Akron Public Library

The watershed year of Isabella Lucy Bird's life was 1873. In autumn of that year, the forty-one-year-old English gentlewoman embarked by rail from San Francisco's east bay, bound for the Colorado Rockies. A challenging journey, it drove Bird to the utmost physical effort and initiated her life-long career in what today is called adventure travel. More than one hundred twenty years after their first publication, Isabella Bird's letters to her sister...

Contains facsimile reproduction of the title-page of the Elizabethan club copy of the first separate edition of "All's well that ends well," London, 1734. The text is that of Craig's Oxford Shakespeare, with alterations.

Contains the text of Shakespeare's comedy about identical twin brothers, both named Antipholus, who set off a wave of confusion when they arrive in the same town after a lifetime apart, bringing with them identical twin servants, both named Dromios; and includes scene-by-scene action summaries, full explanatory notes, and a critical essay.

Passions unleashed cause much wooing and confusion in the magical woods of Athens. Whether real or induced by magical potions seems to mak little difference, showing that love is far from rational, though those afflicted might feel otherwise. A Midsummer night's dream is a delightful comedy that offers something for everyone. The intertwined love constellations include Hermia and Lysander, who having decided to elope, steal away into the forest. Demetrius,...

Has any other love story become so enmeshed in our culture as the tragic story of Romeo and Juliet? In fair Verona the families of Montague and Capulet are locked in a long-standing, bitter blood feud when young Romeo Montague slips into a masquerade party at the Capulet's. During the dance he glimpses Juliet, the daughter of the house, and is struck by love at first sight. She returns his passion and they promise each other everlasting love notwithstanding...

Prospero, the deposed Duke of Milan, uses his skill at controlling natural forces to cause the shipwreck of his old opponents, forcing them to seek refuge on the island where he and his daughter Miranda have been living in exile, and setting the stage for Miranda to fall in love with Ferdinand, the prince of Naples. Includes explanatory notes, plot summaries, critical essay, and illustrations.

The most famous book on politics ever written, The Prince remains as lively and shocking today as when it was written almost five hundred years ago. Initially denounced as a collection of sinister maxims and a recommendation of tyranny, it has more recently been defended as the first scientific treatment of politics as it is practiced rather than as it ought to be practiced. Harvey C. Mansfield's brilliant translation of this classic work, along with...

An abridged version of the tale of orphaned, eleven-year-old Pollyanna, who comes to live with austere and wealthy Aunt Polly, bringing happiness to her aunt and other members of the community through her philosophy of gladness. Pollyanna knows the secret to finding a smile -- even when really bad things happen. From the moment she arrives in Beldingsville, she shares her Glad Game with everyone around her. But the person who needs Pollyanna's help...

Known for its advances in literature, industrialization, politics, and science, the Victorian era was a prominent time in British history. However, author Lytton Strachey remembers Queen Victoria as a person instead of just focusing on her accomplishments. First starting with a brief history of her predecessors and origins, Victoria was crowned just as she came of age. Having only been eighteen, Queen Victoria was widely unfamiliar to her subjects...

Tells the story of Magnolia Ravenal and of her marriage to the river gambler, Gaylord Ravenal, black sheep son of an aristocratic family. It is also the story of their daughter Kim, who became a famous Broadway actress.