Bartleby.com publishes a diverse and intelligent nonfiction corpus, including many works of political and social history.
Nonfiction
Anthologies
Eliot, Charles W ., ed. 1909–17. The Harvard Classics and Harvard Classics Shelf of Fiction .The most popular anthology of the twentieth century comprises 70 volumes.
Bryan, William Jennings , ed. 1906. The World’s Famous Orations .Two millennia of Western Civilization come into focus through these 281 masterpieces by 213 rhetoricians.
American Historical Documents : 1000–1904. 1909–17.47 works trace the United States from the settling of the continent to early twentieth-century international relations.
English Essays from Sir Philip Sidney to Macaulay . 1909–17.Four centuries of the development of English prose are illustrated by 24 works from 17 authors.
Essays: English and American . 1909–17.Twelve nineteenth-century authors on topics biographical, literary and philosophical.
Inaugural Addresses of the Presidents of the United States . 1989.Illustrated and annotated edition of all Inaugural addresses from George Washington to George W. Bush.
Literary and Philosophical Essays . 1909–17.Thirteen works of seven continental authors spanning three centuries.
Matthews, Brander , ed. 1914. The Oxford Book of American Essays .Thirty-two essays on topics literary, political and humorous, spanning over a century of this form’s development in America.
Morley, Christopher , ed. 1921. Modern Essays .Thirty-three personal essays by such twentieth-century greats as Milne, Kilmer, Conrad, Beerbohm and Santayana.
Scientific Papers . 1909–17.Illustrated lectures by the fathers of the core sciences.
Voyages and Travels . 1909–17.Seven accounts from the ancient fathers of historical prose to the great Elizabethan explorers.
Volumes
Adams, Henry . 1918. The Education of Henry Adams .An honest and probing reflection of one man’s life in relation to the world around him.
Augustine, Saint . 1909–14. The Confessions of St. Augustine .The autobiography of the great defender of the Church.
Bacon, Francis 1909–14. Essays, Civil and Moral .
Whether turning a phrase or observing the politics of the day, the Essays epitomize Bacon as the master of English prose.
1909–14. The New Atlantis .
This account of an ideal state reveals both practical methods and unique fantasy.
The Bible . 1999. King James Version .The culmination of English translations of the Bible by the American Bible Society. 1909–14. Job , Psalms , Ecclesiastes , Luke & Acts .
From the American Standard Edition of the Revised Bible.
Bok, Edward . 1921. The Americanization of Edward Bok .Pulitzer Prize–winning autobiography of an influential publisher and editor.
Browne, Thomas, Sir . 1909–14. Religio Medici .A personal essay reconciling the religious and scientific life.
Burke, Edmund 1909–14. A Letter to a Noble Lord .
A personal defense from the master of prosaic irony.
1909–14. On Taste .
The introductory discourse to On the Sublime and Beautiful.
1909–14. On the Sublime and Beautiful .
This aesthetic treatise was an advance in the uniting of philosophy with psychology.
1909–14. Reflections on the French Revolution .
The prophetic warning against the pulling down of all that is good in society with the bad.
Carlyle, Thomas 1909–14. Characteristics .
A seminal work of Romantic interpretation.
1909–14. Inaugural Address at Edinburgh .
A clear statement of Carlyle’s moral passions.
1909–14. Sir Walter Scott .
One of Carlyle’s many essays extolling great men.
Cellini, Benvenuto . 1909–14. Autobiography .The honest if self-aggrandized life of the epitomal Renaissance man.
Cicero 1909–14. On Friendship & On Old Age .
The master of prose exemplifies the pragmatism of the philosopher’s mind applied to the human condition.
1909–14. Letters .
The epistles of the great orator and politician offer both personal insight and policy initiative.
Confucius. 1909–14. The Sayings of Confucius .
500 verses attributed to the ancient Chinese teacher.
Darwin, Charles 1909–14. The Origin of Species .
The revolutionary theory of evolution.
1909–14. The Voyage of the Beagle .
Popular account of a five-year journey of geological, botanical, biological and paleontological observation.
Descartes, René . 1909–14. Discourse on Method .The work that would sweep away accepted truths to create the foundation of modern thought.
Du Bois, W.E.B . 1903. The Souls of Black Folk .W.E.B. Du Bois sets out to show to the reader “the strange meaning of being black here in the dawning of the Twentieth Century.”
Einstein, Albert . 1920. Relativity : The Special and General Theory.Professor Einstein follows a “train” of thought with a Socratic style that provides the reader “a few happy hours of suggestive thought.”
Eliot, T.S . 1920. The Sacred Wood .Eliot’s collection of essays on poetry and criticism.
Emerson, Ralph Waldo . 1909–14. Essays and English Traits .Epitomal works demonstrate the genius of the father of the American Renaissance.
Epictetus . 1909–14. The Golden Sayings of Epictetus .Like those of Socrates and Christ, these aphorisms were transcribed by the disciples of the great Stoic.
Franklin, Benjamin . 1909–14. His Autobiography : 1706–1757.The cornerstone of the Harvard Classics and Franklin’s account of his journey of self-education.
Froissart, Jean . 1909–14. The Chronicles of Froissart .Historical account of battles of the Hundred Year’s War
Grant, Ulysses S . 1885–86. Personal Memoirs .Among the greatest of military memoirs, Grant wrote to the last month of life to restore his family fortunes.
Harrison, William. 1909–14. A Description of Elizabethan England .
Observations and comments on life in pre-Elizabethan England.
Hobbes, Thomas . 1909–14. Of Man, Being the First Part of Leviathan .The analogy of the physical body to the body politic.
Jusserand, Jean Jules . 1916. With Americans of Past and Present Days .Seven Pulitzer Prize–winning biographical vignettes trace U.S.–French relations.
Lincoln, Abraham . 1897. Political Debates Between Lincoln and Douglas .The seven masterpieces of debate on the evil of slavery.
Marcus Aurelius . 1909–14. The Meditations of Marcus Aurelius .This Roman Stoic hands down the day-to-day principles on which an all-powerful Emperor ruled for the welfare of the people.
Mill, John Stuart 1909–14. Autobiography .
The honest and heart-felt account of the tortured philosopher’s education.
1869. On Liberty ; 1909–14. On Liberty .
This timeless essay addresses points on civil liberties that resonate into our twenty-first century world.
Milton, John 1909–14. Areopagitica .
Responds to attempts of the day to “license,” or ban, religious and political writings.
1909–14. Tractate on Education .
A personal epistle aimed at the training of youth in the classic and poetic traditions as well as the future of scientific studies.
Paine, Thomas . 1776. Common Sense .An instant bestseller, this popular pamphlet set the foundation for the “Declaration of Independence.”
Penn, William . 1909–14. Fruits of Solitude .The aphorisms of the founder of Pennsylvania published anonymously so as not to be reimprisoned for disloyalty.
Plato . 1909–14. The Apology, Phædo and Crito .Three dialogues that epitomize the Socratic question-and-answer style turned philosophy.
Pliny the Younger . 1909–14. Letters .A glimpse into the daily life of a Roman patrician.
Plutarch . 1909–14. Lives .Biographies of Greeks and Romans aimed more at the kernel of a man than the facts of his life.
Reed, John . 1922. Ten Days That Shook the World .The first-person chronicle of a legendary journalist at the flashpoint of the Russian Revolution.
Rhodes, James Ford . 1917. History of the Civil War , 1861–1865.The Pulitzer Prize–winning chronicle for the general reader of four bloody years that stemmed from the practice of slavery.
Riis, Jacob 1890. How the Other Half Lives .
Through sensationalist prose and photography, Riis reveals the appalling living conditions in the Lower East Side of turn-of-the-century New York City.
1902. The Battle with the Slum .
Sequel to How the Other Half Lives.
1904. Theodore Roosevelt, the Citizen .
Biography by Roosevelt’s lifelong friend and co-worker.
Roosevelt, Theodore 1899. The Rough Riders .
Roosevelt’s memoir of his adventures, triumphs and defeats in the Spanish-American War.
1885. Hunting Trips of a Ranchman .
Roosevelt’s ode to the beauty, vigor and challenges of the Dakota Badlands and the frontier life.
1919. Letters to His Children .
This endearing collection contains more than twenty years of Roosevelt’s loving correspondence with his children.
1896. Ranch Life and the Hunting Trail .
Roosevelt records the joyous experiences on his ranch in the Dakota Territories, with over ninety unique illustrations by Frederic Remington.
1913. An Autobiography .
The life that formed one of the greatest and outspoken Presidents in American history.
1913. History as Literature .
Covers such topics as modern art, the pursuit of scholarship, science and history, and the poetry of Dante.
1916. A Book-Lover’s Holidays in the Open .
Essays encouraging the average person to cross the line of comfortable and traditional travel to discover the vitality of outdoor life.
1900. The Strenuous Life .
Commentaries and public addresses on what is necessary for a vital and healthy political, social and individual life.
1906. New York .
“A sketch of the city’s social, political, and commercial progress from the first Dutch settlement to recent times.”
1914. Through the Brazilian Wilderness .
Biographical account of hunting, camping and “zoogeographical reconnoissance” with his son Kermit.
1919. Theodore Roosevelt .
An “intimate biography” by Charles Roscoe Thayer.
1920. A Bibliography of Theodore Roosevelt .
John Wheelock’s comprehensive bibliography of Theodore Roosevelt’s writings to 1920.
Rousseau, Jean Jacques 1909–14. On the Inequality among Mankind .
The movers of the French Revolution would embrace the ideas elaborated herein.
1909–14. Profession of Faith of a Savoyard Vicar .
One statement of Rousseau’s principles of religious faith.
Sanger, Margaret . 1920. Woman and the New Race .
Manifesto and chronicle of the crusader for women’s reproductive rights.
Smith, Adam . 1909–14. Wealth of Nations .
The first complete system of political economy by the articulator of laissez-faire capitalism.
Strachey, Lytton . 1918. Eminent Victorians .
Four artful “Victorian visions” that revolutionized the biography.
Thomas à Kempis . 1909–14. The Imitation of Christ .This pastiche of biblical and Catholic passages remains the most influential of Christian devotional writings.
Van Doren, Carl . 1921. The American Novel .
Historical treatment of the development of the “Great American Novel.”
Voltaire . 1909–14. Letters on the English .An examination of the English free thinkers, scientists, religion and government.
Walton, Izaak . 1909–14. The Lives of John Donne and George Herbert .
Two of a handful of short biographies by the subjects’ fellow divine and fishing companion.
Washington, Booker T . 1901. Up from Slavery .
This autobiographical work reveals a forceful and potent voice in the fight for African-American equality from a century ago.
Wells, H.G . 1922. A Short History of the World .
Wells’s tribute to “the needs of the busy general reader who wishes to refresh and repair his faded or fragmentary conceptions of the great adventure of mankind.”
Whitman, Walt . 1892. Prose Works .
The Good Gray Poet also contributed to the greatest prose of American letters with his war diaries, Prefaces and Democratic Vistas.
Wollstonecraft, Mary . 1792. A Vindication of the Rights of Woman .
The first great feminist treatise.
Woolman, John . 1909–14. The Journal of John Woolman .Exemplifies the inner life of the Society of Friends and the first crusade against slavery in the Americas.
