Otbebookpublishing: 2325 books

By the time Goethe's "Theory of Colours" appeared in 1810, the wavelength theory of light and colour had been firmly established. To Goethe, the theory was the result of mistaking an incidental result for an elemental principle. Far from pretending to a knowledge of physics, he insisted that such...

Translated in the original metres" by Edgar Alfred Bowring. According to Wikipedia: "Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (28 August 1749 - 22 March 1832) was a German writer. George Eliot called him "Germany's greatest man of letters... and the last true polymath to walk the earth."

Beloved by the gods for his wisdom, the demigod Tantalus was once invited to their fellowship. Becoming boisterous whilst celebrating with them, he began to boast, and he stole the gods' nectar and ambrosia, their food of immortality. When the gods came to see Tantalus in turn, he tested their omniscience...

Most of The Sorrows of Young Werther is presented as a collection of letters written by Werther, a young artist of a sensitive and passionate temperament, to his friend Wilhelm. These give an intimate account of his stay in the fictional village of Wahlheim, whose peasants have enchanted him with...

Excerpt: "Mrs. Stanhope, a well-bred woman, accomplished in that branch of knowledge which is called the art of rising in the world, had, with but a small fortune, contrived to live in the highest company. She prided herself upon having established half a dozen nieces most happily, that is to say,...

Excerpt: "My dear boys, when I was your age, there were no such children’s books as there are now. Those which we had were few and dull, and the pictures in them ugly and mean: while you have your choice of books without number, clear, amusing, and pretty, as well as really instructive, on subjects...

This 1860 sequel to the author's popular 1858 collection of essays, The Autocrat of the Breakfast Table, continues the genial, conversational quality of its predecessor. In order to continue interest in a second volume, this book is much more aggressive in tone and thought. It questions aspects of...

In this classic of the supernatural, a physician puzzles over seventeen-year-old Elsie’s neurosis and fiery temper—only diagnosing her when he learns that the girl’s mother, while pregnant, was bitten by a poisonous snake. Exploring themes of original sin and redemption in the footsteps of Hawthorne, this 1861 novel coined the term “Boston Brahmin.”

Geoffry Hamlyn recollects the life,times and adventures of the Buckleys,Brentwood's,Dr Mulhaus,Tom Troubridge,Frank Maberly,his great friend Jim Stockbridge and the tragic Mary Thornton and her liason with George Hawker.Initially the action is in Devon,then switches to Austrailia where they make their...

This is one of G.A. Henty's classic tales. "It was early in December that H. M. S. Perseus was cruising off the mouth of the Canton River. War had been declared with China in consequence of her continued evasions of the treaty she had made with us, and it was expected that a strong naval force would...

Excerpt: "It was incredible to him that a Sentient Being who perpetually accumulated experience, who grew riper and riper, more and more full of such knowledge as was native to himself and complementary to his nature, should at the very crisis of his success in all things intellectual and emotional, cease suddenly."

(Excerpt) "Though Southern rural life has necessarily changed since the Civil War, I doubt that there is in the entire South a place where it has changed less than on the Burge Plantation, near Covington, Georgia. And I do not know in the whole country a place that I should rather see again in springtime...

Sir Henry Rider Haggard was an English writer of adventure novels set in exotic locations, predominantly Africa, and the creator of the Lost World literary genre. His stories, situated at the lighter end of the scale of Victorian literature, continue to be popular and influential. He was also involved...

You Can't Go Home Again is a novel by Thomas Wolfe published posthumously in 1940. The novel tells the story of George Webber, a fledgling author, who writes a book that makes frequent references to his home town of Libya Hill. The book is a national success but the residents of the town, unhappy...