Satire
The Beggar's Opera
The Beggar's Opera is a ballad opera written in 1728 by John Gay with music arranged by Johann Christoph Pepusch. The piece satirises Italia…
The Old Bachelor
"In The Old Bachelor we have three or four concurrent plots, which become interwoven, indeed, at the end.... It is recorded that the s…
The Silly Syclopedia
The Silly Syclopedia is a whimsical exploration of language and humor, crafted by Noah Lott and George V. Hobart. This playful work parodies…
The Judgment of Eve
May Sinclair was a prolific author, literary critic, and feminist activist, famous in Britain and the US in the 1910’s and 20’s. The Judgmen…
The Love-Tiff
"The characters are well delineated, and fathers, lovers, mistresses, and servants all move about amidst a complication of errors from …
Black No More
Being an account of the strange and wonderful workings of science in the land of the free, A.D. 1933-1940. (Summary by author)
The House with the Green Shutters
The House with the Green Shutters is a novel by the Scottish writer George Douglas Brown, first published in 1901 by John MacQueen. Set in m…
The Wit and Humor of America
The Wit and Humor of America is a delightful anthology that captures the essence of American wit through a collection of 55 short stories an…
Captain Billy's Whiz Bang
"Captain Billy's Whiz Bang" was an iconic magazine of wit and humor launched by W.H. Fawcett in 1919. Each 64-page issue was packe…
The Curtezan Unmasked
"The Curtezan unmasked or, the Whoredomes of Jezebel Painted to the Life: With Antidotes against them, or Heavenly Julips to cool Men i…
Mont Oriol
Young bride Christiane arrives in Auvergne to "take the waters" with her husband, described as "a sickly flower, or a sucking…
Three Dialogues
Barry Pain is today best known for his ghost and horror stories, but he could also write some excellent social satire. This series of three …
Curiosities of Street Literature
This is a collection of broadsides from London. Broadsides are short, popular publications, a precursor to today's tabloid journalism. The c…
Knickerbocker's History of New York
Washington Irving, an author, biographer, historian, and diplomat, completed his first major work, a satire of contemporary local history an…
The Vegetable
"Any man who doesn’t want to get on in the world, to make a million dollars, and maybe even park his toothbrush in the White House, has…
Matinee With Bob And Ray
Bob and Ray have issues with their musicians as they attempt to perform a "Lights On" drama called, "The Groping Hand." …
Mary Broome
Before Downton Abbey, there was Mary Broome. In Allan Monkhouse's 1911 satire, when the son of a middle-class household gets their housemaid…
Androcles and the Lion
Androcles and the Lion satirical play written in 1912 by George Bernard Shaw. It is set in Ancient Rome, and on the surface it appears to be…
The Devil is an Ass
An inferior devil, Pug, asks Satan to send him to Earth to tempt men to Evil. But when Pug arrives in 1616 London and sets himself at the Sq…
The Green Carnation
The Green Carnation, first published anonymously in 1894, was a scandalous novel by Robert Hichens whose lead characters are closely based o…