The Silly Syclopedia

In Noah Lott’s dictionary, an automobile is a “horseless idea” that sends people fast and their money faster—and even the alphabet’s second letter gets a dressing-down.

Published in 1905, George V. Hobart’s comic encyclopedia pretends to explain the world with the solemn authority of a reference book and the accuracy of a tall tale. Under the name Noah Lott, Hobart turns everyday words, social habits and grand inventions into punchlines: ambition is a disease laziness can cure, while a flat is a “people coop” with a landlord. The entries tumble from mock etymologies to absurd anecdotes, each one cheerfully swerving away from the truth. But if every definition is inaccurate, which one comes closest to explaining life?

With centuries of literature, it's inevitable that some will fall through the cracks. We hunt down public domain works and restore them so they're not lost to the world.

Who are we? We're Cairn Press. Our background is in design, publishing, typography, and technology. These skills fuel our mission to create the highest quality Public Domain eBooks available online, at an affordable price. We give them the treatment they deserve; our proprietary process restores books for a better overall user experience in design, readability, and e-reader compatibility.