The list of books issued to the convicts is of particular interest in not just including Pilgrim's Progress and other religious classics, encyclopedias of knowledge and works on farming and domestic economy, but also rather inapposite accounts of foreign travel such as 'Rambles in Iceland', 'Rambles in Norway' 'Sketches in the Alps', and even works by Byron. 'Uncle Tom's Cabin' is among the most frequently borrowed.