British Literature (English, Scottish, Irish, and Welsh)

Copyright © 2001 Richard Seltzer

This Web page shows the table of contents of our British Literature 3-CD set, with 3301 books. Internal links will take you to the various sections, but you cannot get to the books themselves here on the Web. For that you need the CD. Also, if and when you are connected to the Internet, you can view brief biographies of the authors by clicking on the links for the Wikipedia Encyclopedia.

This British Literature 3-CD set, with the complete text of these books, in plain text, is available for just $69 at our online store

These books are in plain text format. You can copy them onto your hard drive for convenience, or make an archival copy of the CD, as backup in case of damage to the original.  You can open these books by clicking on the titles in this index page with your Web browser or a recent Windows-based word processor.

Click on a country or period to go to one of the major sections of this index page.

Intended for use on Windows and Linux PCs and recent Macs (OS X), this CD set was compiled by Richard Seltzer. The books themselves are in the public domain. You can copy them onto your hard drive for convenience, or make an archival copy of the CD, as backup in case of damage to the original. But the collection and its indexes, created for your convenience, are under copyright. Please contact us first if you are interested in making copies of this CD for commercial purposes. seltzer@samizdat.com

For details about this publishing service, check the readme document. You can contact us at seltzer@samizdat.com, B&R Samizdat Express, 33 Gould St., West Roxbury, MA 02132-002. 617-469-2269.

If you would like to have your PC (with speakers) read these texts aloud to you, while they are displayed in text on the screen, see below about the free ReadPlease software that we have included on this CD. (NB -- This version of  the ReadPlease software does not run on Macs).

User's Guide: Suggestions on how to get the most out of your books on CD ROM  In addition, Coursesuseek has a short eCourse about "Ebooks in the Literature Classroom" that deals specifically about the use of books on CD ROM. You can receive this for free by sending a blank mail to course@coursesuseek.com. The course is about 8 pages long and is in PDF.

We publish plain text books (unencrypted) on CD, and we want to provide a simple way for customers and other interested people to share their insights into how to get the most out of this new way of reading and studying. To do so we have set up an email discussion group at Yahoo. All are welcome to join and to post here, but I'll manage this group in "moderated" style, filtering messages before they go out to the whole group, to control the volume of the messages and to make sure that they are on-topic. Tips and information that would be helpful to people you have plain text books on CD are welcome -- including examples of how you are using yours, suggestions for improvement,  suggestions for future CDs, and useful/interesting texts found on the Web that should be included in future CDs. To subscribe, go to the discussion group Web site at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/plaintextbooksoncd  or send a blank email to plaintextbooksoncd-subscribe@yahoogroups.com


Table of Contents of the British Literature CD

This British Literature 3-CD set with 3301 books, in plain text, is available  at our online store.


CD #1 -- British Literature Before 1800


Anthologies, History, and Criticism



British Literature before 1300


British Literature from the 14th Century


Reference Books and Collections


Sir Gawain and the Green Knight


Richard de Bury (1287-1345) bio in Wikipedia


Geoffrey Chaucer (1343-1400) bio at Wikipedia


John Gower (1330-1408) bio at Wikipedia


Sir John Mandeville bio at Wikipedia


British Literature from the 15th Century


William Caxton (as translator) (1422-1491) bio at Wikipedia


John Lydgate (1370-1451) bio at Wikipedia


Sir Thomas Malory (c. 1399-1471) bio at Wikipedia

  • Le Morte D'Arthur
  • volume 1
  • volume 2

  • English Literature: Poetry and Prose, 16th Century


    Collections and Criticism


    Anonymous


    Roger Ascham (1515-1568) bio at Wikipedia


    Richard Barnfield (1574-1627) bio at Wikipedia


    Thomas Betson


    Richard Carew (1555-1620) bio at Wikipedia


    Henrie Chettle 1564?-1607?) bio at Wikipedia


    Thomas Cockaine


    Henry Constable (1562-1613) bio at Wikipedia


    Michael Drayton (1563-1631) bio at Wikpedia


    Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester (1531-1588) bio at Wikipedia


    Queen Elizabeth I (1533-1603) bio at Wikipedia


    Sir Thomas Elyot (1490-1546) bio at Wikipedia


    George Gascoigne (1525-1577) bio at Wikipedia


    Bartholomew Griffin (?-1602) bio at Wikipedia


    Everard Guilpin


    Robert Greene (1558-1592) bio at Wikipedia


    Lady Jane Grey (1537-1554) bio at Wikipedia


    Sir Thomas Hoby (1530-1566) bio at Wikipedia


    Raphael Holinshed (d. 1580) bio at Wikipedia


    William Kemp bio at Wikipedia


    Thomas Kyd (1558-1594) bio at Wikipedia


    Christopher Marlowe (1564-1593) bio at Wikipedia


    Thomas More (1478-1535) bio at Wikipedia


    Thomas Nashe (1567-1600?) bio at Wikipedia


    John Norden (1548-1625) bio at Wikipedia


    William Painter (1540?-1594) bio at Wikipedia


    William Percy


    William Shakespeare (1564-1616) bio at Wikipedia


    Mary Sidney, Countess of Pembroke (1561-1621) bio at Wikipedia


    Philip Sidney (1554-1586) bio at Wikipedia


    Edmund Spenser (1552-1599) bio at Wikipedia


    Nicholas Udall (1504-1556) brief bio at Wikipedia


    Thomas Wilson


    English Literature: Poetry and Prose, 17th Century


    Collections and Criticism


    Anonymous


    Sir Francis Bacon (1561-1626) bio at Wikipedia


    Thomas Barker


    Francis Beaumont (1584-1616) bio at Wikipedia and John Fletcher (1579-1625) bio at Wikipedia


    John Beaumont (1583-1627) bio at Wikipedia


    Aphra Behn (1640-1689) bio at Wikipedia


    Edward Bennett


    Sir Thomas Browne (1605-1682) bio at Wikipedia


    John Bunyan (1628-1688) bio at Wikipedia


    Robert Burton (1576-1640) bio at Wikipedia


    Samuel Butler (1613-1680) bio at Wikipedia


    Thomas Campion (1567-1620) bio at Wikipedia


    George Chapman (1559-1634) bio at Wikipedia


    Francesco Colonna (1433-1527) bio at Wikipedia


    William Combe (1742-1823) bio at Wikipedia


    Abraham Cowley (1618-1667) bio at Wikipedia


    Samuel Daniel (1562-1619) bio at Wikipedia


    Thomas Dekker (1570-1632) bio at Wikipedia


    Sir John Denham (1615-1669) bio at Wikipedia


    John Dryden (1631-1700) bio at Wikipedia

    about John Dryden

    John Evelyn (1620-1706) bio at Wikipedia


    George Farquhar (1678-1707) bio at Wikipedia


    John Fletcher (1579-1625) bio at Wikipedia


    George Fox (1624-1691) bio at Wikipedia


    William Goddard


    Stephen Gosson (1554-1624) bio at Wikipedia


    Joseph Hall, Bishop of Exeter (1574-1656) bio at Wikipedia


    Anthony Hamilton


    Robert Herrick (1591-1674) bio at Wikipedia


    Thomas Heywood (c. 1575-c. 1641) bio at Wikipedia


    Thomas Hobbes (1588-1679) bio at Wikipedia


    Robert Howlett


    Ben Jonson (1572-1637) bio at Wikipedia


    John Locke (1632-1704) bio at Wikipedia


    Thomas Lodge (1558-1625) bio at Wikipedia


    Richard Lovelace (1618-1659) bio at Wikipedia


    Charles Mackay, editor (1814-1889), bio at Wikipedia


    Andrew Marvell (1621-1678) bio at Wikipedia


    John Milton (1608-1674) bio at Wikipedia


    Richard Niccols


    Thomas Otway (1652-1685) bio at Wikipedia


    William Pemble


    Samuel Pepys (1633-1703) bio at Wikipedia


    Thomas Scott


    Ester Sowernam


    Rachel Speght (1597-?) bio at Wikipedia


    Edmund Waller (1606-1687) bio at Wikipedia


    Isaak Walton ( 1593- 1683) bio at Wikipedia

    about Isaak Walton


    John Webster (1580?-1635?) bio at Wikipedia


    English Literature: Poetry and Prose, 18th Century


    Collections and Anthologies


    Literary Periodicals


    Anonymous


    Joseph Addison (1672-1719) (alone) bio at Wikipedia


    Joseph Addison (1672-1719) bio at Wikipedia and Richard Steele (1672-1729) bio at Wikipedia


    Joanna Baillie (1762-1851) (Scottish)  bio at Wikipedia


    Thomas Baker (1680-1749) bio at Wikipedia


    William Benson (1682-1754)


    George Berkeley (1685-1753) bio at Wikipedia


    William Blake (1757-1827) bio at Wikipedia


    Lord Bolingbroke


    James Boswell (1740-1795) bio at Wikipedia


    Edmund Burke (1729-1797) bio at Wikipedia


    Frances Burney [d'Arblay] (1752-1840) bio at Wikipedia


    Robert Burns (1759-1796) [Scottish] bio at Wikipedia


    Susanna Centlivre (1669-1723) bio at Wikipedia


    Thomas Chatterton (1752-1770) bio at Wikipedia


    Earl of Chesterfield (1694-1773) bio at Wikipedia


    Theophilus Cibber (1703-1758) bio at Wikipedia


    Catherine Clive (1711-1785) bio at Wikipedia


    Samuel Cobb (1675-1713)


    William Collins (1721-1759) bio at Wikipedia


    George Colman (1762-1836) bio at Wikipedia


    William Congreve (1670-1729) bio at Wikipedia


    Ebenezer Cooke (1667-1732) bio at Wikipedia


    William Cowper (1731-1768) bio at Wikipedia


    George Crabbe (1754-1832) bio at Wikipedia


    Daniel Defoe (1660-1731) bio at Wikipedia


    Elizabeth Elstob (1683-1756) bio at Wikipedia


    Henry Fielding (1707-1754) bio at Wikipedia


    Richard Flecknoe (1600-1678?) bio at Wikipedia


    Henry Gally


    John Gay (1685-1732) bio at Wikipedia


    Edward Gibbon (1737-1794) bio at Wikipedia

  • volume 1
  • volume 2
  • volume 3
  • volume 4
  • volume 5
  • volume 6
  • about Gibbon

  • William Godwin (husband of Mary Wollstonecraft, father of Mary Shelley) (1756-1836) bio at Wikipedia


    Oliver Goldsmith (1728-1774) [Irish] bio at Wikipedia


    Thomas Gray (1716-1771) bio at Wikipedia


    Susannah Gunning (1740?-1800)


    John Hawkesworth (1715-1773) bio at Wikipedia


    David Hume (1711-1776) bio at Wikipedia


    Elizabeth Inchbald (1753-1821) bio at Wikipedia


    Samuel Johnson (1709-1784) bio at Wikipedia

    about Samuel Johnson


    Matthew Lewis (1775-1818) bio at Wikipedia


    Lord Lyttelton (1709-1773)


    Charles Macklin (1699-1797) bio at Wikipedia


    James MacPearson [Scottish]


    Lady Mary Wortley Montagu (1689-1762) bio at Wikipedia


    Thomas Morton (1764-1838) bio at Wikipedia


    Robert Paltock (1697-1767)


    Alexander Pope (1688-1744) bio at Wikipedia


    Thomas Purney


    Ann Radcliffe (1764-1823) bio at Wikipedia


    Frances Reynolds


    Samuel Richardson (1689-1761) bio at Wikipedia


    George Selwyn (1719-1791) bio at Wikipedia


    Richard Sheridan (1751-1816) bio at Wikipedia


    Christopher Smart (1722-1771) bio at Wikipedia


    Tobias Smollett (1721-1771) bio at Wikipedia


    Richard Steele (1672-1729) bio at Wikipedia


    Laurence Sterne (1713-1768) bio at Wikipedia


    Jonathan Swift (1667-1745) [Irish] bio at Wikipedia


    James Thomson (1700-1748) bio at Wikipedia


    Horace Walpole (1717-1797) bio at Wikipedia


    Samuel Wesley (1766-1837) bio at Wikipedia


    Gilbert White (1720-1793) bio at Wikipedia


    Mary Wollstonecraft (wife of William Godwin, mother of Mary Shelley) (1759-1797) bio at Wikipedia


    Elis Wyn (1671-1734) bio at Wikipedia


    CD #2 -- British Literature after 1800, Authors A to L


    Literary Periodicals


    Criticism and Collections



    Anonymous


    Authors, alphabetical


    Lucy Aiken (1781-1864) bio at Wikipedia


    William Ainsworth (1805-1882) bio at Wikipedia


    Grant Allen (1848-1899) bio at Wikipedia


    Edwin Arnold (1832-1904) bio at Wikipedia


    Matthew Arnold (1822-1888) [Welsh] bio at Wikipedia


    Frank Howard Atkins (AKA F. St. Mars) (1882-1921)


    Jane Austen (1775-1817) bio at Wikipedia


    Retta Babcock


    Alexander Bain (1818-1903) [Scottish] bio at Wikipedia


    Robert Michael Ballantyne (1825-1894) [Scottish] bio at Wikipedia


    E. Katharine Bates


    Edward Harold Begbie (1871-1929) bio at Wikipedia


    Robert Barr (1850-1912) bio at Wikipedia


    H. Louisa Bedford


    Robert Bell (1800-1867) [Irish] bio at Wikipedia


    Arnold Bennett (1867-1931) bio at Wikipedia


    Arthur Christopher Benson (1862-1925) bio at Wikipedia


    Robert Hugh Benson (1871-1914) bio at Wikipedia


    Sir Walter Besant (1836-1901) bio at Wikipedia


    Mrs. M.E. Bewsher


    G.A. Birmingham


    Mrs. Blackford [Scottish]


    Richard Dodge Blackmore (1825-1900) bio at Wikipedia


    Robert Bloomfield (1766-1823) bio at Wikipedia


    Guy Boothby (1867-1905) bio at Wikipedia


    George Borrow (1803-1881) bio at Wikipedia

    About George Borrow

    William Lisle Bowles (1762-1850) bio at Wikipedia


    E.W. Bowling


    Mary Elizabeth Braddon (1837-1915) bio at Wikipedia


    Charlotte Braeme (1836-1884)


    Major-General Sir Isaac Brock (1769-1812) bio at Wikipedia


    Patrick Bronte (father of the Bronte Sisters) (1777-1861) bio at Wikipedia


    The Bronte Sisters (Charlotte, Emily, and Anne) together


    Anne Bronte (1820-1849) bio at Wikipedia


    Charlotte Bronte (1816-1855) bio at Wikipedia


    Emily Bronte (1818-1848) bio at Wikipedia


    Rupert Brooke (1887-1915) bio at Wikipedia


    Elizabeth Barrett Browning (1806-1861) bio at Wikipedia


    Robert Browning (1812-1889) bio at Wikipedia

    about Robert Browning


    Edward George Bulwer-Lytton (1803-1873) bio at Wikipedia


    Samuel Butler (1835-1902) bio at Wikipedia


    Lord Byron (1788-1824) bio at Wikipedia


    Hall Caine (1853-1931) bio at Wikipedia


    Thomas Carlyle (1795-1881) [Scottish] bio at Wikipedia


    William Carleton (1794-1869) [Irish] bio at Wikipedia


    Harriet S. Caswell


    George Calvert (1803-1889)


    E. Donald Carr (? - 1900)


    John Carr (1772-1832)


    Gilbert Keith (G.K.) Chesterton (1874 - 1936) brief bio at Wikipedia


    Mary Cholmondeley (1859-1925) bio at Wikipedia


    W.A. Clouston


    Thomas Cobb


    Bithia Mary Coker


    Samuel Taylor Coleridge (1772-1834) bio at Wikipedia


    Harry Collingwood


    Wilkie Collins (1824-1889) bio at Wikipedia


    Joseph Conrad (1857-1924) bio at Wikipedia


    Marie Corelli (1855-1924) bio at Wikipedia


    Abner Cosens


    A.D. Crake


    Samuel Rutherford Crockett (1860-1914) [Scottish] bio at Wikipedia


    Thomas Davis (1814-1845) bio at Wikipedia


    Humphrey Davy (1778-1829) bio at Wikipedia


    W.J. Dawson


    Dr. John Dee


    Thomas De Quincey (1785-1859) bio at Wikipedia


    Charles Dickens (1812-1870) bio at Wikipedia

    About Dickens

    Rev. Thomas Dibdin (1776-1847) bio at Wikipedia


    L. Lowes Dickinson


    Benjamin Disraeli (1804-1881), prime minister of England, bio at Wikipedia


    Isaac Disraeli (1766-1848), father of Benjamin Disraeli, bio at Wikipedia


    L. Dougall


    Ernst Dowson and Arthur Moore


    Sir Arthur Conan  Doyle (1859-1930) bio at Wikipedia


    Henry Drummond (1851-1897) bio at Wikipedia


    T.F. Thiselton Dyer


    Edward Dyson (1865-1931) bio at Wikipedia


    Maria Edgeworth (1767-1849) bio at Wikipedia


    E. Edwards (1815-1891)


    Sir Owen Morgan Edwards Edwards (1858-1920) bio at Wikipedia


    Pierce Egan (1772-1849) bio at Widipedia


    Beatrice Egerton


    George Eliot (1819-1880) bio at Wikipedia


    Alfred Elwes (1819?-1888) bio at Wikipedia


    P.H. Emerson


    Evelyn Everett-Green (1856-1932) bio at Wikipedia


    Juliana Horatia Ewing (1842-1885) bio at Wikipedia


    E. Farr and E.H. Nolan


    Michael Fairless (= pseudonym of Margaret Fairless Barber)


    J. Meade Falkner (1858-1932) bio at Wikipedia


    George Manville Fenn (1831-1909)


    Edward Fitzgerald (1809-1883) bio at Wikipedia


    George Forbes


    Ellen Thorneycroft Fowler (1860-1929) bio at Wikipedia


    W.A. Fraser (1859-1933)


    Caroline Augusta Frazer


    Lizzie Freeth


    William Frost


    James Anthony Froude (1849-1894) bio at Wikipedia


    John Galsworthy (1867-1933), winner of Nobel Prize in Literature in 1932, bio at Wikipedia


    Marguerite Gardiner, Countess of Blessington (1789-1849) [Irish] bio at Wikipedia


    Elizabeth Gaskell (1810-1865) bio at Wikipedia


    Thomas Gent (1780-?) bio at Wikipedia


    Perceval Gibbon (1879-1926) bio at Wikipedia


    William S. Gilbert, alone (1836-1911) bio at Wikipedia


    William S. Gilbert (1836-1911) bio at Wikipedia and Sir Arthur Sullivan (1842-1900) bio at Wikipedia


    George Gissing (1857-1903) bio at Wikipedia


    Montague Glass


    A.D. Godley


    Edmund Gosse (1849-1928) bio at Wikipedia


    John Gray


    Lady Isabella Augusta Gregory (1859-1932) [Irish] bio at Wikipedia


    George Griffith (1857-1906) bio at Wikipedia


    Arthur Griffiths (1838-1908)


    Francis Hindes Groome (1851-1902 bio at Wikipedia


    H. Rider Haggard (1856-1925) bio at Wikipedia