What have been your favorite public domain books not so well known?

REVISED INTRODUCTION: August 2010
For the first time Kindle owners and everyone else in general. I haven't seen another thread quite like this one so hopefully you can benefit from knowing about it to find free or very low cost public domain books that you may not be familiar with already.

A sizeable number of authors and titles have been, and hopefully will continue to be, mentioned in this thread that will help you find great reading material both within and without the Amazon store.

If you want to quickly find this thread later on, go to the right column in the forum and use this search term "not so well known". It sometimes will scroll off the 41 pages allowed in this Kindle forum but that does not mean it is gone forever. You can find it again via the Search forum feature.

You can always Track This Thread using the Amazon option in the right hand column. Every time there is a new post in this thread, you will receive an e-mail alert where you can read the full post. You don't even have to visit the Kindle Discussion area to keep up with this thread.

ORIGINAL INTRODUCTION: March 2010
I am always on the alert to find free public domain books that are not one of the obvious like Dickens, Verne, Twain, Austen, HG Wells, Zane Grey and the like.

Some recent examples include

- Charlie Chan Omnibus - Earl Biggers - 6 detective crime stories featuring a Chinese Honolulu Police Inspector written in the 1920s to 1930s. Not all stories take place in Hawaii. The one I'm currently reading "The Chinese Parrot" takes place in San Francisco and in the CA. desert - mobileread

- Damon Runyon Omnibus - Damon Runyon - 41 short stories from writer who inspired the Broadway musical and film "Guys and Dolls". Runyon is known for his slang and colorful characters set in NY and boroughs. Con men, petty gangsters, molls, racetrack types, etc. - either from mobileread or Magic Catalog. EDIT: I'm not 100% certain but I suspect this is not USA PD but would be in Canada and perhaps elsewhere. In the US, most of his works are not even still in print. Shame.

- Instruction for Chinese Women and Girls - Lady Zhao/Tsao - 2000 year old book of etiquette with super illustrations. Short book but interesting since it describes the do's and don'ts that would last in China for many centuries into the future. Great read for historical fiction lovers as it gives the backdrop details that help bring HF alive - mobileread

- Czar's Spy - William Le Queux - writer of numerous mysteries usually involving spying/espionage with a variety of geographical settings.

- Author Elizabeth Gaskell - English writer of numerous Victorian novels such as North and South, Cranford, and Wives and Daughters. Widely available. Often done in BBC miniseries of late.

- Lady Audley's Secret - Mary Elizabeth Braddon - English writer of gothic and "sensational" novels. She wrote prolificly. This is probably her most popular novel. Favorably compared to Wilkie Collins.

- Diary of a Nobody - William and Weedon Grossmith - "Nobody" is Charles Pooter, an Engllish everyman who spends a year writing about his mundane but humorous life in the lower middle class London borough of Holloway. Was originally serialized in Punch.

- Works of Jerome K. Jerome such as Three Men in a Boat and Three Men on Wheels. These are comic novels set in Victorian England.

- Writer Barry Pain, also a humor writer. I've read "The One Before" about a ring that gives the current wearer the personality traits of the one who wore it just before. Also "Eliza" about a Victorian married couple which I liken to George Burns/Gracie Allen types.

So, what have you found that you can share? There are thousands of free public domain books that are true gems waiting to be rediscovered by modern readers. No restrictions as to genres. There should end up being something for everyone!

N.B. - also posted this in Kindle Book Community forum but most people just reading this forum still - reason for my double posting.

ADDED JANUARY 2011 - a request about bump only posts. To keep filler down which has no content and only makes people have to wade through "dead" areas of this thread, please try to refrain from posts of this nature. Instead add a post about a new book find, a possible new find (you DON'T need to have read it), a review/comment or something of possible interest to others. It keeps the thread both active and of interest!

I love L. Frank Baum's Oz series. Most people don't know that Baum wrote 14 Oz stories including the Wizard of OZ. I know these are supposed to be children's stories but I still enjoy them as an adult. I picked them all up last week for my Kindle.

A Girl of the Limberlost by Gene Stratton-Porter

I'll mention "The Monk" by Matthew 'Monk' Lewis. Written in the late 1700s, this book was not just the book of the month, or the book of the year, or the book of the decade, it was the most popular book of the century - and the first with mass-market appeal for women.

The Monk; a romance

It is a Romance/Horror story which takes place in Spain during the Spanish Inquisition. A remarkable series of small incorrect decisions leads the most popular religious figure in the city to total ruin.

Side-note: Religious authorities were so outraged by the book that they demanded that some of the most offensive parts by taken out, but the book was so popular (and selling so fast) that these changes could not be implemented until the 4th printing!

I remember my mother talking about Girl of the Limberlost. Thank you.

Not sure if these are "not well known," but I picked up all of Josephine Tey's mysteries (except for one which I imagine is still in copyright) from Mobile Read. Brat Farrar has always been one of my favorites and my paperback copy was so far gone it needed a rubber band around it to keep the pages in.

Ellen O'Connell
Rottweiler Rescue: a mystery for dog lovers

The Empty House and Other Ghost Stories
The Wendigo
are good scary stories if you go for that. I like a lot of Algernon Blackwood's stuff.

I also like Sax Rohmer's books
Tales of Chinatown
The Insidious Dr. Fu Manchu

are but two of many good ones.

elleoco

According to Wikipedia, Tey was mentioned by none other than Stephen King in his 1982 novella "Apt Pupil"! And her "Shilling for Candles" was the basis of Alfred Hitchcock's 1937 movie "Young and Innocent" just before he made his move from the UK to the USA!

B. Hartman

When you can, please try to add "of the many good ones"!

The ones you've listed so far sound really interesting....

Mobileread has put together an anthology that contains these 3 related Fu-Manchu novels:
1. The Insidious Dr Fu Manchu
2. The Devil Doctor (aka The Return of Dr Fu-Manchu)
3. The Hand of Fu-Manchu (aka The Si-Fan Mysteries)

Mobileread goes on to say about them:

"In case anyone is unfamiliar with them, these are detective/thriller stories about the struggles of the heroic British government agent, Nayland Smith (an early "James Bond" type) to foil the dastardly plots of Dr Fu-Manchu, the chief agent of the "yellow peril" (ie China) to overthrow the "white races" (I told you it was "non-PC"!). Obviously the social attitudes portrayed are long gone, but the actual stories are wonderful - Dr Fu-Manchu is the ultimate "evil genius scientist" and his plots are truly fiendish."

Sure,
The Golden Scorpion
Bat Wing
The Return of Dr. Fu-Manchu

I have not read all the other Fu Manchu books, but I hear they're all good. More to come if I think of them...

Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl Written by Herself

Amazing story. This is for sure one of the best free/public domain titles that I have read so far.

Also keep in mind that a lot of Public Domain books will contain racism. I chalk it up to the sensibilities of a bygone era and don't let it bother me. It's a personal thing for each reader.
Edit:

I refer to the Fu Manchu books as being racist, but even Dickens and other "enlightened" writers of the time had their moments...

Diana...I just started this book yesterday. It's wonderful.

Meya
For me it was one of those books that you remember forever. I'm so glad you found it too!

Ambermonk - Just downloaded "The Monk; a romance" Now - does this have any thing to do with your moniker? : -)

B. Hartman

I agree. You have to be aware of the era the book was written in and apply your standards accordingly.

For women, that means pre-feminism. This means tolerating horrific storylines of women who stray sexually both in and out of marriage and then find their just desserts like social ostracism, suicide, or being murdered by desperate boyfriends pre-legal abortions. Also being treated as mere property of their husbands and not able to work or get higher education, etc. And being made into stereotyped characters like "damsels in distress" waiting to be rescued by the strong male.

Went to mobileread to get the Fu Manchu books and discovered there are Vol 1, 2, and 3 Anthologies of mysteries by Sax Rohmer.
Vol 1 is per my post above.

Books in Vol. 2 are
The Yellow Claw, The Golden Scorpion,
Paul Harley, Psychic Detective series: Bat-Wing, and Fire-Tongue

Books in Vol. 3 are
Brood of the Witch-Queen
Dope
The Green Eyes of Bast
Quest of the Sacred Slipper
Tales of Chinatown

Each book has a tantilizing description of what the book is about. Not all involve Fu Manchu or the same detectives or locales, plots, etc.

Non Sherlock Holmes book recommended by another poster in the Kindle Book Community forum is:

"Sir Nigel" which the poster said he is currently reading it to his sons and they love it.

I found it at mobileread paired with "The White Company"

Per Wikipedia:

"Sir Nigel is a historical novel set during the Hundred Years' War, by the British author Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. Written in 1906, it is a fore-runner to Doyle's earlier novel The White Company, and describes the early life of that book's hero Sir Nigel Loring in the service of King Edward III at the start of the Hundred Years' War."

Arthur Conan Doyle wrote tons of books that are not about Sherlock Holmes so it is nice to have specific ones pulled out from a long list and recommended.

I guess you'll be reading Rohmer tonight?

Well considering I've just downloaded most of what I haven't already done so previously from just the few listed in this thread plus I am in the middle of the Charlie Chan mystery "The Chinese Parrot", probably not tonight but hopefully very soon!

(You wouldn't believe my TBR list....but I am trying to read everyday so I can get to them all - a pipe dream but it's so fun!)

I have drawn the line at downloading those book collections that have 200 books in them in one go. Some sand pits I'd never be able to dig myself out of...so I'm trying to go for the ones others can specifically recommend.

My TBR list is so long....I'll never see the end!

All kidding aside, this is a great topic. I was just looking through my free downloads for some more suggestions.

Thanks, lesley9--that's a good explanation of how to think about some of what you find in these books. But there are also some books where women are written to show real strength of character--see the Gaskell and Anne Bronte books listed below. And then, of course, there are the real women who wrote about how they coped with their experiences, like the wonderful Harriet Jacobs (I'm glad someone mentioned her book!).

Gaskell was mentioned earlier, but I think folks might enjoy her novel Mary Barton, which wasn't mentioned.

I'd also recommend Anne Bronte's (my favorite of the Bronte sisters) novels Agnes Grey and The Tenant of Wildfell Hall.

On another note, those who like Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde might also like James Hogg's The Private Memoirs and Confessions of a Justified Sinner.

And I'll add The Enchanted April too (basis for the movie) by Elizabeth von Arnim.

All of these books are available in many places--your favorite source for PD books should have them all.

What great suggestions! I loved the Instructions for Chinese Women and Girls.

I highly recommend the Recollections of the Private Life of Napoleon, Complete. They're anecdotal, very entertaining and quite racy in places, written by Napoleon's personal valet Constant. The version I've cited is free.

A not-very-well-known book by a pretty-well-known author is "The Road", by Jack London. Everyone seems to know the author's famous works, but this is about hopping trains and begging. I find a very ground-level view of the U.S.'s history that is rare from a popular writer. I have London's mobilereference collection, which I recommend, and don't know if it's on the freebie shelf.

Jack London's 'The Road' sounds well worth reading. It's free at Project Gutenberg, I notice.

That makes me think of another great 'roughing it' book, George Orwell's Down and Out in Paris and London, beautifully written and unsparingly graphic. Terrific stuff.

That one, unfortunately, is unavailable in the U.S. as of now. Great suggestion, but not free for us in the U.S.