This is a brief illustrated primer on Greek Portrait paintings. The discussion revolves around portraits found in ancient burial sites.

The Princess of Cleves is a French novel published in 1678 that is regarded as one of the first psychological novels. The plot is set in the royal court of Henry II of France. This edition includes a table of contents.

In "The Happy Days of the Empress Marie Louise," Imbert de Saint-Amand delves into the vibrant life of Empress Marie Louise, the second wife of Napoleon Bonaparte. Through meticulous research and engaging narrative style, de Saint-Amand offers readers an intimate portrait of the emperors' court, illuminating the complexities of personal and political alliances during a transformative era in European history. His prose is characterized by a deft blend of historical detail and anecdotal char...

In "The Happy Days of the Empress Marie Louise," Imbert de Saint-Amand crafts a vivid and intricate portrait of one of history's most enigmatic figures. The book seamlessly intertwines anecdotal narrative with meticulous historical research, providing readers with insights into the life of Empress Marie Louise, the second wife of Napoleon Bonaparte. Set against the backdrop of the Napoleonic Wars and the shifting dynamics of European power, the narrative delves into the personal and politi...

The following History is given in a series of letters, written Principally in a double yet separate correspondence; Between two young ladies of virtue and honor, bearing an inviolable friendship for each other, and writing not merely for amusement, but upon the most interesting subjects; in which every private family, more or less, may find itself concerned; and, Between two gentlemen of free lives; one of them glorying in his talents for stratagem and invention, and communicating to the o...

Carol Milford is a liberal, free-spirited cosmopolitan young woman, reared in Saint Paul, Minnesota, the state capital. She marries Will Kennicott, a doctor, who is a small-town boy at heart. When they marry, Will convinces her to live in his home-town of Gopher Prairie, Minnesota. Carol is appalled at the backwardness of Gopher Prairie. But her disdain for the town's physical ugliness and smug conservatism compels her to reform it.

I like her not! was the verdict of Henry VIII on meeting his fourth wife, Anne of Cleves, for the first time. Anne could have said something similar on meeting Henry and, having been promised the most handsome prince in Europe, she was destined to be disappointed in the elderly and corpulent king. Henry also felt that Anne was not as she had been described, complaining that he had been sent a Flanders mare.Forced to proceed with their wedding for diplomatic reasons, Henry and Anne ...

Gene Stratton-Porter's ‘A Girl of the Limberlost’ has captivated readers since its initial appearance in 1909. Abandoned by her embittered mother and shunned by her classmates, Elnora Comstock seeks consolation in nature amid the wilds of eastern Indiana's Limberlost Swamp. Teeming with danger as well as beauty, the vast marshland offers Elnora an unexpected way to build a better life. Its realistic characters are headed by an intelligent, independent heroine who has served as a positive r...

"Varney the Vampire" by Thomas Preskett Prest is a seminal work of Gothic horror that introduces one of literature’s earliest vampire antiheroes. The story follows Sir Francis Varney, a mysterious and charismatic figure cursed with immortality, as he preys upon the Bannerworth family. Filled with suspense, romance, and moral ambiguity, the tale explores themes of guilt, redemption, and humanity’s darker impulses. Serialized in the 19th century, it blends atmospheric dread with social comme...

Pamela, or Virtue Rewarded is an epistolary novel by Samuel Richardson. It tells the story of a beautiful 15-year old maidservant named Pamela Andrews, whose country landowner master, Mr. B, makes unwanted advances towards her after the death of his mother, whose maid Pamela had been since age 12. Mr. B is infatuated with her, first by her looks and then her innocence and intelligence, but his high rank hinders him from proposing marriage. He abducts her, locks her up in one of his estates...

As the holidays draw near in Caerphilly, Mother volunteers to take part in in a big Christmas-themed decorator show house—each room of a temporarily untenanted house is decorated to the hilt by a different decorator for the public to tour. Of course, Mother insists that Meg pitch in with the organization, and she finds herself surrounded by flamboyant personalities with massive egos clashing and feeling their professional reputations are at stake. Then the rooms start to be sabotaged, and ...

The title is an ironic reference to the central character of the novel, Prince Lyov Nikolaevich Myshkin, a young man whose goodness and open-hearted simplicity lead many of the more worldly characters he encounters to mistakenly assume that he lacks intelligence and insight. In the character of Prince Myshkin, Dostoevsky set himself the task of depicting "the positively good and beautiful man". The novel examines the consequences of placing such a unique individual at the centre of the con...