Museum of Wonders, or Curiosities of the World

A cabinet of curiosities in book form, 1890: monsters of the ancient world, wild animals, queer wanderers in the vasty deep, famous inventions and sublime scenery — assembled to astonish the young and, the preface admits, their elders too.

Browse the Museum

Every one of the 466 pages, sorted by who — or what — they were.

Beasts of the Land

67 pages

Birds & Their Ways

40 pages

Wonders of the Deep

37 pages

Insects & Small Life

9 pages

Monsters of the Ancient World

1 page

Trees, Plants & Flowers

16 pages

Sublime Scenery

23 pages

Peoples & Their Customs

29 pages

Inventions & Great Works

23 pages

Portraits & Lives

6 pages

More Curiosities

215 pages

Rights & ReuseThe complete text of Museum of Wonders (1900) is in the public domain in the United States — like all works published before 1928 — and is free to read, download, quote, teach from, and reuse. This digital edition (its transcription, restored images, and site design) is © 2026 PhotoOpAI, and any editorial commentary we add is clearly marked as ours; the underlying public-domain text carries no such restriction.