“Less popular” as in: not Pride and Prejudice or anything by Dumas.
I was looking at my stats on Goodreads and discovered that it’s been seven years since I read Eugene Onegin by Pushkin. Since then I’ve read some books written in the late 19th century, but nothing before 1850.
I definitely recommend Pushkin. He wrote poetry but it’s very accessible.
This past September, I finished Forts and Forays: A Dragoon in New Mexico, 1850-1856 by Dr. James A. Bennett. As stated in the book’s title, it was written between 1850 and 1856; however, this book wasn’t published until 1948. I enjoyed it.