narrative of people being cast away upon desolate islands, and being left to their own resources, and no works are perhaps read...

The Pirate by Frederick Marryat, first published in 1836. Frederick Marryat (1792-1848) was Royal Navy officer, and acquaintance of Charles Dickens. Among the few subjects which are still left at the disposal of the duly-gifted writer of romance is the...

On August 10, 1845, Marryat wrote to Mrs S., a lady for whom, to the time of his death, he retained the highest sentiments of friendship and esteem: - "I really wish you would write your confessions, I will publish them. I have a beautiful opening in...

Excerpt from Captain Macklin: His Memoirs It may seem presumptuous that so young a man as myself should propose to write life and memoirs, for, as a rule, one waits until he has accomplished something in the world, or until he has reached old age, before...

"Once Upon a Time" from Richard Harding Davis. Journalist and writer of fiction and drama (1864-1916).Author: Richard Harding DavisPublisher: Createspace Independent Publishing PlatformPublication Date: Sep 05, 2015Number of Pages: 136 pagesBinding:...

In common with many others who have been with Richard Harding Davis as correspondents, I find it difficult to realize that he has covered his last story and that he will not be seen again with the men who follow the war game, rushing to distant places...

"The Red Cross Girl" from Richard Harding Davis. Journalist and writer of fiction and drama (1864-1916).Author: Richard Harding DavisPublisher: Createspace Independent Publishing PlatformPublication Date: Sep 06, 2015Number of Pages: 164 pagesBinding:...

"The White Mice" from Richard Harding Davis. Journalist and writer of fiction and drama (1864-1916).Author: Richard Harding DavisPublisher: Createspace Independent Publishing PlatformPublication Date: Sep 06, 2015Number of Pages: 162 pagesBinding:...

In writing this book, my aim has been to give a true picture in outline of the Slave Trade as it exists at the present time on the east coast of Africa. In order to do this I have selected from the most trustworthy sources what I believe to be the most...

Necessity is the mother of invention. This is undoubtedly true, but it is equally true that invention is not the only member of necessity's large family. Change of scene and circumstance are also among her children. It was necessity that gave birth to...

To be generally helpful was one of the chief points in the character of Charlie Brooke. He was evidently born to aid mankind. He began by helping himself to everything in life that seemed at all desirable. This was natural, not selfish.Author: Robert...

One's own fireside is, to all well-regulated minds, a pleasant subject of contemplation when one is absent, and a source of deep gratification when present. Especially may this be said to be the case in a cold, raw night in November, when mankind has a...

Every one has heard of those ponies-those shaggy, chubby, innocent-looking little creatures-for which the world is indebted, we suppose, to Shetland. Well, once on a time, one of the most innocent-looking, chubbiest, and shaggiest of Shetland ponies-a...

By the early light of a bright summer morning, long, long ago, two small boats were seen to issue from one of the fiords or firths on the west coast of Norway, and row towards the skerries or low rocky islets that lay about a mile distant from the...

Mr John Sudberry was a successful London merchant. He was also a fat little man. Moreover, he was a sturdy little man, wore spectacles, and had a smooth bald head, over which, at the time we introduce him to the reader, fifty summers had passed, with...

The remarkable-I might even say amazing-personal adventures which I am about to relate occurred quite recently. They are so full of interest to myself and to my old mother, that I hasten to write them down while yet vivid and fresh in my memory, in the...

Reader, -I take for granted that you are tolerably well acquainted with the different modes of life and travelling peculiar to European nations. I also presume that you know something of the inhabitants of the East; and, it may be, a good deal of the...

This tale is founded chiefly on facts furnished by the Postmaster-General's Annual Reports, and gathered, during personal intercourse and investigation, at the General Post-Office of London and its Branches. It is intended to illustrate-not by any means...

The family board was spread; the family kettle-an unusually fat one-was singing on the fire, and the family chimney was roaring like a lion by reason of the wind, which blew a hurricane outside, and shook the family mansion, a small wooden hut, to its...

On a certain summer morning, about the middle of the present century, a big bluff man, of seafaring aspect, found himself sauntering in a certain street near London Bridge. He was a man of above fifty, but looked under forty in consequence of the...

Cold comfort is naturally suggested by a bed of snow, yet I have enjoyed great comfort and much warmth in such a bed. My friend Lumley was particularly fond of warmth and of physical ease, yet he often expressed the opinion, with much emphasis, that...