This section of the site is my tiny contribution to the cause of making as many old books as possible freely available online. Each of the texts here is a relatively obscure work that probably won’t find its way into Project Gutenberg anytime soon, but holds some interest as a window on the time and place in which it was produced, if not as great literature.

If you’re interested in helping to augment this collection, or if you find any typos in the material here, please drop a line to texts [AT] staggernation [DOT] com.

The original edition of the enormously popular joke book.

A collection of some of the songs sung and sold in the streets of England in the first half of the 19th century.