Letters of the Late Ignatius Sancho, an African (1784)
The published correspondence of Ignatius Sancho, the first known Black Briton to vote in a British election, and the first person of African descent known to be giv…more
Biography & Letters
Texts in Mathias Enard’s Compass
Collection of the major public domain texts featuring in the novel Compass by French writer Mathias Enard — including Balzac, Victor Hugo, and Joseph-Charles Mard…more
The Memoirs of Lieut. Henry Timberlake (1765)
Memoirs of the Anglo-American colonial officer Lieutenant Henry Timberlake focus on the last seven years of his life, and specifically his work as emissary to the C…more
The Expositor, or Many Mysteries Unravelled – including that of the Learned Pig (1805)
A wonderful book amounting to something akin to an early 19th-century version of the Masked Magician, in which the reality behind various tricks and illusions of th…more
The Hermit; or, The Unparalleled Sufferings, and Surprising Adventures, of Philip Quarll (1814)
The hermit or, The unparalleled sufferings, and surprising adventures, of Philip Quarll, an Englishman, who was discovered by Mr. Dorrington, a Bristol-merchant, up…more
Twelve Years a Slave (1859)
The memoir by Solomon Northup upon which the recent much acclaimed feature film, Twelve Years a Slave directed by Steve McQueen, was based. The narrative tells the …more
Letters to my sister of our experiences on our first trip to Europe, 1913
Letters to my sister of our experiences on our first trip to Europe 1913, by Lilian McCarron; publishing date most likely 1914, publisher unknown. A book of letters…more
A Pamphlet on Verdi (1901)
A small pamphlet (in the series “Little journeys to the homes of great musicians”) on the life of the Italian composer Guiseppe Verdi, beginning with a fictionalise…more
The Life and Adventures of James F. O’Connell, the Tattooed Man (1845)
One of the main attractions at P.T. Barnum’s 1842 ‘freakshow’ American Museum was a man named James F. O’Connell, notable for his head to toe covering in tattoos wh…more
The Book of Wonderful Characters (1869)
A wonderful collection of biographies containing vignettes, accompanied by engravings of each individual, describe a wide-ranging group – from the man who died ag…more
Conversations with Lord Byron (1824)
In his book Journal of the conversations of Lord Byron noted during a residence with his lordship at Pisa, in the years 1821 and 1822 by Thomas Medwin, published t…more
The Hasheesh Eater (1857)
An autobiographical book by the American novelist and journalist Fitz Hugh Ludlow in which he describes his altered states of consciousness and philosophical flight…more