Now, books in the public domain will, by and large, be quite old, and often of limited interest. That's not to say there aren't many gems, however. For example:
Tocqueville. Democracy in America
Machiavelli, The Prince
The Works of Alexander Hamilton
Gibbon, Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire
What about closer to home? Looking for work on Tacoma, I found a couple of pamphlets on the early debate over Mount Rainier, which locals campaigned for (re-) naming Tacoma, which they considered to be its rightful Indian name.
Here's a little screen capture of the opening page of "Is it "Mt. Tacoma" Or "Rainier".: What Do History and Tradition Say?" By James Wickersham (1893):
I like the reference to cravats in particular. This opening passage seems intended to give the proceedings an air of legitimacy and seriousness. My favorite passage from the text:
And thus, at a distance of over one hundred miles, Vancouver named this grand white-capped summit after a foreigner who represented nothing to our American civilization, and who not only never saw the mountain bearing his name, but who never saw the continent upon which it is so conspicuous a land mark. Vancouver held no communication with the Indians, and seemed to have had the greatest contempt for them, and made no effort to ascertain the names, if any they had, for the rivers, mountains, bays and other natural features of this virgin world.
Browse away!
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