This is a collection of city stories, fiction or non-fiction, in English and published before 1923. Contributions have been chosen by the reader himself.

The year is 1838. The scene is the dense Honduran forest along the Copán River. Two men, John Lloyd Stephens and Frederick Catherwood, are about to rediscover Mayan civilization. Their guide, slashing through the rampant growth with his machete, leads them to a structure with steps up the side, shaped like a pyramid. Next they see a stone column, fourteen feet high, sculptured on the front with a portrait of a man, “solemn, stern and well fitted to excite terror,” covered on the sides with hieroglyphics, and with workmanship “equal to the finest monuments of the Egyptians...

Old Times on the Mississippi is a non-fiction work by Mark Twain. It was published in 1876. Originally published in serial form in the Atlantic Monthly, in 1875, this same work was published as chapters 4 through 17 in Twain's later work, Life on the Mississippi (1883). Old Times on the the Mississippi has one last chapter that has nothing to do with the rest of the book. A Literary Nightmare describes the funny/sad/maddening effect that a catchy jingle can have on those unlucky enough to be captured by one.

"The White Heart of the Mojave" recounts a 1920's adventure "in the wind and sun and big spaces" of Death Valley by two independent minded women, Edna Brush Perkins and Charlotte Hannahs Jordan. Both women were early feminists, Edna as chairwoman of the greater Cleveland Woman's Suffrage Party (1916-18). At the end of the Great War, the two friends wanted nothing more than to escape "to the solitariness of some wild and lonely place far from city halls, smokestacks, national organizations, and streets of little houses all alike...

This is a collection of essays, verbal sketches, and stories by Washington Irving. Irving lived at the Alhambra Palace while writing some of the material for his book. In 1828, Washington Irving traveled from Madrid, where he had been staying, to Granada, Spain. At first sight, he described it as "a most picturesque and beautiful city, situated in one of the loveliest landscapes that I have ever seen." He immediately asked the then-governor of the historic Alhambra Palace as well as the archbishop of Granada for access to the palace, which was granted because of Irving's celebrity status...

The county of Lancashire in the north-west of England is best known as the engine room of the nineteenth-century Industrial Revolution. Steering clear of the industrial districts, F. A. Bruton takes the reader on an engaging tour of the county's beauty spots and lesser known landscapes. Taking the view that the charm of a district is nothing without its historical associations, Bruton packs his account with historical detail and literary references to, among others, Leland, Wordsworth, Ruskin, Arnold, and Mrs. Carlyle. (Introduction by Phil Benson)

Birdseye Views of Far Lands is an interesting, wholesome presentation of something that a keen-eyed, alert traveler with the faculty of making contrasts with all classes of people in all sorts of places, in such a sympathetic way as to win their esteem and confidence, has been able to pick up as he has roamed over the face of the earth for a quarter of a century.The book is not a geography, a history, a treatise on sociology or political economy. It is a Human Interest book which appeals to the reader who would like to go as the writer has gone and to see as the writer has seen the conformations of surface, the phenomena of nature and the human group that make up what we call a "world...

The year is 1838. The scene is the dense Honduran forest along the Copán River. Two men, John Lloyd Stephens and Frederick Catherwood, are about to rediscover Mayan civilization. Their guide, slashing through the rampant growth with his machete, leads them to a stone column, fourteen feet high, sculptured on the front with a portrait of a man, “solemn, stern and well fitted to excite terror,” covered on the sides with hieroglyphics, and with workmanship “equal to the finest monuments of the Egyptians...

By Zorra, in the following sketches, is meant a little district in Oxford county, Ontario, some ten miles square, composed of part of East and part of West Zorra, and containing a population of about fourteen hundred. It was settled about the year 1830, chiefly by Highlanders from Sutherlandshire, Scotland.Within the last forty years there have gone from this district over one hundred young men who have made their mark in the world. With most of these it has been the writer's good fortune to be personally and intimately acquainted; and companionship with some of them has been to him a pleasure and a benefit...

Knowing the Egyptian as I know him, I cannot but think that he is greatly misunderstood, even by those who are sincerely anxious to befriend him. His faults and his failings are to be found at large in almost any of the scores of books that have of late years been written about him and his country; but, though not a few have given him credit for some of his more salient good points, yet none that I have seen have shown any just appreciation of him as he really is. (From the Preface)

The Desert by John Charles Van Dyke, published in 1901, is a lush, poetic description of the natural beauty of the American Southwest. "What land can equal the desert with its wide plains, its grim mountains, and its expanding canopy of sky!" Van Dyke, a cultivated art historian, saw "sublimity" in the desert's "lonely desolation," which previous generations had perceived only as a wasteland, and his book has a conservationist flavor which seems distinctly modern. "The deserts should never be reclaimed," he writes...

An early booklet, designed to encourage tourism in the northern parts of New South Wales, and the southern parts of Queensland, particularly the area now in the Gold Coast.(Introduction by Timothy Ferguson)

This is about a three-hundred mile trip across the Rocky Mountains on horseback with Howard Eaton. It is about fishing, and cool nights around a camp-fire, and long days on the trail. It is about a party of all sorts, from everywhere, of men and women, old and young, experienced folk and novices, who had yielded to a desire to belong to the sportsmen of the road. And it is by way of being advice also. Your true convert must always preach. (Introduction by Mary Roberts Rinehart quoted from the text.)

What is this strange land called England; so small in size yet so powerful in influence? What makes her so unique, talented and persistent? This book attempts to answer that. It is a short, well written explanation of England as a unique country written by someone who loved it deeply and yet, as an Australian, could be a bit impartial. In the first part he explains the 'making' of England; the Britons and the Romans, the Anglo-Saxons and the Normands. But from there he attempts to give an essence or flavor, delving into the work, the play, the schools, the churches and especially the landscape which make it special...

Norie's series of piloting and sailing directions was something of a staple in the chart-room of 19th century British (and other) merchant vessels. The description of landmarks and ports, as well as the rules and regulations provide another viewpoint to an earlier age. Please note that these piloting directions are rather completely out of date. They are given here for purposes of historical interest only, and should not be used for navigation purposes.

A collection in celebration of 2012 Year of Reading Australia. Readers chose fiction, non fiction and poetry - we only asked that the readings should have some sort of Australian hook. So they can be by an Australian author, or about Australia, or just have a prominent bit of Australianess in the plot. Failing that: even being performed by Australians will do! :D .

John Leland's 'Itinerary' was the product of several journeys around England and Wales undertaken between 1538 and 1543. The manuscript is made up of Leland's notebooks, which were first published in the 18th century, and later in a ten-part, five-volume edition published by Lucy Toulmin (1906-10). Part IX of the manuscript begins in the south of England and gradually meanders its way, county by county, through central and northern England up to the borders of Scotland. Leland did not prepare the manuscript for publication and it is sometimes difficult to follow, with occasional geographically-misplaced sections, lists of headings with content yet to be added, and the odd lapse into Latin...

The Surprising Adventures of Bampfylde Moore Carew recounts the wide-ranging exploits of a real-life rogue – a wily professional mendicant who roams 18th-century England extracting charity from merchants, clergyman, and members of the landed gentry alike, employing in his craft an ingenious variety of deceptions and disguises put on for the purpose. Often he impersonates a shipwreck-surviving seaman and uses his wide knowledge of foreign parts and personages to achieve plausibility. Or he might appear on a doorstep as a destitute woman in widow's weeds, toting borrowed babes to enhance the effect...

VANISHING ENGLANDby P. H. DITCHFIELDINTRODUCTIONThis book is intended not to raise fears but to record facts. We wish to describe with pen and pencil those features of England which are gradually disappearing, and to preserve the memory of them. It may be said that we have begun our quest too late; that so much has already vanished that it is hardly worth while to record what is left. Although much has gone, there is still, however, much remaining that is good, that reveals the artistic skill and taste of our forefathers, and recalls the wonders of old-time...

National Geographic Magazine Volume 3, articles published in 1891 and 1892. South America: Annual Address by the President, Gardiner G. Hubbard Geography of the Land: Annual Report by Vice-President Herbert G. Ogden Geography of the Air: Annual Report by Vice-President A. W. Greely An Expedition to Mount St. Elias, Alaska Introduction. The Southern Coast of Alaska Part I. Previous Explorations in the St. Elias Region Part II. Narrative of the St. Elias Expedition of 1890 Part III. Sketch of the Geology of the St...

"Books of the Marvels of the World" or "Description of the World" (Divisament dou monde), also nicknamed "Il Milione" ("The Million") or "Oriente Poliano", but commonly called "The Travels of Marco Polo", is a 13th-century travelogue written down by Rustichello da Pisa from stories told by Marco Polo, describing the travels of the latter through Asia, Persia, China, and Indonesia between 1271 and 1291.It's been a very famous and popular book since the 14th century, creating the image of Marco Polo as the icon of the bold traveller...

Moncure Daniel Conway was an American abolitionist, Unitarian, clergyman and author. This second volume of his autobiography covers the years from the US Civil War to roughly 1904.

National Geographic Magazine Volume 1 Number 3 published in 1889. Topics of articles are: The Rivers and Valleys of Pennsylvania Topographic Models International Literary Contest

This second collection of essays by Mark Twain is a good example of the diversity of subject matter about which he wrote. As with the essays in Volume 1, many first appeared alone, in magazines or newspapers, before being printed as chapters of his larger works, while others were taken from larger works and reprinted in collections of essays. On top of being prolific, Mark Twain was a very successful marketer of his works. Volume 2 contains the following works: 1.) "A Curious Experience" - 1892 2...

In 1540, Francisco Vásquez de Coronado led an army from Mexico is search of the fabled golden cities of Cíbola. The Spaniards found no riches—instead, the Grand Canyon, the vast buffalo plains, and the pueblos of Zuni and Pecos. The narratives in this volume are all first-hand accounts of the Coronado expedition--raw, gripping, spirit-stirring--translated from the Spanish by George Parker Winship. The primary account was written by Pedro de Castañeda, a soldier in Coronado’s army. Letters from Coronado to the viceroy of Mexico and the Spanish king are also included.