http://www.bartleby.com/
...great online trove of books now out of copyright: reference, verse, fiction, nonfiction.
The Reference section for example contains the full texts of:
Quotations
Bartlett, John. 1919. Familiar Quotations, 10th ed. Including over 11,000 quotations, the first new edition of John Bartlett’s corpus to be published after his death in 1905 keeps most of his original work intact.
Forty Thousand Quotations: Prose and Poetical. 1917. These 41,480 selections divided into 1,500 categories include thousands of authors and an entire volume’s-worth of Shakespeare.
Dictionary of Quotations. 1899. These 28,732 selections feature non-English language sources including proverbs by a master Encyclopedist.
Grocott’s Familiar Quotations, 6th ed. 189-?. These 6,700 quotations in 2,000 categories represent an encyclopedic classification of the canon's eternal passages.
Hoyt’s New Cyclopedia of Practical Quotations. 1922. The 21,700 quotations in this standard reference bible, organized by major category, feature original language with translations.
Prose Quotations from Socrates to Macaulay. 1880. These 9,000 often lengthy selections highlight English prose geniuses like Addison, Burke, Johnson, Locke and Macaulay.
Respectfully Quoted: A Dictionary of Quotations. 1989. The 2,100 entries in this eminently researched collection form the constellation of collected wisdom in American political debate.
Familiar Short Sayings of Great Men. 1989. 1,200 very readable expository selections from 400 authors. Christy, Robert. 1887.
Proverbs, Maxims and Phrases of All Ages. The 20,500 selections in this classic reference work comprise an encyclopedic scope of English proverbs as well as translations from every major language. Hazlitt, William Carew. 1907.
English Proverbs and Proverbial Phrases. These 10,764 entries feature explanation of the hidden meanings of folk wisdom repeated unwittingly. Marvin, Dwight Edwards. 1916.
Curiosities in Proverbs. The two thousand entries in this uniquely multicultural collection feature comparison of similar proverbs in different languages. Wilstach, Frank J. 1916.
A Dictionary of Similes. Wilstach spent over 20 years tracing more than 16,000 similies to about 2,000 sources and categorizing them under some 3,000 subjects.
English Usage: Language, Style & Composition
Strunk, William, Jr. 1918. The Elements of Style. Believing that one must first know the rules to break them, this classic reference book is a must-have for any student or writer.
Roget’s International Thesaurus of English Words and Phrases. 1922 Mawson’s modernization of Roget’s classic structure with over 85,000 hyperlinked cross-references and 2,900 quotations.
Fowler, H. W. 1908. The King’s English, 2nd ed. This reference work has remained a standard resource—serving generations of students and writers with commonsense rules of style and grammar.
Mencken, H.L. 1921. The American Language: An Inquiry into the Development of English in the United States, 2nd ed. This classic defines the distinguishing characteristics of the language of the United States.
Quiller-Couch, Sir Arthur. 1916. On the Art of Writing. This collection of lectures captures the artistic and vital nature of language.
Quiller-Couch, Sir Arthur. 1920. On the Art of Reading. Rich with insight on the activity of effectual and intelligent reading.
Sapir, Edward. 1921. Language: An Introduction to the Study of Speech. The classic text on the relation of language and culture.
Religion & Mythology
The Bible. 1999. King James Version. The culmination of English translations of the Bible by the American Bible Society.
Butler, Alban. 1866. The Lives of the Fathers, Martyrs, and Other Principal Saints. The ecclesiastical side of Western cultural development in 1,458 entries. Brewer, E. Cobham. 1898. Dictionary of Phrase and Fable. Comprising over 18,000 entries that reveal the etymologies, trace the origins and otherwise catalog “words with a tale to tell.”
Bulfinch, Thomas. 1913. The Age of Fable. Revised and enlarged four-volume edition of the classic work on the mythology and fable of the ages.
Frazer, Sir James George. 1922. The Golden Bough: A Study in Magic and Religion, Abridged ed. The classic study in comparative folklore, magic and religion.
Literary History & Literature
Cambridge History of English & American Literature (18 vols.). 1907–21. The most important work of literary history and criticism ever published on writings in the English language.
Eliot, Charles W., ed. 1909–17. The Harvard Classics and Harvard Classics Shelf of Fiction. The most popular anthology of the twentieth century comprises 70 volumes.
Stedman, E.C., and Hutchinson, E.M., eds. 1891. A Library of American Literature: An Anthology in 11 Volumes. The 6000 pages of the 11 volumes contain over 2500 selections by more than 1100 authors.
Eliot, T.S. 1921. The Sacred Wood. Eliot’s collection of essays on poetry and criticism.
Shakespeare, William. 1914. The Oxford Shakespeare. The 37 plays, 154 sonnets and miscellaneous verse that constitute the unrivaled literary cornerstone of Western civilization.
Van Doren, Carl. 1921. The American Novel. Historical treatment of the development of the “Great American Novel.”
See Also: Verse & Fiction.
Anatomy
Gray, Henry. 1918. Anatomy of the Human Body, 20th ed. Featuring 1,247 vibrant engravings—many in color—from the classic 1918 publication.
Cooking
Farmer, Fannie Merritt. 1918. The Boston Cooking-School Cook Book. This landmark American cookbook advocates a no-nonsense approach to cooking for the ordinary person.
Etiquette
Post, Emily. 1922. Etiquette. Pithy advice on every subject of American social life.
Parliamentary Procedure & Government
Robert, Henry M. 1915. Robert’s Rules of Order Revised. The rules of Congress for every deliberative society.
Inaugural Addresses of the Presidents of the United States. 1989. Illustrated and annotated edition of all Inaugural addresses from George Washington to George W. Bush.
The World Factbook. 2008. The U.S. government’s complete geographical handbook, featuring full-color maps and flags of all nations.
Bryan, William Jennings, ed. 1906. The World’s Famous Orations. Two millennia of Western Civilization come into focus through these 281 masterpieces by 213 rhetoricians.
