Author: Stuart Johnson Reid

1Scalp Hunters

By Thomas Mayne Reid

"Unroll the world’s map, and look upon the great northern continent of America. Away to the wild west, away toward the setting sun, away beyond many a far meridian, let your eyes wander. Rest them where golden rivers rise among peaks that carry the eternal snow. Rest them there. <br><br> You are looking upon a land whose features are un-furrowed by human hands, still bearing the marks of the Almighty mould, as upon the morning of creation; a region whose every object wears the impress of God’s image. His ambient spirit lives in the silent grandeur of its mountains, and speaks in the roar of its mighty rivers: a region redolent of romance, rich in the reality of adventure. <br><br> Follow me, with the eye of your mind, through scenes of wild beauty, of savage sublimity." <br><br> So begins this early book by Mayne Reid, a book of romance, of adventure, and of the wide open spaces of the Wild West. (Adapted from the first chapter)

2Headless Horseman - A Strange Tale of Texas

By Thomas Mayne Reid

The horse is perfect in all its parts—a splendid steed, saddled, bridled, and otherwise completely caparisoned. In it there appears nothing amiss—nothing to produce either wonder or alarm. But the man—the rider? Ah! About him there is something to cause both—something weird—something wanting!<br></br>By heavens! it is the head! (Excerpt from the Prologue)<br></br>The Headless Horseman is a novel by Mayne Reid written in 1865 or 1866 and is based on the author's adventures in the United States. The Headless Horseman or a Strange Tale of Texas was set in Texas and based on a South Texas folk tale.<br></br>Vladimir Nabokov recalled The Headless Horseman as a favourite adventure novel of his childhood years - "which had given him a vision of the prairies and the great open spaces and the overarching sky." At 11, Nabokov even translated The Headless Horseman into French alexandrines.(Summary from Wikipedia)

3Gwen Wynn - A Romance of the Wye

By Thomas Mayne Reid

Gwendoline Wynn, our heroine, is an orphan-heiress who lives on the river Wye. She will live with aunt until she comes of age and her money. Vivian Ryecroft, our hero and a captain in the Hussars, is on a leave of absence in Herefordshire, salmon fishing on the Wye. Gwen and Vivian have a chance, and brief, encounter on the Wye, and Vivian is enchanted. Will our hero and heroine find love? Will it last? [Summary by Ann Boulais]

An in-depth view and early history of the Mohawk Valley in upper New York state, covering the time period of 1609-1780. This historical piece covers that part of the Mohawk Valley between Schenectady and Rome, NY.<br><br>The narrator hopes that the listener understands that a best effort has been made in pronunciation of many names within this work; particularly those of the Mohawks, Iroquois, Huron, and Mohicans; as well as the French and Dutch. (Summary by Roger Melin)

"That excellent book by Thomas Reid, the <i>Inquiry into the Human Mind</i> (first edition, 1764; 6th edition, 1810), as a negative proof of the Kantian truths, affords us a very thorough conviction of the inadequacy of the senses to produce the objective perception of things, and also of the non-empirical origin of the perception of space and time. Reid refutes Locke's doctrine that perception is a product of the senses, by a thorough and acute demonstration that the collective sensations of the senses do not bear the least resemblance to the world as known in perception, and especially that the five primary qualities of Locke (extension, form, solidity, movement, and number) absolutely could not be afforded us by any sensation of the senses. Accordingly he gives up the question as to the mode of origination and the source of perception as completely insoluble; and although altogether unacquainted with Kant, he gives us, as it were, according to the <i>regula falsi</i>, a thorough proof of the intellectual nature of perception (really first explained by me as a consequence of the Kantian doctrine), and also of the <i>a priori</i> source, discovered by Kant, of its constituent elements, space, time, and causality, from which those primary qualities of Locke first proceed, but by means of which they are easily constructed. Thomas Reid's book is very instructive and well worth reading—ten times more so than all the philosophy together that has been written since Kant." (Arthur Schopenhauer. <i>The World as Will and Representation</i>. Trans. R. B. Haldane, M.A. and J. Kemp, M.A. London: Kegan Paul, Trench, Trübner & Co. 1909 Vol II, Ch. 2. pg. 187)<br /><br /> Prooflisteners for this book were <a href="/reader/3645">MaryAnn Spiegel</a> and <a href="/reader/9436">denisedee</a>. <br> Metacoordination and cataloging done by <a href="/reader/3157">TriciaG</a> and <a href="/reader/688">J. M. Smallheer</a>

6Giraffe Hunters

By Thomas Mayne Reid

The Young Yägers, Hans and Hendrik Von Bloom, Groot Willem and Arend Van Wyk, are again on a hunting expedition. This time, the reader will find their old acquaintances in Africa, on the banks of the Limpopo River. Here our young adventurers are looking for sport and wild animals.

This is a volume of selected essays by "the great master of reason" Samuel Johnson. The most famous exerpts from The Rambler, The Adventurer and The Idler are included, covering a vast range of topics. - Summary by Carolin

8Cliff Climbers

By Thomas Mayne Reid

A plant hunter, Karl Linden, and his brother Caspar are on their way to the Himalayas to collect the plants of that region. Many adventures befell the brothers and their guides, all of which led to their being trapped in the mountains. This is a story of their escape from those mountains. (Ann Boulais)

9Ocean Waifs

By Thomas Mayne Reid

"The “vulture of the sea,” borne upon broad wing, and wandering over the wide Atlantic, suddenly suspends his flight to look down upon an object that has attracted his attention. <br><br> It is a raft, with a disc not much larger than a dining-table, constructed out of two small spars of a ship,—the dolphin-striker and spritsail yard,—with two broad planks and some narrower ones lashed crosswise, and over all two or three pieces of sail-cloth carelessly spread." So begins this adventure, both on land and on sea! (Summary adapted from chapter 1)

10Death Shot

By Thomas Mayne Reid

Long time since this hand hath penned a preface. Now only to say, that this romance, as originally published, was written when the author was suffering severe affliction, both physically and mentally—the result of a gun-wound that brought him as near to death as Darke’s bullet did Clancy. <br><br> It may be asked, Why under such strain was the tale written at all? A good reason could be given; but this, private and personal, need not, and should not be intruded on the public. Suffice it to say, that, dissatisfied with the execution of the work, the author has remodelled—almost rewritten it. <br><br> It is the same story; but, as he hopes and believes, better told. <br><br> Great Malvern, September, 1874.

11Wild Huntress

By Thomas Mayne Reid

Marian and Lilian are two sisters living in the backwoods, somewhere in America, with their father as squatters. One May morning a man shows up, wanting to take Marian away as his wife while he makes his mark with the Mormons. But, another man holds Marian's heart, and he will go on his own adventure through the American west to track her down. (Summary by Ann Boulais)

12No Quarter!

By Thomas Mayne Reid

There is no page in England’s history so bright, nor of which Englishmen have such reason to be proud, as that covering the period between 1640 and 1650. This glorious decade was ushered in by the election of the “Long Parliament,” and I challenge the annals of all nations, ancient or modern, to show an assembly in which sat a greater number of statesmen and patriots. Brave as pure, fearless in the discharge of their difficult and dangerous duties, they faltered not in the performance of them—shrank not from impeaching a traitor to his country, and bringing his head to the block, even when it carried a crown. True to their consciences, as to their constituencies, they left England a heritage of honour that for long haloed her escutcheon, and even to this hour throws its covering screen over many a deed of shame. (From the Prologue)

The Garden God: A Tale of Two Boys is Forrest Reid’s tender, bracingly tragic reflection on adolescence, pantheism, Platonism, and homoerotic desire. A classic of “Uranian” literature, it tells the story of Graham Iddesleigh, a fifteen year old boy whose early childhood is spent in cloistered seclusion. He idles his time roaming his family’s idyllic country estate, fantasizing about an imagined friendship with an ancient Greek god. But all this changes when his father sends him off to boarding school. Once there, Graham soon meets the ethereal Harold Brocklehurst, a fellow schoolboy who is an exact double of Graham’s imaginary friend. Thus begins an unforgettable love and friendship that shapes and reinvigorates both boys—but can their bond withstand the sudden and inexplicable strike of tragedy? - Summary by ChuckW

14Maroon

By Thomas Mayne Reid

Herbert Vaughan arrives at Mount Welcome, a sugar plantation on the island of Jamaica, after his father had passed away. His arrival is not exactly welcomed, and it sets off a chain of events involving intrigue, romance, jealousy and, of course, voodoo.

15Ran Away to Sea

By Thomas Mayne Reid

"I was just sixteen when I ran away to sea." So begins the story of Will, a young man attracted to the romance of the sea. But that romance soon gives way to the reality of the sea on board the <i>Pandora</i>, once her crew meets up with a slaver ship. <br><br> NOTE: There are issues of race in the telling of "Ran Away to Sea", particularly anti-Black stereotypes and derogatory language. It is LibriVox's policy to record texts as written.

16War Trail

By Thomas Mayne Reid

"Land of the nopal and maguey—home of Moctezuma and Malinché!—I cannot wring thy memories from my heart! Years may roll on, hand wax weak, and heart grow old, but never till both are cold can I forget thee! I would not; for thee would I remember. Not for all the world would I bathe my soul in the waters of Lethe. Blessed be memory for thy sake!" So begins this tale of the American Southwest, when our narrator, Captain Warfield of a Ranger detachment, shoots the horse of Isolina de Vargas. Our captain is smitten with Señorita de Vargas at first sight, and he finds that she is as illusive as she is beautiful.

A deceptive tale, The Spring Song seems at first glance to be standard Edwardian adventure. Grif - A boy on holiday with his siblings - must set out through the English countryside to rescue their beloved dog. Slowly, however, a subtle and not always benign magic slips into the tale, imbuing it with a dark haunting that is hard to put one's finger on. A genius friend takes on the role of boy detective to figure out why Grif has become so melancholy, but in an inversion of the trope its not clear if uncovering secrets makes things better or worse. What starts off concrete and simple become ambiguous and ethereal, and the ending is not an easy one. From the author of The Garden God. - Summary by Moon Lylith

Submerged Forests, a volume in the Cambridge Manuals of Science and Literature series, is a study of the land beneath the coastal areas and estuaries of Great Britain. Clement Reid dives into the geology, botany, zoology, and archaeology found beneath the water. "Knowledge cannot be divided into compartments, each given a definite name and allotted to a different student. There are, and always must be, branches of knowledge in which several sciences meet or have an interest, and these are somewhat liable to be neglected. If the following pages arouse an interest in one of the by-ways of science their purpose has been fulfilled." - Summary by Clement Reid

19Osceola the Seminole

By Thomas Mayne Reid

The brief but heroic struggle of the celebrated Chief, Osceola, forms the groundwork of a narrative which is equal, if not superior, to any of Mr Reid’s former productions; and while the reader’s patriotism cannot fail to be gratified at the result, his sympathy is, at the same time, awakened for the manly struggles and untimely fate of the gallant spirit, who fought so nobly for the freedom of his red brethren and the preservation of their cherished hunting-grounds. (Summary Adapted from the Preface) <br><br> NOTE: There are issues of race in the telling of <i>Osceola the Seminole</i>, particularly anti-Black stereotypes and derogatory language. It is LibriVox's policy to record texts as written.

20Book of the Cheese

By Thomas Wilson Reid

"Ye Olde Cheshire Cheese" is a pub on Fleet Street, London. It was rebuilt after the Great Fire of 1666, and has been frequented by many literary and historical characters. The book rambles through the pub's history, with many anecdotes and stories about its staff and customers. - Summary by Peter Yearsley