01
A Guide to Verse and the Stage
A focused group of public-domain works connected by subject, literary setting and recurring questions.
Independent digital catalogue
AARFI Public Domain Literature Library - Classic Public Domain Books
The AARFI Public Domain Literature Library offers a growing collection of 98 public-domain books across four curated categories: verse and stage, world events in context, romance and domestic life, and lives and historical worlds. Explore works by 97 authors, freely available for reading and download without charge or registration.
98 public-domain works97 represented authorsSource-attributed catalogue records
Subject gateways
Explore by Theme
Move through the collection by subject, historical setting and type of source.
02
World Events in Context: Texts & Context
A focused group of public-domain works connected by subject, literary setting and recurring questions.
03
A Guide to Romance & Domestic Life
Texts connected with historical lives, social customs, institutions and the worlds in which people lived.
04
Lives, Customs & Historical Worlds
Texts connected with historical lives, social customs, institutions and the worlds in which people lived.
Literature — Editor’s Selection
A closer look
Collection Spotlight
One work and three nearby readings from the current catalogue.
Selected from the current catalogue
The snow man — Edition Insights
This work offers one entry point into the authors, subjects and source types represented in the current catalogue.
View catalogue recordNewly Catalogued by AARFI
Ludus Coventriæ — A Reader’s Guide
In A Guide...
Tragedies of sex — Background an...
In A Guide...
Lively plays for live people — S...
In A Guide...
At Hotel On-de-Blink — Reading N...
In A Guide...
Nazareth: a morality in one act ...
In A Guide...
The Chinese theater — A Reader’s...
In A Guide...
The Old Miracle Plays of England...
In World E...
Please pass the cream: A comedy ...
In Lives, ...
Routes through the collection
Reading Paths
Four routes into the collection for readers approaching the catalogue with different questions.
Begin with A Guide to Verse and the StageOpen a focused route to works connected with A Guide to Verse and the Stage.Explore World Events in Context: Texts & ContextCompare authors, source types and recurring questions within World Events in Context: Texts & Context.Read through A Guide to Romance & Domestic LifeMove from introductory records to related works in A Guide to Romance & Domestic Life.Browse Lives, Customs & Historical WorldsUse this theme as a starting point for nearby catalogue records in Lives, Customs & Historical Worlds.
Record framework
How This Catalogue Works
How records are presented and connected without altering the represented source texts.
Source connection
Link catalogue pages with the files and references currently available.
Metadata organization
Present visible title, author and edition information for easier discovery.
Collection grouping
Arrange works by recurring subjects, literary settings and historical questions.
Context layer
Describe relationships between records while preserving the wording of source texts.
About these records
Frequently Asked Questions
How the collection is organized, presented and corrected.
It generally means that the represented source text is no longer protected by copyright in the applicable jurisdiction or has been released for public use. Status may vary by country and edition.
A record may include the title, author, category, cover, description, edition information, source references and available reading or download options.
A category reflects a work’s principal subjects, literary setting, source type and relationship to nearby records in the collection.
The catalogue adds navigation, metadata and editorial context. The represented source text retains its wording, edition information and rights status.
Use the contact page and include the work title, page address and the exact attribution, category, metadata or source detail requiring attention.
Catalogue stewardship
David Hawthorne
Senior Catalogue Editor
Maintains catalogue records, records source attribution, organizes metadata, assigns categories, and prepares editorial context for the library's public-domain collection.
