This Top Five Classics edition of Treasure Island includes:

• More than 60 illustrations by N.C. Wyeth and Louis Rhead
• The essay “My First Book” by Robert Louis Stevenson, on the writing of his classic
• A Glossary of nautical terms and historical slang
• A helpful introduction, author bio, and bibliography

Robert Louis Stevenson’s Treasure Island was not the first adventure story of pirates in the Caribbean, but it may as well have been. Since its publication in 1883, it has become the standard—the first and last word on the subject—and it remains an exhilarating, satisfying read for young and old alike to this day.

This edition includes all 16 of N.C. Wyeth’s full-color paintings for the 1911 edition of the book, as well as 44 drawings by Louis Rhead for his 1915 edition. Included as an addendum at the end of the book is the essay, “My First Book: Treasure Island” by Robert Louis Stevenson on the writing of his classic. Also included are a helpful glossary of nautical and historical terms, an introduction, author bio, and bibliography.

The story begins when a strange, crusty old pirate comes to stay with Jim Hawkins’ family at the Admiral Benbow Inn. The map he carries with him will put them all in danger and be the impetus for young Jim’s perilous journey with the wily Long John Silver in search of treasure on the high seas.

This Top Five Classics edition of Robert Louis Stevenson’s The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde includes:

• More than 20 illustrations by Charles Raymond Macauley
• Introduction
• Author bio and bibliography

Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, first published in 1886, has been and remains one of the most well-known works of popular fiction in the English language, having spawned hundreds of dramatic adaptations and inspired countless other works—beginning with the first stage production less than a year after the original book was published. It is also one of the most widely
translated works in English literature.

But if you’ve never read Stevenson’s Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, you might be surprised at just how riveting the tale remains—as well as how different it is from what you’ve come to expect.

HarperCollins is proud to present a range of best-loved, essential classics.

'All human beings, as we meet them, are commingled out of good and evil.'

After taking an elixir created in his laboratory, mild mannered Dr Jekyll is transformed into the cruel and despicable Mr Hyde. Although seemingly harmless at first, things soon descend into chaos and Jekyll quickly realises there is only one way to stop Hyde. Stevenson's quintessential novella of the Victorian era epitomizes the conflict between psychology, science and religious morality, but is fundamentally a triumphant study of the duality of human nature.

Bubbling potions can be bad for your health!  Just ask Dr. Jekyll.  By day, he's a kind doctor.  But by night, he's the merciless kill Mr. Hyde.  And all because of a magic formula.  Will anybody find out the horrible secret of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde?

Both a thrilling page-turner and a moral allegory, The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde depicts the struggle between good and evil, vying for the soul of one man. Robert Louis Stevenson’s classic endures as one of the most engrossing and thought-provoking novels of all time.
 
Included in this special edition is a sneak preview of Daniel Levine’s reimagining, Hyde. Told from the perspective of one of literature’s most misunderstood villains, Hyde introduces new horrors and unsettling twists to this timeless tale – including the possibility that Hyde’s rogue villain could actually be heroic.

The Scottish novelist, poet, essayist and travel writer Robert Louis Stevenson achieved literary celebrity during his lifetime, with the publication of instant classics such as Treasure Island and The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. For the first time in publishing history, this comprehensive eBook presents Stevenson’s complete works, with numerous illustrations, rare texts, informative introductions and the usual Delphi bonus material. (Version 4)

* Beautifully illustrated with images relating to Stevenson’s life and works
* Concise introductions to the novels and other texts
* ALL 16 novels, with individual contents tables
* Rare unfinished novels
* Images of how the books were first published, giving your eReader a taste of the original texts
* Excellent formatting of the texts
* Famous works such as TREASURE ISLAND are fully illustrated
* Rare uncollected short stories, appearing in digital print for the first time
* Special chronological and alphabetical contents tables for the poetry and the short stories
* Easily locate the poems or short stories you want to read
* Includes Stevenson’s letters - spend hours exploring the author’s personal correspondence
* Special criticism section, with essays evaluating Stevenson’s contribution to literature
* Features four biographies - discover Stevenson’s literary life
* Scholarly ordering of texts into chronological order and literary genres
* UPDATED with rare stories, new introductions and structural improvements

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CONTENTS:

The Novels
TREASURE ISLAND
THE BLACK ARROW
PRINCE OTTO
THE STRANGE CASE OF DR. JEKYLL AND MR. HYDE
KIDNAPPED
THE MASTER OF BALLANTRAE
THE WRONG BOX
THE WRECKER
CATRIONA
THE EBB-TIDE
WEIR OF HERMISTON
ST. IVES
HEATHERCAT
THE GREAT NORTH ROAD
THE YOUNG CHEVALIER

The Short Story Collections
NEW ARABIAN NIGHTS
MORE NEW ARABIAN NIGHTS - THE DYNAMITER
THE MERRY MEN AND OTHER TALES AND FABLES
ISLAND NIGHTS’ ENTERTAINMENTS
FABLES
TALES AND FANTASIES
UNCOLLECTED STORIES

The Short Stories
LIST OF SHORT STORIES IN CHRONOLOGICAL ORDER
LIST OF SHORT STORIES IN ALPHABETICAL ORDER

The Plays
THE CHARITY BAZAAR
DEACON BRODIE
BEAU AUSTIN
ADMIRAL GUINEA
MACAIRE

The Poetry Collections
A CHILD’S GARDEN OF VERSES
UNDERWOODS
BALLADS
SONGS OF TRAVEL AND OTHER VERSES
ADDITIONAL POEMS
NEW POEMS AND VARIANT READINGS

The Poems
LIST OF POEMS IN CHRONOLOGICAL ORDER
LIST OF POEMS IN ALPHABETICAL ORDER

The Travel Writing
AN INLAND VOYAGE
TRAVELS WITH A DONKEY IN THE CEVENNES
EDINBURGH: PICTURESQUE NOTES
ESSAYS OF TRAVEL
ACROSS THE PLAINS
THE SILVERADO SQUATTERS
THE OLD AND NEW PACIFIC CAPITALS

The Non-Fiction
VIRGINIBUS PUERISQUE AND OTHER PAPERS
FAMILIAR STUDIES OF MEN AND BOOKS
MEMORIES AND PORTRAITS
MEMOIR OF FLEEMING JENKIN
RECORDS OF A FAMILY OF ENGINEERS
ADDITIONAL MEMORIES AND PORTRAITS
LATER ESSAYS
LAY MORALS AND OTHER PAPERS
PRAYERS WRITTEN FOR FAMILY USE AT VAILIMA
A FOOTNOTE TO HISTORY
IN THE SOUTH SEAS
LETTERS FROM SAMOA
JUVENILIA AND OTHER PAPERS
PIERRE JEAN DE BÉRANGER ARTICLE

The Letters
THE LETTERS OF ROBERT LOUIS STEVENSON
VAILIMA LETTERS

The Biographies
THE LIFE OF ROBERT LOUIS STEVENSON by Sir Graham Balfour
ROBERT LOUIS STEVENSON by Alexander H. Japp
THE LIFE OF ROBERT LOUIS STEVENSON FOR BOYS AND GIRLS by Jacqueline M. Overton
THE LIFE OF MRS. ROBERT LOUIS STEVENSON by Nellie Van De Grift Sanchez

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In September of 1884, Robert Louis Stevenson, then in his mid-thirties, moved with his family to Bournemouth, a resort on the southern coast of England, where in the brief span of 23 months he revised A Child's Garden of Verses and wrote the novels Kidnapped and The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.
An intriguing combination of fantast thriller and moral allegory, The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde depicts the gripping struggle of two opposing personalities — one essentially good, the other evil — for the soul of one man. Its tingling suspense and intelligent and sensitive portrayal of man's dual nature reveals Stevenson as a writer of great skill and originality, whose power to terrify and move us remains, over a century later, undiminished.

This carefully crafted ebook: “The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (Classic Unabridged Edition)” is formatted for your eReader with a functional and detailed table of contents. Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde is the original title of a novella written by the Scottish author Robert Louis Stevenson that was first published in 1886. The work is commonly known today as Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde or simply Jekyll & Hyde. It is about a London lawyer named Gabriel John Utterson, who investigates strange occurrences between his old friend, Dr. Henry Jekyll and the evil Edward Hyde. The work is commonly associated with the rare mental condition often called "split personality" where, within the same body, there exists more than one distinct personality. Robert Louis Stevenson (1850–1894) was a Scottish novelist, poet, essayist, and travel writer. His most famous works are Treasure Island, Kidnapped, and Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde. A literary celebrity during his lifetime, Stevenson now ranks among the 26 most translated authors in the world.

This Prestwick House Literary Touchstone Edition includes a glossary and reader's notes to help the modern reader contend with Stevenson's language and themes.Originally published in 1886, Robert Louis Stevenson's The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde became an immediate sensation with the public, which was thoroughly fascinated by the book's study of guilt, moral responsibility, and horror. Stevenson carefully weaves a detective story with the quest for human perfection gone awry to construct a tale that has haunted readers for more than a century.

'All human beings, as we meet them, are commingled out of good and evil: and Edward Hyde, alone in the ranks of mankind, was pure evil'

Published as a 'shilling shocker', Robert Louis Stevenson's dark psychological fantasy gave birth to the idea of the split personality. The story of respectable Dr Jekyll's strange association with 'damnable young man' Edward Hyde; the hunt through fog-bound London for a killer; and the final revelation of Hyde's true identity is a chilling exploration of humanity's basest capacity for evil.

The Penguin English Library - 100 editions of the best fiction in English, from the eighteenth century and the very first novels to the beginning of the First World War.

The complexity and range of Robert Louis Stevenson’s short fiction reveals his genius perhaps more than any other medium. Here, leading Stevenson scholar Barry Menikoff arranges and introduces the complete selection of Stevenson’s brilliant stories, including the famed masterpiece Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, as well as “The Beach of Falesá” and Stevenson’s previously uncollected stories. Arthur Conan Doyle has written that “[Stevenson’s] short stories are certain to retain their position in English literature. His serious rivals are few indeed.”

This Modern Library Paperback Classics edition includes explanatory notes, a Scots’ Glossary, and a unique appendix dedicated to Stevenson’s influence on the Oxford English Dictionary.


From the Trade Paperback edition.

Seventeen-year-old David Balfour's villainous uncle has him kidnapped in order to steal his inheritance. David escapes only to fall into the dangerous company of rebels who are resisting British redcoats in the Scottish highlands.  

Renowned as the author of such popular adventure stories as Kidnapped and Treasure Island, Robert Louis Stevenson also wrote gripping tales of terror and the supernatural. Stevenson's considerable gifts as a teller of tales shine brightly in this choice collection of three of his best short stories.
The Gothic tale of "The Body Snatcher" concerns a young medical student's dealings with grave robbers who provide corpses to dissect and study — a practice that takes on increasingly sinister dimensions. Swirling seas, dangerous reefs, and inhospitable islanders provide the grim backdrop for a tale of greed, lunacy, and unbridled fear in "The Merry Men," the name given by the inhabitants of Aros to the fearsome breakers that pound their tiny Scottish isle. "The Bottle Imp" — an intricately told tale of love and adventure, avarice and envy, and good and evil — centers on a magical bottle that provides its owner with all he desires, but at a great cost.
This exceptional collection of tales will thrill admirers of the author's craft as well as aficionados of classic horror stories.

Compiled in one book, the essential collection of books about pirates:
Thrilling Narratives of Mutiny, Murder and Piracy
The Madman and the Pirate- R.M. Ballantyne
Blackbeard Or, The Pirate of Roanoke.- B. Barker
The Pirates of Malabar- John Biddulph
Thrilling Adventures by Land and Sea- James O. Brayman
Captain Canot or, Twenty Years of an African Slaver- Brantz Mayer
The Pirate Island- Harry Collingwood
The Life, Adventures & Piracies of the Famous Captain Singleton- Daniel Defoe
The Pirates' Who's Who- Philip Gosse
The Ghost Pirates- William Hope Hodgson
The Ghost Ship, A Mystery of the Sea- John C. Hutcheson
Famous Privateersmen and Adventurers of the Sea- Charles H. L. Johnston
The Pirate of the Mediterranean- W.H.G. Kingston
Captain Scraggs or, The Green-Pea Pirates- Peter B. Kyne
The Pirate- Frederick Marryat
Blackbeard: Buccaneer- Ralph D. Paine
Howard Pyle's Book of Pirates
Treasure Island- Robert Louis Stevenson

Everyone has a dark side.

Dr Jekyll has discovered the ultimate drug. A chemical that can turn him into something else. Suddenly, he can unleash his deepest cruelties in the guise of the sinister Hyde. Transforming himself at will, he roams the streets of fog-bound London as his monstrous alter-ego.

It seems he is master of his fate.

It seems he is in complete control.

But soon he will discover that his double life comes at a hideous price...

Catriona is the sequel to Stevensen's classic, Kidnapped, beginning precisely where the last work left off. David Balfour is back in polite society where he attempts to fight injustices and is caught in the tangled morality of love.

"Kidnapped" is a novel written by R.L.Stevenson in 1886. The story is told in first person by the protagonist. The book is set in Scotland in the years of the civil war, in the mid-1700 's, the historical period in which the company was preparing for the industrial revolution, which would upset the typical lifestyle of the era. David Balfour, after his father's death, decides to go in search of her heritage. Apart from his village Essendean, thanks to help from a pastor to seek his uncle Ebeneezer and claim his name: David Balfour of Shaws. Upon arrival finds Uncle very hostile to welcome him and the House is reduced to ruins. Nevertheless, Ebeneezer will offer food and a place to sleep, but secretly organises the kidnapping, with the complicity of a captain of a slave boat directly to the American plantations...

Robert Louis Stevenson's glorious passport to romance and high adventure.

Here is the story of young David Balfour, whose miserly uncle cheats him out of his inheritance and schemes to have him kidnapped, shanghaied, and sold into slavery. But justice triumphs—after a spirited odyssey that includes a shipwreck, a hazardous journey across Scotland with a daredevil companion, intrigues, narrow escapes, and desperate fighting. Rich in action and characterization, this exhilarating novel was considered by Stevenson to be his finest work of fiction. 

With an Introduction by John Seelye
and an Afterword by Claire Harman


From the Paperback edition.

When young David Balfour is orphaned he discovers some surprising truths about his family. His meeting with his uncle Ebenezer turns out to have disastrous consequences leading to kidnap and imprisonment on board a ship bound for the Carolinas. However, the voyage is full of incident and after violent conflict and a shipwreck, David finds himself in a daredevil chase across the Scottish Highlands in the company of the irrepressible warrior Alan Breck Stewart...

Tor Classics are affordably-priced editions designed to attract the young reader. Original dynamic cover art enthusiastically represents the excitement of each story. All editions are complete and unabridged, and feature Introductions and Afterwords.

This edition of Kidnapped includes a Foreword, Biographical Note, and Afterword by R.L. Fisher.

Young, innocent David Balfour leaves his father's gravesite to claim an inhertitance--and finds himself in a nightmare war for his very life. Betrayed by his own family. Beaten unconscious. Stuffed into the hold of a ship manned by drunken murderers. Doomed to slavery or death.

But then Balfour's captors try to kill a renegade swordsman named Alan Breck--a lethal mistake. With blood-dripping swords, Alan and David battle their way to shore...but not to safety. Breck is a rebel fighting for a cause already lost; and David is falsely charge with assassination.

Wanted by kidnappers, terrorists and an army; trapped in a land of enemies; Alan and David are locked together in a desperate race across and entire nation, toward a slim chance for freedom, safety...

And David Balfour's revenge.

At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.

The work is commonly associated with the rare mental condition often spuriously called "split personality", referred to in psychiatry as dissociative identity disorder, where within the same body there exists more than one distinct personality.[4] In this case, there are two personalities within Dr Jekyll, one apparently good and the other evil; completely opposite levels of morality. The novella's impact is such that it has become a part of the language, with the very phrase "Jekyll and Hyde" coming to mean a person who is vastly different in moral character from one situation to the next

'"One more step, Mr Hands," said I, "and I'll blow your brains out"'

In Treasure Island, a weathered old sailor known as Billy Bones arrives at the inn of young Jim Hawkins's parents - and it is the start of an adventure beyond anything he could have imagined. For when Bones dies mysteriously, Jim stumbles across a map of a mysterious island in his sea chest - where 'X' marks the spot of a stash of buried pirate gold. Setting sail with his friends on the ship Hispaniola to recover the treasure, Jim soon realizes that he's not the only one who knows about the hoard. Suddenly he is thrown into a world of treachery, mutiny, castaways and murder and, at the centre of it all, is the charming but sinister Long John Silver, who will stop at nothing to grab his share of the loot... The Ebb-Tide, a short novel published the year of Stevenson's death, is also a rollicking seafaring adventure, narrating the voyage of a stolen ship whilst exploring such themes as imperialism, violence, dishonesty, Christianity and corruption.

The Penguin English Library - 100 editions of the best fiction in English, from the eighteenth century and the very first novels to the beginning of the First World War.

Dr. Jekyll, a "large, well-made, smooth-faced man of fifty," occasionally feels he is battling between the good and evil within himself, thus leading to the struggle between his dual personalities of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. He has spent a great part of his life trying to repress evil urges that were not fitting for a man of his stature. He creates a potion in an attempt to mask this hidden evil within his personality. However, in doing so, Jekyll is transformed into the smaller, younger, cruel, remorseless, evil Edward Hyde. Dr. Jekyll has many friends and has a friendly personality, but as Mr. Hyde, he becomes mysterious and violent.

Robert Louis Stevenson wrote The Silverado Squatters as the travel memoir of his honeymoon in California's Napa Valley in 1880. He and his new wife Fanny Vandegrift were unable to pay 10 dollars a week for a local hotel room, so they spent their unconventional honeymoon living in a bunkhouse in an abandoned mining camp named "Silverado". Squatting there for two months of a California summer, they installed makeshift cloth windows and hauled water from a close-by stream. The area they stayed in is now called The Robert Louis Stevenson State Park.

WITH AN INTRODUCTION BY ANDREW MOTION

When young Jim Hawkins discovers a treasure map in a pirate's chest in his parents' inn, he is drawn into a world of danger and adventure. He joins the crew setting sail to the Caribbean to seek out the booty and over the course of the voyage confronts mutiny, murder and the charismatic and devious Long John Silver.

The most infamous of horror stories—a disturbing examination of man’s capacity for evil

One pitch-black London morning, a ghoulish little man tramples a young girl and continues heedlessly on his way. Caught by a passerby and returned to the scene of the crime, the man is forced to pay £100 in restitution. He produces ten pounds in gold and a check for the remainder. Curiously, the check bears the signature of the well-regarded Dr. Henry Jekyll. Even stranger, Dr. Jekyll’s will names this same awful and mysterious little man, Mr. Hyde, as the sole beneficiary. Troubled by the coincidence, Dr. Jekyll’s attorney visits his client. What he uncovers is a tale so strange and terrifying it has seeped into the very fabric of our consciousness.

An immediate success upon its publication in 1886 and a cultural touchstone to this day, The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde is one of the most disturbing stories ever told.  

This ebook has been professionally proofread to ensure accuracy and readability on all devices.

Perhaps the greatest of all adventure stories for boys and girls, Treasure Island began, a brave boy who finds himself among pirates, and of the sinister pirate-cook Long John Silver holds children as entranced today as it did a century ago. It has appeared with illustrations by many leading artists, but none so apt as Peake's--first published in 1949 and out of print until now.

How thin is the line between good and evil?

Dr Jekyll has been experimenting with his identity. He has developed a drug which separates the two sides of his nature and allows him occasionally to abandon himself to his most corrupt inclinations as the monstrous Mr Hyde. But gradually he begins to find that the journey back to goodness becomes more and more difficult, and the risk that Mr Hyde will break free entirely from Dr Jekyll's control puts all of London in grave peril.

One of the most enduringly popular adventure tales, Treasure Island began in 1881 as a serialized adventure entitled "The Sea-Cook" in the periodical Young Folks. Completed during a stay at Davos, Switzerland, where Stevenson had gone for his health, it was published in 1883 in the form we know today.
Set in the eighteenth century, Treasure Island spins a heady tale of piracy, a mysterious treasure map, and a host of sinister characters charged with diabolical intentions. Seen through the eyes of Jim Hawkins, the cabin boy of the Hispaniola, the action-packed adventure tells of a perilous sea journey across the Spanish Main, a mutiny led by the infamous Long John Silver, and a lethal scramble for buried treasure on an exotic isle.
Rich in atmosphere and character, Treasure Island continues to mesmerize readers with its perceptive views of the changing nature of human motives.

The title of the volume which includes The Beach of Falesa, The Bottle Imp, and The Isle of Voices. The 'Beach' turns on the native dread of the spirit-devils in the woods, interwoven with which is the island life of natives and whites viewed through the eyes of a commonplace trade. It is a picture of the South Seas, very different from the idylls of Hermann Melville. In 'The Bottle Imp', the protagonist buys a bottle with an imp inside that grants wishes. However, the bottle is cursed; if the holder dies bearing it, their soul is forfeit to hell. 'The Isle of Voices' is a fairytale of magic treasure.

A generous and remarkable young prince, together with his loyal and brave servant, find more adventure than they bargained for in The Suicide Club, Robert Louis Stevenson's engrossing trilogy of short stories about a bizarre club for people with a strong desire to end their lives.
In these interrelated tales, Prince Florizel of Bohemia and his aide, Colonel Geraldine, travel incognito through some of the most dangerous haunts of 19th-century London. "The Story of the Young Man with the Cream Tarts" introduces Florizel to the formidable Suicide Club, an organization for people who wish to end their lives, but don't have the courage to accomplish the act themselves. The "Story of the Physician and the Saratoga Trunk" reveals the grim contents of a large piece of luggage that travels hundreds of miles to its final destination; and in "The Adventure of the Hansom Cab," a bloody resolution seals the fate of a notorious and elusive assassin.
Brimming with heart-stopping drama, this rare, lesser-known work by a master storyteller will appeal to a wide circle of readers, including fans of the great 19th-century English writer as well as lovers of a good mystery story.

An uncanny thriller from the acclaimed author of The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde

Medical school students Fettes and Macfarlane are charged with the unenviable task of receiving and paying for the institution’s research cadavers. When Fettes recognizes the dead body of a woman he saw alive and well just the day before, he suspects murder. Macfarlane, however, insists that the authorities would never believe they had nothing to do with her death. Reluctantly, Fettes agrees to keep quiet, but soon regrets his decision when another familiar corpse turns up—and takes on a life of its own.
 
This ebook features a new introduction by Otto Penzler and has been professionally proofread to ensure accuracy and readability on all devices.

This is an unusual story of a very respected medical practioner, Dr. Henry Jekyll who nurtured a belief that every person has two distinct personalities. He undertakes an experiment to split one person into two different personalities. What is this split personality? Come let s read this thrilling story in The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.

This carefully crafted ebook: “Arabian Nights or One Thousand and One Nights (Andrew Lang) + New Arabian Nights (Robert Louis Stevenson)” is formatted for your eReader with a functional and detailed table of contents. A medieval Middle-Eastern literary epic which tells the story of Scheherazade, a Sassanid Queen, who must relate a series of stories to her malevolent husband, the King, to delay her execution. The stories are told over a period of one thousand and one nights, and every night she ends the story with a suspenseful situation, forcing the King to keep her alive for another day. The individual stories were created over many centuries, by many people and in many styles, and they have become famous in their own right. The Arabian Nights include fairy tales, fables, romances, farces, legends, and parables. They have existed for thousands of years, consisting of tales told in Persia, Arabia, India and Asia. The Arabian Nights (also known as The 1001 Arabian Nights) have inspired writers the world over. There are versions of these stories in many languages and they all convey the great sense of adventure, truth, fantastic imagination, justice, and faith embodied by the great civilizations that contributed stories and ideas to the collection. These are versions translated by Andrew Lang in 1897. The Andrew Lang Version (published in 1897): INTRODUCTION BY ANDREW LANG THE ARABIAN NIGHTS PROLOGUE THE STORY OF THE MERCHANT AND THE GENIE THE STORY OF THE FIRST OLD MAN AND OF THE HIND THE STORY OF THE SECOND OLD MAN, AND OF THE TWO BLACK DOGS THE STORY OF THE FISHERMAN THE STORY OF THE GREEK KING AND THE PHYSICIAN DOUBAN THE STORY OF THE HUSBAND AND THE PARROT THE STORY OF THE VIZIR WHO WAS PUNISHED THE STORY OF THE YOUNG KING OF THE BLACK ISLES STORY OF THE THREE KALENDARS, SONS OF KINGS, AND OF FIVE LADIES OF BAGHDAD THE STORY OF THE FIRST KALENDAR, SON OF A KING THE STORY OF THE SECOND KALENDAR, SON OF A KING THE STORY OF THE ENVIOUS MAN AND OF HIM WHO WAS ENVIED STORY OF THE THIRD KALENDAR, SON OF A KING THE SEVEN VOYAGES OF SINDBAD THE SAILOR THE FIRST VOYAGE OF SINBAD THE SAILOR THE SECOND VOYAGE OF SINBAD THE SAILOR THE THIRD VOYAGE OF SINBAD THE SAILOR THE FOURTH VOYAGE OF SINBAD THE SAILOR THE FIFTH VOYAGE OF SINBAD THE SAILOR THE SIXTH VOYAGE OF SINBAD THE SAILOR THE SEVENTH AND LAST VOYAGE OF SINBAD THE SAILOR THE LITTLE HUNCHBACK STORY OF THE BARBER’S FIFTH BROTHER THE STORY OF THE BARBER’S SIXTH BROTHER THE ADVENTURES OF PRINCE CAMARALZAMAN AND THE PRINCESS BADOURA NOUREDDIN AND THE FAIR PERSIAN ALADDIN AND THE WONDERFUL LAMP THE ADVENTURES OF HAROUN-AL-RASCHID, CALIPH OF BAGHDAD THE STORY OF THE BLIND BABA-ABDALLA THE STORY OF SIDI-NOUMAN STORY OF ALI COLIA, MERCHANT OF BAGHDAD THE ENCHANTED HORSE THE STORY OF TWO SISTERS WHO WERE JEALOUS OF THEIR YOUNGER SISTER New Arabian Nights by Robert Louis Stevenson, first published in 1882, is a collection of short stories previously published in magazines between 1877 and 1880. The collection contains Stevenson's first published fiction, and a few of the stories are considered by some critics to be his best work, as well as pioneering works in the English short story tradition. The first volume contains seven stories originally called Later-day Arabian Nights and published by London Magazine in serial format from June to October 1878. It is composed of two story groups, or cycles: "The Suicide Club" "The Rajah's Diamond" The second volume is a collection of four unconnected (standalone) stories that were previously published in magazines: "The Pavilion on the Links" (1880), told in 9 mini-chapters "A Lodging for the Night" (1877) "The Sire De Malétroits Door" (1877) "Providence and the Guitar" (1878)

This carefully crafted ebook: “Treasure Island + The Mysterious Island (2 Unabridged Classics)” is formatted for your eReader with a functional and detailed table of contents. Treasure Island is an adventure novel by Scottish author Robert Louis Stevenson, narrating a tale of "buccaneers and buried gold". First published as a book on May 23, 1883, it was originally serialized in the children's magazine Young Folks between 1881–82 under the title Treasure Island or, the mutiny of the Hispaniola with Stevenson adopting the pseudonym Captain George North. Traditionally considered a coming-of-age story, Treasure Island is an adventure tale known for its atmosphere, characters and action, and also as a wry commentary on the ambiguity of morality — as seen in Long John Silver — unusual for children's literature now and then. It is one of the most frequently dramatized of all novels. The influence of Treasure Island on popular perceptions of pirates is enormous, including treasure maps marked with an "X", schooners, the Black Spot, tropical islands, and one-legged seamen carrying parrots on their shoulders. The Mysterious Island (French: L'Île mystérieuse) is a novel by Jules Verne, published in 1874. The novel is a crossover sequel to Verne's famous Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea and In Search of the Castaways, though thematically it is vastly different from those books. An early draft of the novel, initially rejected by Verne's publisher and wholly reconceived before publication, was titled Shipwrecked Family: Marooned With Uncle Robinson, seen as indicating the influence on the novel of Robinson Crusoe and The Swiss Family Robinson." The book tells the adventures of five American prisoners of war on an uncharted island in the South Pacific. Begining in the American Civil War, as famine and death ravage the city of Richmond, Virginia, five northern POWs decide to escape in a rather unusual way – by hijacking a balloon! This is only the beginning of their adventures...

Stories about devils and demons were literary staples long before the modern horror field came into existence. Our earliest story in this volume, by Washington Irving, was published in 1824...and the fact that these tales span almost 200 years shows how enduring the theme remains. Here, then, are 25 great modern and classic tales of devils, demons, and the macabre. Enjoy!

THE CONTRACT OF CARSON CARRUTHERS, by William P. McGivern
BURNT TOAST, by Mack Reynolds
CRIME CLEAN-UP IN CENTER CITY, by Robert Moore Williams
THE CRACKS OF TIME, by Dorothy Quick
THE DEVIL AND TOM WALKER, by Washington Irving
HIDEAWAY, by Everil Worrell
THE STRANGER FROM KURDISTAN, by E. Hoffmann Price
HEREAFTER, INC., by Lester del Rey
NIGHTMARE ON THE NOSE, by Evelyn E. Smith
THE MYSTERIOUS STRANGER, by Mark Twain
AUT DIABOLUS AUT NIHIL: THE TRUE STORY OF A HALLUCINATION, by X.L. (Julian Osgood Field)
CAN SUCH BEAUTY BE? by Jerome Bixby
MARKHEIM, by Robert Louis Stevenson
MONSIEUR BLUEBEARD, by Emil Petaja
YOUNG GOODMAN BROWN, by Nathaniel Hawthorne
ROOM WITHOUT WINDOWS, by Manly Banister
THE BARGAIN OF RUPERT ORANGE, by Vincent O’Sullivan
THE BOTTLE IMP, by Dwight V. Swain
THE CASE OF MR. LUCRAFT, Walter Besant and James Rice
WHO SUPS WITH THE DEVIL, by S.M. Tenneshaw
THE SHOEMAKER AND THE DEVIL, by Anton Chekhov
SPAWN OF HELL, by William P. McGivern
YOUR SOUL COMES C.O.D., by Mack Reynolds
ST. JOHN'S EVE, by Nikolai Gogol
WOLFIE, by Theodore R. Cogwell

If you enjoy this ebook, don't forget to search your favorite ebook store for "Wildside Press Megapack" to see more of the 260+ volumes in this series, covering adventure, historical fiction, mysteries, westerns, ghost stories, science fiction -- and much, much more!

This carefully crafted ebook: “WHAT WAS IT? THE BIG BOOK OF SPOOKY TALES – 55+ Occult & Supernatural Thrillers (Horror Classics Anthology)” is formatted for your eReader with a functional and detailed table of contents. Get ready to be spooked and thrilled by the greatest master story-tellers. A must read for spook-lovers! Ghost Stories: Thrawn Janet (Robert Louis Stevenson) The Horla (Guy de Maupassant) To Sura: A Letter (Pliny the Younger) . . . The Man Who Went Too Far (E.F. Benson) The Phantom Rickshaw (Rudyard Kipling) The Apparition of Mrs. Veal (Daniel Defoe) The Damned Thing (Ambrose Bierce) . . . The Deserted House (E. T. A. Hoffmann) The Withered Arm (Thomas Hardy) The House and the Brain (Lord Edward Bulwer-Lytton) The Roll-Call of the Reef (A. T. Quiller-Couch) The Open Door (Mrs. Margaret Oliphant) . . . Paranormal Psychic Stories: When the World Was Young (Jack London) Joseph—A Story (Katherine Rickford) Ligeia (Edgar Allan Poe) A Ghost (Lafcadio Hearn) The Eyes of the Panther (Ambrose Bierce) Photographing Invisible Beings (William T. Stead) The Sin-Eater (Fiona Macleod) . . . Suspense Stories: The Birth Mark (Nathaniel Hawthorne) The Oblong Box (Edgar Allan Poe) A Terribly Strange Bed (Wilkie Collins) The Torture by Hope (Villiers de l'Isle Adam) The Mysterious Card (Cleveland Moffett) . . . Humorous Paranormal Stories: The Secret of Goresthorpe Grange (A. Conan Doyle) Mr. Bloke's Item (Mark Twain) The Man Who Went Too Far (E. F. Benson) The Man With The Pale Eyes (Guy de Maupassant) . . . This carefully crafted ebook: “WHAT WAS IT? THE BIG BOOK OF SPOOKY TALES – 55+ Occult & Supernatural Thrillers (Horror Classics Anthology)” is formatted for your eReader with a functional and detailed table of contents. Get ready to be spooked and thrilled by the greatest master story-tellers. A must read for spook-lovers! Ghost Stories: Thrawn Janet (Robert Louis Stevenson) The Horla (Guy de Maupassant) To Sura: A Letter (Pliny the Younger) . . . The Man Who Went Too Far (E.F. Benson) The Phantom Rickshaw (Rudyard Kipling) The Apparition of Mrs. Veal (Daniel Defoe) The Damned Thing (Ambrose Bierce) . . . The Deserted House (E. T. A. Hoffmann) The Withered Arm (Thomas Hardy) The House and the Brain (Lord Edward Bulwer-Lytton) The Roll-Call of the Reef (A. T. Quiller-Couch) The Open Door (Mrs. Margaret Oliphant) . . . Paranormal Psychic Stories: When the World Was Young (Jack London) Joseph—A Story (Katherine Rickford) Ligeia (Edgar Allan Poe) A Ghost (Lafcadio Hearn) The Eyes of the Panther (Ambrose Bierce) Photographing Invisible Beings (William T. Stead) The Sin-Eater (Fiona Macleod) . . . Suspense Stories: The Birth Mark (Nathaniel Hawthorne) The Oblong Box (Edgar Allan Poe) A Terribly Strange Bed (Wilkie Collins) The Torture by Hope (Villiers de l'Isle Adam) The Mysterious Card (Cleveland Moffett) . . . Humorous Paranormal Stories: The Secret of Goresthorpe Grange (A. Conan Doyle) Mr. Bloke's Item (Mark Twain) The Man Who Went Too Far (E. F. Benson) The Man With The Pale Eyes (Guy de Maupassant) . . .

Acclaimed as a modern dramatic masterpiece, Rosencrantz & Guildenstern are Dead is the fabulously inventive tale of Hamlet as told from the worm’s-eve view of the bewildered Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, two minor characters in Shakespeare’s play. In Tom Stoppard’s best-known work, this Shakespearean Laurel and Hardy finally get a chance to take the lead role, but do so in a world where echoes of Waiting for Godot resound, where reality and illusion intermix, and where fate leads our two heroes to a tragic but inevitable end.

Tom Stoppard was catapulted into the front ranks of modem playwrights overnight when Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead opened in London in 1967. Its subsequent run in New York brought it the same enthusiastic acclaim, and the play has since been performed numerous times in the major theatrical centers of the world. It has won top honors for play and playwright in a poll of London Theater critics, and in its printed form it was chosen one of the “Notable Books of 1967” by the American Library Association.

In Othello, Shakespeare creates powerful drama from a marriage between the exotic Moor Othello and the Venetian lady Desdemona that begins with elopement and mutual devotion and ends with jealous rage and death. Shakespeare builds many differences into his hero and heroine, including race, age, and cultural background. Yet most readers and audiences believe the couple’s strong love would overcome these differences were it not for Iago, who sets out to destroy Othello. Iago’s false insinuations about Desdemona’s infidelity draw Othello into his schemes, and Desdemona is subjected to Othello’s horrifying verbal and physical assaults.

The authoritative edition of Othello from The Folger Shakespeare Library, the trusted and widely used Shakespeare series for students and general readers, includes:

-The exact text of the printed book for easy cross-reference
-Hundreds of hypertext links for instant navigation
-Freshly edited text based on the best early printed version of the play
-Full explanatory notes conveniently linked to the text of the play
-Scene-by-scene plot summaries
-A key to the play’s famous lines and phrases
-An introduction to reading Shakespeare’s language
-An essay by a leading Shakespeare scholar providing a modern perspective on the play
-Fresh images from the Folger Shakespeare Library’s vast holdings of rare books
-An annotated guide to further reading

Essay by Susan Snyder

The Folger Shakespeare Library in Washington, DC, is home to the world’s largest collection of Shakespeare’s printed works, and a magnet for Shakespeare scholars from around the globe. In addition to exhibitions open to the public throughout the year, the Folger offers a full calendar of performances and programs. For more information, visit Folger.edu.

In A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Shakespeare stages the workings of love. Theseus and Hippolyta, about to marry, are figures from mythology. In the woods outside Theseus’ Athens, two young men and two young women sort themselves out into couples—but not before they form first one love triangle, and then another.

Also in the woods, the king and queen of fairyland, Oberon and Titania, battle over custody of an orphan boy; Oberon uses magic to make Titania fall in love with a weaver named Bottom, whose head is temporarily transformed into that of a donkey by a hobgoblin or “puck,” Robin Goodfellow. Finally, Bottom and his companions ineptly stage the tragedy of “Pyramus and Thisbe.”

The authoritative edition of A Midsummer Night's Dream from The Folger Shakespeare Library, the trusted and widely used Shakespeare series for students and general readers, includes:

-The exact text of the printed book for easy cross-reference
-Hundreds of hypertext links for instant navigation
-Freshly edited text based on the best early printed version of the play
-Full explanatory notes conveniently linked to the text of the play
-Scene-by-scene plot summaries
-A key to the play’s famous lines and phrases
-An introduction to reading Shakespeare’s language
-An essay by a leading Shakespeare scholar providing a modern perspective on the play
-Fresh images from the Folger Shakespeare Library’s vast holdings of rare books
-An annotated guide to further reading

Essay by Catherine Belsey

The Folger Shakespeare Library in Washington, DC, is home to the world’s largest collection of Shakespeare’s printed works, and a magnet for Shakespeare scholars from around the globe. In addition to exhibitions open to the public throughout the year, the Folger offers a full calendar of performances and programs. For more information, visit Folger.edu.

Putting romance onstage, The Tempest gives us a magician, Prospero, a former duke of Milan who was displaced by his treacherous brother, Antonio. Prospero is exiled on an island, where his only companions are his daughter, Miranda, the spirit Ariel, and the monster Caliban. When his enemies are among those caught in a storm near the island, Prospero turns his power upon them through Ariel and other spirits.

The characters exceed the roles of villains and heroes. Prospero seems heroic, yet he enslaves Caliban and has an appetite for revenge. Caliban seems to be a monster for attacking Miranda, but appears heroic in resisting Prospero, evoking the period of colonialism during which the play was written. Miranda’s engagement to Ferdinand, the Prince of Naples and a member of the shipwrecked party, helps resolve the drama.

The authoritative edition of The Tempest from The Folger Shakespeare Library, the trusted and widely used Shakespeare series for students and general readers, includes:

-The exact text of the printed book for easy cross-reference
-Hundreds of hypertext links for instant navigation
-Freshly edited text based on the best early printed version of the play
-Full explanatory notes conveniently linked to the text of the play
-Scene-by-scene plot summaries
-A key to the play’s famous lines and phrases
-An introduction to reading Shakespeare’s language
-An essay by a leading Shakespeare scholar providing a modern perspective on the play
-Fresh images from the Folger Shakespeare Library’s vast holdings of rare books
-An annotated guide to further reading

Essay by Barbara A. Mowat

The Folger Shakespeare Library in Washington, DC, is home to the world’s largest collection of Shakespeare’s printed works, and a magnet for Shakespeare scholars from around the globe. In addition to exhibitions open to the public throughout the year, the Folger offers a full calendar of performances and programs. For more information, visit Folger.edu.

One of the most durable myths in Western culture, the story of Faust tells of a learned German doctor who sells his soul to the devil in exchange for knowledge and power. Early enactments of Faust's damnation were often the raffish fare of clowns and low comedians. But the young Elizabethan playwright Christopher Marlowe (1564–1593) recognized in the story of Faust's temptation and fall the elements of tragedy.
In his epic treatment of the Faust legend, Marlowe retains much of the rich phantasmagoria of its origins. There are florid visions of an enraged Lucifer, dueling angels, the Seven Deadly Sins, Faustus tormenting the Pope, and his summoning of the spirit of Alexander the Great. But the playwright created equally powerful scenes that invest the work with tragic dignity, among them the doomed man's calling upon Christ to save him and his ultimate rejection of salvation for the embrace of Helen of Troy.
With immense poetic skill, and psychological insight that foreshadowed the later work of Shakespeare and the Jacobean playwrights, Marlowe created in Dr. Faustus one of the first true tragedies in English. Vividly dramatic, rich in poetic grandeur, this classic play remains a robust and lively exemplar of the glories of Elizabethan drama.

The play Romeo and Juliet is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare early in his career about two young star-crossed lovers whose deaths ultimately reconcile their feuding families. It was among Shakespeare's most popular plays during his lifetime and, along with Hamlet, is one of his most frequently performed plays. Today, the title characters are regarded as archetypal young lovers.

Romeo and Juliet belongs to a tradition of tragic romances stretching back to antiquity. Its plot is based on an Italian tale, translated into verse as The Tragical History of Romeus and Juliet by Arthur Brooke in 1562 and retold in prose in Palace of Pleasure by William Painter in 1567. Shakespeare borrowed heavily from both but, to expand the plot, developed supporting characters, particularly Mercutio and Paris. Believed to have been written between 1591 and 1595, the play was first published in a quarto version in 1597. This text was of poor quality, and later editions corrected it, bringing it  more in line with Shakespeare's original.

Shakespeare's use of his poetic dramatic structure, especially effects such as switching between comedy and tragedy to heighten tension, his expansion of minor characters, and his use of sub-plots to embellish the story, has been praised as an early sign of his dramatic skill. The play ascribes different poetic forms to different characters, sometimes changing the form as the character develops. Romeo, for example, grows more adept at the sonnet over the course of the play.

Romeo and Juliet has been adapted numerous times for stage, film, musical and opera. During the English Restoration, it was revived and heavily revised by William Davenant. David Garrick's 18th-century version also modified several scenes, removing material then considered indecent, and Georg Benda's operatic adaptation omitted much of the action and added a happy ending. Performances in the 19th century, including Charlotte Cushman's, restored the original text, and focused on greater realism. John Gielgud's 1935 version kept very close to Shakespeare's text, and used Elizabethan costumes and staging to enhance the drama. In the 20th and into the 21st century, the play has been adapted in versions as diverse as George Cukor's comparatively faithful 1936 production, Franco Zeffirelli's 1968 version, Baz Luhrmann's 1996 MTV-inspired Romeo + Juliet and the 2013non-Shakespearian adaptation by Carlo Carlei.

From Wikipedia

Here is Oscar Wilde's most brilliant tour de force, a witty and buoyant comedy of manners that has delighted millions in countless productions since its first performance in London's St. James' Theatre on February 14, 1895. The Importance of Being Earnest is celebrated not only for the lighthearted ingenuity of its plot, but for its inspired dialogue, rich with scintillating epigrams still savored by all who enjoy artful conversation.
From the play's effervescent beginnings in Algernon Moncrieff's London flat to its hilarious denouement in the drawing room of Jack Worthing's country manor in Hertfordshire, this comic masterpiece keeps audiences breathlessly anticipating a new bon mot or a fresh twist of plot moment to moment.

This is one of Shakespeare’s darkest comedies, for the romantic story of a young man, Bassanio, who has squandered his fortune and must borrow money to woo the wealthy lady he loves is set against the more disturbing story of the Jewish moneylender Shylock and his demand for the “pound of flesh” owed him by the Venetian merchant, Antonio. Here pathos and farce combine with moral complexity and romantic entanglement to display the extraordinary power and range of Shakespeare at his best.

Each Edition Includes:
• Comprehensive explanatory notes
• Vivid introductions and the most up-to-date scholarship
• Clear, modernized spelling and punctuation, enabling contemporary readers to understand the Elizabethan English
• Completely updated, detailed bibliographies and performance histories
• An interpretive essay on film adaptations of the play, along with an extensive filmography

FROM THE WORLD FAMOUS ROYAL SHAKESPEARE COMPANY, THE FIRST AUTHORITATIVE, MODERNIZED, AND CORRECTED EDITION OF SHAKESPEARE’S FIRST FOLIO IN THREE CENTURIES.

Skillfully assembled by Shakespeare’s fellow actors in 1623, the First Folio was the original Complete Works. It is arguably the most important literary work in the English language. But starting with Nicholas Rowe in 1709 and continuing to the present day, Shakespeare editors have mixed Folio and Quarto texts, gradually corrupting the original Complete Works with errors and conflated textual variations.

Now Jonathan Bate and Eric Rasmussen, two of today’s most accomplished Shakespearean scholars, have edited the First Folio as a complete book, resulting in a definitive Complete Works for the twenty-first century.

Combining innovative scholarship with brilliant commentary and textual analysis that emphasizes performance history and values, this landmark edition will be indispensable to students, theater professionals, and general readers alike.

This Prestwick House Literary Touchstone Edition includes a glossary and reader!=s notes to help the modern reader appreciate Wilde's wry wit and elaborate plot twists.Oscar Wilde's madcap farce about mistaken identities, secret engagements, and lovers? entanglements still delights readers more than a century after its 1895 publication and premiere performance. The rapid-fire wit and eccentric characters of The Importance of Being Earnest have made it a mainstay of the high school curriculum for decades.Cecily Cardew and Gwendolen Fairfax are both in love with the same mythical suitor. Jack Worthing has wooed Gewndolen as Ernest while Algernon has also posed as Ernest to win the heart of Jack's ward, Cecily. When all four arrive at Jack's country home on the same weekend'the "rivals" to fight for Ernest's undivided attention and the "Ernests" to claim their beloveds'pandemonium breaks loose.Only a senile nursemaid and an old, discarded hand-bag can save the day

Hamlet is Shakespeare’s most popular, and most puzzling, play. It follows the form of a “revenge tragedy,” in which the hero, Hamlet, seeks vengeance against his father’s murderer, his uncle Claudius, now the king of Denmark. Much of its fascination, however, lies in its uncertainties.

Among them: What is the Ghost—Hamlet’s father demanding justice, a tempting demon, an angelic messenger? Does Hamlet go mad, or merely pretend to? Once he is sure that Claudius is a murderer, why does he not act? Was his mother, Gertrude, unfaithful to her husband or complicit in his murder?

The authoritative edition of Hamlet from The Folger Shakespeare Library, the trusted and widely used Shakespeare series for students and general readers, includes:

-The exact text of the printed book for easy cross-reference
-Hundreds of hypertext links for instant navigation
-Freshly edited text based on the best early printed version of the play
-Newly revised explanatory notes conveniently linked to the text of the play
-Scene-by-scene plot summaries
-A key to the play’s famous lines and phrases
-An introduction to reading Shakespeare’s language
-An essay by a leading Shakespeare scholar providing a modern perspective on the play
-Fresh images from the Folger Shakespeare Library’s vast holdings of rare books
-An annotated guide to further reading

Essay by Michael Neill

The Folger Shakespeare Library in Washington, DC, is home to the world’s largest collection of Shakespeare’s printed works, and a magnet for Shakespeare scholars from around the globe. In addition to exhibitions open to the public throughout the year, the Folger offers a full calendar of performances and programs. For more information, visit Folger.edu.

Magic, love spells, and an enchanted wood provide the materials for one of Shakespeare’s most delightful comedies. When four young lovers, fleeing the Athenian law and their own mismatched rivalries, take to the forest of Athens, their lives become entangled with a feud between the King and Queen of the Fairies. Some Athenian tradesmen, rehearsing a play for the forthcoming wedding of Duke Theseus and his bride, Hippolyta, unintentionally add to the hilarity. The result is a marvelous mix-up of desire and enchantment, merriment and farce, all touched by Shakespeare’s inimitable vision of the intriguing relationship between art and life, dreams and the waking world.

Each Edition Includes:
• Comprehensive explanatory notes
• Vivid introductions and the most up-to-date scholarship
• Clear, modernized spelling and punctuation, enabling contemporary readers to understand the Elizabethan English
• Completely updated, detailed bibliographies and performance histories
• An interpretive essay on film adaptations of the play, along with an extensive filmography

Oscar Wilde created his final and most lasting play, comic masterpieces of all time, THE IMPORTANCE OF BEING EARNEST, in 1895. Considered one of the greatest THE IMPORTANCE OF BEING EARNEST is a farce, playing with love, religion, and truth as it tells the tale of two men. Jack Worthing and Algernon Moncrieff, who bend the truth in order to add excitement to their lives. Jack invents an imaginary brother, Ernest, whom he uses as an excuse to escape from his dull country home and gallavant in town. Meanwhile, Algernon follows Jack's scam, but his imaginary friend, Bumbury, provides a convenient method of adventuring in the country. However, their deceptions eventually cross paths, resulting in a series of crises that threaten to spoil their romantic pursuits. Hailed as the first modern comedy in England, THE IMPORTANCE OF BEING EARNEST is Wilde's most famous work. This collection also features two other plays that Wilde penned earlier in his career, LADY WINDERMERE'S FAN and AN IDEAL HUSBAND, that also display his ability to convey warmth and wit through his hilarious characters and their outlandish situations.

One of George Bernard Shaw's best-known plays, Pygmalion was a rousing success on the London and New York stages, an entertaining motion picture and a great hit with its musical version, My Fair Lady. An updated and considerably revised version of the ancient Greek legend of Pygmalion and Galatea, the 20th-century story pokes fun at the antiquated British class system.
In Shaw's clever adaptation, Professor Henry Higgins, a linguistic expert, takes on a bet that he can transform an awkward cockney flower seller into a refined young lady simply by polishing her manners and changing the way she speaks. In the process of convincing society that his creation is a mysterious royal figure, the Professor also falls in love with his elegant handiwork.
The irresistible theme of the emerging butterfly, together with Shaw's brilliant dialogue and splendid skills as a playwright, have made Pygmalion one of the most popular comedies in the English language. A staple of college drama courses, it is still widely performed.

Noises Off, the classic farce by the Tony Award—winning author of Copenhagen, is not one play but two: simultaneously a traditional sex farce, Nothing On, and the backstage “drama” that develops during Nothing On’s final rehearsal and tour. The two begin to interlock as the characters make their exits from Nothing On only to find themselves making entrances into the even worse nightmare going on backstage. In the end, at the disastrous final performance, the two plots can be kept separate no longer, and coalesce into a single collective nervous breakdown.


From the Trade Paperback edition.

‘I could fly to New York and back every day for seven years and still not leave a carbon footprint as big as if I have a child. Ten thousand tonnes of CO2. That’s the weight of the Eiffel Tower. I’d be giving birth to the Eiffel Tower.’


In a time of global anxiety, terrorism, erratic weather and political unrest, a young couple want a child but are running out of time. If they over think it, they’ll never do it. But if they rush, it could be a disaster. They want to have a child for the right reasons. Except, what exactly are the right reasons? And what will be the first to destruct – the planet or the relationship?

In The Merchant of Venice, the path to marriage is hazardous. To win Portia, Bassanio must pass a test prescribed by her father’s will, choosing correctly among three caskets or chests. If he fails, he may never marry at all.

Bassanio and Portia also face a magnificent villain, the moneylender Shylock. In creating Shylock, Shakespeare seems to have shared in a widespread prejudice against Jews. Shylock would have been regarded as a villain because he was a Jew. Yet he gives such powerful expression to his alienation due to the hatred around him that, in many productions, he emerges as the hero.

Portia is most remembered for her disguise as a lawyer, Balthazar, especially the speech in which she urges Shylock to show mercy that “droppeth as the gentle rain from heaven.”

The authoritative edition of The Merchant of Venice from The Folger Shakespeare Library, the trusted and widely used Shakespeare series for students and general readers, includes:

-The exact text of the printed book for easy cross-reference
-Hundreds of hypertext links for instant navigation
-Freshly edited text based on the best early printed version of the play
-Newly revised explanatory notes conveniently linked to the text of the play
-Scene-by-scene plot summaries
-A key to the play’s famous lines and phrases
-An introduction to reading Shakespeare’s language
-An essay by a leading Shakespeare scholar providing a modern perspective on the play
-Fresh images from the Folger Shakespeare Library’s vast holdings of rare books
-An annotated guide to further reading

Essay by Alexander Leggatt

The Folger Shakespeare Library in Washington, DC, is home to the world’s largest collection of Shakespeare’s printed works, and a magnet for Shakespeare scholars from around the globe. In addition to exhibitions open to the public throughout the year, the Folger offers a full calendar of performances and programs. For more information, visit Folger.edu.

The acclaimed Pelican Shakespeare series, now in a dazzling new series design

Winner of the 2016 AIGA + Design Observer 50 Books | 50 Covers competition

Gold Medal Winner of the 3x3 Illustration Annual No. 14

This edition of A Midsummer Night’s Dream is edited with an introduction by Russ McDonald and was recently repackaged with cover art by Manuja Waldia. Waldia received a Gold Medal from the Society of Illustrators for the Pelican Shakespeare series.
 
The legendary Pelican Shakespeare series features authoritative and meticulously researched texts paired with scholarship by renowned Shakespeareans. Each book includes an essay on the theatrical world of Shakespeare’s time, an introduction to the individual play, and a detailed note on the text used. Updated by general editors Stephen Orgel and A. R. Braunmuller, these easy-to-read editions incorporate over thirty years of Shakespeare scholarship undertaken since the original series, edited by Alfred Harbage, appeared between 1956 and 1967. With stunning new covers, definitive texts, and illuminating essays, the Pelican Shakespeare will remain a valued resource for students, teachers, and theater professionals for many years to come.

For more than seventy years, Penguin has been the leading publisher of classic literature in the English-speaking world. With more than 1,700 titles, Penguin Classics represents a global bookshelf of the best works throughout history and across genres and disciplines. Readers trust the series to provide authoritative texts enhanced by introductions and notes by distinguished scholars and contemporary authors, as well as up-to-date translations by award-winning translators.

Shakespeare may have written Julius Caesar as the first of his plays to be performed at the Globe, in 1599. For it, he turned to a key event in Roman history: Caesar’s death at the hands of friends and fellow politicians. Renaissance writers disagreed over the assassination, seeing Brutus, a leading conspirator, as either hero or villain. Shakespeare’s play keeps this debate alive.

The authoritative edition of Julius Caesar from The Folger Shakespeare Library, the trusted and widely used Shakespeare series for students and general readers, includes:

-The exact text of the printed book for easy cross-reference
-Hundreds of hypertext links for instant navigation
-Freshly edited text based on the best early printed version of the play
-Newly revised explanatory notes conveniently linked to the text of the play
-Scene-by-scene plot summaries
-A key to the play’s famous lines and phrases
-An introduction to reading Shakespeare’s language
-An essay by a leading Shakespeare scholar providing a modern perspective on the play
-Fresh images from the Folger Shakespeare Library’s vast holdings of rare books
-An annotated guide to further reading

Essay by Coppélia Kahn

The Folger Shakespeare Library in Washington, DC, is home to the world’s largest collection of Shakespeare’s printed works, and a magnet for Shakespeare scholars from around the globe. In addition to exhibitions open to the public throughout the year, the Folger offers a full calendar of performances and programs. For more information, visit Folger.edu.

"A singular astonishment." —John Lahr, The New Yorker

One relationship. Infinite possibilities.
In the beginning Marianne and Roland meet at a party. They go for a drink, or perhaps they don't. They fall madly in love and start dating, but eventually they break up. After a chance encounter in a supermarket they get back together, or maybe they run into each other and Marianne reveals that she's now engaged to someone else and that's that. Or perhaps Roland is engaged. Maybe they get married, or maybe their time together will be tragically short.
Nick Payne's Constellations is a play about free will and friendship; it's also about quantum multiverse theory, love, and honey.

Samuel Beckett was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1969; his literary output of plays, novels, stories and poetry has earned him an uncontested place as one of the greatest writers of our time. Endgame, originally written in French and translated into English by Beckett himself, is considered by many critics to be his greatest single work. A pinnacle of Beckett’s characteristic raw minimalism, it is a pure and devastating distillation of the human essence in the face of approaching death.

This joyous play, the last comedy of Shakespeare's career, sums up his stagecraft with a display of seemingly effortless skill. Prospero, exiled Duke of Milan, living on an enchanted island, has the opportunity to punish and forgive his enemies when he raises a tempest that drives them ashore—as well as to forestall a rebellion, to arrange the meeting of his daughter, Miranda, with an eminently suitable young prince, and, more important, to relinquish his magic powers in recognition of his advancing age. Richly filled with music and magic, romance and comedy, the play's theme of love and reconciliation offers a splendid feast for the senses and the heart.

Named for the twelfth night after Christmas, the end of the Christmas season, Twelfth Night plays with love and power. The Countess Olivia, a woman with her own household, attracts Duke (or Count) Orsino. Two other would-be suitors are her pretentious steward, Malvolio, and Sir Andrew Aguecheek.

Onto this scene arrive the twins Viola and Sebastian; caught in a shipwreck, each thinks the other has drowned. Viola disguises herself as a male page and enters Orsino’s service. Orsino sends her as his envoy to Olivia—only to have Olivia fall in love with the messenger. The play complicates, then wonderfully untangles, these relationships.

The authoritative edition of Twelfth Night from The Folger Shakespeare Library, the trusted and widely used Shakespeare series for students and general readers, includes:

-The exact text of the printed book for easy cross-reference
-Hundreds of hypertext links for instant navigation
-Freshly edited text based on the best early printed version of the play
-Full explanatory notes conveniently linked to the text of the play
-Scene-by-scene plot summaries
-A key to the play’s famous lines and phrases
-An introduction to reading Shakespeare’s language
-An essay by a leading Shakespeare scholar providing a modern perspective on the play
-Fresh images from the Folger Shakespeare Library’s vast holdings of rare books
-An annotated guide to further reading

Essay by Catherine Belsey

The Folger Shakespeare Library in Washington, DC, is home to the world’s largest collection of Shakespeare’s printed works, and a magnet for Shakespeare scholars from around the globe. In addition to exhibitions open to the public throughout the year, the Folger offers a full calendar of performances and programs. For more information, visit Folger.edu.