Applewood Books

Chronicles the life of Nathaniel Hawthorne (1804-1864), a New-England born American novelist and short story writer, best known as the author of The Scarlet Letter.

The Short Biographies Series from Applewood Books are intriguing and entertaining short biographies that tell the details, insights and stories of renowned lives.

Trailblazing ornithologist Florence A. Merriam’s classic firsthand account of her adventurous and influential field work through Southern California on horseback, first published in 1896. 

A-Birding on a Bronco is Florence A. Merriam’s enduring personal narrative of the natural wonders and new bird species she encountered while surveying the southern California wilderness atop Canello, her trusty white bronco. 

As the first female member of the American Ornithologists’ Union, Merriam was a trailblazer in the emerging field of birding in the latter half of the nineteenth century. Merriam’s pioneering field work took her across the United States. Perhaps her greatest journey of all is recounted is A-Birding on a Bronco, a classic of American nature writing first published in 1896. Merriam’s lively prose is presented alongside original illustrations by famed artist and ornithologist Louis Agassiz Fuertes, his first-ever published work in what became a storied career. It’s all presented in fine detail in this facsimile printing of the original edition. 

In 1889 and 1894, respectively, Merriam journeyed West to document birds far from her native Northeast. A-Birding on a Bronco recounts these exciting horseback expeditions, vividly describing more than seventy bird species she found in the southern California backcountry, as well as introducing the colorful personalities she met along the way.  

Merriam today is regarded as an essential early voice for conservation, and A-Birding on a Bronco shows her important principles put into practice. In an era when capturing and killing birds for research was commonplace, she was among the first to advocate studying birds in their natural habitats to preserve species. It is a fundamental practice that endures today. Merriam also penned the highly influential book Birds Through Opera-Glass (1890), considered by many to be the first birding field guide ever published. 

Whether you’re a fan nature writing, or of first-person adventure narratives, A-birding on a Bronco stands out as a classic across genres. It’s why, more than a century later, A-birding on a Bronco still resonates with readers today. 

Derived from a patriotic Grammy-nominated spoken word album recorded by The Duke in 1973.

Now, in  An American Boy Grows Up, we can join Little Duke on his journey through this great land and learn about true American values of love, freedom, compassion, honesty, family, unity, hope, liberty & justice, honor and peace.

200 new puzzles about Great Moments in American History in this sequel to the best-selling Great American Puzzle Book—perfect fun for young and old alike!

This is not your average puzzle book! Inside, you will find much more than solutions--you'll also discover centuries of great American history and culture, generations of diverse people, and millions of acres of bountiful land. Whether you are matching U.S. presidents to their Secret Service codenames or combing through a word search for Bigfoot, Another Great American Puzzle Book is bound to keep you entertained for hours. Grab a pencil and happy puzzling!

Puzzle your way through America's Museums

Take an exciting journey to America's most cherished, quirky, or little-known cultural institutions through this new 150 puzzle book. Part of the best-selling Great American Road Trip series., it's perfect for dedicated museumgoers, history buffs, and puzzlers

From art museums to historic homes, science centers to memorials, there is so much to discover. So hop in, grab a pencil, and create your own adventure. Happy puzzling

In 1848, James Marshall discovered a nugget of gold while excavating a ditch for a sawmill; by the end of 1849 over 100,000 people had migrated to California in hopes of striking it rich. Learn about the events, people, places, and life during the California gold rush. In this book you will find fifteen puzzles full of fun facts and trivia about this fascinating part of American history.

Melville’s Sumptuous Tribute to a New England Culinary Classic

Chowder is chapter fifteen from one of the greatest works of American literature, Herman Melville’s Moby-Dick. It is so beautifully written, so descriptive and colorful, one can virtually smell the fishy, salt air and picture the warm interior of the Try Pots Inn. Curl up on a cold evening and taste the mouthwatering chowders of Nantucket’s most famous fictional landmark in this homage to New England’s classic dish.

This short work is part of Applewood’s American Roots series, tactile mementos of American passions by some of America’s most famous writers.

Renowned activist and orator Frederick Douglass delivered his “Composite Nation” speech throughout the country from 1869-1875, sharing his ardent vision of a future America that would draw strength from diversity.

Central to the speech is Douglass’s unambiguous support for Chinese immigration and citizenship. Other then-radical ideas examined in “Composite Nation”—universal human rights, religious liberty, and more—continue to resonate with modern activists.

Frederick Douglass (c. 1818-1895) was an abolitionist, social reformer, orator, and writer. One of the most influential Americans of the nineteenth century, Douglass was known for his rhetorical brilliance. Douglass's speeches drew large audiences nationwide, and his first autobiography is considered the most famous narrative by a former slave.

David W. Blight is the author or editor of over a dozen books, including the Pulitzer Prize-winning Frederick Douglass: Prophet of Freedom and annotated editions of Douglass’s first two autobiographies. At Yale University, Blight is Sterling Professor of History and Director of the Gilder Lehrman Center for the Study of Slavery, Resistance, and Abolition.

“The voice of civilization speaks an unmistakable language against the isolation of families, nations and races, and pleads for composite nationality as essential to her triumphs.” —Frederick Douglass

Historic Herbal Medicine

Nicholas Culpeper was a seventeenth-century English botanist, herbalist, physician and astrologer. Published over 350 years ago as a practical health guide, The Complete Herbal (1653) is still a definitive herbal guide for today. It contains a rich store of pharmaceutical and herbal knowledge, including herbs and where to find them, herb presentation, plasters and more. 

Farewell Address of the Presidents of the United States collects eleven addresses delivered by departing presidents, from George Washington in 1786 to Donald J. Trump in 2021. Other addresses include Andrew Jackson, Harry S. Truman, Dwight D. Eisenhower, Ronald Reagan and more. Discover the iconic moments and recent speeches of departing presidents and their message to the nation.

Grab your popcorn and a pencil!In Great American Movie Night Puzzle Book, work your way through puzzles themed around America's real favorite pastime. Test your movie knowledge with puzzles like Movies about Theatre, Colorful Titles, Acting Presidents, Buddy Cops, and Best Picture.Featuring 200 puzzles packed to the brim with information about iconic, beloved, and lesser-known films, this book will help you exercise your mind while finding your new favorite movie. Perfect for in the car, on the couch, or anywhere else, take this book with you wherever you go.

Hours of entertainment await movie buffs and novices alike!

This two-hundred puzzle book also works as a travel guide to help travelers explore the public lands all across America. Stop at Sawtooth National Forest, Canaveral National Seashore, Grand Canyon National Park, and numerous other interesting and inspiring places along the way.

Whether you’re all cooped up or in your coupe, this unusual mix of puzzle book and travel guide will help you hit the real or virtual road and learn about places along the way. Throw it in the back seat and let your antsy passengers have fun and learn. Or make a pit stop, grab a cup of coffee, and puzzle through where you’ll go next. From your car or your couch, the road trips in this book help you discover places that reveal diverse aspects of America's public lands—national parks, forests, rivers, mountains, wildlife refuges, monuments, heritage and natural history sites, and other inpsiring stops. Enjoy the journey!

Grab a pencil and take a trip around the Southeast, whether by car or couch. You are sure to discover unique, weird, and inspiring places to enhance your journey. These fun and challenging puzzles will engage travelers both young and old!Inside you will find puzzles themed around Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Tennessee.

Both a narrative and a constitution, the Great Law of Peace established the governance system of the Iroquois Confederacy. Its powerful themes of justice, cooperation, grief, health, and peace continue to inspire today.

An oral constitution, the Great Law of Peace was recorded on wampum belts and ratified by the Haudenosaunee (comprised of the Cayuga, Mohawk, Oneida, Onondaga, Seneca, and later, the Tuscarora peoples) long before European settlers arrived in America. Cultural heroes Haiwatha and the Great Peacemaker, Deganawida, are credited with creating the Great Law of Peace. It begins with a folklore-filled history of the Iroquois peoples dating back nearly a millennium. The constitution portion of the Great Law of Peace institutes a federalist democracy with separation of powers, a bicameral legislature, equal rights for women, and many other notable attributes. The Great Law of Peace ends with descriptions of ceremonies such as funerals and appointing new chiefs.

The Great Law of Peace is known to have influenced Benjamin Franklin, James Madison, and other framers of the United States Constitution. In 1988, Congress passed a concurrent resolution that officially acknowledged the “contribution of the Iroquois Confederacy of Nations to the Development of the United States Constitution.”

This handsome hardcover edition of the Great Law of Peace is the perfect gift for anyone interested in indigenous law, United States history, and the creation of a more harmonious, just society.

After reaching Philadelphia, Tubman began thinking of her family. "I was a stranger in a strange land," she said later. "My father, my mother, my brothers, and sisters, and friends were in Maryland. But I was free, and they should be free."

Harriet Tubman was a fugitive slave whose work as a conductor on the Underground Railroad made her a legend. Born in Dorchester County, Maryland, Tubman escaped from slavery in 1849 and supported herself by working in Philadelphia hotels before relocating to Canada and, later, New York. Tubman first returned to Maryland in 1850, when she helped a niece escape from Baltimore, and over the next ten years, she frequently risked her life to liberate family members and other slaves in the area. During the Civil War, Tubman worked as a nurse and a spy for the Union army in South Carolina, where she was known as General Tubman. After the war, Tubman returned to Auburn, New York, where she spoke at women's suffrage meetings with other prominent figures such as Susan B. Anthony. This book is a testament of Harriet Tubman’s bravery and triumph in the face of overwhelming danger!

Originally published in 1913, this is a lovely reproduction of the first American Girl Scout Handbook.

Author W.J. Hoxie—a naturalist—included tips and tricks for provisioning a camp, tying knots, tending the injured, and telling time by the stars. In 1916, How Girls Can Help Their Country was adapted by Juliette Low into a newer version of the Girl Scout Handbook.  The ranks of the American Girl Scouts have grown from the original eighteen members to the millions of members still active today. Through the decades, each Girl Scout has used some edition of the handbook to learn about everything from camping and first-aid, to housewifery and patriotism. Although the roles of women have changed over the years, the importance of the handbook has not.   Complete with photographs and diagrams, this centennial edition serves as a reference for life in the times of the great-, great-great-, or even great-great-great-grandmothers of today's Scouts.

The first personality assessment book of its kind, this fun and innovative classic from 1927 helped set the standard for interactive gamebooks. 

Innovative co-authors Mary Alden Hopkins and Doris Webster helped establish our enduring fascination with self-improvement by cleverly formulating a personality test that employs the easy-to-use format of a game. Here’s how it works. 

I’ve Got Your Number presents readers with a group of five categories containing five questions each. Your answers to the questions in each category determine your “number”, and your number reveals insights into your personality gleaned directly from your responses. A wide range of categories provide a well-rounded accounting of your personal qualities.  

What attributes should you look for in your ideal romantic partner? How do you best thrive at work? What traits might be holding you back? These topics, and so many more, are addressed within the pages of this quality facsimile edition of the original book. 

This fun and useful framework for self-analysis has delighted readers for decades and set the stage for others to come. Before there was Myers-Brigges, there was Hopkins and Webster. Indeed, nearly one hundred years later, the personality assessment presented in I’ve Got Your Number proves that while times change, our quest for self-knowledge remains constant. 

The 1917 book purportedly dictated from beyond the grave by Mark Twain.

Was Jap Herron the work of Mark Twain or a scam that capitalized on the heightened belief in the paranormal during the early 20th century? We invite everyone to read and decide for themselves... or let the Ouija board decide.

Several years after Mark Twain’s death in 1910, Emily Grant Hutchings claimed that Twain dictated this novel from the beyond, letter by letter, over a Ouija board. She went on to publish it with Mitchell Kennerley in 1917. When the Twain estate discovered the book, they took Hutchings to court, demanding that she either declare herself a fraud or surrender all profits and rights to the estate. The lawsuit was dropped when Hutchings agreed to cease publication and destroy the remaining unsold books—but she never retracted her claims. 

Set in the antebellum South, Jap Herron’s title character (Jasper James Herron) rises out of poverty to become a central figure in his small Missouri town. In a lengthy introduction, Hutchings recounts unidentified spirits meddling with the story, apparitions sent by Twain to haunt the medium’s dreams, and insights into Twain’s postmortem personality.

The McGuffey Readers are among the best known schoolbooks in the history of American education, having sold more than 120 million copies since the time of their first publication in 1836.

The tried and true McGuffey's First Eclectic Reader develops basic reading comprehension skills for children as young as three all the way to adults learning to read. Using stories, word lists, phonics charts, and 19th-century illustrations, it is a timeless teaching tool. This is the revised 1879 edition. 

An exquisite collection of sketches of original jewelry by Tiffany Studios designer Meta Overbeck.

A facsimile edition of artist Meta Overbeck’s notebook of Tiffany & Co jewelry designs, along with a fascinating introductory essay about the significance of the book.

This archival treasure contains exquisite gemstone compositions that were a source of designs for Louis Comfort Tiffany’s increasingly well-known company in the early twentieth century.

Meta Overbeck (1879-1956) was an artist and longtime head of the enamel and jewelry department at Tiffany & Co. Throughout her time at Tiffany, Overbeck built her design book, a carefully assembled, thirty-six-page tour de force. She rendered her jewelry designs in gouache, watercolor, ink, and pencil before adding her meticulous annotations and piecing together the drawings onto kraft paper.

Overbeck’s niece donated her aunt’s sketchbook to the Morse Museum in 1978, where it is housed as a permanent exhibit. Both the exhibit and this facsimile reproduction ensure that Meta Overbeck’s remarkable talent and her vital contributions to the Tiffany legacy reach as wide an audience as possible.

A Treatise on the Power of Optimism

Rendered deaf and blind by scarlet fever at the age of a year and a half, Helen Keller— with the help of Anne Sullivan, other teachers, and her own determination— learned to read, write, and speak several languages. Keller became an advocate for people with disabilities and fought for human rights her entire life. In 1903, while attending Radcliffe College— she was the first deaf blind person to earn a Bachelor of Arts degree— she wrote Optimism Within. This short work is part of Applewood’s American Roots series, tactile mementos of American passions by some America’s most famous writers and thinkers.

Originally published in 1895, this beautifully illustrated reference book will help you identify 30 common mushrooms and differentiate among edible and poisonous varieties.

Also included are tasty recipes meant to showcase the earthy flavors and range of textures of edible mushrooms. A treat for mushroom hunters and/or lovers of antiquated books.

A richly illustrated and beloved children’s book about the world travels of Owney, the canine mascot of the United States Postal Service from 1888-1897, originally published in 1935.

With charming illustrations on every page and sweet, simple prose, Owney the Postal Dog tells the heartwarming true story of a homeless puppy who became the most well-traveled dog in the world.

Owney, a friendly terrier mix, snuck into the Albany, New York Post Office in 1888, and the postmen decided to keep him. One day Owney hopped into the mail car of a train bound for New York City. After returning home safe and sound, Owney soon set off on longer railroad journeys to Washington, D.C., Chicago, St. Louis, Salt Lake City, San Francisco, and Mexico. Everywhere he went, mail clerks hung tags and badges on his collar.

In 1895 Owney embarked on his biggest adventure yet: a steamship trip around the world. Owney wore a tag that read:

To all who may meet this dog: Owney is his name. He is the pet of 100,000 postal clerks in the United States of America. He starts today, August 19, 1895, for a trip around the world. Treat him kindly and speed him on his journey across the ocean and land, to Yokohama, Hong Kong, and New York. From New York send him overland to Tacoma by fast mail.

Originally published in 1935, Owney’s story continues to delight children with its timelessly fascinating subjects of transportation, world travel, and a lovable dog. This book is also perfect for anyone interested in the rich history of the Railway Post Office and the United States Postal Service, both of which Owney served during his lifetime.

Amaze your friends with timeless magic tricks!

Originally published in 1838, Parlour Magic contains over 350 party tricks that will impress even the most skeptical of audiences. These memorable experiments require only household items, scientific principles, and wit. Using this book, you will be able to:

• Shatter bulletproof glass with a few grains of sand
• Change the color of a rose with a match
• Create visible sparks with a friendly cat
• Transform oil and water into soap with a drop of ammonia
• And much more!

These parlor tricks are the foundation of modern illusion magic for good reason—they are simply astounding. With Parlour Magic, you can continue the 200-year tradition!

Originally published in 1896, bestselling author and naturalist Frances Theodora Parsons  wanted to create a children's reading book designed to help children develop their reading skills while learning all about plants and developing a lifelong interest in nature.  Full of intricate sketches and illustrations and designed to follow a plant's life throughout a child's school year, this children's botany guide is full of interesting details told in a sweet and friendly narration. Considered one of best children's books of its day, this guide will delight children, adults, and botanical enthusiasts alike.

Notable Quotations from Barack Obama

This pocket-sized hardcover book contains dozens of quotations on life, government, politics, culture and more from America’s forty-fourth president, Barack Obama. 

"Change will not come if we wait for some other person or if we wait for some other time. We are the ones we've been waiting for. We are the change that we seek." - Barack Obama, Speech to Supporters, February, 5, 2008.

An impassioned poem with Buddhist imagery and messages of environmentalism, social justice, and enlightenment.

Pulitzer Prize-winning American poet Gary Snyder composed Smokey the Bear Sutra” one spring night in 1969 at a Sierra Club conference. Smokey the Bear is not the U.S. Forest Service’s Smokey Bear, the latter being a highly recognized advertising symbol protected by Federal law. Rather, the imagery of this Smokey comes from Buddhism; according to Snyder, Smokey the Bear Sutra is a dharma protector, modeled after Fugo, the Japanese patron of ascetics and yogis. The message of the Sutra is that we as beings are responsible to protect all other life down to the smallest forms— do no harm, protect our collective selves, and honor the great impermanence.

This short work is part of Applewood's American Roots series, tactile mementos of American passions by some of America's most famous writers.

Ghosts are everywhere… if you know how to look.

Originally published in 1864, Spectropia is a science-based, time-honored guide to seeing ghosts, ghouls, spirits, skeletons, and witches—no graveyard loitering necessary.

Simply stare at the sixteen color plates inside this book for twenty seconds and you will see colorful spooky specters, life-sized or colossal. Whether a true believer or a skeptic, anyone can experience the paranormal with Spectropia.

First published in 1824, Tales of a Traveller included some of Washington Irving's most Gothic stories, set throughout Europe rather than in the familiar haunted precincts of the Hudson River Valley.

Years before Edgar Allen Poe began his literary career, Irving was already in the business of scaring readers silly. Read them... if you dare!

Discover one of the most influential textbooks of all time, considered the third-best selling book of all time in America and the most cherished guide to spelling in American history.

With its distinctive blue cover, it earned the nickname the blue-backed speller and was used over the span of nearly a century. This lovingly reproduced hardback is an exact reproduction of Noah Webster's 1824 edition of the American Spelling Book. An essential gift for any history or language lover, this guide remains an inspiration for new generations of spellers today.

Puzzle your way across Route 66 from Illinois to California or California to Illinois!

Travel the Mother Road through this 150-puzzle puzzle book in the best-selling Great American Road Trip series. Start in Chicago (or work backwards) through Illinois, Missouri, Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, and California, ending at Santa Monica Pier. The word finds and other puzzles for all the iconic sites along the way will be sure to entertain, educate and whet your appetite for a real or armchair journey across America's Main Street.

Puzzle your way through the Golden State

Discover the Great State of California through this 150-puzzle puzzle book in the best-selling Great American Road Trip series. Eureka! You've found it. From Avenue of the Giants to Zzyzx Road & Mineral Springs in Baker, the word finds and other puzzles will be sure to entertain, educate and whet your appetite for a real or armchair journey through the Golden State.

Derived from a patriotic Grammy-nominated spoken word album recorded by The Duke in 1973.

Now, in The People, we can join Little Duke on his journey through this great land and learn about true American values of love, freedom, compassion, honesty, family, unity, hope, liberty & justice, honor and peace.

These streets of the mountain are not highways but byways well-travelled by water and animals and other mountain dwellers.

Mary Austin's prose evokes the glory, power, and spirituality of nature. Streets of the Mountain is excerpted from Austin’s Land of Little Rain (1903), an essay collection about the Californian landscape.

“All mountain streets have streams to thread them, or deep grooves where a stream might run. You would do well to avoid that range uncomforted by singing floods. You will find it forsaken of most things but beauty and madness and death and God. Many such lie east and north away from the mid Sierras, and quicken the imagination with the sense of purposes not revealed, but the ordinary traveler brings nothing away from them but an intolerable thirst.”