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One of Dickens's most haunting and bizarre novels, The Old Curiosity Shop is the story of `Little Nell' and her persecution by the grotesque and lecherous Quilp. This edition uses the Clarendon text, the definitive edition of the novels of Charles Dickens, and includes the original illustrations, five appendices of deleted passages, and details of Little Nell on stage.

This authoritative edition was formerly published in the acclaimed Oxford Authors series under the general editorship of Frank Kermode. It brings together a unique combination of Johnson's poetry and prose - all the major poems, complemented by essays, criticism, and fiction - to give the essence of his work and thinking.

Mary Barton was praised by contemporary critics for its vivid realism, its convincing characters and its deep sympathy with the poor, and it still has the power to engage and move readers today. This edition reproduces the last edition of the novel supervised by Elizabeth Gaskell and includes her husband's two lectures on the Lancashire dialect.

This authoritative edition was formerly published in the acclaimed Oxford Authors series under the general editorship of Frank Kermode. It brings together a unique combination of Sidney's poetry and prose, including The Defence of Poesy, substantial parts of both versions of the Arcadia, and the whole of the sonnet sequence Astrophil and Stella.

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 new translation into modern English by a major Chaucerian scholar includes an index of the names relating to the Trojan War and an Index of Proverbs.

This selection of twenty of Hawthorne's tales is the first in paperback to present his most important short works with full annotation in one volume.

The Three Musketeers (1844) is one of the most famous historical novels ever written. It is also one of the world's greatest historical adventure stories, and its heroes have become symbols for the spirit of youth, daring, and comradeship. The action takes place in the 1620s at the court of Louis XIII, where the musketeers, Athos, Porthos, and Aramis, with their companion, the headstrong d'Artagnan, are engaged in a battle against Richelieu, the King'sminister, and the beautiful, unscrupulous spy, Milady. Behind the flashing blades and bravura, in this first adventure of the Musketeers, Dumas explores the eternal conflict between good and evil. This new edition is the most fully annotated to date in English, providing explanatory notes which set the work in its historical, literary, and cultural context.

How did the camel get his hump? Why won't cats do as they are told? How did an inquisitive little elephant change the lives of elephants everywhere? Kipling's imagined answers to such questions draw on the beast fables of India, and they are full of jokes, subtexts, and exotic references. This fully illustrated edition includes two extra stories and Kipling's own explanation of the title.

Eugene Onegin is the master work of the poet whom Russians regard as the fountainhead of their literature. Set in 1820s Russia, Pushkin's novel in verse follows the fates of three men and three women. It was Pushkin's own favourite work, and this new translation conveys the literal sense and the poetic music of the original.

This is Trollope's most detailed and concise study of middle-class life in a small provincial community - in this case Baslehurst, in the luscious Devon countryside. It is also a charming love-story, centring on sweet-natured Rachel Ray and her suitor Luke Rowan, whose battle to wrest control over Baslehurst's brewery involves a host of typically Trollopian local characters. ABOUT THE SERIES: For over 100 years Oxford World's Classics has made available the widest range of literature from around the globe. Each affordable volume reflects Oxford's commitment to scholarship, providing the most accurate text plus a wealth of other valuable features, including expert introductions by leading authorities, helpful notes to clarify the text, up-to-date bibliographies for further study, and much more.

A new selection of John Donne's verse, prepared by the editor of The Oxford Authors edition, with full notes and a useful introduction. John Donne is perhaps the most important poet of the seventeenth century, and has often been referred to as the founder of the metaphysical genre.

The remote and inhospitable landscape of Iceland made it a perfect breeding-ground for heroes. The first Norsemen to colonize it in 860 found that the fight for survival demanded high courage and tough self reliance; it also nurtured a stern sense of duty and an uncompromising view of destiny. The Icelandic sagas relate the adventurous lives of individuals and families between 930 and 1030, which began as oral tales but were skilfully documented in the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries, and are now regarded as written literature. ABOUT THE SERIES: For over 100 years Oxford World's Classics has made available the widest range of literature from around the globe. Each affordable volume reflects Oxford's commitment to scholarship, providing the most accurate text plus a wealth of other valuable features, including expert introductions by leading authorities, helpful notes to clarify the text, up-to-date bibliographies for further study, and much more.

Corinne, or Italy (1807) is both the story of a love affair between Oswald, Lord Nelvil and a beautiful poetess, and a homage to the landscape, literature and art of Italy. Sta¿weaves discreet French Revolutionary political allusion and allegory into her romance, whose publication saw her order of exile renewed by Napoleon. This new translation is complemented by notes and an introduction which serve to set an extraordinary work of EuropeanRomanticism in its historical and political contexts.

This authoritative edition was first published in the acclaimed Oxford Authors series under the general editorship of Frank Kermode. It brings together a unique combination of Pope's poetry and prose - the major poems in their entirety, together with translations, criticism, letters and other prose - to give the essence of his work and thinking.

This fine example of the French realist novel contrasts the social progress of an impoverished but ambitious aristocrat with the tale of a father, whose obsessive love for his daughters leads to his personal and financial ruin.

Aphra Behn (1640-89) achieved both fame and notoriety in her own time, enjoying considerable success for her plays and for her short novel Oroonoko, the story of a noble slave who loves a princess. Acclaimed by Virginia Woolf as the first English woman to earn her living by the pen, Behn's achievements as a writer are now acknowledged less equivocally than in the seventeenth century. As well as Oroonoko, this volume contains five other works of fiction ranging from comedy and high melodrama to tragedy. The Fair Jilt, Memoirs of the Court of the King of Bantam, The History of the Nun, The Adventure of the Black Lady, and The Unfortunate Bride are complemented by a generous selection of her poetry, ranging from public political verse to lyrics and witty conversation poems. This selection demonstrates Behn's range, as wellas her wit, compassion, and interest in the question of identity and self-representation.

Virgil's Georgics is considered one of the greatest poems in western literature. It purports to be a didactic poem on agriculture, but its true subject is man and his place in literature and society. Sir Roger Mynors's definitive text is presented here, and his accessible commentary is the fullest understanding of the work available for students and scholars.

`Truth uncompromisingly told will always have its ragged edges.' So wrote Melville of Billy Budd, Sailor, among the greatest of his works and, in its richness and ambiguity, among the most problematic. The selection in this volume represents the best of Melville's shorter fiction, and uses the most authoritative texts. The eight shorter tales included here were composed during Melville's years as a magazine writer in the mid 1850's and establish him, along with Hawthorne and Poe, as the greatest American story writer of his age. All show Melville a master of irony, point-of-view, and tone, whose fables ripple out in ever increasing circles of meaning. Bartleby, the Scrivener; Cock-A-Doodle-Doo!; The Fiddler; The Paradise of Bachelors and the Tartarus of Maids; The Lightning-Rod Man; The Encantadas, or Enchanted Isles; Benito Cereno; I and My Chimney; Billy Budd, Sailor (An Inside Narrative).

William Thackeray called it "the most laughable story that has ever been written since the goodly art of novel-writing began." As a group of travellers visit places in England and Scotland, they provide through satire and wit a vivid and detailed picture of the contemporary social and political scene.

Not originally intended for publication, the celebrated and controversial correspondences between Lord Chesterfield and his son Philip, dating from 1737, were praised in their day as a complete manual of education, and despised by Samuel Johnson for teaching "the morals of a whore and the manners of a dancing-master." Reflecting the political craft of a leading statesman and the urbane wit of a man who associated with Pope, Addison, and Swift, Lord Chesterfield's Letters reveal the author's political cynicism, his views on good breeding, and instruction to his son in etiquette and the worldly arts. The only annotated selection of this breadth available in paperback, these entertaining letters illuminate the fascinating aspects of eighteenth-century life and manners.

Mary Hays's first novel, Memoirs of Emma Courtney (1796), transgresses literary and social conventions with its outspoken heroine who pursues the man she loves. A work concerned with issues of female dependence, sexuality, and woman's role in society, it will interest scholars of the eighteenth century and Romantic period, and those in Women's Studies.

The national folk epic of Finland is here presented in an English translation that is both scholarly and eminently readable. The lyrical passages and poetic images, the wry humor, the tall-tale extravagance, and the homely realism of the 'Kaevala' come through with extraordinary effectiveness.

Written in 1867, The English Constitution remains the best account of the history and working of the British political system. Blending wit, humour, history, and anecdote, its analysis of the monarchy, the role of the prime minister and cabinet, and comparisons with the American presidential system are astute and timeless. This is the only edition currently in print and uses the original 1867 edition.