The Floating Press: 5 books

The String of Pearls is the first installment of the Sweeney Todd penny part serial. It introduces the homicidal barber who became a staple of Victorian melodrama. In his barber shop on Fleet Street, Sweeney Todd murders his clients by tipping them down a chute and cleaning them off afterward with his...

The Power of Mesmerism is a classic Victorian erotic novel that was originally published in 1891. It contains graphic sexual descriptions and themes. This risqué fictional foray into the nineteenth-century boudoir will finally put to rest the age-old presumption that the period was frumpy and repressed. A must-read for fans of steamy Victoriana.

Pirkei Avot, which is most commonly translated as "Chapters of the Fathers," is one of the most important collections of ethical teachings in the tradition of Judaism. Believed to have been compiled in the period between 200 B.C. and 200 A.C., this compendium of ancient wisdom remains just as relevant and inspirational thousands of years later.

This classic erotic novel recounts the sensual adventures of Maudie, an experienced and insatiable young lady who flouts the strict mores of the age in which she lives and makes the most of her encounters with her paramour Charlie, as well as many other men. From intimate one-on-one flings to wild orgies, Maudie never turns down a chance to be naughty.

Immerse yourself in one of the most significant documents ever penned. Originally enacted in 1215, some sections of the Magna Carta remain on the books as legally enforced statutes in parts of the U.K. today. Legal and political scholars have detailed the Magna Carta's far-reaching influence on the development...