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› Find signed collectible books: 'Alfred Lord Tennyson: Selected Poems'
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› Find signed collectible books: 'Armadale'
An innovative novel featuring an astonishingly wicked female villain, Wilkie Collins' "Armadale" was regarded by T.S. Eliot as 'the best of [his] romances'. This "Penguin Classics" edition is edited with an introduction and notes by John Sutherland. When the elderly Allan Armadale makes a terrible confession on his death-bed, he has little idea of the repercussions to come, for the secret he reveals involves the mysterious Lydia Gwilt: flame-haired temptress, bigamist, laudanum addict and husband-poisoner. Her malicious intrigues fuel the plot of this gripping melodrama: a tale of confused identities, inherited curses, romantic rivalries, espionage, money - and murder. The character of Lydia Gwilt horrified contemporary critics, with one reviewer describing her as 'One of the most hardened female villains whose devices and desires have ever blackened fiction'. She remains among the most enigmatic and fascinating women in nineteenth-century literature and the dark heart of this most sensational of Victorian 'sensation novels'. John Sutherland's introduction illustrated how Wilkie Collins drew on scandalous newspaper headlines and on new technology particularly the penny post and the telegraph - to lend extra pace and veracity to his tale. This edition also contains notes, further reading and an appendix on stage dramatisations of "Armadale". Wilkie Collins (1824-1889) was born in London in 1824, the eldest son of the landscape painter William Collins. In 1846 he was entered to read for the bar at Lincoln's Inn, where he gained the knowledge that was to give him much of the material for his writing. From the early 1850s he was a friend of Charles Dickens, who produced and acted in two melodramas written by Collins, "The Lighthouse" and "The Frozen Deep". Of his novels, Collins is best remembered for "The Woman in White" (1859), "No Name" (1862), "Armadale" (1866) and "The Moonstone" (1868). If you enjoyed "Armadale", you might like Collins' "No Name", also available in "Penguin Classics". [via]
› Find signed collectible books: 'The Borrowers'
Anyone who has ever entertained the notion of "little people" living furtively among us will adore this artfully spun classic. The Borrowers--a Carnegie Medal winner, a Lewis Carroll Shelf Award book, and an ALA Distinguished Book--has stolen the hearts of thousands of readers since its 1953 publication. Mary Norton (1903-1993) creates a make-believe world in which tiny people live hidden from humankind beneath the floorboards of a quiet country house in England.
Pod, Homily, and daughter Arrietty of the diminutive Clock family outfit their subterranean quarters with the tidbits and trinkets they've "borrowed" from "human beans," employing matchboxes for storage and postage stamps for paintings. Readers will delight in the resourceful way the Borrowers recycle household objects. For example, "Homily had made her a small pair of Turkish bloomers from two glove fingers for 'knocking about in the mornings.'"
The persistent pilfering goes undetected until a boy (with a ferret!) comes to live in the country house. Curiosity drives Arrietty to commit the worst mistake a Borrower can make: she allows herself to be seen. This engaging, sometimes hair-raisingly suspenseful adventure is recounted in the kind, eloquent voice of narrator Mrs. May, whose brother might--just might--have seen an actual Borrower in the country house many years ago. (Ages 9 to 12) [via]
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› Find signed collectible books: 'Borrowers Afield'
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› Find signed collectible books: 'Captains Courageous'
› Find signed collectible books: 'Cecilia, or Memoirs of an Heiress'
First published in 1782, this novel interweaves comedy, humanity and social analysis. In its satirical picture of the heroine's dismaying encounter with the gilded fashionable world, while also enjoying the attractions of an unusual love story, it caused controversy in its time. Cecilia is an "heiress" who can keep her estate if her husband will consent to take her surname. In playing upon the issue of the name, Burney makes us see the high cost of the patrilinear and the patriarchal. This edition presents the novel as it first appeared in 1782, while indicating changes Burney made to later editions. An introduction, bibliography and notes are provided, as well as several appendices. [via]
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› Find signed collectible books: 'The Charioteer: A Novel'
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› Find signed collectible books: 'The Children of Green Knowe: Library Edition'
This is not an easy book, and therein lies its charm. L.M. Boston's classic is a sophisticated mood piece disguised as a children's ghost story. As young Toseland goes to live with his grandmother in the family's ancestral home, the reader is plunged immediately into the world of Green Knowe. Like Toseland, who actually rows up to his new home in the midst of a flood, we have a hard time finding our bearings. Toseland discovers a funny kind of grandmother awaiting him--one who speaks elliptically of the children and animals she keeps around the house: they might be memories, they might be ghosts. It's never quite clear where real life leaves off and magic begins. Toseland admires a deer: "A deer seems more magic than a horse." His grandmother is quick to respond: "Very beautiful fairy-tale magic, but a horse that thinks the same thoughts that you do is like strong magic wine, a love philtre for boys."
With this meshing of the magical and the real, Boston evokes a childlike world of wonder. She compounds the effect by combining gorgeous images and eerily evocative writing. Toseland goes out on a snowy morning: "In front of him, the world was an unbroken dazzling cloud of crystal stars, except for the moat, which looked like a strip of night that had somehow sinned and had no stars in it." The loosely plotted story is given more resonance still through liberal use of biblical imagery and Anglo-Saxon mythology. For those willing to suspend their disbelief and read carefully, the world of Green Knowe offers a wondrous escape. --Claire Dederer [via]
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› Find signed collectible books: 'Coleridge Poetical Works'
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› Find signed collectible books: 'A Collection of Essays'
Imagine any of today's writers of "creative nonfiction" dispatching a rogue elephant before an audience of several thousand. Now, imagine the essay that would result. Can we say "narcissism"? As part of the Imperial Police in Burma, George Orwell actually found himself aiming the gun, and his record--first published in 1936--comprises eight of the highest voltage pages of English prose you'll ever read. In "Shooting an Elephant," Orwell illumines the shoddy recesses of his own character, illustrates the morally corrupting nature of imperialism, and indicts you, the reader, in the creature's death, a process so vividly reported it's likely to show up in your nightmares ever after. "The owner was furious, but he was only an Indian and could do nothing.... Among the Europeans opinion was divided. The older men said I was right, the younger men said it was a damn shame to shoot an elephant for killing a coolie, because an elephant was worth much more than any damn Coringhee coolie."
This essay alone would be worth the cover price, and the dozen other pieces collected here prove that, given the right thinker/writer, today's journalism actually can become tomorrow's literature. "The Art of Donald McGill," ostensibly an appreciation of the jokey, vaguely obscene illustrated postcards beloved of the working classes, uses the lens of popular culture to examine the battle lines and rules of engagement in the war of the sexes, circa 1941. "Politics and the English Language" is a prose working-out of Orwell's perceptions about the slippery relationship of word and thought that becomes a key premise of 1984. "Looking Back on the Spanish War" is as clear-eyed a veteran's memoir of the nature of war as you're likely to find, and Orwell's long ruminations on the wildly popular "good bad" writers Charles Dickens and Rudyard Kipling showcase his singular virtues--searing honesty and independent thinking. From English boarding schools to Gandhi's character to an early appreciation of Henry Miller's Tropic of Cancer, these pieces give an idiosyncratic tour of the first half of the passing century in the company of an articulate and engaged guide. Don't let the idea that Orwell is an "important" writer put you off reading him. He's really too good, and too human, to miss. --Joyce Thompson [via]
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› Find signed collectible books: 'Domestic Manners of the Americans'
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› Find signed collectible books: 'Domestic Manners of the Americans'
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› Find signed collectible books: 'The Duke's Children'
Plantagenet Palliser, the Duke of Omnium and former Prime Minister of England, is widowed and wracked by grief. Struggling to adapt to life without his beloved Lady Glencora, he works hard to guide and support his three adult children. Palliser soon discovers, however, that his own plans for them are very different from their desires. Sent down from university in disgrace, his two sons quickly begin to run up gambling debts. His only daughter, meanwhile, longs passionately to marry the poor son of a county squire against her father's will. But while the Duke's dearest wishes for the three are thwarted one by one, he ultimately comes to understand that parents can learn from their own children. The final volume in the Palliser novels, "The Duke's Children" (1880) is a compelling exploration of wealth, pride and ultimately the strength of love. [via]
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› Find signed collectible books: 'East Lynne'
When the aristocratic Lady Isabel abandons her husband and children for her wicked seducer, more is at stake than moral retribution. Ellen Wood played upon the anxieties of the Victorian middle classes who feared a breakdown of the social order as divorce became more readily available and promiscuity threatened the sanctity of the family. In her novel the simple act of hiring a governess raises the spectres of murder, disguise, and adultery. Her sensation novel was devoured by readers from the Prince of Wales to Joseph Conrad and continued to fascinate theatre-goers and cinema audiences well into the next century.
This edition returns for the first time to the racy, slang-ridden narrative of the first edition, rather than the subsequent stylistically 'improved' versions hitherto reproduced by modern editors. [via]
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› Find signed collectible books: 'Essays'
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› Find signed collectible books: 'A Fairly Honourable Defeat'
In a dark comedy of errors, Iris Murdoch portrays the mischief wrought by Julius, a cynical intellectual who decides to demonstrate through a Machiavellian experiment how easily loving couples, caring friends, and devoted siblings can betray their loyalties. As puppet master, Julius artfully plays on the human tendency to embrace drama and intrigue and to prefer the distraction of confrontations to the difficult effort of communicating openly and honestly. [via]
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› Find signed collectible books: 'The Fox / The Captain's Doll / The Ladybird'
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› Find signed collectible books: 'The Good Apprentice'
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› Find signed collectible books: 'Henry IV. Part 2'
Written in 1598, hard on the heels of the massive popular success of Henry IV Part One, Henry IV Part Two takes up where the first part finished, and completes Shakespeare's portrayal of the troubled reign of Henry IV. Rebellion has apparently been quelled, but dissension still permeates the country, and Henry is disillusioned, sick and dying. After the pace and comedy of Part One., Part Two is a much more subdued and gloomy affair. The tone is set by the early appearance of Falstaff, who relishes the possibilities of easy picking in the face of more civil unrest with his sinister quip that "I will turn diseases to commodity".
The drama focuses on Henry IV's difficult relationship with his son Prince Hal, and the latter's gradual emergence as a charismatic sovereign. In the process he sheds his image as a prodigal wastrel dramatised in the first half of Part One, assuming the title of King Henry V in the closing scenes of Part Two. Perhaps the most poignant moment of the whole play remains Henry's cold-blooded rejection of Falstaff, his surrogate father for much of Part One. "I know thee not, old man" he tells the crushed Falstaff as he assumes the royal crown, preparing the audience for the type of monarch they will see in Shakeseare's subsequent dramatisation of English history, Henry V. --Jerry Brotton [via]
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› Find signed collectible books: 'Hester'
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› Find signed collectible books: 'King Arthur and His Knights of the Round Table'
This work is based on "Morte d' Arthur" written by Sir Thomas Malory. This story, which has so deeply impressed itself upon the hearts and minds of men, centers on the shadowy but heroic figure of Arthur, king of the Britons in the 5th or 6th century. It has flowed over time by being told by various authors, and on this current it carried the elements of all the influences and ideals that were gradually determining the nature and standards of the English-speaking world. Handsomely illustrated. [via]
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› Find signed collectible books: 'King Henry IV'
This new edition of one of Shakespeare's greatest history plays offers a helpful Introduction to the play's structure, language, and performance history, and notes that provide an illuminating commentary on details of the text. [via]
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› Find signed collectible books: 'The Law and the Lady'
Probably the first full-length novel with a woman detective as its heroine, The Law and the Lady (1875) is a fascinating example of Collins' later fiction. Valeria Valerie Woodville's first act as a married woman is to sign her name incorrectly in the marriage register; this slip is followed by a gradual disclosure of secrets about her husband's earlier life, each of which leads to another set of questions and enigmas. Developing many of the techniques at work in The Moonstone in bizarre and unexpected ways, and employing both Gothic and fantastic elements, The Law and the Lady adds a significant dimension to the history of the detective novel. [via]
› Find signed collectible books: 'Man and Superman'
How tantalizing to hear Ralph Fiennes (The English Patient, Schindler's List) but not be able to see him! And hear him one does in his role as Jack Tanner, the antihero of Shaw's 1905 classic drama Man and Superman. Fiennes is a veritable mouthpiece--and a frequently sarcastic one at that--for the burning issues on Shaw's philosophical and social laundry list: the state of the English working class, the arms race, women's rights, unwed mothers, the evils of industry and capitalism, and English morality in general. The seriousness of the discussions is tempered by delightful Shavian wit ("There are two tragedies in life. One is to lose your heart's desire. The other is to gain it."), which prevents the dialogue from collapsing under its own weight, although it does teeter at times. The four-act play, directed by the esteemed Peter Hall for BBC Radio, begins in the English countryside and ends in the mountains of Spain after a curious detour to Hell, where, in act 3, the famous dream sequence unfolds and the main characters take on such roles as Don Juan and the Devil to further hash out the meaning of existence, the definition of life force, and the power of the female sex. This is a spirited production of Shaw's imperfect but intellectually challenging work. (Running time: 225 min; four cassettes) [via]
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› Find signed collectible books: 'Man and Superman: A Comedy and a Philosophy'
How tantalizing to hear Ralph Fiennes (The English Patient, Schindler's List) but not be able to see him! And hear him one does in his role as Jack Tanner, the antihero of Shaw's 1905 classic drama Man and Superman. Fiennes is a veritable mouthpiece--and a frequently sarcastic one at that--for the burning issues on Shaw's philosophical and social laundry list: the state of the English working class, the arms race, women's rights, unwed mothers, the evils of industry and capitalism, and English morality in general. The seriousness of the discussions is tempered by delightful Shavian wit ("There are two tragedies in life. One is to lose your heart's desire. The other is to gain it."), which prevents the dialogue from collapsing under its own weight, although it does teeter at times. The four-act play, directed by the esteemed Peter Hall for BBC Radio, begins in the English countryside and ends in the mountains of Spain after a curious detour to Hell, where, in act 3, the famous dream sequence unfolds and the main characters take on such roles as Don Juan and the Devil to further hash out the meaning of existence, the definition of life force, and the power of the female sex. This is a spirited production of Shaw's imperfect but intellectually challenging work. (Running time: 225 min; four cassettes) [via]
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› Find signed collectible books: 'Mariel of Redwall'
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› Find signed collectible books: 'Martin the Warrior'
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› Find signed collectible books: 'Mattimeo'
Preparations for the feast for the Summer of the Golden Rain are underway at Redwall Abbey, and young Mattimeo's mother sets him to work with the other inhabitants. His father, Matthius, is the guardian of Redwall Abbey and it is this fact that puts the young Mattimeo in danger, as the evil Slagar the Fox plots to kidnap him in a bid to shake the very foundations of the Abbey and its inhabitants.
Rip-roaring adventure at its very best, Mattimeo is one of the exquisitely executed and totally bewitching tales in the best-selling Redwall series. Brian Jacques, with his masterly use of language and enviable talent for descriptive prose that transports the reader to the very heart of Redwall, magically weaves an epic tale breathtaking in proportion and design. Utterly addictive, Mattimeo is packed with so much color, passion, fury, and love that it will leave readers desperate for more. --Susan Harrison [via]
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› Find signed collectible books: 'The Memoirs of Barry Lyndon, Esq.'
First published in 1844, this is Thackeray's earliest substantial work of fiction and perhaps his most original. The text is that of Saintbury's 1908 Oxford edition which incorporates Thackeray's revisions. [via]
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› Find signed collectible books: 'The Millstone'
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› Find signed collectible books: 'Miss Marjoribanks'
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› Find signed collectible books: 'Moments of Being'
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› Find signed collectible books: 'Moments of Being: Unpublished Autobiographical Writings'
Virginia Woolf's only autobiographical writing is to be found in this collection of five unpublished pieces. Despite Quentin Bell's comprehensive biography and numerous recent studies of her, the author's own account of her early life holds new fascination---for its unexpected detail, the strength of its emotion, and its clear-sighted judgment of Victorian values.
Contents: Editor's Note and Introduction -- Reminiscences -- A Sketch of the Past -- The Memoir Club Contributions: 22 Hyde Park Gate; Old Bloomsbury; [and] Am I a Snob? -- Appendix -- Index. [via]
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› Find signed collectible books: 'Oroonoko'
When Prince Oroonokos passion for the virtuous Imoinda arouses the jealousy of his grandfather, the lovers are cast into slavery and transported from Africa to the colony of Surinam. Oroonokos noble bearing soon wins the respect of his English captors, but his struggle for freedom brings about his destruction. Inspired by Aphra Behns visit to Surinam, Oroonoko reflects the authors romantic views of native peoples as being in the first state of innocence, before man knew how to sin. The novel also reveals Behns ambiguous attitude toward slavery: while she favored it as a means to strengthen Englands power, her powerful and moving work conveys its injustice and brutality.
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› Find signed collectible books: 'Oroonoko, the Rover and Other Works'
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› Find signed collectible books: 'Phineas Redux'
'since the day on which he had accepted place and retired from London, his very soul had sighed for the lost glories of Westminster and Douning Street'
After the death of his Irish wife, Phineas Finn returns to London and to the House of Commons. But though drawn back apparently irresistibly, he never approaches politics with the zest of earlier days. What Trollope describes, in some of his most powerful writing, is a sad, at times almost sombre, progress towards maturity and self-wisdom.
Although Phineas survives an attempt on his life by the half-crazed and jealous Robert Kennedy, his involvement in this ugly scandal irreversibly damages his reputation. Not even the influential Duchess of Omnium can conjure an appointment for him. His trial for the murder of the hated Mr. Bonteen provides the final disenchantment and, through choice, he never again enters the charmed inner circle of power.
"Phineas Redux" (1874) is the fourth of the six Palliser novels, pubished between 1864 and 1880. As a group they provide us with the most extensive and telling expose' of British life during the period of its greatest prestige. [via]
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› Find signed collectible books: 'Piers Plowman: A New Translation of the B-Text'
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› Find signed collectible books: 'Piers the Ploughman'
The work of an obscure fourteenth-century cleric, Piers the Ploughman is concerned with the largest of all poetic themes, the meaning of man's life in relation to his ultimate destiny. This spiritual allegory is set against a colorful background of teeming medieval life between the 'Tower of Truth' and the 'Dungeon of Falsehood'. With an Introduction, Notes and a book-by-book Commentary on the allegory, J.F. Goodridge's modern translation of the poem captures the flavour of Langland's vivid pictures and vernacular expressions.
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› Find signed collectible books: 'Poetical Works'
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› Find signed collectible books: 'The Portrait of a Lady'
When Isabel Archer, a young American with looks, wit, and imagination, arrives in Europe, she sees the world as "a place of brightness," full of possibility. Rejecting suitors who offer her wealth and devotion, she follows her own path and finds it leads to a dark and constricted future. The Portrait of a Lady is the masterpiece of James's middle period, and Isabel is his most engaging central character. This edition provides a new introduction and notes, and includes Henry James's own Preface. [via]
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› Find signed collectible books: 'Precious Bane'
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› Find signed collectible books: 'Robert Browning'
A selection of Browning's poetry containing complete poems including examples from the early "Dramatic Lyrics" and "Dramatic Romances and Lyrics", "Men and Women", "Dramatis Personae" and from later less familiar works. [via]
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› Find signed collectible books: 'The Rover and Other Plays'
Aphra Behn (1640-89) was both successful and controversial in her own lifetime; her achievements are now recognized less equivocally and her plays, often revived, demonstrate wit, compassion and remarkable range. This edtion brings together her most important comedies in a single volume: The Rover, her best-known play; The Feigned Courtesans, a lively comedy of intrigue; The Lucky Chance, a comedy with a bitter edge, which takes a satirical look at marriage customs; and the dazzling and popular farce, The Emperor of the Moon. All the plays have been newly edited and are presented with modernized spelling and punctuation. [via]
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› Find signed collectible books: 'The Rover, the Feigned Courtesans, the Lucky Chance, the Emperor of the Moon'
Aphra Behn (1640-89) was both successful and controversial in her own lifetime; her achievements are now recognized less equivocally and her plays, often revived, demonstrate wit, compassion and remarkable range. This edition brings together her most important comedies in a single volume: The Rover, her best-known play; The Feigned Courtesans, a lively comedy of intrigue; The Lucky Chance, a comedy with a bitter edge, which takes a satirical look at marriage customs; and the dazzling and popular farce, The Emperor of the Moon. All the plays have been newly edited and are presented with modernized spelling and punctuation. [via]
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› Find signed collectible books: 'Saint Joan'
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› Find signed collectible books: 'Saint Joan'
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› Find signed collectible books: 'Selected Poems'
A substantial selection of Tennyson's poetry, edited according to the principles of the Penguin English Poets series. This volume concentrates on the period characterized by "Maud"(1855) and "In Memoriam" (1850). [via]
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› Find signed collectible books: 'Selected Poems'
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› Find signed collectible books: 'Selected Poetry'
William Wordsworth (1770-1850) is one of the most important and enduringly popular of all the English poets. His unique relationship with the poet and political activist Samuel Taylor Coleridge, founded in the political and social ferment of 1795, produced a revolution in literature, resulting in the joint volume, Lyrical Ballads (1798-1805)--a landmark in the history of English Romanticism. This selection, chosen from the Oxford Authors critical edition, includes all Wordsworth's finest lyrics, and a large sample of The Prelude (1805), his extraordinary autobiographical poem in blank verse and the first truly great achievement of a new era in English poetry. [via]
› Find signed collectible books: 'Sketches by Boz: Illustrative of Every-day Life and Every-day People'
Sketches is a remarkable achievement, and looks towards Dickens's giant novels in its profusion of characters, its glimpses of surreal modernity and its limitless fund of pathos and comic invention.
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› Find signed collectible books: 'Skin and Other Stories'
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› Find signed collectible books: 'Songs of Innocence and of Experience'
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› Find signed collectible books: 'Tennyson Poems'
Alfred, Lord Tennyson is among the most beloved English poets of all time. This edition of his selected poems includes classics like:
- " The Lady of Shalott"
- " Charge of the Light Brigade"
- " Maud"
- " Morte d'Arthur"
- " Ulysses"
- " The Lotus Eaters"
Elegantly packaged with a ribbon marker, this volume is the perfect addition to any poetry library. [via]
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› Find signed collectible books: 'Thinks'
In Thinks..., David Lodge writes another witty satire on the vagaries and triumphs of contemporary British academic life and achieves a fine balance between multiple points of narrative interest. He gains much momentum from psychologically nuanced romantic intrigue, and also manages to offer intelligent speculation on the state of play in the scientific and philosophical investigations into the nature and workings of human consciousness, without preaching or becoming ponderous.
Thinks... recounts the experiences of Helen Reed, distinguished novelist, who accepts a creative writing teaching gig at the fictional University of Gloucester after the sudden death of her husband. Here she meets Ralph Messenger, scholar, spin doctor, philanderer and head of the illustrious Colt Belling Centre for Cognitive Science. Scientist and novelist spar:
She asks them what they were working on. Jim says robotics, Carl says affective modelling. Kenji says something indistinct that Ralph repeats for her benefit--genetic algorithms. "I can guess what robotics is," says Helen, "but what on earth are the others?"The form of the novel carefully mirrors its intellectual concerns. We are given Ralph's attempts to tape-record his random thoughts; Helen's more introspective diary and the often hilarious writing assignments of Helen's motley crew of students, who attempt literary solutions to the problems Ralph poses Helen. Written with enviable deftness, Thinks... manages to be generous to its characters and serious about the intellectual and ethical questions it poses for itself without losing satiric bite. --Neville Hoad [via]
Carl explains that affective modelling is computer simulation of the way emotions affect human behaviour.
"Like grief?" Helen says, glancing at Ralph.
"Exactly so," he says. "Though Carl is actually working on a program for mother-love."
"I'd like to see it," says Helen.
"I am not able to give a demonstration, I'm afraid," says Carl. "I am rewriting the program."
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› Find signed collectible books: 'The Thirty-Nine Steps: Level 4'
Famous as the basis for several films, including the brilliant 1935 version directed by Alfred Hitchcock, The Thirty-Nine Steps is a classic of early twentieth-century popular literature.
Richard Hannay has just returned to England after years in South Africa and is thoroughly bored with his life in London. But then a murder is committed in his flat, just days after a chance encounter with an American who had told him about an assassination plot that could have dire international consequences. An obvious suspect for the police and an easy target for the killers, Hannay goes on the run in his native Scotland where he will need all his courage and ingenuity to stay one step ahead of his pursuers. [via]
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› Find signed collectible books: 'Trilby'
In the Latin Quarter of Paris, Trilby O'Ferrall - graceful, charming and innocent - is working as an artist's model. Her ingenuous nature makes her the perfect prey for the cruel magnetism of the demonic musician Svengali, under whose spell she falls. Using hypnotic powers Svengali shapes her into a virtuoso singer and soon she becomes Europe's most captivating soprano. But her golden voice, and even her life, will become fatally tied to him. With its thrilling plot and legendary villain, "Trilby" caused a sensation when it appeared in 1894, spawning songs, shoes and, most famously, the Trilby hat. Yet it is also a fascinating portrayal of its times, holding up a mirror to fin de siecle obsessions with sexuality, mesmerism and the occult. [via]
› Find signed collectible books: 'Trilby and Other Plays: Four Plays for Victorian Star Actors'
Trilby and Other Plays is a new selection of English plays that had wide success on both sides of the Atlantic. Each achieved its greatest fame through the talents of a particular star performer. In Buckstone's Jack Sheppard , a spectacular and popular adaptation of Ainsworth's much dramatized novel, the rascal hero was played by the comedienne Mary Keeley. Dion Boucicault's The Corsican Brothers starred Charles Kean as telepathic twins and featured the famous stage-effect of the Corsican-trap. Tom Taylor's Our American Cousin became a star vehicle by default when E. A. Sothern improvised the role of Lord Dundreary to such effect that his performance became the rage on both the British and American stage. That President Lincoln was assassinated watching the play adds an extra macabre dimension to its interest. Finally, Paul Potter's dramatization of the novel Trilby achieved cult status after Herbert Beerbohm Tree built up the sinister Svengali into a mythical force of artistic creativity and evil genius. This book is intended for students from undergraduate level up studying drama, Victorian literature, theatre studies, cultural studies. Also actors and directors. [via]
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› Find signed collectible books: 'Troilus and Criseyde'
Chaucer's masterpiece and one of the greatest narrative poems in English, the story of the lovers Troilus and Criseyde is renowned for its deep humanity and penetrating psychological insight. This is a modern English prose translation intended as an accurate guide to the Middle English original, and a readable translation in its own right. This edition includes an introduction by a major Chaucerean scholar, an index of the names associated with the Trojan War, and an illuminating index of Proverbs. [via]
› Find signed collectible books: 'A Vindication of the Rights of Woman'
The perfect books for the true book lover, Penguin's Great Ideas series features twelve more groundbreaking works by some of history's most prodigious thinkers. Each volume is beautifully packaged with a unique type-driven design that highlights the bookmaker's art. Offering great literature in great packages at great prices, this series is ideal for those readers who want to explore and savor the Great Ideas that have shaped our world.
Mary Wollstonecraft's passionate declaration of female independence shattered the stereotype of docile, decorative womanhood, anticipated a new era of equality and established her as the founder of modern feminism.
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