Ocean State Libraries

The Wealth of Nations is a powerhouse of knowledge that was first published in 1776. Adam Smith was an astute Scottish professor of moral philosophy, and he expounded the revolutionary doctrine of his time to economic liberalism. The importance of the book was almost immediately recognized by his peers who admired his thought and progressive ideas. The Wealth of Nations is comprised of five volumes/books in one. Perfect for class study or improving...

In the most seminal slave narrative ever written, Frederick Douglass writes, "From my earliest recollection, I date the entertainment of a deep conviction that slavery would not always be able to hold me within its foul embrace and in the darkest hours of my career in slavery, this living word of faith and spirit of hope departed not from me, but remained like ministering angels to cheer me through the gloom." Reading this narrative is to witness...

"The classic handbook of statecraft written by an Italian nobleman recommends guile and craftiness to attain and maintain political power." --

"'The Divine Comedy' begins in a shadowed forest on Good Friday in the year 1300. It proceeds on a journey that, in its intense recreation of the depths and the heights of human experience, has become the key with which Western civilization has sought to unlock the mystery of its own identity. Allen Mandelbaum's astonishingly Dantean translation, which captures so much of the life of the original, renders whole for us the masterpiece that genius whom...

On taste: A philosophical inquiry into the origin of our ideas of the sublime and beautiful, with several other additions. Reflections on the French Revolution: Reflections on the revolution in France and on the proceedings in certain societies in London relative to that event in a letter intended to have been sent to a gentleman in Paris (1790). A letter to a noble lord. A letter from the Right Hon. Edmund Burke to a noble lord on the attacks made...

"Presents the classic allegory on the Christian life, along with personal reflection questions, journaling prompts, study questions, and prayer prompts." --

Set in Lombardy during the Spanish occupation of the late 1620s, The Betrothed tells the story of two young lovers, Renzo and Lucia, prevented from marrying by the petty tyrant Don Rodrigo, who desires Lucia for himself. Forced to flee, they are then cruelly separated, and must face many dangers including plague, famine and imprisonment, and confront a variety of strange characters: the mysterious Nun of Monza, the fiery Father Cristoforo and the...