Syria and Palestine, pp. 1-11

Reynard the fox, pp. 12-16

A tour in Switzerland, pp. 17-28

Henry Clay Work and Henry Clay Work, Come home, father: little Mary's song, pp. 28-29

Thomas Campbell, The soldier's dream, pp. 29-30

The overland route, pp. 30-36

China and the Chinese, pp. 37-47

Underground life: or, mines and miners, pp. 47-55

The Pilgrim's progress, pp. 55-61

The holy war, pp. 61-67

Life and travels of St Paul, pp. 68-74

The book of Martyrs: by John Foxe, pp. 74-86

Natural phenomena, pp. 87-100

Henry Glassford Bell, Mary, Queen of Scots, pp. 101-106

Robert Browning, The Pied Piper of Hamelin, pp. 107-109

William B. Fowle, Vat you please, pp. 110-112

Uncle John, Jack and his 'hard lump', p. 113

Thomas Ingoldsby, The jackdaw of Rheims, pp. 113-114

The town pump, p. 114

Frank W. Green and Alfred Lee, Mrs Somebody swallowed a fly, p. 114

Scenes from the life of Martin Luther, pp. 115-120

Scripture customs and manners, pp. 120-125

Views of the Nile: from Alexandria to the Second Cataract, pp. 125-131

Undine, pp. 132-139

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, Faust, pp. 140-147

The greatest plague of life: or a lady in search of a good servant, pp. 148-159

Dr Lees, The human stomach: in health, and under alcoholic excitement and disease, p. 160

Albert Smith, Jack Holyday: a story for juveniles, pp. 161-169

English cathedrals, pp. 170-178

Robert Burns, The cotter's Saturday night, pp. 179-183

Ireland, pp. 184-191

Walter B. Woodbury, Lecture on Java, pp. 192-199

A tour in North Wales, pp. 200-211

Rome: the capital of the Caesars and the Popes; its ancient and modern buildings; its people and their rulers, pp. 212-221

Walter Scott, Kenilworth, pp. 222-229

The inverted world, pp. 230-231

The unlucky present, pp. 231-233

Peter Pindar, The pilgrims and the peas, pp. 233-234

Charles Dickens, Christmas carol, pp. 235-250

Robert Southey, The well of St. Keyne, pp. 251-252

The tiger and tub, pp. 252-255

Mischief and complacency, pp. 255-257

Robert Burns, Address to the toothache, p. 258

The legend of the wandering Jew, pp. 259-260

The vision of Hell: by Dante Alighieri, pp. 260-263

The little town of Weinsburgh, pp. 263-264

Robert Southey, Mary, the maid of the inn, pp. 265-267

Johnny Sands, pp. 267-268

Robinson Crusoe, pp. 268-271

Thomas Haynes Bayley and Henry Bishop, The mistletoe bough, p. 272

The adventures of Baron Munchausen, pp. 273-275

The fables of La Fontaine, pp. 275-280

Aesop's fables, pp. 281-282

Experiments: that may be performed in the glass trough, and shewn on the screen by means of the lantern, pp. 283-284

Friedrich Schiller (trans. Edgar A. Bowring), Pegasus in harness, pp. 285-286

Mother Tabbyskins, p. 287

The miller and the ass, p. 288

continued by: Lantern readings original and selected: vol. II (Birmingham: Alfred Pumphrey, n.d.)

republished as: Lantern readings original and selected: volume I (5th edition) (Birmingham: Alfred Pumphrey, c.1874)