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Clifford D. Simak, a prolific author of science fiction, wrote over 125 short stories. They often focus on the human scale more than the space opera scale, and are often tinged with horror. Included in this collection are stories of time travel, unreliable perceptions, and the difficulty in applying human understanding to different forms of life. The short stories in this collection are those currently known to have passed into the U.S. public domain, and are arranged in order of publication.
After having spent almost three years in prison Johnny Gray is released, only to be dismayed to find that his ladylove has been pressured by her father, an old friend of his, into marrying another man. Soon after, Johnny discovers that the bridegroom is actually a suspected counterfeiter and the son of a notorious criminal plotting to ruin his friend by exposing his nefarious past. Johnny is determined to foil the plot and bring the counterfeiter and his father to justice—but first he needs to rescue the new bride. Surprisingly, the trail brings Johnny back to prison. Published in 1924,Room 13was adapted for film in 1938 and 1964.
In this collectionMary De Morganbrings seven stories adapted from the older tradition of fairy tales, featuring both supernatural elements and didactic material. The stories in this collection are diverse in plot and message, from the question of vanity in “The Story of Vain Lamorna” to a criticism of industrialization in “Siegfried and Handa.” Originally titledOn a Pincushion, and Other Fairy Tales, this is De Morgan’s first collection of literary fairy tales.
The city of Bayport is at the mercy of a ring of car thieves! Vehicles have been disappearing off of the well-traveled Shore Road for three weeks; eventually, the gang gets bolder and starts moving their sights to the city. With the police and even Fenton Hardy running into dead ends, the town is in an uproar. The ring runs like a well-oiled machine: no one sees the thieves and the cars seemingly disappear into thin air despite patrols on either end of the Shore Road. Incentivized by a victimized friend, theHardy Boysare determined to bring down the gang … but at what cost? This is the sixth book of the Hardy boys series, first published in 1928 and then rewritten in 1964. While the author is credited to beFranklin W. Dixon, in reality, Leslie MacFarlane and Edward Stratemeyer are primarily responsible for the original, early volumes, including this one. David Grambs is primarily responsible for writing the revised version. This Standard Ebooks edition is based on the original 1928 text.
One of the most controversial novels of the twentieth century,Lady Chatterley’s Loverfollows the story of Lady Constance Chatterley, unhappily married to disabled World War I veteran and coal tycoon Sir Clifford Chatterley, as she takes as a lover the gamekeeper of her estate, Oliver Mellors, a working class man of the earth. Constance struggles with the guilt of her infidelity, but realizes that her marriage is over and wants to get more out of her life. Oliver, a veteran himself with some education, enjoys her company but worries about his own position in society. LikeD. H. Lawrence’searlier novelsWomen in LoveandThe Rainbow, this novel describes in detail the sexual encounters between the two lovers, doing so using language that was shocking at the time. It was subsequently banned in many countries and for years was only available through underground means. It was not until 1960 that the full, unexpurgated edition was finally able to be published in its native United Kingdom, after being the subject of a court case about freedom of speech and the idea of redeeming social or literary value trumping any notions of obscenity in works of art. The novel’s victory at trial is seen by many as the moment Britain began changing into a permissive society. As with other Lawrence novels, the novel features commentary on industrialization, the dying coal industry, and the societal class structure of England, but these themes are to this day still largely obscured by the book’s sexual content and the surrounding scandal.
First published in 1602 byWilliam Shakespeare,The Merry Wives of Windsorfeatures the popular figure Sir John Falstaff, who first appeared inHenry IV, Part 1andPart 2. Some speculate thatMerry Wiveswas written at the behest of Queen Elizabeth I, who wanted to see Falstaff in love; and that Shakespeare was forced to rush its creation as a result, and so it remains one of Shakespeare’s lesser-regarded plays. The play revolves around two intertwined plots: the adventures of the rogue Falstaff who plans to seduce several local wives, and the story of young Anne Page who is being wooed by prominent citizens while she has her sights set on young Fenton. The wives come together to teach Falstaff a lesson, and in the end love triumphs. The Merry Wives of Windsoris believed to have been first performed in 1597 and was subsequently published in quarto in 1602, in a second quarto in 1619, and then in the 1623First Folio. Despite holding a lesser place in Shakespeare’s canon, it was one of the first Shakespearean plays to be performed in 1660, after the reinstatement of Charles II and theatre once again was permitted to be performed in London. This Standard Ebooks edition is based on Sir Arthur Quiller-Couch and John Dover Wilson’s 1923 Cambridge edition.
Daphne du Maurier, one of the premier English novelists of the twentieth century, was also an accomplished short story writer. As with her novels, her short stories can be both humorous and dark, often with open endings. Many of them are framed around psychological themes, and feature characters who have difficulties precisely communicating. Some of her later shorts were made into films, most famously Alfred Hitchcock’sThe Birds. More recently her short stories have been singled out for praise by the American horror author Stephen King. Collected here are all of du Maurier’s short stories that are known to be in the public domain, arranged by first publication date.
First performed in 1610,The Alchemistis one ofBen Jonson’sgreatest comedies. Written for the King’s Men—the acting company to whichShakespearebelonged—it was first performed in Oxford because the playhouses in London were closed due to the plague. It was an immediate success and has remained a popular staple ever since. The play centers around a con man, his female accomplice, and a roguish butler who uses his master’s house to gull a series of victims out of their money and goods. Jonson uses the play to satirize as many people as he can—pompous lords, greedy commoners, and self-righteous Anabaptists alike—as his three con artists proceed to bilk everyone who comes to their door. They don multiple roles and weave elaborate tales to exploit their victims’ greed and amass a small fortune. But it all comes to a sudden, raucous end when the master unexpectedly returns to London and all the victims gather to try and reclaim their property.
It’s the late 1500s and the English and the Spanish are struggling for dominance over the seas. Sir Nicholas Beauvallet is captaining an English ship when he’s fired upon by a Spanish galleon. He returns the attack and leads his men to a spectacular victory. But while plundering the ship, Sir Nicholas discovers aboard the beautiful and spirited Dominica, who is traveling with her dying father. Beauvallet treats them well and, at great risk to himself, returns them to Spain—but not before wooing Dominica and vowing to return for her within the year. In turn Dominica is attracted by his honor, courage, and recklessness.
At the command of the goddess Argo, the poet Geo and his companions Urson, Snake, and Iimmi travel to the island of Aptor to steal a powerful jewel from the god Hama. They contend with monsters, mystery, and the ruins of an earlier age—but their quest is not what it seems. The Jewels of AptorisSamuel R. Delany’sfirst published novel, written when he was a teenager. In it we see many of the concerns that occupied him in later work: language, poetry, myth, perception, and tensions between worldviews, wrapped in gorgeously poetic prose.
Sheen is a quiet, unassuming student, whose standing in the school’s social hierarchy is irrevocably damaged when he commits a sin of cowardice: he flees from a fight between some of his schoolmates and a group of local boys. This decision leads him to be swiftly and severely ostracized by his school community. Facing this scorn, Sheen must find a way to restore his honor. Originally serialized inThe Captainmagazine from 1905 to 1906,The White Featheris one of the first ofP. G. Wodehouse’smany novels. Wodehouse, renowned for his wit, humor, and engaging storytelling, went on to become one of the most beloved English authors of the 20th century.
A young brother and sister return to their family’s mansion with their older brother. They all know their family’s history: that their ancestors had resorted to piracy to survive—and family legend has it that there’s hidden pirate’s treasure, and lost “luck,” hidden somewhere in the mansion. With barely enough money to carry on, they seek the “luck” of the family, knowing neitherwhatit is norwhereit is. Their precarious situation is worsened by the appearance of a rival claimant who asserts legal rights to the property. And there’s the mysterious young boy living in the swamps who also seems to be looking for something on their land. But despite these challenges, they’re certain that the “luck” will restore their fortunes. Ralestone Luck, written circa 1930, is the first bookAndre Nortonwrote, but the second one she actually published. It was first published in 1938.
The four Walker children—John, Susan, Titty, and Roger—are spending the summer with their mother in the Lake District while their father’s away on duty in the navy. After getting permission to use their accommodation’s dinghy, theSwallow, they also beg to be allowed to camp alone on a nearby island. With permission granted by their understanding (and trusting) mother, their adventures begin. For one thing, they’re not the first to camp on the island. They soon encounter the prior inhabitants: Captain Nancy and her sister Peggy who sail theAmazon. While war between them is declared at first, they soon find themselves allies against a common enemy—the uncle of the Amazons, Captain Flint. Swallows and Amazonswas the first of what became aseries of a dozen novels, known collectively under its title. While the fashion for juvenile fiction of this kind faded,Ransome’snovel has achieved classic status. It has frequently been adapted for television, film, and radio, and ranked 57th in the BBC’s “Big Read,” a search in 2003 for “the nation’s best-loved novel.” As Kate Haas noted in her essay on it in theWashington Post, its “celebration of friendship, imagination, fair play, and exploration” helps to explain its enduring appeal.
Summer holidays are here for theHardy boysand their friends. To celebrate, they decide to take a trip to Honeycomb Caves, which are fabled to have hidden treasure, to explore and see if they can uncover the riches rumored to lie within. A wanted criminal prowling around nearby, and reports of screams and gun shots near the caves, aren’t enough to deter the boys, who are out for adventure and mystery. But with stolen food, a harrowing storm, and steep cliffs where one misstep is the last step, have the boys put themselves in more danger than they bargained for? This book was published in 1929 and then rewritten in 1965. This Standard Ebooks edition follows the original 1929 edition.
While riding their motorcycles into town, Frank and Joe Hardy are nearly run off the road by a roadster that they later realize belongs to their friend Chet. As they set out to solve the mystery of the stolen car, the tower mansion is broken into and robbed. Are the crimes related? The Hardy boys will do their best to figure it out. This book is the first in the Hardy boys series of novels, first published in 1927. It was updated and rewritten in 1959, but this Standard Ebooks edition follows the first edition text.
Old Indian Legendsis a collection of Dakota legends, retold by the 19th and early 20th-century Dakota authorZitkála-Šá. The collection was compiled in 1901 when Zitkála-Šá returned to her birthplace in the Yankton reservation to take care of her mother, after she had spent several years in the assimilationist Indian residential school system, both as a student and as an educator. While taking care of her mother, she gathered traditional tales from Dakota storytellers which were retold in English forOld Indian Legends. The stories revolve around various spirits and heroes from Dakota myth, especially Iktomi, a shapeshifting spider trickster.
On holiday with friends, theHardy boyscheck out the local haunted house. Deterred by screams and the dilapidated house, the group turn towards home. However, a nearly fatal motor boat chase in the nearby bay causes the Hardy boys to wonder: is the house really haunted, or is there foul play afoot? This is the second book of the Hardy boys series, first published in 1927. It was rewritten in 1959; this Standard Ebook contains the original 1927 text.
Eleven year-old Pollyanna, having recently been orphaned by her widower father, is sent back East to be cared for by her dutiful and stoic Vermont aunt. Naive and ever-literal, this very positive young girl brings with her an infectious habit of instinctive gratitude that was taught to her as “the game” by her late father. This game serves her well, while also uplifting the turn of the century New England community which becomes her home. Pollyannainspired the production of five feature length films and fifteen subsequent novels, including books written by six other authors. Pollyanna was a best-selling children’s book when first published, and the eponyms “Pollyanna” and “Pollyanna Principle” have taken a lasting place in our culture.
Roger Gale, a media-monitoring business owner nearing retirement, observes life in early 20th century New York City through the eyes of his three daughters. The youngest, Laura, is a social butterfly always going to the latest excitements the city can offer. The middle, Edith, is a mother to four children, on whom she dotes. The oldest, Deborah, cares for her own “family,” tenement children and the poor trying to make it the new country they have made their home. Through each daughter, he sees the changing social order of New York in a new way.
This collection contains the poems written byJames Weldon Johnsonbetween 1899 and 1927. During this period of Johnson’s life, he worked as a Broadway songwriter with his brother John Rosamund in the early 1900s, served as a United States Consul in Venezuela from 1906 to 1908 and in Nicaragua from 1909 to 1913, and was appointed as the first executive secretary of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) in 1920. Johnson’s work arose in the milieu of the 1920s “Harlem Renaissance,” a term which Johnson personally refused to use, favoring “the flowering of Negro literature” instead. Perhaps among the most notable works anthologized in this collection are the lyrics of “Lift Ev’ry Voice and Sing,” a hymn originally written as a poem by Johnson in 1899. Having been dubbed “The Black National Anthem,” the hymn has taken on the significance of a rallying cry for black Americans and is a frequent inclusion in Christian hymnals.
