The Grand Library of Kiwi Farms - Farms based Archive of great Public Domain works

[AnOminous]

A Voyage to Arcturus, David Lindsay

The Hill of Dreams, Arthur Machen (Project Gutenberg)

 

[Sexy Senior Citizen]

Field Manual 5-15: Defensive Fortifications
US Department of the Army
Published 1968
Retrieved from archive.org on 6/1/2024

The purpose of this manual is to teach soldiers how to construct field fortifications, utilizing tools and the natural terrain around them. Fortifications range from simple foxholes and trenches to hidden shelters for the night to proper forts for larger camps.

 

[mindlessobserver]

Seven Pillars of Wisdom- A Triumph
Thomas Edward Lawrence
Published 1926 by the Doubleday company
First edition private printing retrieved by Internet Archive

The First Hand autobiography of British Army Colonel T. E. Lawrence on his mission to Arabia on behalf of the Arab Bureau of the United Kingdom's intelligence services. The book details his involvement in helping to foment and support the Arab Revolt against the Ottoman Empire during the First World War, and is a primary first hand account of the origins of the Modern Middle East, to include the founding of the Hashemite Dynasty in Jordan and Iraq, as well as the founding of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. The book would be adapted into the 1962 film "Lawrence of Arabia".

 

[mindlessobserver]

Winnie the Pooh
A.A. Milnie, Illustrated by E.H. Shepard.
Published 1926 by McLelland and Stuart ltd. of Toronto
Retrieved from Internet Archive

The first story of a father to his son Christopher about the adventures of his stuffed bear named Winnie, who lives in the Hundred Acre wood. One of the great's in children's literature.

 

[Sexy Senior Citizen]

Kimball's Commercial Arithmetic: Prepared for Use in Normal, Commercial and High Schools for the Higher Grades of the Common Schools

Gustavus Sylvester Kimball

Published 1911 by G. B. Putnam's Sons and The Knickerbocker Press

Retrieved from archive.org 6/9/2024



A high school mathematics textbook from the dawn of the 20th century, this book is an important glimpse into American education, culture, and economics over 100 years ago. Imperial measurements were common then (e.g., measurements are done in chains and furlongs), so the book can be a bit difficult to grasp at first. The problems would be considered "advanced" by high school students even in the 1990s, highlighting the sad decline of American education in less than 100 years.

 

[Sexy Senior Citizen]

Figure Drawing for All It's Worth: A Book of Fundamentals for an Artistic Career
Andrew Loomis
Published 1943
Retrieved from archive.org 6/9/2024

Andrew Loomis was an American writer, art instructor, and illustrator in the mid-20th century. While his works appeared in many advertisements and magazines, he's best known for his series of instructional books on drawing. This book provides the instruction for drawing the human figure in Loomis's style. The instruction starts with the basics of the human form, before working its way up to human anatomy, foreshortening, and drawing multiple figures in a crowd.

 

[mindlessobserver]

The Doctrine of Fascism
Benito Mussolini

1932, self published.
Retrieved from Internet Archives, 6/11/2024

In this book, El Duce crystalizes the political philosophy of Fascism and its real life application. A forgotten text, the book is often ignored in modern discourse around fascism, what its tenets are, and how its applied.

 

[mindlessobserver]

The Domestic Chemist: Comprising instructions for the detection of adulteration in numerous articles employed in domestic economy, medicine, and the arts
Author Unknown
Published by Bumpus and Griffin of Skinner Street, London
1831
Retrieved from Internet Archive 6/17/2024

The Domestic Chemist comprises an exhaustively comprehensive analysis of various foods, spices, artistic supplies (like paint and dye), medicines, and common adulterations that could end up in them such as Copper or Lead. The Book reads like a children's "Do it at home" chemistry primar, but make no mistake some of the experiments suggested in the book can be incredibly dangerous. That said, the book opens with a really cool experiment for detecting the presence of Copper in something using Ammonia, which could make a fun children's science project. With suitable adult supervision. In addition to the various experiments to determine if a food has been adulterated with a poison or otherwise harmful additive, the book also includes simple descriptions of what certain foods and food ingredients look and taste like. Everything from Nutmeg to Palm Oil, as well as entire chapters on various poisonous mushrooms and berries. The book is an important artifact of its time, as it predates modern food regulations and industry standards. Meaning you might THINK you are buying something, but the label is a lie and what you thought was Corn Whiskey was in fact actually poisonous Methanol. Thus it was up to you, the educated consumer, to do your own research.

 

[mindlessobserver]

The Prince
Niccolo Machiavelli

Luigi Ricci translation by Oxford University Press. 1903 via the institute of medieval studies, University of Toronto 1943.

retrieved from Internet Archive 06/26/2024.

Part of the foundational canon of modern political theory, Niccolo Machiavellis "El principe" seeks to explain the proper function of a Government and its rulers not in how man wishes it would function, but in how it ACTUALLY functions. Deeply subversive for it's time, the Prince argued that the highest moral duty of the State is not divine idealism, but it's own preservation and by extension the presevation of its people. It also presents a scathing criticism of democracy and republican government, viewing such forms of rule as temporary at best.

 

[mindlessobserver]

Brave New World
Aldous Huxley

Internet Archive PDF scan
Retrieved 6/26/2024

Often seen as the counter argument to Orwells "1984" (though it came out before hand), Huxley envisioned a world in which man has been made a slave by state mandated pleasure instead of fear. In the Brave New World, enlightened experts run everything, humans are grown in vats to serve pre conceived algorithmic functions. There is no religion, or family and the greatest social taboo imaginable is to refuse engaging in consequence free sex with your fellow citizens. And you will never question this state of affairs thanks to your daily dose of government provided narcotics.

Those who refused to accept this society are placed on reservations reminiscent of 19th century Indian programs in North America. However, confident in the perfection of their system, the expert ruling council of the world decides to take a savage off of one of these reservations so they can show him the enlightened world of their utopia. This is his story.

 

[mindlessobserver]

A New Voyage Round the World
William Dampier

4th Edition of 1699, with introduction by the author, a letter to the Royal Society of London and hand drawn maps and sketches
Published by Master James Knapton, of Saint Paul's Church
PDF Scan retrieved from Internet Archive 6/30/2024

One of the greatest works to come out of the Age of Sail, William Dampier writes of his voyages and the animals he discovered in far distant and alien lands. And at the time they were alien. Dampier was the first European to catalogue the wildlife of Australia and various islands of the South Pacific, which would inspire later voyages by explorers like James Cook. He is famous for being the only Captain in the age of sail to record a circumnavigation of the World, Three times. He also paid for his voyaging by being a Pirate, and didn't consider his description complete until he killed and ate the animal in question. In short, the dude was intensely based. This book was the culmination of his lifes work, which was to catalogue the natural world he discovered on his voyages and covers everything from Africa to the Caribbean. The book also includes descriptions of the environment, people and places he visited.

 

[Sexy Senior Citizen]

King Solomon's Mines
Henry Rider Haggard
Published in 1885
Obtained from archive.org on 7/2/2024

Alan Quartermain, a 55-year-old adventurer and white man living in the African city of Durban, is approached by Sir Henry Curtis and Captain good, looking to find Sir Henry's brother. The brother was last seen entering the jungle, searching for the legendary mines of King Solomon. Thus begins an adventure into the heart of Africa, where Alan encounters numerous adventures in his search for the mines, relying on his intelligence and the relative ignorance of the natives to save himself and his friends. Eventually, Alan comes across the mines, and will either emerge a rich man, or not at all.

The first adventure novel set in Africa, King Solomon's Mines also became the first of what was dubbed the "lost world" genre, an adventure set in an isolated locale that, for one reason or another, has remained functionally unchanged for generations. This book inspired copycats like Doyle's The Lost World, Burroughs' The Land That Time Forgot, and Kipling's The Man Who Would Be King. Alan himself would appear in Alan Moore's graphic novel The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen. The book itself also takes some umbrage with the colonialist attitudes of the era; natives are usually depicted with a gentlemanly air, and any "savagery" is simply them being antagonistic to the white protagonists. Quartermain himself, ever the gentleman, refuses to refer to natives as "niggers." The book perpetuates the stereotype of the "noble savage," yet it is also a rip-roaring adventure of a manly sort, extolling chivalry, courage, and sacrifice.

 

[mindlessobserver]

Letters from America
Rupert Brooke, with preface by Henry James

PDF scan of the DC Public Library edition, Published by Scribner and Sons, 1916
Retrieved from Internet Archive 7/4/2024

In 1913, English Poet Rupert Chawner Brooke went on a tour of the United States, in order to get new inspiration for a book he intended to write. The book would never be written, as shortly after he returned from North America World War 1 broke out and Brooke joined the British Army. He would be a part of the disastrous Gallipoli campaign and was killed in 1915 at the age of 27. His notes and letters about the trip would posthumously be combined and published as this book. The book itself reads like the musings of a tourist marveling at the amazing sights. From Niagara Falls to the Rockies and all the fascinating people and culture he encounters along the way. There is an honest sense of melancholy about the whole reading experience though, as you know the author would soon be killed in the coming cataclysmic war. This book in many respects represents a window on the closing days of an era, and one that would be lost within 4 short years.

 

[mindlessobserver]

The Pilgrims Progress
John Bunyan

PDF Scan of Fac-simili reproduction of the 1st edition held by the Theological Seminary of Princeton University
Baker and Taylor of New York, 1878
Original 1st edition published by Nathanial Ponder at the Peacock, near unto Corhil, 1678
Retrieved from Internet Archive 7/6/2024

A book of Religious Fiction, Bunyan would start writing it while imprisoned for violating the Conventicle Act of 1664 that forbade religious practice outside the Church of England. It is also (arguably) the first Novel written in the English language, coming out at the tail end of the Protestant reformation and widespread adoption of the printing press. It would also be the first work of Fiction to get a publication citation in North America, with the edition of 1689.

The book tells the story of "Christian", an everyman who lives in a city of destruction knowing no other life. One day he hears of a Celestial City, and decides to leave the City of Destruction in search of a new and better life. The story is an allegory of Christian theology based around the authors own Puritan adherence, but filled with the fantastical of epic adventure that would inspire later writers such as C.S. Lewis and (despite his strenuous claims to the contrary) Tolkien.

 

[mindlessobserver]

Heart of Darkness
Józef Teodor Konrad Nałecz Korzeniowski
(Joseph Conrad)

PDF Download of the Cambridge University Reproduction of the edition of 1902
Cambridge University Press
Retrieved from Cambridge University Press, 7/7/2024

Charles Marlow, an itinerant English seaman has been offered a job by a Belgian trading company to captain a steamboat up the Congo River into the heart of Africa. His mission is to find a missing Ivory Trader named Kurtz who never returned to the colonial offices. Thus begins Marlows voyage from civilization and into barbarism. But who is the civilized and who is the barbarian? Where is the line? Marlow may soon discover that line is not on any map, but down the middle of a human soul.

 

[Sexy Senior Citizen]

Wuthering Heights
Emily Bronte, published under the pen name Ellis Bell
Published in 1847 by Thomas Cautley Newby
Retrieved from archive.org, 7/8/2024

Mr. Lockwood, travelling to meet his landlord Heathcliff, finds himself snowed in at Heathcliff's remote moorland farmhouse Wuthering Heights. While there, he meets Heathcliff's strange, sullen family and experiences several inexplicable events. Deciding to leave despite the snow, Mr. Lockwood falls ill, and while recovering, his housekeeper Ellen "Nelly" Dean tells him the haunting tale of Heathcliff's family...

The only novel published by Emily Bronte, Wuthering Heights draws on the literary traditions of romanticism and gothic horror. Widely considered one of the greatest novels ever written, it was controversial for its time due to its unflinching depiction of domestic abuse, mental and physical cruelty, and for its challenges to Victorian mores of the day- to say nothing of the fact that it was written by a woman. A special note need to be made of Heathcliff, whose love for Catherine, jealousy, and uncontrollable rage wind up destroying him and those around him; Heathcliff's complex character is the iconic archetype of the Byronic hero, and his character and the depictions of it have contributed to the novel's enduring popularity.

 

[Sexy Senior Citizen]

Up From Slavery: An Autobiography
Booker Taliaferro Washington
Serialized in The Outlook, a Christian magazine, in 1900; published in book form in 1901
Retrieved from archive.org 7/29/2024

Born a slave, Booker T. Washington lived through the America Civil War and watched as slavery ended. Through hard labor, self-education, and sheer determination, Washington rises from a slave in Virginia to found the Tuskegee Industrial Institute. Up From Slavery would be the most popular biography of an African American until the time of Malcolm X. Yet, despite being primarily about African Americans, the book's themes of hard work, humility, and making something of oneself reverberate with Americans of all colors.

 

[mindlessobserver]

The Joy of Cooking
A Compilation of Reliable Recipes with an occasional culinary chat

Irma Rombauer, and
Marion Rombauer Becker

UK Edition adapted by M Barron Russel due to the United States Congress removing the first edition USA book from the Public Domain on behalf of the Disney Corporation ltd.

Archived Edition Published by J.M. Dent and Sons of Bedford Street, London, 1923, in accordance with the UK Copyright, Designs and Patent Act of 1988 entered into the Public Domain during the reign of Queen Elizabeth II, 2015.

Joy of Cooking stands alongside the Betty Crocker Cook Book (Denied access to the Library due to Trademark Law) as one of the greatest books of cookery to come from the 20th century and is absolutely essential for anyone learning how to cook. Prior to books like this, most cooking recipes were an oral tradition passed inside families with no standardization. Joy of Cooking was one of the first to actually provide with scientific measurements the correct ratio of ingredients to achieve desired results. Since its publication, the book has been a major influence of chefs and cooks the world over and is arguably the reason why food has improved in quality from the basic manufactured slop to mom's home cooked meals in the current era to where things were 100 years ago.

 

[Sexy Senior Citizen]

Storm of Steel: From the Diary of a German Storm-Troop Officer on the Western Front
Ernst Jünger
German version was published in 1920; the English translation was published in 1929
Retrieved from archive.org on 7/30/2024

A controversial autobiography, the book follows the exploits of Ernst Jünger from his recruitment into the German army until the end of the war. Ernst describes participating in many major battles and the fourteen wounds he sustained during the course of World War 1. The novel's controversy stems from the fact Ernst refuses to condemn the war, unlike many of his contemporaries. In fact, in his preface to the English version, he explicitly states, "Time only strengthens my conviction that it was a good and strenuous life, and that the war, for all its destructiveness, was an incomparable schooling of the heart."

 

[AnOminous]

UK Edition adapted by M Barron Russel due to the United States Congress removing the first edition USA book from the Public Domain on behalf of the Disney Corporation ltd.

Yet another way copyright has fucked over humanity and degraded the living standards of the human race in contrast to the bullshit claim in the Constitution that its purpose is "To promote the Progress of Science and useful Arts" (it's done the opposite).