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: 2024-11-26

An Educational Introduction

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.
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.
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.
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.
Prudence Palfrey — by Thomas Bailey Aldrich.
Witty, entertaining tale of doomed dreams, deception, and romantic constancy, deftly combining New England satire and Western adventure.
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.
Phœbe — by Miriam Coles Harris.
Elegant, sympathetic moral fable; a tragicomedy of errors that delves deep into the internal misfortunes of miscommunication.
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.
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.
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).
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?
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.
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.
The Albigenses — by Charles Maturin.
Historical novel set during the 13th century Albigensian Crusade: a tale of superstition, bigotry, rapacity, and revenge.
Helen Harlow's Vow — by Lois Waisbrooker.
Inspirational exposition on questioning and overcoming social injustice through personal strength and conviction; a feminist classic.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Alice Vale — by Lois Waisbrooker.
Didactic, melodramatic, eye-rolling at times, yet delightfully lambastic treatment of contemporary society.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Hannah Thurston — by Bayard Taylor.
Dry and satirical, intelligent, yet unabashedly Victorian romance, set in upstate New York; an amusing, guilty pleasure.
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.
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.
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.
The Sparrowgrass Papers — by Frederic S. Cozzens.
Amusing anecdotes of an 1850's family moving from the city to a house in the country.
The Attorney — by John Treat Irving, Jr.
Enticing, gritty, melodramatic novel of crime in the mean streets of antebellum Manhattan; not flawless, but worthwhile.
The Widow Bedott Papers — by Frances M. Whitcher.
Priceless conversational sketches of Yankee characters and their foibles; a hilarious though sometimes unsettling social commentary.
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.
A Knickerbocker Anthology — by Various Authors
Compilation of noteworthy short prose pieces published in the Knickerbocker Magazine between 1851 and 1861.
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.
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.
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.
Temple House — by Elizabeth Stoddard.
Psychological, insightful, and thoroughly entertaining character study, warts and all: a significant predecessor of modern literature.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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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