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1Clotel, or, The President's Daughter

By William Wells Brown

Clotel; or, The President's Daughter is a novel by William Wells Brown (1814-84), a fugitive from slavery and abolitionist and was published in London, England in December 1853. It is often considered the first African-American novel. This novel focuses on the difficult lives of mulattoes in America and the "degraded and immoral condition of the relation of master and slave in the USA" (Brown). It is about the tragic lives of Currer, Althesea, and Clotel. In the novel, Currer is the former mulatto mistress of President Thomas Jefferson who together have two daughters, Althesea and Clotel. Because she was beautiful and the mistress of Jefferson, Currer and her daughters lived a confortable life, this changed when her master passes away. In the end, Currer and Althesea are auctioned to the notorious slave trader, Dick Walker. Clotel is bought by her lover Horatio Green. The separation of these three women is just the beginning of the injustices they face.<br><br>It gained notoriety amid the unconfirmed rumors regarding Thomas Jefferson and Sally Hemmings. Brown was still considered someone else's legal property within the borders of the United States at the time of its publication. It is considered to be the first novel written by an African American.<br><br>Brown used the injustices of slavery to demonstrate the destructive effects it had on the African American family, most significantly the so-called tragic mulatto. Brown had escaped from slavery in Kentucky while still in his youth, and became active on the anti-slavery circuit.<br><br>(Summary from Wikipedia)

2Arthur Mervyn

By Charles Brockden Brown

Arthur Mervyn is the story of a young man from the country who arrives in a city stricken with Yellow Fever. He soon comes down with the illness and is rescued by a kindly doctor. Arthur tells the doctor and his wife the story of his life, thereby gaining the doctor’s confidence and good will. However, others familiar with Arthur tell another tale, and the doctor’s as well as the reader’s confidence in Arthur is shaken. Brown, who himself contracted Yellow Fever during an outbreak in New York City, vividly describes the horrors of the disease and its effects on an early American city. (Summary by Margaret)

3Complete Book of Cheese

By Bob Brown

Bob Brown, after living thirty years in as many foreign lands and enjoying countless national cheeses at the source, returned to New York and summed them all up in this book.<br /><br /> Born in Chicago, he was graduated from Oak Park High School and entered the University of Wisconsin at the exact moment when a number of imported Swiss professors in this great dairy state began teaching their students how to hole an Emmentaler.<br /><br /> After majoring in beer and free lunch from Milwaukee to Munich, Bob celebrated the end of Prohibition with a book called Let There Be Beer! and then decided to write another about Beer's best friend, Cheese. But first he collaborated with his mother Cora and wife Rose on The Wine Cookbook, still in print after nearly twenty-five years. This first manual on the subject in America paced a baker's dozen food-and-drink books, including: America Cooks, 10,000 Snacks, Fish and Seafood and The South American Cookbook. (Summary from the book jacket)

4Christmas Angel

By Abbie Farwell Brown

Disagreeable old Miss Terry spends her Christmas Eve getting rid of toys from her childhood toy box. One by one she tosses them onto the sidewalk in front of her house, then secretly watches the little scenes that occur, which seem to confirm her belief that true Christmas spirit does not exist. Then the Angel from her childhood Christmas tree appears to show Miss Terry that she has not yet witnessed the final act of each of those little dramas … <br><br> <i>Living Age</i> magazine in 1910 observed of <i>The Christmas Angel</i>, "Not since Charles Dickens laid down his pen forever has there been a prettier Christmas story written, one more full of the real spirit of Christmas or conveying a more seasonable lesson." (Summary by Jan MacGillivray)

5House with the Green Shutters

By George Douglas Brown

The House with the Green Shutters is a novel by the Scottish writer George Douglas Brown, first published in 1901 by John MacQueen. Set in mid-19th century Ayrshire, in the fictitious town of Barbie which is based on his native Ochiltree, it consciously violates the conventions of the sentimental kailyard school, and is sometimes quoted as an influence on the Scottish Renaissance. <br/> The novel describes the struggles of a proud and taciturn carrier, John Gourlay, against the spiteful comments and petty machinations of the envious and idle villagers of Barbie (the "bodies"). (Introduction by Wikipedia) *additional PL by Linette Geisel

6Three Years In Europe

By William Wells Brown

William Wells Brown was born a slave, near Lexington, Kentucky. His mother, Elizabeth, was a slave--his father a white man who never acknowledged his paternity. Brown escaped slavery at about the age of 20. For many years he worked as a steamboatman and as a conductor for the Underground Railroad in Buffalo, New York. In 1843, he became a lecturer for the Western New York Anti-Slavery Society, and was a contemporary of Frederick Douglass.<br /><br />Brown went to Europe in 1849 to encourage British support for the anti-slavery movement in the United States. He remained there until 1854 when British abolitionists purchased his freedom. Soon afterward, he returned to the United States to continue his work in the abolitionist movement.<br /><br />Throughout his life, he wrote several books, including his autobiography, Clotel, and, The Rising Son; or, The Antecedents and Advancement of the Colored Race, among others. He was also the author of two plays.<br /><br />Three Years In Europe; Or, Places I Have Seen and People I Have Met is a series of letters that Brown wrote to certain of his friends. A few were destined for publication in The Liberator, the famed abolitionist journal published by Frederick Douglass. In the letters, Brown described his impressions while traveling across Europe, meeting and sharing his experiences first as a slave and then as a fugitive. (Introduction by James K. White)

William Wells Brown was born a slave, near Lexington, Kentucky. His mother, Elizabeth, was a slave; his father was a white man who never acknowledged his paternity. Brown escaped slavery at about the age of 20. For many years he worked as a steam boatman and as a conductor for the Underground Railroad in Buffalo, New York. In 1843, he became a lecturer for the Western New York Anti-Slavery Society, and was a contemporary of Frederick Douglass.<br><br>Brown went to Europe in 1849 to encourage British support for the anti-slavery movement in the United States. He remained there until 1854 when British abolitionists purchased his freedom. Soon afterward, he returned to the United States to continue his work in the abolitionist movement.<br><br>Throughout his life he wrote several books, including his autobiography, <i>Three Years In Europe; Or, Places I Have Seen And People I Have Met</i>, <i>Clotel</i>, and <i>The Rising Son; or, The Antecedents and Advancement of the Colored Race</i>, among others. In <i>My Southern Home: Or, The South And Its People</i>, Brown’s final work, he reflects on his life and his experiences as a slave from a post-emancipation perspective. It is a review of his travels through several southern states during the time of slavery, including his observations and commentary on the social and political relationships between whites and African Americans of that period. (Introduction by James K. White)

8Curious Book of Birds

By Abbie Farwell Brown

Now the interesting facts about birds we have always with us. We can find them out for ourselves, which is a very pleasant thing to do, or we can take the word of others, of which there is no lack. But it is the quaint fancies about birds which are in danger of being lost. The long-time fancies which the world's children in all lands have been taught are quite as important as the every-day facts. They show what the little feathered brothers have been to the children of men; how we have come to like some and to dislike others as we do; why the poets have called them by certain nicknames which we ought to know; and why a great many strange things are so, in the minds of childlike people. (Summary from the book's introduction)

9In The Days of Giants

By Abbie Farwell Brown

This book is made of the stories told by the Northern folk,—the people who live in the land of the midnight sun, where summer is green and pleasant, but winter is a terrible time of cold and gloom; where rocky mountains tower like huge giants, over whose heads the thunder rolls and crashes, and under whose feet are mines of precious metals. Therefore you will find the tales full of giants and dwarfs,—spirits of the cold mountains and dark caverns. You will find the hero to be Thor, with his thunderbolt hammer, who dwells in the happy heaven of Asgard, where All-Father Odin is king, and where Balder the beautiful makes springtime with his smile. In the north countries, winter, cold, and frost are very real and terrible enemies; while spring, sunshine, and warmth are near and dear friends. So the story of the Beginning of Things is a story of cold and heat, of the wicked giants who loved the cold, and of the good Æsir, who basked in pleasant warmth. - Summary by the author

10Wieland; Or, The Transformation: An American Tale

By Charles Brockden Brown

The lives of a prosperous, intellectual family are disrupted when they meet the mysterious Carwin. Set in the period before the Revolutionary War, this is often described as the first American Gothic novel. - Summary by Karen Joan Kohoutek

The celebration of the Tercentenary of the Authorized Version of the English Bible of 1611 has called into existence the little book here presented to the reader's notice. It is the brief repetition of a story beginning in 670 A.D. and reaching on for twelve hundred years to 1879. It takes us back to the Monastery of Whitby where Caedmon the monk paraphrased Scripture story in Saxon song, and brings us through the centuries to the Abbey of Westminster where a distinguished body of English scholars met in 1870 and commenced that Revision of the Scriptures which first saw the light in 1881. (From the Preface)

Josephine Brown's Biography of an American Bondsman faithfully follows the trajectory of her father's life as previously explored in his own narratives. She distills and summarizes the major revelatory moments of his autobiography while she also incorporates new anecdotal information and offers her own perspective on Brown's life. Whereas her biography draws frequently from previously published autobiographical accounts, the narrative style and comic flourishes add interest and value to the text. Andrews observes that her biography's primary contribution to the "lore of William Wells Brown" may be the insight it offers into the rhetorical tactics used by both father and daughter in "their war of words against slavery."

13Chinese Kitten

By Edna Adelaide Brown

Lucy and Dora are so excited to learn they will be sleeping in a tent at the beach! Then Mother and Uncle Dan tell them that their kitten, Timmy is not invited, and Father says he might even run away. Arrangements must be made for Timmy... but will he agree to their plans? This charming story follows two sisters over the course of about a year and the things that they do with their family. The Chinese kitten is a part of an old chess set that the girls get from their aunt because one of the girls lost her necklace (a silver bear) during a camping trip. Lots of working on needle point, washing dishes, going to school, and different holidays and what they do during them.

LibriVox volunteers bring you 9 recordings of Paris Pair, Their Day's Doings by Beatrice Bradshaw Brown.<br> This was the Fortnightly Poetry project for January 20, 2019. <br> ------<br> A poetic summary of a day in the life of two children in Paris. (D Lawrence)

This is the first Lucy and Dora story. A charming story about Lucy and Dora, two little girls in a New England town. They are not really sisters, but soon everyone forgot that fact. The Silver Bear is a necklace, treasured by the girls.

Dedications is an anthology of the forms used from the earliest days of book-making to the present time. My purpose in the following anthology of dedications has been to make a representative, rather than an exhaustive collection. My first idea was to take only beautiful dedications, and above all those which showed thought and originality. I next sought those which were quaint and curious, grave and gay, and then wandering through the wide field of English literature, tried to have each section of it represented. Dedications which brought one in touch with the world of religion, philanthropy, the fine arts, science, nature and travel have also claimed my attention. Then, narrowing my interest, I searched for those to celebrated people, or by celebrated people, even though the dedications were not particularly desirable in themselves. I was anxious to include great heroes, as David Livingstone, and when unable to obtain dedications to them I substituted books by them or about them. The same was true in regard to certain industrial subjects, as needlework, cooking, etc. Last but not least, I tried to include dedications which were valuable because of their human interest. - Summary by Mary Elizabeth Brown

17Book of Saints and Friendly Beasts

By Abbie Farwell Brown

Poems and Christian stories of the animal encounters of various saints. - Summary by Wikipedia

A collection of some of the most significant literary work on the English Lake District prior to Thomas West’s A guide to the Lakes (1778). The poet Thomas Gray takes the reader from Brough south to Kendal on his return from a tour in Scotland. An agricultural reformer, Arthur Young, also returning from Scotland, begins his journey in the northern parts of Cumberland with dry descriptions of local farming, but on arriving in Keswick, his account turns to the picturesque scenery around Derwent Water, Ullswater and Windermere. ‘Wild and romantic’ is Young’s phrase, yet the agriculturalist in him comes to the fore as he declares the enclosed landscapes around Kendal and Windermere to be the most picturesque of all. Thomas Pennant’s account of his journey through the district is cursory, and he seems not have noticed the lakes or mountains at all. West’s Guide quotes Gray, Young and Pennant, and its second edition included the full text of Gray’s unpublished letters as an addendum. It also included four short pieces. John Brown’s letter to his former pupil William Gilpin (who would become the foremost exponent of the ‘picturesque’) connects the scenery of the Lakes to European landscape painting. Experimental philosopher Adam Walker provides a note on a local curiosity, the underground passages of Dunald Mill Hole. John Dalton and Richard Cumberland were among the first in a long line of Lakeland poets to be inspired to verse.> - Summary by Phil Benson

A collection of adult stories and poems - sad, humorous, and adventurous - about Man's Best Friend. <b>NOTE:</b> Most of these selections contain violence that will be objectionable to some listeners. - Summary by TriciaG

<i>The Power of Sympathy</i> was the first American novel, published in Boston in January 1789. An epistolary novel, it tells the tragic story of the relationship of an orphan girl and a man of good family, with a dramatic twist and tragic ending. It was inspired by an actual scandal in the Apthorp family of Boston, the "Ophelia" and "Martin" related within the story.<br /><br /> It was published anonymously, and there has been controversy over the authorship. For over a century his family kept the author's identity secret. Boston antiquarians eventually fixed upon the poet Sarah (Apthorp) Morton as the probable author, despite that she was the sister of the victim and married to the alleged seducer in the real-life scandal. In the autumn of 1894, after the edition used in this recording was published, William Hill Brown's niece broke the long silence and provided proofs that he was the author.<br /> (Summary by TriciaG using public domain sources)<br /><br /> <b>Cast List</b><br /> Thomas Harrington: <a href="https://librivox.org/reader/8425">Larry Wilson</a><br>Myra Harrington: <a href="https://librivox.org/reader/11084">Devorah Allen</a><br>John Worthy: <a href="https://librivox.org/reader/6754">ToddHW</a><br>Harriot Fawcet: <a href="https://librivox.org/reader/13140">Jenn Broda</a><br>Mrs. Holmes: <a href="https://librivox.org/reader/4174">Availle</a><br>The Hon. Mr. Harrington: <a href="https://librivox.org/reader/13278">KevinS</a><br /><br>Audio edited by: <a href="https://librivox.org/reader/3157">TriciaG</a>

Twenty-six stories of first nations' origin rendered in English in verse. The author's dedication claims the stories "help us to understand that the white man and red man are brothers." His Ojibway name was Nwah-ke-nah-go-zid. The content and tone of the poems are distinctly indigenous. An extensive bibliography provides the sources for the stories. (Summary by Czandra)

22Wonder Stories of Travel

By E. E. Brown, Ernest Ingersoll, David Ker and Eliot McCormick

A curiously interesting collection of folkloric tales and firsthand accounts written by global travelers for 19th century periodicals; compiled and edited by Emma Elizabeth (E. E.) Brown. Authors include Eliot McCormick (the father of prolific author Theodora McCormick Du Bois), Ernest Ingersoll, E. E. Brown, David Ker and others. - Summary by Brian Fullen

23Friends and Cousins

By Abbie Farwell Brown

Brother and sister, Kenneth and Rose, love to go to the Island where where their summer home is, and they are eager to see all their favorite places. This time, it's going to be even more fun when they meet their neighbors and make friends with the Prout children. Charlie, their cousin comes for a visit too. The children (even sometimes with the playful parents and Aunt Clare) are having exciting adventures, share stories, and play the best games in the best places on the island. But even when one is having so much fun, sometimes things can go very wrong. Along with all the fun to share, there is a gentle lesson to be learned too. (Summary by Laurie Banza)

Contains a history of one hundred and forty-five years, and therein exhibits the fulfilment of God's promises to the patriarchs, in the multiplication of their seed, and their deliverance from bondage in Egypt; and represents the establishment of those laws and ordinances which God required them to observe as memorials of his favours. We have here particularly represented the tyranny of Pharaoh king of Egypt; the cruel bondage and marvellous increase of the Israelites; the birth, education, and exile of Moses; his and his brother Aaron's divine mission to deliver their brethren; the ten plagues inflicted on the Egyptians for refusing to let the Israelites leave their country; and their destruction in the Red Sea; the Hebrews' celebration of the Passover, departure from Egypt, and safe passage through the Red Sea; God's sustenance of them by sweetened water, or water from a flinty rock, and by quails and bread from heaven; his laws relative to the Passover, feast of unleavened bread, firstlings, manna, etc.; his solemn publication of his moral law from mount Sinai; his directions relative to their civil and religious conduct; his entrance into covenant with them; chap. 1-24. his directions concerning the tabernacle and its furniture, and concerning the apparel and consecration of his priests; the Hebrews' idolatrous making and worshipping the golden calf; Moses' intercession for them, and God's gracious reconcilement by means of it; their voluntary contribution for, and actual making and erecting the tabernacle and its whole furniture; chap. 25-40. There are, perhaps, more types of Christ in this than in any other, book in the Bible. - Summary by Introduction

25Surprise House

By Abbie Farwell Brown

Our story begins just after Nan Corliss, an eccentric old lady, dies and leaves her strange old house in Crowfield to her nephew, Dr. Owen Corliss, his wife, daughter Mary, and son John. The Corliss family move in, only to find that Aunt Nan has left practical jokes, mysterious clues based on Shakespeare’s poetry, and surprises, both in the library bequeathed specifically to Mary and elsewhere in the house, for the family to find. (Summary by Winnifred Assmann)

A serial killer is on the loose and is thirsting for another kill. Meanwhile sad sack loser Ray Fleck, compulsive gambler, has racked up a lot of debt and is looking to do whatever it takes to get the money, even if his means betraying the dame he's shacked up with behind his wife's back. Ray is about to be plunged into a night of pure Hell as the city boils over with madness and violence. - Summary by Ben Tucker

It is, beloved, high time now to awake, to look about us, to consider where we are, upon what ground we stand, whether the enemy or we have the advantage, how and in what posture we are to rencounter with deceivers that seek to cheat us out of all our souls, and of the Lord our Righteousness, and draw us off the paths of life, that when we come to die (beside the unspeakably great loss we would thereby be at, even here, in missing the comfortable accesses to God through Jesus Christ the inflowings of grace and strength for spiritual duty through the Lord our strength; the sweet communications of peace and joy in the Holy Ghost, the shedding abroad of the love of God in our hearts by the Holy Ghost, which is given unto us, and the full assurance of hope through the Lord Jesus our hope) we might be frustrated of all our expectations; and find, that all that which men made us grip to, lay hold on, and lean unto, instead of Christ, was but a mere shadow, and a lie in our right hand, to the unexpressible grief, vexation, and sorrow of soul when all should end in a dreadful and horrible disappointment. - Summary by John Brown

Plunge into the wonderful world of water-closets (a.k.a. toilets) with Virginia architect Glenn Brown. Follow the evolution of the humble toilet, from ancient sanitation to Victorian plumbing, and discover how the 'royal throne' helped reshape public health, urban design, and modern hygiene. - Summary by Carrie Mae Streb

29Flower Princess

By Abbie Farwell Brown

ONCE upon a time there was a beautiful Princess named Fleurette, who lived in a white marble palace on the top of a high hill. The Princess Fleurette was very fond of flowers, and all around the palace, from the very gates thereof, a fair garden, full of all kinds of wonderful plants, sloped down to the foot of the hill, where it was snugly inclosed with a high marble wall. Thus the hill was like a great nosegay rising up in the midst of the land, sending out sweet odors to perfume the air for miles, bright with color in the sunshine, and musical with the chorus of birds and the hum of millions of bees. - Summary by Abbie Farwell Brown