Signet Classics Bibliography

[ 0001 ] Constant, Benjamin. Adolphe and the Red Notebook. New York. 1959. Signet/New American Library. 0451500016. Translated From The French By Carl Wildman & Norman Cameron. Introduction By Harold Nicolson. The Very First Signet Classic. 160 pages. paperback. CD1. Signet Classic original. FROM THE PUBLISHER - In these two remarkable works, a brilliant, vain, long-suffering Frenchman describes the first twenty years of his life and their culmination in a tortured love affair with an older, possessive woman of the world. Benjamin Constant attempted to conceal the fact that these two books were autobiographical. But to his familiars, it was clear that he himself was Adolphe. And in the intimate account of his strange liaison with EllEnore, he may well have been protesting against his inexorable bondage to his fiery, demanding mistress, Madame de Staël. Constant was an able parliamentarian, a champion of liberalism and the author of the History of Religion. But posterity remembers him as the man who bared the anatomy of a destructive passion in the story of Adolphe. AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY - Henri-Benjamin Constant de Rebecque (25 October 1767 - 8 December 1830), or simply Benjamin Constant, was a Swiss-French politician and writer on politics and religion. He was the author of a partly biographical psychological novel, Adolphe. He was a fervent liberal of the early 19th century who influenced the Trienio Liberal movement in Spain, the Liberal Revolution of 1820 in Portugal, the Greek War of Independence, the November Uprising in Poland, the Belgian Revolution, and Liberalism in Brazil and Mexico.

[ 0002 ] Twain, Mark. The Adventures of Tom Sawyer. New York. 1959. Signet/New American Library. 0451500024. Afterword By George P. Elliott. 224 pages. paperback. CD2. Signet Classic original. FROM THE PUBLISHER - Here is a light - hearted excursion into boyhood, a nostalgic return to the simple, rural Missouri world of Tom Sawyer and his friends Huck Finn, Becky and Aunt Pofly. It is a dreamlike world of summertime and hooky, pranks and punishments, villains and desperate adventure, seen through the eyes of a boy who might have been the young Mark Twain himself. There is sheer delight in Tom Sawyer - even at the darkest moments affection and wit permeate its pages. For adults it recreates the vanished dreams of youth. For younger readers it unveils the boundaries of tantalizing horizons to still to come. And for everyone else it reveals the mind and heart of one of America's greatly loved writers. AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY - Samuel Langhorne Clemens (November 30, 1835 - April 21, 1910), better known by his pen name Mark Twain, was an American author and humorist. He wrote The Adventures of Tom Sawyer (1876) and its sequel, Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (1885), the latter often called 'the Great American Novel'.

[ 0003 ] Orwell, George. Animal Farm. New York. 1959. Signet/New American Library. 0451500032. Introduction By C.M. Woodhouse. 128 pages. paperback. CD3. Signet Classic original. FROM THE PUBLISHER - This remarkable book has been described in many ways - as a masterpiece. a fairy story. a brilliant satire. a frightening view of the future. A devastating attack on the pig - headed, gluttonous and avaricious rulers in an imaginary totalitarian state, it illuminates the range of human experience from love to hate, from comedy to tragedy. 'A wise, compassionate and illuminating fable for our time. The steadiness and lucidity of Orwell's wit are reminiscent of Anatole France and even of Swift.' - NEW YORK TIMES. AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY - Eric Arthur Blair (25 June 1903 - 21 January 1950), known by his pen name George Orwell, was an English novelist, essayist, journalist and critic. His work is characterised by lucid prose, biting social criticism, opposition to totalitarianism, and outspoken support of democratic socialism. He is best known for the allegorical novella Animal Farm (1945) and the dystopian novel Nineteen Eighty-Four (1949). His non-fiction works, including The Road to Wigan Pier (1937), documenting his experience of working-class life in the north of England, and Homage to Catalonia (1938), an account of his experiences soldiering for the Republican faction of the Spanish Civil War (1936–1939), are as critically respected as his essays on politics and literature, language and culture.

[ 0004 ] Conrad, Joseph. Heart of Darkness & the Secret Sharer. New York. 1964. Signet/New American Library. 0451500040. Introduction By Albert J. Guerard. 160 pages. paperback. CD4. Signet Classic original. FROM THE PUBLISHER - The dark places of the human soul - this is the region that Joseph Conrad so brilliantly explores. In the steaming jungles of the Congo or the vast reaches of the sea, it is man's capacity for good and for evil that is his enduring theme. Heart of Darkness tells of a powerful European, Kurtz, who reverts to awful savagery in an isolated native trading post. The Secret Sharer describes the terrible conflict of a young captain who is torn between his duty to his ship and his loyalty to a young officer with whom he identifies himself after the murder of a mutinous crew member. Compelling, vivid, exotic, suspenseful, these are among the half - dozen greatest short novels in the English language. 'To make you hear, to make you feel, above all to make you see' - this was first and last, the aim of Conrad. AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY - Joseph Conrad (born Jozef Teodor Konrad Korzeniowski; Berdichev, Imperial Russia, 3 December 1857 - 3 August 1924, Bishopsbourne, Kent, England) was a Polish author who wrote in English after settling in England. Conrad is regarded as one of the greatest novelists in English, though he did not speak the language fluently until he was in his twenties (and always with a marked accent). He wrote stories and novels, often with a nautical setting, that depict trials of the human spirit in the midst of an indifferent universe.

[ 0005 ] Twain, Mark. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. New York. 1959. Signet/New American Library. 0451500059. Afterword By George P. Elliott. 288 pages. paperback. CD5. Signet Classic original. FROM THE PUBLISHER - He has no mother, his father is a brutal drunkard, and he sleeps in a hogshead. He's Huck Finn, a homeless waif, a liar and thief on occasion and a casual rebel against respectability. But on the day that he encounters another fugitive from trouble, a runaway slave named Jim, he also finds for the first time in his life love, acceptance and a sense of responsibility. And it is in the exciting and moving story of these two outcasts fleeing down the Mississippi on a raft, that a wonderful metamorphosis occurs. The boy nobody wants becomes a human being with a sense of his own destiny and the courage to choose between violating the code of the conventional and betraying the person who needs him most. Rich in color, humor and the adventurous frontier experience of the Mississippi, this great novel vividly recreates the world, the people and the language that Mark Twain knew and loved from his own years on the riverboats. 'All modern American literature comes from one book by Mark Twain called Huckleberry Finn.' - Ernest Hemingway. AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY - Samuel Langhorne Clemens (November 30, 1835 - April 21, 1910), better known by his pen name Mark Twain, was an American author and humorist. He wrote The Adventures of Tom Sawyer (1876) and its sequel, Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (1885), the latter often called 'the Great American Novel'.

[ 0006 ] Stevenson, Robert Louis. Kidnapped. New York. 1960. Signet/New American Library. 0451500067. Afterword By Gerard Previn Meyer. 239 pages. paperback. CD6. Signet Classic original. FROM THE PUBLISHER - This glorious passport to romance and high adventure has delighted generations of readers. It is the story of young David Balfour, an orphan, whose miserly old 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 which includes a shipwreck, a hazardous journey across Scotland with a dare - devil 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. Henry James called Kidnapped, 'Stevenson's best book.' AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY - ROBERT LOUIS STEVENSON was born in Edinburgh, Scotland, in 1850 and became one of the world's most popular writers. He was novelist, essayist, and poet - master of a widely acclaimed style. His works include TREASURE ISLAND, KIDNAPPED, DAVID BALFOUR, THE STRANGE CASE OF DR. JEKYLL AND MR. HYDE, and his collection of poems for children, A CHILD'S GARDEN OF VERSES.

[ 0007 ] Hardy, Thomas. The Return of the Native. New York. 1959. Signet/New American Library. 0451500075. Afterword By Horace Gregory. 415 pages. paperback. CD7. Signet Classic original. FROM THE PUBLISHER - The rural tranquillity of the heather - covered English countryside is the setting for this moving novel of conflicting aspirations and tragic destiny. Clym Yeobright returns from Paris to the village of his birth, idealistically inspired to improve the life of the men and women of Egdon Heath. But his plans are upset when he falls in love 'with a passionately beautiful, darkly discontented girl, Eustacia Vye, who longs to escape from her provincial surroundings. Their stormy marriage explodes in a violent tragedy which eventually frees Yeobright to pursue his dream of service. A book of classic dimension and heroic design, THE RETURN OF THE NATIVE is the forerunner of the twentieth - century psychological novel - poetic, compassionate, vivid in its associations, universal in its meanings. AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY - Thomas Hardy (June 2, 1840 - January 11, 1928) was an English novelist and poet. A Victorian realist in the tradition of George Eliot, he focused on a declining rural society.

[ 0008 ] Hawthorne, Nathaniel. The Scarlet Letter. New York. 1959. Signet/New American Library. 0451500083. Foreword By Leo Marx. 259 pages. paperback. CD8. Signet Classic original. FROM THE PUBLISHER - An ardent young woman, her cowardly lover and her aging, vengeful husband - these are the central characters in this stark drama of the conflict between passion and convention in the harsh, Puritan world of seventeenth - century Boston. Tremendously moving, rich in psychological insight, this tragic novel of shame and redemption reveals Hawthorne's concern with the New England past and its influence on American attitudes. From his dramatic illumination of the struggles between mind and heart, dogma and self - reliance, he fashioned one of the masterpieces of fiction. 'The one American literary work which comes as near to perfection as is granted a man to bring his achievements.' - Arnold Bennett. AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY - Nathaniel Hawthorne (born Nathaniel Hathorne; July 4, 1804 - May 19, 1864) was an American novelist and short story writer. Much of Hawthorne's writing centers on New England, many works featuring moral allegories with a Puritan inspiration.

[ 0009 ] Faulkner, William. Unvanquished. New York. 1959. Signet/New American Library. 0451500091. Foreword By Carvel Collins. 192 pages. paperback. CD9. Signet Classic original. FROM THE PUBLISHER - Set against the backdrop of the chaos of the Civil War, this is the magnificent story of the proud Sartoris family, who lived with violence in order to survive. But it is particularly the account of how young Bayard Sartoris, well tutored in killing, found the wisdom to decide that there had been enough bloodshed, and the courage to face the enemy alone - and unarmed. This is one of the most powerful works of America's Nobel Prize - winning author, one which lends insight into his other books and illuminates Faulkner's credo: 'Man is tough. Nothing - war, grief, hopelessness, despair - can last as long as man himself can last; man himself will prevail over all his anguishes, provided he will make the effort to stand erect on his own feet by believing in hope and in his own toughness and endurance.' AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY - William Cuthbert Faulkner (born Falkner, September 25, 1897 - July 6, 1962), also known as Will Faulkner, was an American writer and Nobel Prize laureate from Oxford, Mississippi. Faulkner is one of the most important writers in both American literature generally and Southern literature specifically.

[ 0010 ] Bronte, Emily. Wuthering Heights. New York. 1959. Signet/New American Library. 0451500105. Foreword By Geoffrey Moore. 320 pages. paperback. CD10. Cover: James Hill. Signet Classic original. FROM THE PUBLISHER - There are few more convincing, less sentimental accounts of passionate love than Wuthering Heights. This is the story of a savage, tormented foundling, Heathcliff, who falls wildly in love with Catherine Earnshaw, the daughter of his benefactor, and the violence and misery that result from their thwarted longing for each other. A book of immense power and strength, it is filled with the raw beauty of the moors and an uncanny understanding of the terrible truths about men and women - an understanding made even more extraordinary by the fact that it came from the heart of a frail, inexperienced girl who lived out her lonely life in the moorland wildness and died a year after this great novel was published. AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY - Emily Jane Brontë (30 July 1818 - 19 December 1848) was an English novelist and poet, best remembered for her solitary novel, Wuthering Heights, now considered a classic of English literature. Emily was the third eldest of the four surviving Brontë siblings, between the youngest Anne and her brother Branwell. She wrote under the pen name Ellis Bell.

[ 0011 ] Bronte, Charlotte. Jane Eyre. New York. 1960. Signet/New American Library. 0451500113. Afterword By Arthur Zeiger. paperback. CD11. Signet Classic original. FROM THE PUBLISHER - A novel of intense power and intrigue, JANE EYRE has dazzled generations of readers with its depiction of a woman's quest for freedom. Having grown up an orphan in the home of her cruel aunt and at a harsh charity school, Jane Eyre becomes an independent and spirited survivor-qualities that serve her well as governess at Thornfield Hall. But when she finds love with her sardonic employer, Rochester, the discovery of his terrible secret forces her to make a choice. Should she stay with him whatever the consequences or follow her convictions, even if it means leaving her beloved? AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY - Charlotte Brontë (21 April 1816 - 31 March 1855) was an English novelist and poet, the eldest of the three Brontë sisters who survived into adulthood, whose novels are English literature standards. She wrote Jane Eyre under the pen name Currer Bell.

[ 0012 ] James, Henry. The Ambassadors. New York. 1960. Signet/New American Library. 0451500121. Afterword By R.W. Stallman. 384 pages. paperback. CD12. Cover: Milton Glaser. Signet Classic original. FROM THE PUBLISHER - Henry James considered this book to be his most perfect work of art. The ambassadors of the title are the emissaries sent by Mrs. Newsome, a wealthy New England widow, to restore to the home town and the family business her son Chad who has lingered too long in Paris, reputedly detained by a sordid liaison. Lambert Strether, the first of the envoys and the novel's strait - laced hero, embarks on the mission only to find himself caught up in a romantic intrigue, the outcome of which will radically change the direction and purpose of his life. Since its publication in 1903, The Ambassadors has come to be regarded as a masterpiece of American fiction because of its remarkable technical structure, its profound moral significance, and its perceptive contrast of New World conscience and Old World culture. This Signet Classic edition of The Ambassadors reproduces the 1903 Methuen text, which is the only one Henry James ever saw through the press. AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY - Henry James (15 April 1843 - 28 February 1916) was an Anglo-American writer who spent most of his writing career in Britain. He is regarded as one of the key figures of 19th-century literary realism.

[ 0013 ] Tolstoy, Leo. The Death of Ivan Ilych and Other Stories. New York. 1960. Signet/New American Library. 045150013x. Translated From The Russian By Aylmer Maude.Afterword By David Magarshack. 304 pages. paperback. CD13. Cover: Milton Glaser. Signet Classic original. FROM THE PUBLISHER - Includes the stories: FAMILY HAPPINESS, THE DEATH OF IVAN ILYCH, THE KREUTZER SONATA,& MASTER AND MAN. Combining detailed physical description with perceptive psychological insight, Leo Tolstoy realistically sweeps aside the sham of surface appearances to lay bare man's intimate gestures, acts, and thoughts. Murder and sacrifice . greed and devotion . lust and affection. vanity and love - one by one, in this volume of great stories, Tolstoy dissects the basic drives, emotions and motives of average people searching for self - knowledge and spiritual perfection. Chekhov said, 'Of authors my favorite is Tolstoy.' And Turgenev 'marveled at the strength of his huge talent. It sends a cold shudder even down my back, though you know my back has become thick and coarse. He is a master, a master.' AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY - Count Lev Nikolayevich Tolstoy (9 September 1828 - 20 November 1910), usually referred to in English as Leo Tolstoy, was a Russian writer who is regarded as one of the greatest authors of all time. He received multiple nominations for the Nobel Prize in Literature every year from 1902 to 1906 and nominations for the Nobel Peace Prize in 1901, 1902 and 1910 and the fact that he never won is a major Nobel prize controversy.

[ 0014 ] Swift, Jonathan. Gulliver's Travels. New York. 1960. Signet/New American Library. 0451500148. Foreword By Marcus Cunliffe. 320 pages. paperback. CD14. Signet Classic original. FROM THE PUBLISHER - GULLIVER'S TRAVELS is Jonathan Swift's bitter and devastating satire, the fantastic tale of the four voyages of Lemuel Gulliver, an honest, blunt English ship's surgeon. His first voyage is to the land of Lilliput, where the people are only six inches high. His second, by contrast, to the land of Brobdingnag where the people are sixty feet high. Further adventures bring Gulliver to an island that floats in the sky and to a land where horses are endowed with reason and beasts are shaped like men. A book that has the rare merit of appealing to both the very mature and the very young, GULLIVER'S TRAVELS is a brilliant narrative - realistic, profound, terrible; a fascinating fairy tale of marvelous travels; a model of English style and masterly prose. Thirty illustrations by Charles Brock, and Five Maps of Gulliver's Journeys. AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY - Jonathan Swift (30 November 1667 - 19 October 1745) was an Anglo-Irish satirist, essayist, political pamphleteer (first for the Whigs, then for the Tories), poet and cleric who became Dean of St Patrick's Cathedral, Dublin. He is remembered for works such as Gulliver's Travels, A Modest Proposal, A Journal to Stella, Drapier's Letters, The Battle of the Books, An Argument Against Abolishing Christianity, and A Tale of a Tub.

[ 0015 ] Dickens, Charles. A Tale of Two Cities. New York. 1963. Signet/New American Library. 0451500156. Afterword By Edgar Johnson. 378 pages. paperback. CD15. Signet Classic original. FROM THE PUBLISHER - The storming of the Bastille the death carts with their doomed human cargo . the swift drop of the guillotine blade - this is the French Revolution that Charles Dickens vividly captures in his famous work, A Tale of Two Cities. With dramatic eloquence, he brings to life a time of terror and treason, a starving people rising in frenzy and hate to overthrow a corrupt and decadent regime. With insight and compassion, he casts his novel of unforgettable scenes with unforgettable characters: the sinister Madame Defarge, knitting her patterns of death; the gentle Lucie Manette, unswerving in her devotion to her broken father; the heroic Sydney Carton, who gives his life for the love of a girl who would never be his. '[Dickens is] a genius born once in a hundred years.' - Leo Tolstoy. it renders the red phantasmagoria of revolution rushing past in hideous pageant, the terror and horror of helpless suffering and sacrifice, the grandeur of renunciation. Dickens's revolutionary vision is creative not destructive. It transcends anger and rebellion in hope. and love !' - Edgar Johnson. AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY - Charles John Huffam Dickens (7 February 1812 - 9 June 1870) was an English writer and social critic. He created some of the world's most memorable fictional characters and is generally regarded as the greatest novelist of the Victorian period. During his life, his works enjoyed unprecedented fame, and by the twentieth century his literary genius was broadly acknowledged by critics and scholars. His novels and short stories continue to be widely popular.

[ 0016 ] Crane, Stephen. The Red Badge of Courage. New York. 1960. Signet/New American Library. 0451500164. Foreword By R.W. Stallman. 224 pages. paperback. CD16. Cover: James Hill. Signet Classic original. FROM THE PUBLISHER - A pioneer in the realistic school of American fiction, and a forerunner of Ernest Hemingway, Stephen Crane probed the thoughts and actions of trapped or baited men fighting the destructive forces in nature, in other human beings, and in themselves. Here published complete from the original manuscripts is Crane's masterpiece, one of the great war novels of all time - The Red Badge of Courage. together with four of his best - known short stories. Outstanding for their psychological portrayal of violent emotions keyed in quiet tension, they reveal the insight and narrative skill of 'one of the clearest cases of genius in American fiction.' - Carl Van Doren. Includes - THE RED BADGE OF COURAGE, and The Open Boat, The Blue Hotel, The Upturned Face, The Bride Comes to Yellow Sky. AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY - Stephen Crane (November 1, 1871 - June 5, 1900) was an American author. Prolific throughout his short life, he wrote notable works in the Realist tradition as well as early examples of American Naturalism and Impressionism. He is recognized by modern critics as one of the most innovative writers of his generation.

[ 0017 ] Jimenez, Juan Ramon. Platero and I. New York. 1960. Signet/New American Library. 0451500172. Translated From The Spanish By William H. and Mary M. Roberts. Introduction By William H. Roberts. 128 pages. paperback. CD17. Cover: James Hill. Signet Classic original. FROM THE PUBLISHER - He's the children's playmate, the gray goat's companion, and the poet's cherished friend. Small and downy soft, the donkey named Platero romps through the pages of a book that has captured the hearts of readers everywhere. Written by Juan Ramon JimEnez, the 1956 winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature, Platero and I has been translated into the main languages of Western Europe as well as Hebrew and Basque. Like the great Spanish classic Don Quixote, it has found favor with the young, who delight in the adventures of the merry little donkey and the sad poet, and with their elders, who look beyond the narrative to see what the writer has to say about man and his world. Drawings by Baltasar Lobo. AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY - Juan Ramon JimEnez Mantecon (24 December 1881 - 29 May 1958) was a Spanish poet, a prolific writer who received the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1956. One of JimEnez's most important contributions to modern poetry was his advocacy of the French concept of ‘pure poetry.'

[ 0018 ] Woolf, Virginia. Orlando. New York. 1963. Signet/New American Library. 0451500180. Afterword By Elizabeth Bowen.Includes The Original Illustrations. 224 pages. paperback. CD18. Signet Classic original. FROM THE PUBLISHER - Spanning three and a half centuries of boisterous, exuberant adventure in England, in Constantinople, with aristocrats and gypsies - first as a man and then as a woman - Orlando's story is a wild farce, a humorous history, a gay romance filled with the delightful experiences of one of the most fascinating and fantastic characters ever to rule the realm of fiction. David Daiches said: 'Virginia Woolf can afford to rest her claims on her novels, which show her to be one of the half - dozen novelists of the present century whom the world will not easily let die.' Rebecca West called Orlando 'a poetic masterpiece of the first rank' and Elizabeth Bowen found it 'one of the most high spirited books I know . a book for those who are young in a big way.' AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY - Adeline Virginia Woolf (nEe Stephen; 25 January 1882 - 28 March 1941) was an English writer and one of the foremost modernists of the twentieth century. During the interwar period, Woolf was a significant figure in London literary society and a central figure in the influential Bloomsbury Group of intellectuals. Her most famous works include the novels Mrs Dalloway (1925), To the Lighthouse (1927) and Orlando (1928), and the book-length essay A Room of One's Own (1929).

[ 0019 ] Shaw, George Bernard. Plays. New York. 1960. Signet/New American Library. 0451500199. Foreword By Eric Bentley. 447 pages. paperback. CD19. Signet Classic original. FROM THE PUBLISHER - Includes: Mrs. Warren's Profession, Arms and the Man, Candida, & Man and Superman. George Bernard Shaw demanded truth and despised convention. He punctured hollow pretensions and smug prudishness - sugar - coating his criticism with ingenious and irreverent wit. In Mrs. Warren's Profession, Arms and the Man, Candida, and Man and Superman, the great playwright satirizes accepted attitudes toward: woman's place in society, military heroism, marriage, the pursuit of man by woman. From a social, literary, and theatrical standpoint, these four plays are among the foremost dramas of the ages - as, intellectually stimulating as they are thoroughly enjoyable. 'My way of joking is to tell the truth: it is the funniest joke in the world.' - G. B. Shaw. AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY - George Bernard Shaw (26 July 1856 - 2 November 1950) was an Irish playwright and a co-founder of the London School of Economics. Although his first profitable writing was music and literary criticism, in which capacity he wrote many highly articulate pieces of journalism, his main talent was for drama, and he wrote more than 60 plays.

[ 0020 ] London, Jack. The Call of the Wild and Selected Stories. New York. 1961. Signet/New American Library. 0451500202. Foreword By Franklin Walker. 176 pages. paperback. CD20. Signet Classic original. FROM THE PUBLISHER - Includes: THE CALL OF THE WILD, and Diable - A Dog; An Odyssey of the North; To the Man on Trail; To Build a Fire; Love of Life. Out of the white wilderness, out of the Far North, Jack London, one of America's most popular authors, drew the inspiration for his robust tales of perilous adventure and animal cunning. Swiftly paced, vividly written, the six stories included here deal with the main theme of London's work - the law of the club and the fang, man's instinctive reversal to primitive behavior when pitted against the brute force of nature. AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY - John Griffith ‘Jack' London (born John Griffith Chaney, January 12, 1876 - November 22, 1916) was an American author, journalist, and social activist. He was a pioneer in the then-burgeoning world of commercial magazine fiction and was one of the first fiction writers to obtain worldwide celebrity and a large fortune from his fiction alone. He is best remembered as the author of The Call of the Wild and White Fang, both set in the Klondike Gold Rush.

[ 0021 ] Eliot, George. Silas Marner. New York. 1960. Signet/New American Library. 0451500210. Afterword By Walter Allen. 190 pages. paperback. CD21. Cover: James Hill. Signet Classic original. FROM THE PUBLISHER - Wrongly accused of a heinous theft that had been committed by his best friend, the gentle linen weaver, Silas Marner, goes into exile to become a miserly recluse. In the rustic village of Raveloe he finds redemption and spiritual rebirth through his unselfish love for an abandoned child who appears mysteriously one day in his isolated cottage. A classic beloved by every generation, George Eliot's heartwarming novel of a miser and a little child combines the charm of a fairy tale with the humor and pathos of realistic fiction. Silas Marner is a tale rich in the understanding of human nature. and a vivid revelation of the undercurrents of sheltered rural life - suspicion of the outsider, hatred of the unfamiliar. AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY - Mary Anne (alternatively Mary Ann or Marian) Evans (22 November 1819 - 22 December 1880), better known by her pen name George Eliot, was an English novelist, journalist and translator, and one of the leading writers of the Victorian era. She is the author of seven novels, including Adam Bede (1859), The Mill on the Floss (1860), Silas Marner (1861), Middlemarch (1871–72), and Daniel Deronda (1876), most of them set in provincial England and known for their realism and psychological insight.

[ 0022 ] Carroll, Lewis. Alice's Adventures in Wonderland & Through the Looking-Glass. New York. 1960. Signet/New American Library. 0451500229. Foreword by Horace Gregory. Original Illustrations by John Tenniel. 238 pages. paperback. CD22. Cover: John Tenniel. Signet Classic original. FROM THE PUBLISHER - A very real little girl named Alice follows a remarkable rabbit down a rabbit hole and steps through a looking - glass to come face to face with some of the strangest adventures and some of the oddest characters in all literature. The crusty Duchess, the Mad Hatter, the weeping Mock Turtle, the diabolical Queen of Hearts, the Cheshire - Cat, Tweedledum and Tweedledee - each one is more eccentric, and more entertaining, than the last. And all of them could only have come from the pen of Lewis Carroll, one of the few adults ever to enter successfully the children's world of make - believe - a wonderland where the impossible becomes possible, the unreal, real . where the heights of adventure are limited only by the depths of imagination. AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY - Charles Lutwidge Dodgson (27 January 1832 - 14 January 1898), better known by his pen name, Lewis Carroll, was an English writer, mathematician, logician, Anglican deacon and photographer. His most famous writings are Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and its sequel Through the Looking-Glass, as well as the poems ‘The Hunting of the Snark‘ and ‘Jabberwocky‘, all examples of the genre of literary nonsense.

[ 0023 ] Whitman, Walt. Leaves of Grass. New York. 1960. Signet/New American Library. 0451500237. Introduction By Gay Wilson Allen. 431 pages. paperback. CT23. Cover: Milton Glaser. Signet Classic original. FROM THE PUBLISHER - These are the incomparable poems of one of America's greatest poets - an exuberant, passionate man who loved his country and wrote of it as no other has ever done. Singer, thinker, visionary and citizen extraordinary, this was Walt Whitman. Thoreau called Whitman 'probably the greatest democrat that ever lived' and Emerson judged Leaves of Grass as 'the most extraordinary piece of wit and wisdom America has yet contributed.' The text of this Signet Classic edition of Leaves of Grass is that of the 'Death - Bed' or ninth edition, which was published in 1892. The content and grouping of poems is that authorized by the poet for the final and complete edition of his masterpiece. AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY - Walter ‘Walt' Whitman (May 31, 1819 - March 26, 1892) was an American poet, essayist and journalist. A humanist, he was a part of the transition between transcendentalism and realism, incorporating both views in his works. Whitman is among the most influential poets in the American canon, often called the father of free verse.

[ 0024 ] Defoe, Daniel. A Journal of the Plague Year. New York. 1960. Signet/New American Library. 0451500245. Foreword By J.H. Plumb. 240 pages. paperback. CD24. Signet Classic original. FROM THE PUBLISHER - Bring out your dead! The ceaseless chant of doom echoed through a city of emptied streets and filled grave pits. For this was London in the year 1665, the Year of the Great Plague. In 1721, when the Black Death again threatened the European Continent, Daniel Defoe wrote A Journal of the Plague rear to alert an indifferent populace to the horror that was almost upon them. Through the eyes of a saddler who had chosen to remain while multitudes fled, the master realist vividly depicted a plague - stricken city. He re - enacted the terror of a helpless people caught in a tragedy they could not comprehend: the weak preying on the dying, the strong administering to the sick, the sinful orgies of the cynical, the quiet faith of the pious With dramatic insight he captured for all time the death throes of a great city. AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY - Daniel Defoe (ca. 1660 to 24 April 1731), born Daniel Foe, was an English trader, writer, journalist, pamphleteer and spy, who gained fame for his novel Robinson Crusoe. Defoe is notable for being one of the earliest proponents of the novel, as he helped to popularise the form in Britain.

[ 0025 ] Clark, Walter Van Tilburg. The Ox-Bow Incident. New York. 1960. Signet/New American Library. 0451500253. Afterword By Walter Prescott Webb. 224 pages. paperback. CD25. Signet Classic original. FROM THE PUBLISHER - This is a searing study of mob justice. The story takes place in the Old West, but it could happen anywhere, anytime that men of action let their anger goad them into taking the law into their own hands. Published in 1940, this powerful narrative was immediately hailed as a work of art. 'The Ox - Bow Incident is a triumph of restraint and workmanship. The tenseness that builds and eddies and comes back stronger is beautifully geared to the temper of each central character and the shifting emotions of the mob, as doubt, anger, stubbornness, physical cold, pity and revulsion hold them in turn,' said Max Gissen in the New Republic. Ben Ray Redman described it in The Saturday Review as 'A sinewy, masculine tale that progressively tightens its grip on the reader.' And Clifton Fadiman summed up the verdict of all the critics when he called this modern classic 'a masterpiece.' AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY - Walter Van Tilburg Clark (August 3, 1909 — November 10, 1971) was an American novelist, short story writer, and educator. He ranks as one of Nevada's most distinguished literary figures of the 20th century and is known primarily for his novels and short stories. As a writer, he taught himself to use the familiar materials of the western saga to explore the human psyche and to raise deep philosophical issues.

[ 0026 ] Bellamy, Edward. Looking Backward, 2000-1887. New York. 1960. Signet/New American Library. 0451500261. Foreword By Erich Fromm. 222 pages. paperback. CD26. Signet Classic original. FROM THE PUBLISHER - The hero is anyone who has ever longed for escape to a better life. The time is tomorrow. The place is a Utopian America. This is the backdrop for Edward Bellamy's prophetic novel about a young Boston gentleman who is mysteriously transported from the nineteenth to the twenty - first century - from a world of war and want to a world of peace and plenty. Translated into more than twenty languages, and the most widely read novel of its time, Looking Backward is more than a brilliant visionary's view of the future. It is a blueprint of the 'perfect society,' a guidebook that stimulated some of the greatest thinkers of our age. John Dewey, Charles Beard, and Edward Weeks, in separate surveys conducted in 1935, listed Edward Bellamy's novel as the most influential work written by an American in the preceding fifty years. AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY - Edward Bellamy (March 26, 1850 - May 22, 1898) was an American author and socialist, most famous for his utopian novel, Looking Backward, a Rip Van Winkle-like tale set in the distant future of the year 2000. Bellamy's vision of a harmonious future world inspired the formation of over 160 ‘Nationalist Clubs‘ dedicated to the propagation of Bellamy's political ideas and working to make them a practical reality.

[ 0027 ] Butler, Samuel. The Way of All Flesh. New York. 1960. Signet/New American Library. 045150027x. Afterword By J. Sherwood Weber. 384 pages. paperback. CD27. Signet Classic original. FROM THE PUBLISHER - This devastating indictment of Victorian values presents an ironic and incisive portrait. of a determined, young man in revolt against father, religion, society, self. In describing Ernest Pontifex's flight to freedom, Samuel Butler illustrated the emotional and intellectual experiences of every artist who educates himself through trial and error. He created a novel that was to inspire, in spirit and form, the works of such writers as Somerset Maugham, James Joyce, Thomas Wolfe. George Bernard Shaw was deeply influenced by Butler's ideas on religion and money. In his preface to Major Barbara, Shaw recorded this debt and called Butler 'a man of genius' who was 'in his own department, the greatest English writer of the latter half of the nineteenth century.' AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY - Samuel Butler (4 or 5 December 1835 - 18 June 1902) was an iconoclastic Victorian-era English author who published a variety of works. Two of his most famous pieces are the Utopian satire Erewhon and a semi-autobiographical novel published posthumously, The Way of All Flesh. He is also known for examining Christian orthodoxy, substantive studies of evolutionary thought, studies of Italian art, and works of literary history and criticism. Butler also made prose translations of the Iliad and Odyssey which remain in use to this day.

[ 0028 ] Conrad, Joseph. Nostromo. New York. 1960. Signet/New American Library. 0451500288. Foreword by F.R. Leavis. 448 pages. paperback. CT28. Cover: James Hill. Signet Classic original. FROM THE PUBLISHER - Set in a small South American state, a twilight country of shadowy sierra and misty campo, this is Joseph Conrad's magnificent story of revolution, deception, and self - betrayal. The theme is the struggle of man fighting his greatest enemy - himself. The agent of destruction is stolen silver. With inexorable insight the master storyteller shows how the fates of Gould, the empire builder; Nostromo, the incorruptible and vain man of the people; Decoud, the voice of skeptical intelligence; Dr. Monygham, the outcast, are mirrored in the shining treasure that haunts their hearts and challenges their honor. This dramatic tale of high adventure is considered by many to be Conrad's masterpiece. F. R. Leavis writes in his Foreword, 'Conrad, I think, was right in regarding it as his greatest creation, and it seems to me one of the world's great novels.' AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY - Joseph Conrad (born Jozef Teodor Konrad Korzeniowski; Berdichev, Imperial Russia, 3 December 1857 - 3 August 1924, Bishopsbourne, Kent, England) was a Polish author who wrote in English after settling in England. Conrad is regarded as one of the greatest novelists in English, though he did not speak the language fluently until he was in his twenties (and always with a marked accent). He wrote stories and novels, often with a nautical setting, that depict trials of the human spirit in the midst of an indifferent universe.

[ 0029 ] Poe, Edgar Allan. The Fall of the House of Usher and Other Tales. New York. 1960. Signet/New American Library. 0451500296. Afterword By R.P. Blackmur. 383 pages. paperback. CD29. Signet Classic original. FROM THE PUBLISHER - This Signet Classic collection of Edgar Allan Poe's macabre stories of men caught in the clutch of mysterious or supernatural forces, moving irrevocably toward imminent destruction, includes: Fourteen tales of terror, imagination, and suspense - - THE BALLOON - HOAX, MS FOUND IN A BOTTLE, A DESCENT INTO THE MAELSTROM, THE MURDERS IN THE RUE MORGUE, THE PURLOINED LETTER, THE BLACK CAT, THE FALL OF THE HOUSE OF USHER, THE PIT AND THE PENDULUM, THE MASQUE OF THE RED DEATH, THE CASK OF AMONTILLADO, THE ASSIGNATION, THE TELL - TALE HEART, DIDDLING, THE MAN THAT WAS USED UP, and Poe's only full - length novel, NARRATIVE OF A. GORDON PYM, herewith making its first appearance in a paperback selection of the celebrated author's work. AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY - Edgar Allan Poe (January 19, 1809 - October 7, 1849) was an American author, poet, editor and literary critic, considered part of the American Romantic Movement. Best known for his tales of mystery and the macabre, Poe was one of the earliest American practitioners of the short story and is considered the inventor of the detective-fiction genre. He is further credited with contributing to the emerging genre of science fiction.

[ 0030 ] Smollett, Tobias. Humphry Clinker. New York. 1960. Signet/New American Library. 045150030x. Foreword By Monroe Engel. 350 pages. paperback. CD30. Cover: Milton Glaser. Signet Classic original. FROM THE PUBLISHER - With the sharp sensitivity of 'a man without skin' Tobias Smollett humorously attacked the frivolity and foibles of eighteenth - century England. Humphry Clinker is his mirthful tale of a tour by coach and four through cities and countryside. Five people embark on the journey: the crusty eccentric, Squire Bramble; his husband - hunting sister, Tabitha; her maid, Winifred; and Bramble's youthful niece and nephew,. Lydia and Jery. En route they are joined by Humphry Clinker, an honest Wiltshire lad of tattered cloth and empty purse. As misadventure follows misadventure, each character reveals his true self by giving his own conflicting view of the incidents, places, and people encountered along the way. The result is an entertaining and realistic picture of that wonderful age when gentlemen duelled, ladies swooned, and servants rose from rags to riches. AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY - Tobias George Smollett (19 March 1721 - 17 September 1771) was a Scottish poet and author. He was best known for his picaresque novels, such as The Adventures of Roderick Random (1748) and The Adventures of Peregrine Pickle (1751).

[ 0031 ] Cather, Willa. The Troll Garden. New York. 1961. Signet/New American Library. 0451500318. Afterword By Katherine Anne Porter. 152 pages. paperback. CD31. Cover: Lambert. Signet Classic original. FROM THE PUBLISHER - Includes - FLAVIA AND HER ARTISTS, THE SCULPTOR'S FUNERAL, THE GARDEN LODGE, 'A DEATH IN THE DESERT', THE MARRIAGE OF PHAEDRA, A WAGNER MATINEE, and PAUL'S CASE. In the stories that comprise THE TROLL GARDEN, her first book, Willa Cather evokes the devastated, romantic dreams that haunt her characters. Artists, inveterate sentimentalists, hungering beauties, and demon - ridden ascetics find themselves torn between the need to confess and keep secret their private aspirations. Involved with the hope that destroys the spirit, their lives reflect both the impoverished materialism and the deadly idealism of the Plains country, of the fashionable East, and of London at the turn of the century. 'She is exactly at the center of her own mystery, where she belongs . For certainly here is a genius who simply will not cater to our tastes for drama, who refuses to play the role in any way we have been accustomed to seeing it played.' - Katherine Anne Porter. AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY - Willa Sibert Cather (December 7, 1873 - April 24, 1947) was an American author who achieved recognition for her novels of frontier life on the Great Plains, in works such as O Pioneers!, My Ántonia, and The Song of the Lark. In 1923 she was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for One of Ours (1922), a novel set during World War I. Cather grew up in Nebraska and graduated from the University of Nebraska. She lived and worked in Pittsburgh for ten years, then at the age of 33 she moved to New York, where she lived for the rest of her life.

[ 0032 ] Thoreau, Henry David. Walden and Civil Disobedience. New York. 1960. Signet/New American Library. 0451500326. Afterword By Perry Miller. 255 pages. paperback. CD32. Cover: Lambert. Signet Classic original. FROM THE PUBLISHER - A sturdy individualist and a lover of nature, Henry David Thoreau was typical of his time and place - an epitome of the Yankee spirit. In March, 1845, he set out to live life in a new way. Borrowing an ax, he built himself a wooden hut on the edge of Walden Pond, near Concord, Massachusetts, where he lived until September, 1847. Walden is a record of that experiment in simple living. In this fascinating work Thoreau describes his Robinson Crusoe existence, bare creature comforts but rich in contemplation of the wonders of nature and the ways of man. On the Duty of Civil Disobedience is Thoreau's classic protest against government's interference with individual liberty. One of the most famous essays ever written, it came to the attention of Gandhi and formed the basis for his passive resistance movement. 'No truer American existed than Thoreau.' - Emerson Also included in this Signet Classics edition is a representative selection of Thoreau's poetry. AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY - Henry David Thoreau (July 12, 1817 - May 6, 1862) was an American author, poet, philosopher, abolitionist, naturalist, tax resister, development critic, surveyor, historian, and leading transcendentalist. He is best known for his book Walden, a reflection upon simple living in natural surroundings, and his essay Civil Disobedience, an argument for individual resistance to civil government in moral opposition to an unjust state.

[ 0033 ] Dostoyevsky, Fyodor. The Brothers Karamazov. New York. 1961. Signet/New American Library. 0451500334. Translated From The Russian By Constance Garnett.Edited & With A Foreword By Manuel Komroff. 701 pages. paperback. CT33. Signet Classic original. FROM THE PUBLISHER - THE BROTHERS KARAMAZOV - Dostoyevsky's passionate concern for people and his intense desire to grasp the meaning of life led him to explore the secret depths of man's struggles and sins. Noiction or thought was ever too corrupt or too inhuman for his understanding. The Brothers Karamazov was his last and greatest work. This extraordinary novel tells the dramatic story of four brothers - Dmitri, pleasure - seeking, impatient, unruly. Ivan, brilliant and morose. Alyosha, gentle, loving, honest. , and the illegitimate Smerdyakov, sly, silent, cruel. Driven by intense passion, they become involved in the brutal murder of their own father, one of the most loathsome characters in all literature. 'Dostoyevsky paints like Rembrandt, and his portraits are artistically so powerful and often so perfect that even if they lacked the depths of thought that lie behind them, and around them, I believe that Dostoyevsky would stilt be the greatest of all novelists.' - AndrE Gide. AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY - Fyodor Mikhailovich Dostoyevsky 11 November 1821 - 9 February 1881), sometimes transliterated Dostoevsky, was a Russian novelist, short story writer, essayist and philosopher. Dostoyevsky's literary works explore human psychology in the context of the troubled political, social, and spiritual atmosphere of 19th-century Russia.

[ 0034 ] Tolstoy, Leo. Anna Karenina. New York. 1964. Signet/New American Library. 0451500342. Newly Translated From The Russian & With A Foreword By David Magarshack. 808 pages. paperback. CQ34. Signet Classic original. FROM THE PUBLISHER - Tolstoy's genius - for viewing social classes in the largest possible context and for sketching the subtlest human gestures becomes most evident in Anna Karenina. To this novel he brought his troubling conviction that at his moments of most intense experience Man is closest to Death. This is the double drama of Anna and of Levin. Sensual, rebellious, Anna renounces respectable marriage and fine position for a passionate involvement which offers a taste of freedom and a trap for destruction. Levin, an eccentric and melancholy young nobleman, surrenders his individuality to live as a peasant. Applauded as the greatest novel of modern social realism, Anna Karenina contains the nucleus of Tolstoy's program for nonviolence and abstention from worldly riches - a program based on a personal interpretation of the Gospels that made him one of the, world's most venerated teachers. AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY - Count Lev Nikolayevich Tolstoy (9 September 1828 - 20 November 1910), usually referred to in English as Leo Tolstoy, was a Russian writer who is regarded as one of the greatest authors of all time. He received multiple nominations for the Nobel Prize in Literature every year from 1902 to 1906 and nominations for the Nobel Peace Prize in 1901, 1902 and 1910 and the fact that he never won is a major Nobel prize controversy.

[ 0035 ] Voltaire. Candide, Zadig and Selected Stories. New York. 1961. Signet/New American Library. 0451500350. Newly Translated From The French & With An Introduction By Donald M. Frame. 352 pages. paperback. CD35. Signet Classic original. FROM THE PUBLISHER - The savage contempt with which Voltaire derided the bureaucracies of his day and his gift for creating exotic panoramas find their perfect merger in these satirical stories. With ruthless wit the master of social commentary dissects science and spiritual faith, ethics and legal systems, love and human vanity. Includes: CANDIDE, ZADIG, MICROMEGAS, THE WORLD AS IT IS, MEMNON, BABABEC AND THE FAKIRS, HISTORY OF SCARMENTADO'S TRAVELS, PLATO'S DREAM, ACCOUNT OF THE SICKNESS, CONFESSION, DEATH, AND APPARITION OF THE JESUIT BERTHIER, STORY OF A GOOD BRAHMAN, JEANNOT AND COHN, AN INDIAN ADVENTURE, INGENUOUS, THE ONE - EYED PORTER, MEMORY'S ADVENTURE, COUNT CHESTERFIELD'S EARS AND CHAPLAIN GOUDMAN. AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY - Francois-Marie Arouet (21 November 1694 - 30 May 1778), known by his nom de plume Voltaire, was a French Enlightenment writer, historian, and philosopher famous for his wit, his attacks on the established Catholic Church, and his advocacy of freedom of religion, freedom of expression, and separation of church and state.

[ 0036 ] Sinclair, Upton. The Jungle. New York. 1960. Signet/New American Library. 0451500369. Foreword By Robert P. Downs. 351 pages. paperback. CD36. Cover: Lambert. Signet Classic original. FROM THE PUBLISHER - In some of the most harrowing scenes ever written in modern literature, Upton Sinclair vividly depicts factory life in Chicago in the first years of the twentieth century. The horrors of the slaughter houses, their barbarous working conditions . the crushing poverty, the disease, the depravity, the despair - he reveals all through the eyes of Jurgis Rudkus, a young immigrant who has come to the New World to build a home for himself, his fiancEe, and her family. Published in 1906, THE JUNGLE aroused the indignation of the public and forced a government investigation which led to the passage of the pure food laws. It also established its young author as a fearless crusader for the rights Of the working man - one of the world's leading spokesmen for freedom, equality and humanity. AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY - Upton Beall Sinclair, Jr. (September 20, 1878 - November 25, 1968), was an American author who wrote nearly 100 books in many genres. He achieved popularity in the first half of the twentieth century, acquiring particular fame for his classic muckraking novel, The Jungle (1906). It exposed conditions in the U.S. meat packing industry, causing a public uproar that contributed in part to the passage a few months later of the 1906 Pure Food and Drug Act and the Meat Inspection Act.

[ 0037 ] Chekhov, Anton. Selected Stories. New York. 1960. Signet/New American Library. 0451500377. Newly Translated From The Russian By Ann Dunnigan.Foreword By Ernest J. Simmons. 287 pages. paperback. CD37. Cover: Milton Glaser. Signet Classic original. FROM THE PUBLISHER - One of the world's great masters of the short story, Anton Chekhov wrote about everyday life as he saw it - with humor, insight, and honesty. In this lies his genius: He portrayed the Russian people as they really were, not as he wanted them to be. This Signet Classic presents twenty Chekhov stories, including twelve of his early tales which make their first appearance in English in Thus paperback collection. The Confession * He Understood * At Sea * Surgery * Ninochka * A Cure for Drinking * The Jailer Jailed * The Dance Pianist * The Milksop * The Nincompoop * Marriage in Ten or Fifteen Years * In Spring * Agafya * The Kiss * The Father * In Exile * Three Years * The House with the Mansard * Peasants * The Darling AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY - Anton Pavlovich Chekhov (29 January 1860 - 15 July 1904) was a Russian physician, dramatist and author who is considered to be among the greatest writers of short stories in history. His career as a dramatist produced four classics and his best short stories are held in high esteem by writers and critics. Chekhov practised as a doctor throughout most of his literary career.

[ 0038 ] Thomas, Dylan. Adventures in the Skin Trade. New York. 1961. Signet/New American Library. 0451500385. Afterword By Vernon Watkins. 192 pages. paperback. CD38. Signet Classic original. FROM THE PUBLISHER - One of the twentieth century's most gifted writers, Dylan Thomas created a vital, lusty, antic world of truly memorable characters. This Signet Classic offers a distinguished selection of his work - twenty stories plus all of his famous unfinished novel, ADVENTURES IN THE SKIN TRADE. The title piece relates the adventures of Samuel Bennet, a young innocent embarked on a wild pilgrimage through modern London. The stories range in theme from life and love to nature and madness, but all are written with the extravagant humor, the brilliant imagery, the magic awareness of the true poet. The New York Times wrote of ADVENTURES IN THE SKIN TRADE: 'The human warmth keeps bubbling up through the satire. Thomas' last work of fiction, in addition to its intrinsic interest, has a meaningfulness comparable to that of Keats' letters and Yeats' memoirs.' The New York Herald Tribune found it a 'vein of pure gold.' And The Saturday Review called Dylan Thomas 'a genius.' AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY - Dylan Marlais Thomas (27 October 1914 - 9 November 1953) was a Welsh poet and writer whose works include the poems 'Do not go gentle into that good night' and 'And death shall have no dominion', the 'Play for Voices', Under Milk Wood, and stories and radio broadcasts such as A Child's Christmas in Wales and Portrait of the Artist as a Young Dog.

[ 0039 ] Parkman, Francis. The Oregon Trail. New York. Signet/New American Library. 0451500393. Foreword By A.B. Guthrie Jr. 288 pages. paperback. CD39. Signet Classic original. FROM THE PUBLISHER - More than a century ago, a young Easterner named Francis Parkman set out to explore life in the uncivilized West. With his friend and companion Quincy Adams Shaw, he traveled up the Oregon Trail to the camps of the Pawnee and the Sioux. This book is the fascinating journal of that hazardous experience. It is an authentic record of life on the trail, an eyewitness account of the Mormons and outlaws, trappers and Indians, pioneers and adventurers who tried to conquer the frontier back in the days when America was young. Historian Henry Steele Commager wrote: ‘THE OREGON TRAIL appeared in 1849, and with its publication Parkman was launched upon his career as a storyteller without peer in American letters. It is the picturesqueness, the racy vigor, the poetic eloquence, the youthful excitement, that give THE OREGON TRAIL its enduring appeal, recreating for us, as perhaps does no other book in our literature, the wonder and beauty of life in a new world that is now old and but a memory.' AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY - Francis Parkman, Jr. (September 16, 1823 - November 8, 1893) was an American historian, best known as author of The Oregon Trail: Sketches of Prairie and Rocky-Mountain Life and his monumental seven-volume France and England in North America.

[ 0040 ] Gogol, Nicolai. The Diary of a Madman and Other Stories. New York. 1961. Signet/New American Library. 0451500407. Newly Translated From The Russian By Andrew R. MacAndrew. Afterword By Leon Stilman. 238 pages. paperback. CD40. Cover: Milton Glaser. Signet Classic original. FROM THE PUBLISHER - NIKOLAI GOGOL is universally regarded as the father of Russian realism. His stories are rooted in commonplace events; his characters are the underdog and the insignificant. A romantic at heart, he used a startling blend of broad comedy and weird fantasy to expose the stupidity, coarseness, and meanness of life. This Signet Classic includes five of Gogol's most famous stories: THE DIARY OF A MADMAN, THE NOSE, THE CARRIAGE, THE OVERCOAT, and a full - length historical romance: TARAS BULBA. AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY - Nikolay Vasilyevich Gogol (1809-52), Russian writer, whose plays, short stories, and novels rank among the great masterpieces of 19th-century Russian realist literature.

[ 0041 ] Butler, Samuel. Erewhon. New York. 1961. Signet/New American Library. 0451500415. Afterword By Kingsley Amis. 240 pages. paperback. CD41. Signet Classic original. FROM THE PUBLISHER - Disease is a crime punishable by imprisonment. Machines are considered dangerous; they have been destroyed and banished from the land. This is the way of the world in Erewhon, the imaginary country of simple, straightforward people that was created by Samuel Butler to serve as a foil for his attack on 'modern' life and thought. With wit and imagination the master satirist lashed out at evolution, medicine, education, justice. And paradoxically he presented several sides of each issue in a many - sided tale of adventure, ideas, escape. As Kingsley Amis points out in his Afterword to this Signet Classic, EREWHON is the first modern Utopian romance, a novel which directly anticipates Huxley's BRAVE NEW WORLD and Orwell's 1984. AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY - Samuel Butler (4 or 5 December 1835 - 18 June 1902) was an iconoclastic Victorian-era English author who published a variety of works. Two of his most famous pieces are the Utopian satire Erewhon and a semi-autobiographical novel published posthumously, The Way of All Flesh. He is also known for examining Christian orthodoxy, substantive studies of evolutionary thought, studies of Italian art, and works of literary history and criticism. Butler also made prose translations of the Iliad and Odyssey which remain in use to this day.

[ 0042 ] Tennyson, Alfred Lord. Idylls of the King. New York. 1961. Signet/New American Library. 0451500423. Foreword By George Barker. 320 pages. paperback. CD42. Cover: Pucci. Signet Classic original. FROM THE PUBLISHER - 'With regal melancholy and a superb sense of craft, Tennyson's poems evoke Past and Present - the Isle of the Lotos-Eaters, heraldic Camelot, his own twilit English gardens - seeking to reconcile the Victorian zeal for public progress with private despair. Using his own eloquence or masks of mythic figures, Tennyson was the stylist most imitated by poets of his day - praised over all the rest for his vigorous portrayals of the 'general conscience' of statesmen and common men alike.' AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY - Alfred Tennyson (6 August 1809 - 6 October 1892) was Poet Laureate of Great Britain and Ireland during much of Queen Victoria's reign and remains one of the most popular British poets.

[ 0043 ] Wells, H. G. Tono-Bungay. New York. 1961. Signet/New American Library. 0451500431. Foreword By Harry T. Moore. 352 pages. paperback. CD43. Signet Classic original. FROM THE PUBLISHER - Mischievous, stimulating, aromatic, attractive, Tono - Bungay is a patent medicine. It brings a quick fortune to a conscience - ridden scientist and his uncle, a lovable Satan of early mass production. Anti it launches them on a series of semicomic, sometimes grotesque adventures in gray, anonymous, turn - of - the - century London - adventures which culminate in the downfall of their product empire and a flight from creditors by night in a strange and experimental airship. Alternating between vaudevillian gusto and the economic incisiveness of high satire, Tono - Bungay merges the traditional character chronicle with the modern novel of social invective. Henry James described its author's style as one of 'robust pitch' and lauded Wells for possessing an eye and ear comparable to Dickens'. AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY - Herbert George ‘H. G.' Wells (21 September 1866 - 13 August 1946) was an English writer, now best known for his work in the science fiction genre. He was also a prolific writer in many other genres, including contemporary novels, history, politics and social commentary, even writing textbooks and rules for war games.

[ 0044 ] Hardy, Thomas. Far From the Madding Crowd. New York. 1961. Signet/New American Library. 045150044x. Afterword By James Wright. 382 pages. paperback. CD44. Signet Classic original. FROM THE PUBLISHER - There is in England no more real or typical district than Thomas Hardy's imaginary Wessex, the scattered fields and farms of which were first discovered in far From the madding crowd. It is here that Gabriel Oak observes Bathsheba, the young mistress of Weatherbury Farm, fall victim to her amorous caprices. He serves her through one marriage to a handsome, corruptly sentimental sergeant. Selflessly altruistic, he sees her through another betrothal to her compulsive, puritanical neighbor - as unaware as she of the stroke of Fate that will effect their ultimate union. Published anonymously and first attributed to George Eliot, FAR FROM THE MADDING CROWD won Hardy immediate success; it combines an architecturally perfect plot with the philosophical overtones that were to set the theme for all his later works. The text of this Signet Classic is set from Hardy's revised final version of FAR FROM THE MADDING CROWD, published in 1912 in the authoritative Wessex edition. AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY - Thomas Hardy (June 2, 1840 - January 11, 1928) was an English novelist and poet. A Victorian realist in the tradition of George Eliot, he focused on a declining rural society.

[ 0045 ] Kuprin, Alexander. The Duel and Selected Stories. New York. 1961. Signet/New American Library. 0451500458. Newly Translated From The Russian & With An Afterword By Andrew R. MacAndrew. 256 pages. paperback. CD45. Cover: James Hill. Signet Classic original. FROM THE PUBLISHER - The frenzied, often fatal, attempts of sensitive men to escape their pointless rounds in the cities, garrisons, and far - flung reaches of Tsarist Russia are the central theme of The Duel and these selected stories. Praised by Communist and Western critics alike for exposing the universal abyss, Kuprin also indicts those trapped inside it - too worn to respond to one another's cries for love, capable at best of minor self - improvements at the expense of fellow sufferers. 'How he can write! . he should never pay attention to anybody's advice but just keep writing in his own way.' - Leo Tolstoy. AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY - Aleksandr Ivanovich Kuprin (7 September 1870 in the village of Narovchat in the Penza Oblast - August 25, 1938 in Leningrad) was a Russian writer, pilot, explorer and adventurer who is perhaps best known for his story The Duel (1905).

[ 0046 ] Saint-Exupery, Antoine De. Night Flight. New York. 1961. Signet/New American Library. 0451500466. Translated From The French By Stuart Gilbert.Foreword By Andre Gide. 128 pages. paperback. CD46. Signet Classic original. FROM THE PUBLISHER - In a novel of rare beauty and power, Saint - ExupEry charts the perilous world of pioneer aviation. Night Flight is the story of hazardous flights made by night through the dangers of darkness and the destructive splendor of sudden Andean storms. It is a story of men who risk their lives to deliver mail in flimsy crates . Fabien, the youthful pilot, who sees in flying a chance for heroic action. Rivière, his superior, who believes that man's salvation lies not in freedom but in the acceptance of duty. 'Aviation, like the exploration of uncharted lands has its early heroic age and Night Flight, which describes the tragic adventure of one of these pioneers of the air, sounds, naturally enough, the authentic epic note.' - AndrE Gide AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY - Antoine de Saint-ExupEry (officially Antoine Marie Jean-Baptiste Roger, comte de Saint ExupEry 29 June 1900 - 31 July 1944) was a French aristocrat, writer, poet, and pioneering aviator.

[ 0047 ] Melville, Herman. Moby Dick. New York. 1961. Signet/New American Library. 0451500474. Afterword By Denham Sutcliffe. 544 pages. paperback. CT47. Signet Classic original. FROM THE PUBLISHER - Moby Dick is the epic saga of a one legged fanatic, Captain Ahab, who swears vengeance on the mammoth white whale who has crippled him. The first American novel to win a place in the literature of the world, it has been called a realistic story of whaling, a romance of unusual adventure and weird characters, a symbolic allegory, a drama of heroic determination and conflict. John Masefield wrote, 'Moby Dick brought all of the magic, the sadness, the wild joy of many waters into my life.' . The Atlantic Monthly called this book 'the greatest of American novels.' AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY - Herman Melville (August 1, 1819 - September 28, 1891) was an American novelist, poet, and writer of short stories. His works includes the whaling novel Moby-Dick (1851), Bartleby, the Scrivener (1853), Benito Cereno (1855), and Billy Budd, Sailor (1924).

[ 0048 ] Adams, Henry. Democracy. New York. 1961. Signet/New American Library. 0451500482. Foreword By Henry D. Aiken. 192 pages. paperback. CD48. Cover: Milton Glaser. Signet Classic original. FROM THE PUBLISHER - Vote - buying and fixed elections, slanderous competition, preposterous graft. this is the Washington of the l87O's which Henry Adams reveals in his famous novel. Democracy is the story of two people who aspire to power. Mrs. Lightfoot Lee, a wealthy society widow, wants to align herself with the great lawmakers whom she idealizes. Instead, she becomes involved with Silas Ratcliffe, the most powerful man in the Senate, a leader whose political maneuvers are surpassed only by his courtship tactics. Here is an incisive exposE of corruption - in individuals and in government, an entertaining caricature of government life which may be seen to have its application even today. AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY - Henry Brooks Adams (February 16, 1838 - March 27, 1918; normally called Henry Adams) was an American journalist, historian, academic and novelist. He was the grandson and great-grandson of John Quincy Adams and John Adams, respectively. He is best known for his autobiography, The Education of Henry Adams, and his History of the United States During the Administration of Thomas Jefferson.

[ 0049 ] Bromfield, Louis. The Farm. New York. 1961. Signet/New American Library. 0451500490. Afterword By Russell Lord. 351 pages. paperback. CT49. Cover: Lambert. Signet Classic original. FROM THE PUBLISHER - Set in the heart of the great, romantic wilderness called the Western Reserve, The Farm brings into permanent focus the joys, frustrations, and rewards of men and women who live close to the: soil. It spans the lives of four generations of Americans: from the idealistic and impulsive Colonel MacDougal, who builds the farm and makes it prosper, to his guilt - ridden descendant, Johnny, who leaves the farm to journey forth and fight in World War I. It is a story of courage, passion, and folly - a story of those who force the land to yield and flourish, and those who turn away from its harvest only to be deceived and corrupted by industry and city. Largely autobiographical, this novel was published in 1933. The New York Times found it 'an honest book, a deeply felt book and a valuable record for this generation and for those which are to come.' Herschel Brickell wrote that it was 'one of the solidest and most genuinely important books the author has written.' AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY - Louis Bromfield (December 27, 1896 - March 18, 1956) was an American author and conservationist. He gained international recognition, winning the Pulitzer Prize and pioneering innovative scientific farming concepts.

[ 0050 ] Turgenev, Ivan. Fathers and Sons. New York. 1961. Signet/New American Library. 0451500504. Newly Translated From The Russian By George Reavey.Foreword By Alan Hodge. 208 pages. paperback. CD50. Signet Classic original. FROM THE PUBLISHER - The publication of Fathers and Sons enraged old and young, reactionaries, romantics, and radicals. Unlike its predecessors, it attacked all social classes through its portrait of the blatant nihilist, Bazarov, who makes a practice of exposing self - deception in those around him. On a visit to the Kirsanov estate, Bazarov's scathing comments, his dark example, threaten the integrity of each of his hosts: the old landowner, Nicholas, who prides himself on his mistress, a former peasant, the old man's decadent brother, Paul, who prides himself on his fashionable lack of purpose; and Arcady, Nicholas' intellectual on, who prides himself on his understanding of Bazarov's motivation. Widely criticized by Russia's radical press, Turgenev won the acclaim of Flaubert, Maupassant and Henry James for being the first author to use psychological character studies instead of elaborate plot, and the first to create the modern revolutionary type, the 'outsider.' AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY - Ivan Sergeyevich Turgenev (November 9 1818 - September 3, 1883) was a Russian novelist, short story writer, and playwright. His first major publication, a short story collection entitled A Sportsman's Sketches (1852), was a milestone of Russian Realism, and his novel Fathers and Sons (1862) is regarded as one of the major works of 19th-century fiction.

[ 0051 ] Conrad, Joseph. Lord Jim. New York. 1961. Signet/New American Library. 0451500512. Afterword By Murray Krieger. 319 pages. paperback. CD51. Cover: Lambert. Signet Classic original. FROM THE PUBLISHER - With this book Joseph Conrad set the style for a whole class of literature - the novel of the outcast from civilization finding refuge in the tropics. The natives of Patusan in the Far East worship the bold young Englishman by the name of 'Lord Jim', but he despises himself. Tortured by an act of cowardice and desertion that wrecked his career in the Merchant Service years before and tormented by his ideal of what an officer should be, he has fled from scandal farther and farther East. It is only here in remote Patusan, filling a post given him by the trader Stein, that he at last finds the will to cease sacrificing himself on the altar of conscience. He becomes a part of life again by accepting the 'destructive element within himself.' And he follows his star to the end - marrying the beautiful half - caste, Jewel, defending Patusan against the evil 'Gentleman Brown.' This is a story of dramatic action and psychological penetration, a work which the critic Morton Dauwen Zabel calls an example of Conrad's 'central theme. , the grip of circumstances that enforce self - discovery and its cognate, the discovery of reality or truth.' AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY - Joseph Conrad (born Jozef Teodor Konrad Korzeniowski; Berdichev, Imperial Russia, 3 December 1857 - 3 August 1924, Bishopsbourne, Kent, England) was a Polish author who wrote in English after settling in England. Conrad is regarded as one of the greatest novelists in English, though he did not speak the language fluently until he was in his twenties (and always with a marked accent). He wrote stories and novels, often with a nautical setting, that depict trials of the human spirit in the midst of an indifferent universe.

[ 0052 ] Roberts, Elizabeth Madox. The Great Meadow. New York. 1961. Signet/New American Library. 0451500520. Afterword By Willard Thorp. 208 pages. paperback. CD52. Cover: James Hill. Signet Classic original. FROM THE PUBLISHER - The trek of the American pioneer toward the wilderness in the 1770's is the theme of The Great Meadow. This dramatic story centers on a young married couple from Virginia who settle in the untamed Boone country of Kentucky. With meticulous detail Elizabeth Madox Roberts presents a factual record of frontier life - its common day chores, its simple folk, its constant perils. With aesthetic feeling she captures the color and rhythm of native idioms and dialect, putting a poet's touch to every lyrical word and phrase. 'Working in material that is native to the core, master of a style perfect for the uses to which it is put, Elizabeth Madox Roberts is giving to her work a universal value.' - N. Y. Times AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY - Already a poet with two collections to her name, Elizabeth Madox Roberts had established herself as a novelist with the publication and immediate success of The Time of Man (1926). That novel, along with The Great Meadow, represents the pinnacle of Roberts's critical and commercial success as a writer.

[ 0053 ] Holmes, Oliver Wendell. The Autocrat of the Breakfast-Table. New York. 1961. Signet/New American Library. 0451500539. Afterword By Eleanor M. Tilton. 285 pages. paperback. CD53. Cover: Lambert. Signet Classic original. FROM THE PUBLISHER - What is love? beauty? human communication? What is important in life and where should it be sought? These are the issues - the underlying themes - set forth by the Autocrat each morning on Beacon Hill. With wit and deviltry, he teases and lectures his fellow breakfasters on such varied subjects as quacks, the simple pleasures, mutual admiration societies, the poverty of logic, the evils of specialized learning, the superiority of aristocrats over self - made men. Dr. Holmes was the most brilliant conversationalist in Boston, the 'Hub of the Universe,' and his essays explored the limitless range of his freethinking mind. He provided an elaborate portrait of the New England liberal intelligence in reaction against itself, the first such self - examination in American letters. This collection, The Autocrat of the Breakfast - Table, made its initial appearance in the first issues of the Atlantic Monthly and was largely responsible for that magazine's early success. AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY - Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr. (March 8, 1841 - March 6, 1935) was an American jurist who served as an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States from 1902 to 1932, and as Acting Chief Justice of the United States January–February 1930. Noted for his long service, his concise and pithy opinions and his deference to the decisions of elected legislatures, he is one of the most widely cited United States Supreme Court justices in history.

[ 0054 ] Romains, Jules. The Death of a Nobody. New York. 1961. Signet/New American Library. 0451500547. Translated From The French By Desmond MacCarthy & Sidney Waterlow.Afterword By Maurice Natanson. 125 pages. paperback. CD54. Cover: Milton Glaser. Signet Classic original. FROM THE PUBLISHER - The subject of this modern classic is not a man. 'It is an event,' says Jules Romains, who is considered 'the French Dos Passos.' The event starts with the death of Jacques Godard, a man of no importance. It unfolds through his brief survival in the minds of others - the porter of his tenement in Paris, his fellow lodgers, a few acquaintances, his old father, who comes up from the country for the funeral, a young stranger who feels that the dead pass into 'a great soul that cannot die.' The event expresses Romains's belief in 'collective beings,' the famous theory of 'Unanimism.' In dramatizing his theory, Romains developed an advanced motion - picture technique when films were in their infancy, a technique of group portraits and sudden shifts from scene to scene that keeps this work far ahead of conventional novels. Here, Romains explores the ideas and the devices used in his twenty - seven - volume masterpiece, Men of Good Will, which AndrE Maurois calls 'the boldest attempt to describe completely his own time that any French novelist has made since Balzac.' AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY - Jules Romains, born Louis Henri Jean Farigoule (August 26, 1885 - August 14, 1972), was a French poet and writer and the founder of the Unanimism literary movement. His works include the play Knock ou le Triomphe de la mEdecine, and a cycle of works called Les Hommes de bonne volontE (Men of Good Will).

[ 0055 ] Defoe, Daniel. Robinson Crusoe. New York. 1961. Signet/New American Library. 0451500555. Afterword By Harvey Swados. 317 pages. paperback. CD55. Cover: Kossin. Signet Classic original. FROM THE PUBLISHER - A storm at sea. a doomed ship. a sole survivor. here is Daniel Defoe's immortal tale of a young merchant seaman cast ashore on an uninhabited tropical island, destined to spend twenty - four years in isolated loneliness. But more than a story of man against nature, Robinson Crusoe is a penetrating study of a universal problem - man against himself. In this great work Defoe introduces us to an immature Crusoe, floundering as aimlessly through life as he later is to flounder helplessly in the grip of a savage sea. We share his struggle for survival; feel his despondence at hearing no human sound but the echo of his own despairing prayers; suffer his hostility toward a God he feels has unjustly forsaken him. And at the end of his long ordeal we witness a rebirth: We see a mature Robinson Crusoe who has doggedly conquered his environment and rekindled his faith in his Saviour. a Robinson Crusoe who has finally mastered himself. AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY - Daniel Defoe (ca. 1660 to 24 April 1731), born Daniel Foe, was an English trader, writer, journalist, pamphleteer and spy, who gained fame for his novel Robinson Crusoe. Defoe is notable for being one of the earliest proponents of the novel, as he helped to popularise the form in Britain.

[ 0056 ] Tolstoy, Leo. The Cossacks and the Raid. New York. 1961. Signet/New American Library. 0451500563. Newly Translated From The Russian By Andrew R. MacAndrew.Afterword By F.R. Reeve. 224 pages. paperback. CD56. Cover: Dillon. Signet Classic original. FROM THE PUBLISHER - To read Tolstoy's early sketch, The Raid, and his first novel, The Cossacks, is to enter the workshop of a great writer and thinker. In The Raid Tolstoy explores the nature of courage itself, a theme central to War and Peace. In The Cossacks he sets forth all the motifs of his whole future life and his work. The hero is a young man - about - town who has squandered half his fortune - and his life - and retires to the desultory existence of a regiment stationed in mountainous Cossack country, where he takes part in the daily life of a Cossack village. But his love for the beautiful Maryanka precipitates a conflict between the belief that 'Happiness lies in living for others' and a passion that sweeps self - abnegation aside. As Romain Rolland says,' The full force of Tolstoy's descriptive powers is already expressed in this splendid [novel] and Tolstoy's realism shows itself with equal force in depicting human character.' AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY - Count Lev Nikolayevich Tolstoy (9 September 1828 - 20 November 1910), usually referred to in English as Leo Tolstoy, was a Russian writer who is regarded as one of the greatest authors of all time. He received multiple nominations for the Nobel Prize in Literature every year from 1902 to 1906 and nominations for the Nobel Peace Prize in 1901, 1902 and 1910 and the fact that he never won is a major Nobel prize controversy.

[ 0057 ] Caldwell, Erskine. Georgia Boy. New York. 1961. Signet/New American Library. 0451500571. Afterword By Robert Cantwell. 152 pages. paperback. CD57. Signet Classic original. FROM THE PUBLISHER - Erskine Caldwell has provided modern literature with a unique and memorable gallery of characters - some earthy, some funny, some tragic. His book Georgia Boy is a classic of American boyhood that will stand alongside Hemingway's My Old Man and Mark Twain's Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. Hilariously entertaining and unerringly accurate, it shows family life through the eyes of twelve - year - old William Stroup as he views the antics of Morris, his shrewd and shiftless father, Martha, his hard - working, sharp - tongued mother, Handsome Brown, his easygoing friend and the Stroup's trouble - prone yardboy. One of Erskine Caldwell's funniest canvasses of the rural South, Georgia Boy displays the keen insight into human nature that has made the author America's most popular storyteller. 'He is a rare phenomenon these days, an original American humorist, with a gift Jo; selecting his material from indigenous sources, and like all writers of the first rank he has an instinct for converting a casual episode into a symbol that carries profound meaning.' AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY - Erskine Caldwell (born Dec. 17, 1903, Coweta county, Ga., U.S. - died April 11, 1987, Paradise Valley, Ariz.) U.S. author. Caldwell became familiar with poor sharecroppers through his father's missionary work. Fame arrived with TOBACCO ROAD (1932), a controversial novel whose title became a byword for rural squalor; adapted as a play, it ran more than seven years on Broadway. GOD'S LITTLE ACRE (1933), also a best-seller, featured a cast of hopelessly poor degenerates. Like his other novels and stories about the rural Southern poor, they mix violence and sex in grotesque tragicomedy.

[ 0058 ] Hawthorne, Nathaniel. The House of Seven Gables. New York. 1961. Signet/New American Library. 045150058x. Afterword By Edward C. Sampson. 287 pages. paperback. CD58. Cover: Lambert. Signet Classic original. FROM THE PUBLISHER - 'God will give him blood to drink!' An evil house, cursed through the centuries by a man who was hanged for witchcraft, haunted by the ghosts of its sinful dead, wracked by the fear of its frightened living . Four Pyncheons play a part inside the blighted house: Hepzibah, an elderly recluse; Clifford, her feeble-minded brother; Phoebe, their young country cousin . and Jaffrey, a devil incarnate whose greedy quest for secret wealth is marked by murder and terrible vengeance from a restless grave. Nathaniel Hawthorne's works are imbued with a mixture of the actual and the imaginary, and THE HOUSE OF THE SEVEN GABLES is an enduring example. The puritanical Colonel Pyncheon is the embodiment of Hawthorne's own great grandfather, a judge at the Salem witch trials; the gloomy, gabled house typifies his own depressing home. It is this masterful blending of the spiritual and symbolic that allows Hawthorne's haunted house to stand firm where many a weaker one has fallen. AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY - Nathaniel Hawthorne (born Nathaniel Hathorne; July 4, 1804 - May 19, 1864) was an American novelist and short story writer. Much of Hawthorne's writing centers on New England, many works featuring moral allegories with a Puritan inspiration.

[ 0059 ] Austen, Jane. Sense and Sensibility. New York. 1961. Signet/New American Library. 0451500598. Afterword By Caroline G. Mercer. 314 pages. paperback. CD59. Signet Classic original. FROM THE PUBLISHER - Two sisters of opposing temperaments who share the pangs of tragic love provide the theme for Jane Austen's dramatically human narrative, Sense and Sensibility. Elinor, practical and conventional, is the perfection of sense. Marianne, emotional and sentimental, is the embodiment of sensibility. To both comes the sorrow of unhappy love. Elinor desires a man who is promised to another. Marianne loses her heart to a scoundrel who jilts her. Their mutual suffering brings a closer understanding between the two sisters - and true love finally triumphs when sense gives way to sensibility, and sensibility gives way to sense. Jane Austen's authentic representation of early nineteenth - century middle - class provincialism, written with forceful insight and gentle irony, makes her novels the enduring works on the mores and manners of her time. AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY - Jane Austen (16 December 1775 - 18 July 1817) was an English novelist whose works of romantic fiction, set among the landed gentry, earned her a place as one of the most widely read writers in English literature. Her realism and biting social commentary have gained her historical importance among scholars and critics.

[ 0060 ] Bierce, Ambrose. In the Midst of Life and Other Stories. New York. 1961. Signet/New American Library. 0451500601. Afterword By Marcus Cunliffe. 256 pages. paperback. CP60. Cover: Milton Glaser. Signet Classic original. FROM THE PUBLISHER - DEATH! From a hangman's noose. , a sniper's bullet . a serpent's venom a dead man's touch. The critics called him 'Bitter Bierce,'described him as'a scoffer and scorner who wrote his tales of horror with a sort of fiendish delight.' In the Midst of Life is a collection of twenty.six of his unique tales of horror. Ambrose Bierce - praised and damned for over half a century as a cynic, a wit, a misanthrope and a demon - wrote of soldiers at war and civilians without peace. With biting humor he placed his characters in a setting of the real and natural, and then with a sardonic twist he confronted them with the terror of the unreal and supernatural. AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY - Ambrose Gwinnett Bierce (born June 24, 1842; assumed to have died sometime after December 26, 1913) was an American editorialist, journalist, short story writer, fabulist, and satirist. Today, he is probably best known for his short story ‘An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge‘ and his satirical lexicon The Devil's Dictionary. His vehemence as a critic, his motto ‘Nothing matters' and the sardonic view of human nature that informed his work all earned him the nickname ‘Bitter Bierce'.

[ 0061 ] Fielding, Henry. Joseph Andrews. New York. 1961. Signet/New American Library. 045150061x. Afterword By Irvin Ehrenpreis. 319 pages. paperback. CD61. Cover: Milton Glaser. Signet Classic original. FROM THE PUBLISHER - An innocent's odyssey among the status - seekers, Joseph Andrews is the hilarious tale of a poverty - stricken, flagrantly handsome footman adrift in a world of blustering, powdered wigs and robbers, amorous dowagers and rough - and - tumble innkeepers. Joseph is squired by Parson Adams - a Sancho Panza with a passion for brawls - through a maze of bedroom farces and mistaken identities to find himself suddenly and irrevocably acceptable. The cornerstone of our realistic fiction, historically precise about eighteenth - century country manners, Henry Fielding's novel is an extravaganza of mortal affectations and vanities. AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY - Henry Fielding (22 April 1707 - 8 October 1754) was an English novelist and dramatist known for his rich earthy humour and satirical prowess, and as the author of the novel Tom Jones. Aside from his literary achievements, he has a significant place in the history of law-enforcement, having founded (with his half-brother John) what some have called London's first police force, the Bow Street Runners, using his authority as a magistrate.

[ 0062 ] Goldsmith, Oliver. The Vicar of Wakefield. New York. 1961. Signet/New American Library. 0451500628. Afterword By J.H. Plumb. 192 pages. paperback. CD62. Cover: Tsao. Signet Classic original. FROM THE PUBLISHER - The sweetness of a pastoral poem and the spice of a vivacious comedy mark the enduring charm of The Vicar of Wakefield. With artful skill and delicious humor Oliver Goldsmith describes the trials and triumphs that befall a simple village vicar and shows, in a series of climactic surprises, how unswerving faith is rewarded - and villainy vanquished. 'There was no kind of writing that he did not practice, nor did he touch any but to adorn it.' - Samuel Johnson. 'With that sweet story Goldsmith found entry into every castle and hamlet in Europe.' - Thackeray. '. the influence [Goldsmithl exercised upon me, just at the chief point of my development, cannot be estimated.' - Goethe. 'The most exquisite of all romance in miniature.' - Lord Byron. AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY - Oliver Goldsmith (10 November 1728 - 4 April 1774) was an Anglo-Irish novelist, playwright and poet, who is best known for his novel The Vicar of Wakefield (1766), his pastoral poem The Deserted Village (1770), and his plays The Good-Natur'd Man (1768) and She Stoops to Conquer (1771, first performed in 1773). He also wrote An History of the Earth and Animated Nature.

[ 0063 ] Tolstoy, Leo. Resurrection. New York. 1961. Signet/New American Library. 0451500636. Translated From The Russian By Vera Traill.Foreword by Alan Hodge. 431 pages. paperback. CT63. Cover: Lambert. Signet Classic original. FROM THE PUBLISHER - RESURRECTION - Tolstoy's final novel - is a joint embodiment of his vast, objective awareness of human suffering and his lifelong burden of unrealized ideals. It traces the conflict of pride and affection between Kätusha, a prostitute charged with murder, and her first lover, Nekhludov, who now must judge her. Through his attempts to alter the course of her fate, Nekhludov discovers a similarity between the self - centered, legal values of Katusha's accusers and the nature of his own altruism. He discovers the hypocrisy of his own atonement - and begins the journey to resurrection. ~'The Homeric, the timeless epic vein was strong in Tolstoy, as perhaps in no other artist in the world.' - Thomas Mann. AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY - Count Lev Nikolayevich Tolstoy (9 September 1828 - 20 November 1910), usually referred to in English as Leo Tolstoy, was a Russian writer who is regarded as one of the greatest authors of all time. He received multiple nominations for the Nobel Prize in Literature every year from 1902 to 1906 and nominations for the Nobel Peace Prize in 1901, 1902 and 1910 and the fact that he never won is a major Nobel prize controversy.

[ 0064 ] Koestler, Arthur. Darkness at Noon. New York. 1961. Signet/New American Library. 0451500644. Newly Translated From The German By Daphne Hardy.Foreword By Peter Viereck. 223 pages. paperback. CD64. Signet Classic original. FROM THE PUBLISHER - Focused on the era of the Moscow trials, Darkness at Noon describes an aging Bolshevik's total loss of perspective when faced by the new regime's inquisitors. At given intervals, Rubashov leaves the rumor - ridden limbo of his prison cell for interrogation - or else is appeased with gifts - first by the reproachful ironist, Ivanov, then by his remote and sadistic colleague, Gletkin. The machine of guilt is brought fully to bear; and, in a nightmarish moment of failing logic, Rubashov makes his preposterous and fatal confession. 'The book reaches the stature of tragedy, whereas an English or American writer could at most have made it into a polemical tract . from his European angle [Koestler] can see such things as purges and mass deportations for what they are. ' George Orwell. AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY - Arthur Koestler (5 September 1905, Budapest - 3 March 1983, London) was an author of essays, novels and autobiographies. In 1940 he published his devastating anti-totalitarian novel, DARKNESS AT NOON, which propelled him to international fame.

[ 0065 ] Kipling, Rudyard. The Jungle Books. New York. 1961. Signet/New American Library. 0451500652. Afterword By Marcus Cunliffe. 334 pages. paperback. CD65. Signet Classic original. FROM THE PUBLISHER - Like ALICE IN WONDERLAND, AESOP'S FABLES, and GRIMM'S FAIRY TALES, THE JUNGLE BOOKS is a work that strikes our imagination first when we are young and grows in richness and meaning with our own experience. In particular, the tales of Mowgli illustrate this fact and bear out T. S. Eliot's remark that 'Kipling knew something of the things which are underneath, and of the things which are beyond the frontier.' Mowgli, lost in the deep jungle as a child, is adopted into a family of wolves. Hunted by Shere Khan, the Bengal tiger, Mowgli is allowed to run with the wolf pack under the protection of Bagheera, the black panther, and of Baloo, the brown bear who teaches wolf cubs The Law of the Jungle. Through many legendary adventures, Mowgli evolves from a vengeful member of the pack to a just and compassionate human being who at last returns to join - perhaps to lead - his own kind. Tales of Mowgli are interspersed with other jungle stories of equal imagination and significance. Somerset Maugham calls Kipling ' . our greatest short story writer,' and it is in THE JUNGLE BOOKS, he says, that Kipling's 'great and varied gifts find their most brilliant expression.' AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY - Joseph Rudyard Kipling (30 December 1865 - 18 January 1936) was an English short-story writer, poet, and novelist. He wrote tales and poems of British soldiers in India and stories for children.

[ 0066 ] Gogol, Nicolai. Dead Souls. New York. 1961. Signet/New American Library. 0451500660. Newly Translated From The Russian By Andrew R. MacAndrew. Foreword by Frank O'Connor. 279 pages. paperback. CP66. Cover: Milton Glaser. Signet Classic original. FROM THE PUBLISHER - DEAD SOULS describes the gambits of a quixotic opportunist in provincial Russia who sets out to buy deceased serfs at a low cost from their owners. Chichikov requires evidence of 'property,' since he wishes to marry an heiress, and is able to amass the 'souls' because their owners must pay taxes on them until they are officially declared dead in the rolls of the next census. An affable and personable business man, he is wined and dined in luxurious mansions and humble crofts, proclaimed a man of standing, and thought to be odd and delightful. Gogol's panorama of fraudulence is lasting allegory and aligns him with Swift, Voltaire, Balzac, and Dickens as one of the world's arch - satirists. 'Dead Souls provides an attentive reader with . that Gogolian gusto and wealth of weird detail which lift the whole thing to the level of a tremendous epic poem. ' - Vladimir Nabokov. AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY - Nikolay Vasilyevich Gogol (1809-52), Russian writer, whose plays, short stories, and novels rank among the great masterpieces of 19th-century Russian realist literature.

[ 0067 ] Hughes, Richard. A High Wind in Jamaica or the Innocent Voyage. New York. 1961. Signet/New American Library. 0451500679. Foreword By Vernon Watkins. 192 pages. paperback. CP67. Cover: Lambert. Signet Classic original. FROM THE PUBLISHER - The eternally fascinating theme of children captured by pirates gains a new psychological dimension in the nightmarish, sometimes weirdly amusing, novel A High Wind in Jamaica. What do the young prisoners think and feel, how do they react when one of their group is coerced by the pirate captain? When one falls to his death by accident? When another murders a hostage from a plundered vessel? Who are the victors and who the victims? The values dividing the world of children and adults are cast in an ever more eerie light as Richard Hughes charts the amorality inherent among the innocent on this macabre and desperate voyage. Rebecca West called A High Wind in Jamaica 'a hot draught of mad, primal fantasy and poetry.' Ford Madox Ford considered it 'the best thing that has come out of Wales or the British Empire since the [first] war.' AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY - Richard Arthur Warren Hughes (19 April 1900 - 28 April 1976) was a British writer of poems, short stories, novels and plays. He wrote only four novels, the most famous of which is The Innocent Voyage (1929), or A High Wind in Jamaica, as Hughes renamed it soon after its initial publication.

[ 0068 ] Twain, Mark. The Mysterious Stranger and Other Stories. New York. 1962. Signet/New American Library. 0451500687. Foreword By Edmund Reiss. 256 pages. paperback. CD68. Cover: Tsao. Signet Classic original. FROM THE PUBLISHER - Includes the stories: THE CELEBRATED JUMPING FROG OF CALAVERAS COUNTY, THE FACTS CONCERNING THE RECENT CARNIVAL OF CRIME IN CONNECTICUT, THE STOLEN WHITE ELEPHANT, LUCK, THE £1,000,000 BANKNOTE, THE MAN THAT CORRUPTED HADLEYBURG, THE FIVE BOONS OF LIFE,& WAS IT HEAVEN? OR HELL? . THE MYSTERIOUS STRANGER is that rarity in the work of Mark Twain - a novelette in which the author turns his sardonic, free - wheeling wit to the problem of Eternal Evil in a distant time and place. In the other eight stories presented here Twain debunks his Gilded Age; he ransacks the back yards of daily life and fable to find his notorious, sometimes preposterous, metaphors. He is as apt to deal with the great minds of the law hunting a wayward elephant as with a man who has a bank - note no one can cash. 'Mark Twain transcends all other American humorists . There is always. the companionship of a spirit which is at once delightfully open and deliciously shrewd.' - William Dean Howells. AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY - Samuel Langhorne Clemens (November 30, 1835 - April 21, 1910), better known by his pen name Mark Twain, was an American author and humorist. He wrote The Adventures of Tom Sawyer (1876) and its sequel, Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (1885), the latter often called 'the Great American Novel'.

[ 0069 ] Dickens, Charles. The Mystery of Edwin Drood. New York. 1961. Signet/New American Library. 0451500695. Afterword By James Wright. 285 pages. paperback. CD69. Signet Classic original. FROM THE PUBLISHER - THE MYSTERY OF EDWIN DROOD is Charles Dickens' brilliant contribution to the field of crime and detection. Against a background of opium dens, nocturnal graveyard visits, and moldering monastic crypts, he weaves a tightly knit plot centered on the ominous disappearance of young Edwin Drood. Suspected of foul murder are John Jasper, a drug-addicted choirmaster who hungers after Drood's fiancEe, and Neville Landless, a Ceylonese who had previously quarreled violently with the missing man. For psychological interest, for mastery of scene, tone, and characterization, this last work of Dickens remains unsurpassed. The Mystery of Edwin Drood was unfinished at the author's death; its solution has challenged the imagination of generations of readers. 'Certainly one of the most beautiful of his works, if not the most beautiful of all.' - Longfellow.' AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY - Charles John Huffam Dickens (7 February 1812 - 9 June 1870) was an English writer and social critic. He created some of the world's most memorable fictional characters and is generally regarded as the greatest novelist of the Victorian period. During his life, his works enjoyed unprecedented fame, and by the twentieth century his literary genius was broadly acknowledged by critics and scholars. His novels and short stories continue to be widely popular.

[ 0070 ] Pushkin, Alexander. The Queen of Spades and Other Tales. New York. 1961. Signet/New American Library. 0451500709. Translated From The Russian By Ivy & Tatiana Litvinov.Foreword By George Steiner. 319 pages. paperback. CP70. Signet Classic original. FROM THE PUBLISHER - Virtually all of the great Russian writers - Tolstoy, Dostoyevsky, Turgenev, Chekhov, Gogol, Pasternak - have acknowledged these stories among their permanent models. Describing the clash of wills, baroque courtships, and lightning chases over the steppes, Pushkin single - handedly stormed an age of barbaric and imitative literature. His brooding soldiers, fragile ladies, perversely benevolent Cossacks, and paranoid gamblers act out their pageants of persecution and lust against the Gothic silence of frontier Russia. In Pushkin we have a writer who, brimming over with impressions of life, strove to portray them in prose and poetry with the utmost truth and realism, achieving his goal with all the brilliancy of genius.' Maxim Gorky. Contains - THE QUEEN OF SPADES, THE TALES OF IVAN BELKIN: The Shot, Blizzard, The Undertaker, The Postmaster, Lady Into Lassie, DUBROVSKY, THE CAPTAIN'S DAUGHTER. AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY - Alexander Sergeyevich Pushkin (6 June 1799 - 10 February 1837) was a Russian author of the Romantic era who is considered by many to be the greatest Russian poet and the founder of modern Russian literature.

[ 0071 ] Meredith, George. The Ordeal of Richard Feverel. New York. 1961. Signet/New American Library. 0451500717. Afterword By Norman Kelvin. 476 pages. paperback. CT71. Cover: James Hill. Signet Classic original. FROM THE PUBLISHER - This novel tackles with vigor and wit one of the greatest Victorian - and Modern - themes: the struggle of intelligence to work out a harmony between man and nature, and between man and woman. The ground for the struggle is the disastrous attempt of a father to play the role of Providence. Sir Austin Feverel, who has been disappointed in love, tries to protect his son from the same fate, training him to be a nearly perfect human being and even planning to arrange his ideal marriage. But Richard's love for Lucy, a beautiful, devoted girl whom his father rejects, helps him find the freedom to elope with her and to see the proud and cynical world of Sir Austin for what it is. More than a century ago Thee' London Times called this novel '. a powerful book . penetrative in its depth of insight and rich in its variety of experience This Signet edition of The Ordeal of Richard Feverel follows Meredith's own revision of 1878. AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY - George Meredith (12 February 1828 - 18 May 1909) was an English novelist and poet of the Victorian era.

[ 0072 ] Harte, Bret. The Outcasts of Poker Flat and Other Tales. New York. 1961. Signet/New American Library. 0451500725. Introduction By Wallace Stegner. 301 pages. paperback. CD72. Signet Classic original. FROM THE PUBLISHER - The glorious fringe - inhabitants of Gold Rush California - the slick gamblers, the impetuous but soft - hearted dance - hall girls, the mining camp eccentrics - are immortal - ized in these classic chronicles of the Far West of the nineteenth century. Includes - The Right Eye of the Commander, M'liss: an Idyl of Red Mountain, The Luck of Roaring Camp, The Outcasts of Poker Flat, Tennessee's Partner, The Idyl of Red Gulch, Brown of Calaveras, Miggles, How Santa Claus Came to Simpson's Bar, Mrs. Skaggs's Husbands, Wan Lee the Pagan, A Passage In the Life of Mr. John Oakhurst, An Ingenue of the Sierras, & A ProtEgEe of Jack Hamlin's. AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY - Francis Bret Harte (August 25, 1836 - May 5, 1902) was an American author and poet, best remembered for his short fiction featuring miners, gamblers, and other romantic figures of the California Gold Rush.

[ 0073 ] Roosevelt, Theodore. The Rough Riders. New York. 1961. Signet/New American Library. 0451500733. Afterword By Lawrence Clark Powell. paperback. CD73. Signet Classic original. FROM THE PUBLISHER - We Are Coming! There was a war to be fought with Spain in 1898,. and so they volunteered. Choctaws, Creeks, Cherokees from the newly tamed Indian Territory. Cowpunchers, stage drivers, government scouts from the Great Plains states. Riflemen, trappers, miners from the Rocky Mountain West. As Teddy Roosevelt's Rough Riders they rode and fought to fame and glory at Las Guasimas, Santiago. and San Juan Hill. More than a chronicle of a war and men in battle, The Rough Riders endures as a living record of a time, a personality, and a legend. Reading it, we become witnesses to a young America emerging as a great power. a dynamic Roosevelt rushing to fulfill his destined place in her future. , and the cowboy hero's last glorious fling in tribute to her colorful past. AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY - Theodore 'T.R.' Roosevelt Jr. (October 27, 1858 - January 6, 1919) was an American politician, author, naturalist, soldier, explorer, and historian who served as the 26th President of the United States. He was a leader of the Republican Party and founder of the Progressive Party insurgency of 1912.

[ 0074 ] Franklin, Benjamin. The Autobiography and Other Writings. New York. 1961. Signet/New American Library. 0451500741. Edited & With An Introduction By L. Jesse Lemisch. 350 pages. paperback. CD74. Cover: Milton Glaser. Signet Classic original. FROM THE PUBLISHER - Availing himself of the best texts and the latest scholarship in the field, L. Jesse Lemisch presents in this Signet Classic a lively and authentic portrait of Benjamin Franklin, the whole man. Seen through his own eyes and through the eyes of others, here is Franklin the public figure: scientist, inventor, educator, diplomat, politician, humorist . and Franklin the private person: father, husband, friend. Richard B. Morris, Chairman of the History Department of Columbia University, wrote about this book, 'I think that Mr. Lemisch has brought together an extraordinarily interesting collection of material about an extraordinary person. He has done it so skillfully that the reader will easily obtain a fully rounded portrait of the many - sided Franklin, notably the moralist, humanitarian, scientist, and unconventional human being. The notes are lively, balanced, and informative, and heighten the interest in the text.' The Signet Classic edition of THE AUTOBIOGRAPHY uses the definitive Farrand text. AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY - Benjamin Franklin (January 17, 1706 - April 17, 1790) was one of the Founding Fathers of the United States. A noted polymath, Franklin was a leading author, printer, political theorist, politician, postmaster, scientist, musician, inventor, satirist, civic activist, statesman, and diplomat.

[ 0075 ] Melville, Herman. Billy Budd and Other Tales. New York. 1961. Signet/New American Library. 045150075x. Afterword By Willard Thorpe. 336 pages. paperback. CT75. Signet Classic original. FROM THE PUBLISHER - Contains - BILLY BUDD, The Piazza, Bartleby, Benito Cereno, The Lightning - Rod Man, The Encantadas, The Bell - Tower, The Town - Ho's Story. Herman Melville's short stories, somewhat neglected during his lifetime, today are considered to be among the small masterpieces of American fiction. His imagination is inventive, ironic, and extraordinarily attuned to our times. His settings and themes are various: the limits of artistic creation; the opposition of innocence and evil; fear of isolation; the inviolate sanctity of the human heart; the fearfulness of and fascination with the 'enchanted isles'; the ferocity of the white whale; Calvinist hell - fire and damnation. Melville's stories, like his great novel Moby - Dick, are unique in narrative method, profound in theme, and full of delights at all levels. This collection includes not only Billy Budd (in a reading text based on the famous Harvard edition), but also all of The Piazza Tales, as well as 'The Town - Ho's Story' from Moby - Dick. AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY - Herman Melville (August 1, 1819 - September 28, 1891) was an American novelist, poet, and writer of short stories. His works includes the whaling novel Moby-Dick (1851), Bartleby, the Scrivener (1853), Benito Cereno (1855), and Billy Budd, Sailor (1924).

[ 0076 ] Eliot, George. Adam Bede. New York. 1961. Signet/New American Library. 0451500768. Foreword By F.R. Leavis. 510 pages. paperback. CT76. Cover: James Hill. Signet Classic original. FROM THE PUBLISHER - The English Midlands at the turn of the eighteenth century is the setting for George Eliot's moving novel of three unworldly people trapped by unwise love. Adam Bede, a simple carpenter, loves too blindly; Hetty Sorrel, a coquettish beauty, loves too recklessly; and Arthur Donnithorne, a dashing squire, loves too carelessly. Betrayed by their innocence, vanity, and imprudence, their foolish hearts lead them to a tragic triangle of seduction, murder, and retribution. With emotional sincerity and intellectual integrity, George Eliot probes deeply into the psychology of commonplace people caught in the act of uncommon heroics. Alexandre Dumas called this novel 'the masterpiece of the century.' AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY - Mary Anne (alternatively Mary Ann or Marian) Evans (22 November 1819 - 22 December 1880), better known by her pen name George Eliot, was an English novelist, journalist and translator, and one of the leading writers of the Victorian era. She is the author of seven novels, including Adam Bede (1859), The Mill on the Floss (1860), Silas Marner (1861), Middlemarch (1871–72), and Daniel Deronda (1876), most of them set in provincial England and known for their realism and psychological insight.

[ 0077 ] Gissing, George. The Private Papers of Henry Ryecroft. New York. 1961. Signet/New American Library. 0451500776. 189 pages. paperback. CP77. Cover: Lambert. Signet Classic original. FROM THE PUBLISHER - In this thinly disguised autobiography, social critic George Gissing introduces his own scholarly passions, experience of poverty, and ironic judgments of technological England and those whose learning permits them no place in it. The Private Papers of Henry Ryecroft reveals Gissing's dissenting opinions on a curious variety of antique and modern subjects. His startlingly personal pessimism and hope combine to empower his every observation on slum life in London, Roman culture, contemporary ethics, cooking, children and Eastern religions with wisdom grounded in realism - proving he is not the withdrawn humanist his friends have thought him. The Private Papers of Henry Ryecroft re-established the art of memoir-writing as an important modern literary form. With a Foreword by V. S. Pritchett. AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY - George Robert Gissing (22 November 1857 - 28 December 1903) was an English novelist who published 23 novels between 1880 and 1903. Gissing also worked as a teacher and tutor throughout his life. He published his first novel, Workers in the Dawn, in 1880. His best known novels, which are published in modern editions, include The Nether World (1889), New Grub Street (1891), and The Odd Women (1893).

[ 0078 ] Holmes, Oliver Wendell. Elsie Venner. New York. 1961. Signet/New American Library. 0451500784. Afterword By Miriam R. Small. 367 pages. paperback. CT78. Cover: Lambert. Signet Classic original. FROM THE PUBLISHER - Elsie Venner is seized by maniacal angers, sudden trances, fits of loneliness, and the compulsion to wander on The Mountain. She is pitied, mistrusted, or sullenly accepted by those who attribute her nature to the snake bite her mother received before her birth. It is this lack of understanding, plus the confused reactions shown by Bernard Langdon, the young and withdrawn schoolmaster who becomes her single passion, that cause her to struggle fiercely, pathetically, against her illness. Dr. Holmes's novel has become the acknowledged prototype of the Brahmin's rational indictment of Predestination. It is an eerie Gothic tale of old New England, a treasury of half - true, twilit conjectures about the psyche before the time of Freud. AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY - Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr. (March 8, 1841 - March 6, 1935) was an American jurist who served as an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States from 1902 to 1932, and as Acting Chief Justice of the United States January–February 1930. Noted for his long service, his concise and pithy opinions and his deference to the decisions of elected legislatures, he is one of the most widely cited United States Supreme Court justices in history.

[ 0079 ] Dickens, Charles. Hard Times. New York. 1961. Signet/New American Library. 0451500792. Afterword By Charles Shapiro. 301 pages. paperback. CD79. Cover: Milton Glaser. Signet Classic original. FROM THE PUBLISHER - Murdering the Innocent! Facts, Facts, Facts. Teach these children facts, not fancies. Sense, not sentimentality Conformity not curiosity Proof and demonstration, not poetry and drama . On this bleak tenet is run the Gradgrind model day school in HARD TIMES. No other work of Dickens presents so relentless an indictment against the callous greed of the Victorian industrial society and its misapplied utilitarian philosophy as this fiercest of his novels. With savage bitterness Dickens unmasks the hellish industries that imprisoned the bodies of the helpless labor class and the equally satanic institutions that shackled the development of their minds. ‘Carlyle never voiced a more burning denunciation of the dismal science of classical economic theory.' - Edgar Johnson. ‘This is Karl Marx, Carlyle, Ruskin, Morris, Carpenter, rising up against civilization itself as a disease . ‘ - G. Bernard Shaw. With an Afterword by Charles Shapiro. AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY - Charles John Huffam Dickens (7 February 1812 - 9 June 1870) was an English writer and social critic. He created some of the world's most memorable fictional characters and is generally regarded as the greatest novelist of the Victorian period. During his life, his works enjoyed unprecedented fame, and by the twentieth century his literary genius was broadly acknowledged by critics and scholars. His novels and short stories continue to be widely popular.

[ 0080 ] O'Flaherty, Liam. The Informer. New York. 1961. Signet/New American Library. 0451500806. Afterword By Donagh MacDonagh. 189 pages. paperback. CP80. Cover: Milton Glaser. Signet Classic original. FROM THE PUBLISHER - This is Liam O'Flaherty's great novel of a troubled Ireland divided by the chaos of Civil War in the 1920's. It is the story of an informer, damned with the curse of his country's unforgivable sin, hunted by the shadowy executioners of an outlawed revolutionary organization. Two characters dominate this tragedy of betrayal and retribution: Gypo Nolan, the hulking oaf of a giant who, under stress of poverty, discloses the whereabouts of the wanted Frankie McPhillip for the paltry twenty - pound reward; and Dan Gallagher, the egotistical commandant of the militant organization that has sworn to hunt down and kill the unknown informer. Through the fogbound Dublin slum streets they re - enact the eternal drama of man pitted against man. A classic of modern literature, The Informer treats a recurrent theme in Irish folklore, ballad, and story . the abhorrent outcast who betrays a cause or a people to the enemy. The violence of O'Flaherty's own youth is reflected in his harshly realistic image of an Irish Republic at war with itself, suffering the birth pangs of newly gained independence, beset by the self - destructive forces of misguided idealism and anarchy. AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY - Liam O'Flaherty (28 August 1896 - 7 September 1984) was a significant Irish novelist and short story writer and a major figure in the Irish literary renaissance.

[ 0081 ] Wright, Richard. Native Son. New York. 1961. Signet/New American Library. 0451500814. Afterword By Richard Sullivan. 400 pages. paperback. CT81. Signet Classic original. FROM THE PUBLISHER - This is Richard Wright's extraordinary novel - stark, vehement, deeply moving - about a young Negro who is hardened by life in the slums and whose every effort to free himself proves hopeless. Unwittingly involved in a wealthy woman's death, he is hunted relentlessly, baited by prejudiced officials, charged with murder . and driven to acknowledge a strange pride in his crime. He realizes his full individuality only through the confrontation of death. NATIVE SON is among the first American works of fiction to portray an existential hero in the process of self. transcendence, and is one of the lasting novels of the politically conscious, post-Depression years. 'It is not merely a book but a deep experience.' - The New Yorker. 'Certainly NATIVE SON declares Richard Wright's importance, not merely as the best Negro writer, but as an American author as distinctive as any of those now writing.' - New York Times. AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY - Richard Nathaniel Wright (September 4, 1908 - November 28, 1960) was an African-American author of novels, short stories, poems, and non-fiction. Much of his literature concerns racial themes, especially those involving the plight of African Americans during the late 19th to mid-20th centuries.

[ 0082 ] Austen, Jane. Pride and Prejudice. New York. 1961. Signet/New American Library. 0451500822. Afterword By Joann Morse. 334 pages. paperback. CD82. Signet Classic original. FROM THE PUBLISHER - The romantic clash of two opinionated young people provides the sustaining theme of pride And prejudice. Vivacious Elizabeth Bennet is fascinated and repelled by the arrogant Mr. Darcy, whose condescending airs and acrid tongue have alienated her entire family. Their spirited courtship is conducted against a background of assembly - ball flirtations and drawing - room intrigues. Jane Austen's famous novel captures the affectations of class - conscious Victorian families with matrimonial aims and rivalries. Her people are universal; they live a truth beyond time, change, or caricature. George Eliot called Jane Austen 'the greatest artist that has ever written,' and Sir Walter Scott wrote of her work, 'There is a truth of painting in her writings which always delights me.' AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY - Jane Austen (16 December 1775 - 18 July 1817) was an English novelist whose works of romantic fiction, set among the landed gentry, earned her a place as one of the most widely read writers in English literature. Her realism and biting social commentary have gained her historical importance among scholars and critics.

[ 0083 ] Tomlinson, H. M. The Sea and the Jungle. New York. 1961. Signet/New American Library. 0451500830. Afterword By Albert J. Guerard. 254 pages. paperback. CP83. Cover: Lambert. Signet Classic original. FROM THE PUBLISHER - Losing a wager, Tomlinson gains his freedom from a Fleet Street sinecure to ship as a purser on an ocean - going tramp bound for Brazil and some two thousand miles up the Rio Madeira. Monstrous storms and calm on the high seas, silent and sun - baked ports of call, brooding, equatorial rain forests - these provide the actual and moral landscapes against which the author's embittered shipmates relive their grotesque, half - legendary adventures. The Sea and the Jungle has become a classic of travel literature since its publication in 1912: it fuses exact and abundant natural description of some of the world's outlying reaches with striking meditations on subjects ranging from modern commerce to solitude. AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY - Henry Major Tomlinson (21 June 1873 - 5 February 1958) was a British writer and journalist. He was known for anti-war and travel writing, novels and short stories, especially of life at sea.

[ 0084 ] Cable, George Washington. Old Creole Days. New York. 1961. Signet/New American Library. 0451500849. Foreword By Shirley Ann Grau. 216 pages. paperback. CP84. Cover: Tsao. Signet Classic original. FROM THE PUBLISHER - Flamboyant New Orleans at the turn of the eighteenth century is the setting of Old Creole Days. With sensitive insight George W. Cable captured the romance and flavor of the French Quarter; with unvarnished realism he portrayed its populace - honey - colored quadroon mistresses, Mississippi rivermen, gentleman gamblers, rawboned Yankees, autocratic Creole landowners. Louisiana - born he was the first of the Southern writers to treat objectively such taboo subjects as color barriers and miscegenation. A milestone in American literature, his book was as vehemently denounced in the South as it was highly acclaimed in the North and abroad. Robert Underwood Johnson, the editor of Scribner's Magazine, where - George Washington Cable's stories first were published, wrote, 'With the possible exception of Hawthorne and Poe, Cable is the greatest figure in American fiction.' And the poet John Green leaf Whittier cited Cable as 'the writer whom we have so long waited to see come up in the South.' AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY - George Washington Cable (October 12, 1844 - January 31, 1925) was an American novelist notable for the realism of his portrayals of Creole life in his native New Orleans, Louisiana. He has been called ‘the most important southern artist working in the late 19th century, as well as the first modern southern writer.' In his treatment of racism, mixed-race families and miscegenation, his fiction has been thought to anticipate that of William Faulkner.

[ 0085 ] Addams, Jane. Twenty Years at Hull-House: With Autobiographical Notes. New York. 1961. Signet/New American Library. 0451500857. Foreword By Henry Steele Commager.Drawings By Norah Hamilton. 320 pages. paperback. CT85. Cover: Lambert. Signet Classic original. FROM THE PUBLISHER - Twenty Years at Hull - House is Jane Addams's graphic account of her famed settlement house in Chicago's West Side slums. Covering the years 1889 to 1909, a time when America was fired with fear of subversives and suspicion of foreigners, this book stands as the immortal testament of a woman who lived and worked among the immigrant settlers, the sweat - shop toilers, the unwed mothers, the hungry, the aged, the sick, to show them in practice what others merely preached: the true concept of American democracy. 'She discerned and revealed the beauty of the cultural life and spiritual value of the immigrant at the time when nothing was so despised and unconsidered in American life as the foreigner.' - Frances Perkins, U. S. Secretary of Labor, 1933 - 1945. 'For the helpless, young and old, for the poor, the unlearned, the stranger, the despised, you have urged understanding and then justice.' - Dr. Marian Parks, former President of Bryn Mawr College. AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY - Jane Addams (September 6, 1860 - May 21, 1935) was a pioneer American settlement social worker, public philosopher, sociologist, author, and leader in women's suffrage and world peace.

[ 0086 ] Dreiser, Theodore. Sister Carrie. New York. 1961. Signet/New American Library. 0451514529. Afterword By Willard Thorp. 477 pages. paperback. CT86. Cover: James Hill. Signet Classic original. FROM THE PUBLISHER - SISTER CARRIE is an epic of city life, of transient idealists besieged by industrialism and its anonymity. It specifically treats of two people, at once attracted and repelled by their vastly different backgrounds, who, in the course of involvement, are led into wholly unexpected areas of experience. Provincial and naïve, Carrie becomes involved with Hurstwood, a respectable Chicago tavern manager twice her age, who alienates himself from his family. Out of despair he resorts to theft, is compelled to flee, and cannot obtain employment. Carrie, in turn, becomes a chorus girl and later, under the dubious glow of her fame as an actress, their tragedy crystallizes. Theodore Dreiser makes major symbolic use of nineteenth - century urban conventions - in which New York and Chicago are themselves likened to twin malignant deities, H. L. Mencken wrote of this foremost naturalistic novel, 'Its outstanding merit is its simplicity, its unaffected seriousness and fervour. ' Ford Madox Ford observed: '. in my mind, the idea of Sister Carrie [exists] as a goldenish spot in the weariness of the world.' AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY - Theodore Herman Albert Dreiser (August 27, 1871 - December 28, 1945) was an American novelist and journalist of the naturalist school. His novels often featured main characters who succeeded at their objectives despite a lack of a firm moral code, and literary situations that more closely resemble studies of nature than tales of choice and agency. Dreiser's best known novels include Sister Carrie (1900) and An American Tragedy (1925).

[ 0087 ] James, Henry. The Marriages and Other Stories. New York. 1961. Signet/New American Library. 0451500873. Foreword By Eleanor M. Tilton. 364 pages. paperback. CD87. Cover: Lambert. Signet Classic original. FROM THE PUBLISHER - Includes - The Marriages, The Real Thing, Miss Gunton of Poughkeepsie, The Two Faces, The Papers, Julia Bride, The Pension Beaurepas, The Point of View, Fordham Castle. From The Marriages and others of these rarely anthologized stories, it is clear that Henry James 'delights in the vulgarities he is falsely rumored to deplore.' These are two - edged parables of a sophisticated ironist who was as apt to disparage what readers expected him to praise as he was to create a context in which certain unlikely people gained sudden dignity. As Eleanor M. Tilton suggests, Henry James is both amused and amusing. He 'disconcerts the moralists because he brings an inquiring eye to bear closely upon contemporary folly, error, and wickedness as if these were canvasses to be authenticated for a collector eager to acquire - at the proper price - the true, the rare, and the most representative.' Ford Madox Ford wrote: 'Mr. James' work is the exact mirror of the world as he knows it - of the world as we know it.' AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY - Henry James (15 April 1843 - 28 February 1916) was an Anglo-American writer who spent most of his writing career in Britain. He is regarded as one of the key figures of 19th-century literary realism.

[ 0088 ] Cooper, James Fenimore. The Pathfinder. New York. 1961. Signet/New American Library. 0451500881. Afterword By Robert E. Spiller. 443 pages. paperback. CP88. Cover: Pucci. Signet Classic original. FROM THE PUBLISHER - Vigorous, self - reliant, amazingly resourceful and moral, James Fenimore Cooper's Natty Bumppo towers over and above the author's majestic descriptions of early frontier life, Indian raiders, and defenseless outposts. He the prototype of the Western hero; his vision of man in a natural context and his hatred of' middle - class hypocrisy give him his stature as a faultless arbiter of wilderness justice. He is no less adept at judging his own feelings of love - divided as they are between the woman whom he protects on a hazardous journey and the deep woods that sustain him in his beliefs. A rapid, climactic narrative, The Pathfinder is among the finest examples of epic action literature. '. the examples [Cooper] has given in his glorious fictions, of heroism, honor, and truth, of large sympathies between man and man. shall live through centuries to come. ' - William Cullen Bryant. AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY - James Fenimore Cooper (September 15, 1789 - September 14, 1851) was a prolific and popular American writer of the early 19th century. His historical romances of frontier and Indian life in the early American days created a unique form of American literature.

[ 0089 ] LaFayette, Madame de. The Princess of Cleves. New York. 1961. Signet/New American Library. 045150089x. Newly Translated From The French & With A Foreword By Walter J. Cobb. 191 pages. paperback. CD89. Signet Classic original. FROM THE PUBLISHER - Rumors bestir and reputations tremble in the sumptuous sixteenth - century court of Henri II. Against this lavish decadence, two of baroque literature's most exquisite lovers - the Princess of Clèves and the Duc de Nemours - enact their masque of devotion, singular confessions, and eccentric renunciation. Tortuously delicate, Madame de La Fayette's detailed romance reverberates with understated intrigue and brazenly forthright portraits. Widely circulated in French court circles, The Princess of C/eves heralded two main streams in literature - the psychological novel and the roman a clef. Jean Cocteau wrote, 'Read The Princess of Clèves; read and study it. In it you will find an illustration of Nietzsche's aphorism: 'Soundlessly, on doves' feet, they make their way amongst us - the ideas that change the face of the earth.' AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY - Marie-Madeleine Pioche de La Vergne, comtesse de La Fayette (baptized 18 March 1634 - 25 May 1693), better known as Madame de La Fayette, was a French writer, the author of La Princesse de Clèves, France's first historical novel and one of the earliest novels in literature.

[ 0090 ] Dostoyevsky, Fyodor. Notes From Underground/White Nights/The Dream of a Ridiculous Man & Selections From the House of the Dead. New York. 1961. Signet/New American Library. 0451500903. Newly Translated From The Russian & With An Afterword By Andrew R. MacAndrew. 240 pages. paperback. CP90. Cover: Milton Glaser. Signet Classic original. FROM THE PUBLISHER - Includes: NOTES FROM UNDERGROUND, WHITE NIGHTS, THE DREAM OF A RIDICULOUS MAN, and SELECTIONS FROM THE HOUSE OF THE DEAD. In this Signet Classic volume can be seen Dostoyevsky's evolving outlook on man's fate. The works presented here were written at distinct periods in the author's life, at decisive moments in his groping for political philosophy and a religious answer. The characters are representative of the human hearts he probed with such surprising insight. They include a whole range of tormented people - from the primitive peasant who kills without understanding that he is destroying a human life to the irritating, anxious antihero of NOTES FROM UNDERGROUND, a man who both craves and despises affection. Thomas Mann described Dostoyevsky as 'an author whose Christian sympathy is ordinarily devoted to human misery, sin, vice, the depths of lust and crime, rather than to nobility of body and soul' and NOTES FROM UNDERGROUND as 'an awe - and terror - inspiring example of this sympathy.' AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY - Fyodor Mikhailovich Dostoyevsky 11 November 1821 - 9 February 1881), sometimes transliterated Dostoevsky, was a Russian novelist, short story writer, essayist and philosopher. Dostoyevsky's literary works explore human psychology in the context of the troubled political, social, and spiritual atmosphere of 19th-century Russia.

[ 0091 ] Lewis, Sinclair. Babbitt. New York. 1961. Signet/New American Library. 0451500911. Foreword By Eleanor M. Tilton. 328 pages. paperback. CT91. Cover: Lambert. Signet Classic reprint. FROM THE PUBLISHER - With his portrait of George F. Babbitt, the conniving, prosperous real - estate man from Zenith, Sinclair Lewis created one of the ugliest, but most convincing, figures in American fiction - the total conformist. Babbitt's demons are power in his community and the self - esteem he can only receive from others. In his attempts to reconcile these aspirations, he is loyal to whoever serves his need of the moment: time and again he proves an opportunist in business practice and in domestic affairs. Outwardly he conforms with 'zip and zowie,' is a 'big booster' before the public eye; inwardly he converges day by day upon the utter emptiness of his soul - too filled with rationalizations and sentimentality to sense his own corruption. Babbitt gives consummate expression to the glibness and irresponsibility of the hardened, professional social climber. H. G. Wells said of this novel: 'I wish I could have written Babbitt.' AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY - Harry Sinclair Lewis (February 7, 1885 - January 10, 1951) was an American novelist, short-story writer, and playwright. In 1930, he became the first writer from the United States to receive the Nobel Prize in Literature, which was awarded ‘for his vigorous and graphic art of description and his ability to create, with wit and humor, new types of characters.' His works are known for their insightful and critical views of American capitalism and materialism between the wars.

[ 0092 ] Lewis, Sinclair. Arrowsmith. New York. 1964. Signet/New American Library. 045150092x. Afterword By Mark Schorer. 440 pages. paperback. CT92. Cover: Lambert. Signet Classic original. FROM THE PUBLISHER - Martin Arrowsmith's singular, if somewhat ascetic, devotion to science affords Sinclair Lewis his most dramatic opportunity to portray an American whose work becomes his life. Forced to give up successive sinecures - instructor in medicine, small - town doctor, research pathologist - by obstacles ranging from public ignorance to the publicity - mindedness of a great foundation, Arrowsmith becomes virtually isolated as a seeker after truth. Even so, Lewis' poignant thesis would seem to be that American idealism cannot beget true tragedy, because its adherents lack a sympathetic audience and their stumbling - blocks are, for the most part, petty. Observing the Nobel Prize - winning author's double gifts for satire and realism, E. M. Forster said, 'He has lodged a piece of a Continent in the world's imagination' and AndrE Maurois proclaimed him 'a great novelist.' AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY - Harry Sinclair Lewis (February 7, 1885 - January 10, 1951) was an American novelist, short-story writer, and playwright. In 1930, he became the first writer from the United States to receive the Nobel Prize in Literature, which was awarded ‘for his vigorous and graphic art of description and his ability to create, with wit and humor, new types of characters.' His works are known for their insightful and critical views of American capitalism and materialism between the wars.

[ 0093 ] Lewis, Sinclair. Main Street. New York. 1963. Signet/New American Library. 0451500938. Afterword By Mark Schorer. 440 pages. paperback. CT93. Cover: Lambert. Signet Classic original. FROM THE PUBLISHER - The lonely predicament of Carol Kennicott, caught between her desires for social reform and individual happiness, reflects the position in which America's turn - of - the - century, 'emancipated woman' found herself. Carol's dilemma is intensified by the fact that lives in the small, self - satisfied, Midwestern town of Gopher Prairie. An allegory of exile and return, Main Street attacks the drab complacency and ingrown mores of those who resist change, who are under the illusion that they have chosen their tradition. Carol's ostracism, however, results more from her own guilt at 'crusading' than from her rejection by those whom she would have changed. Maxwell Geismar lauded this work as 'a remarkable diary of the middle- class mind in America.' Its author was hailed by John Galsworthy for having written 'a most searching and excellent piece of work; a feather in the cap of literature.' AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY - Harry Sinclair Lewis (February 7, 1885 - January 10, 1951) was an American novelist, short-story writer, and playwright. In 1930, he became the first writer from the United States to receive the Nobel Prize in Literature, which was awarded ‘for his vigorous and graphic art of description and his ability to create, with wit and humor, new types of characters.' His works are known for their insightful and critical views of American capitalism and materialism between the wars.

[ 0094 ] Bligh, Captain William. The Mutiny on Board H.M.S. Bounty. New York. 1962. Signet/New American Library. 0451500946. Afterword By Milton Rugoff. 240 pages. paperback. CP94. Signet Classic original. FROM THE PUBLISHER - The most celebrated mutiny in the annals of the sea and the subsequent 3,600-mile South Sea voyage in an open boat were recorded by William Bligh, the Bounty's beleaguered master, amidst all the perils he underwent. A resentful crew, ravaging storms, savages, uncharted archipelagoes - elements of high adventure in themselves - are merely stages leading up to the anxiety-charged ordeal to come. In this deeply personal, yet objective narrative based upon his ship's log, Bligh documents the voyage of the Bounty and his relationship to his men - thereby posing the endlessly debated question of what manner of man he really was: sadistic disciplinarian of sensitive youth? Or a stern but just captain, a superb seaman, the victim of a rash young man made frantic by the loss of an island paradise? AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY - Vice Admiral William Bligh, FRS, RN (9 September 1754 - 7 December 1817) was an officer of the British Royal Navy and a colonial administrator. A historic mutiny occurred during his command of HMS Bounty in 1789; Bligh and his loyal men made a remarkable voyage to Timor, after being set adrift in the Bounty's launch by the mutineers. Fifteen years after the Bounty mutiny, he was appointed Governor of New South Wales in Australia, with orders to clean up the corrupt rum trade of the New South Wales Corps, resulting in the so-called Rum Rebellion.

[ 0095 ] Hardy, Thomas. Jude the Obscure. New York. 1961. Signet/New American Library. 0451500954. Afterword By A. Alvarez. 416 pages. paperback. CT95. Cover: Milton Glaser. Signet Classic original. FROM THE PUBLISHER - Thomas Hardy's deterministic art achieves fanatic intensity and raw perfection in the char. acterization of Jude Fawley, an impoverished stonemason who aspires to the ministry. Throughout his agonized existence, the cloistered halls and facades of Christminster, where Jude would study, sadistically invite him to rid himself of ignorance. His failure to fulfill the opposite expectations of the two women he loves and the violent deaths of his children thwart him in his ideal and point his destruction. Concerned with the annihilation of innocence, Jude the Obscure is a raging indictment of Victorian society. The censure attending its appearance was almost without precedent in the history of English literature. D. H. Lawrence detected 'a constant revelation. , a great background, vital and vivid. This is the wonder of Hardy's. novels, and gives them their beauty.' AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY - Thomas Hardy (June 2, 1840 - January 11, 1928) was an English novelist and poet. A Victorian realist in the tradition of George Eliot, he focused on a declining rural society.

[ 0096 ] Prevost, Abbe. Manon Lescaut. New York. 1961. Signet/New American Library. 0451500962. Newly Translated From The French & With An Introduction By Donald M. Frame. 191 pages. paperback. CP96. Signet Classic original. FROM THE PUBLISHER - Written by a monastic priest who re - entered the world, Manon Lescaut is the story of a naive courtesan's tried and tested love for a young theologian who becomes gambler, thief and murderer in order to protect her. The AbbE PrEvost's sparse, meticulous style traces the lovers' flights through shadowy inns, side streets, Parisian prisons - only to resolve their passion with tragic impact in a lonely Louisiana field outside a penal colony. Manon Lescaut was banned by the Church but resulting publicity made it the talk of Europe. Later adaptations as opera by Massenet and Puccini insured the romance's popularity and influence on world romantic literature for over two hundred years. 'Manon Lescaut is a unique achievement. Against the turgid background of contemporaneous French prose romance it stands out with the 1~rightness of a gem. It belongs to its author's time - and work - yet towers over them.' - Donald M. Frame. AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY - Antoine Francois PrEvost d'Exiles (1 April 1697 - 23 December 1763), usually known simply as the AbbE PrEvost, was a French author and novelist.

[ 0097 ] Marco Polo. The Travels of Marco Polo. New York. 1961. Signet/New American Library. 0451500970. A Modern Version Of The Famous Marsden-Wright Translation From The Italian.Edited & With An Introduction By Milton Rugoff. 302 pages. paperback. CD97. Cover: Kessler. Signet Classic original. FROM THE PUBLISHER - Perhaps the longest and most remarkable journey ever undertaken was that of young Marco Polo, who set out from Venice in 1271 and wandered into the unknown East as far as Cathay. When he returned twenty - five years later he told such a tale - of the vast empire and dazzling court of Kublai Khan, of terrible deserts and great mountain ranges, of yogis and pearl divers and cannibals, of men who offered their wives to visitors, of the Old Man of the Mountain with his hashish - drugged 'Assassins,' of stones that burned and streams of jade - . that few believed him. Today we know that Marco's account is not only an amazing narrative of strange experiences, but the richest and most reliable picture of the Near East, India, and the Orient of the Middle Ages. This Signet Classic edition is the most thoroughly annotated popular edition ever published of The Travels of Marco Polo. The text is a complete1y modern version of the famous Marsden - Wright translation. AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY - Marco Polo (September 15, 1254 - January 8–9, 1324) was a Venetian merchant traveller whose travels are recorded in Livres des merveilles du monde (Book of the Marvels of the World, also known as The Travels of Marco Polo, c. 1300), a book that introduced Europeans to Central Asia and China.

[ 0098 ] Thoreau, Henry David. A Week On the Concord and Merrimack Rivers. New York. 1961. Signet/New American Library. 0451500989. Foreword By Dennis Sutcliffe. 341 pages. paperback. CT98. Cover: Lambert. Signet Classic original. FROM THE PUBLISHER - Composed largely at Walden Pond from early journals and notes of a trip made with his brother some years earlier, Henry Thoreau's apprentice work wholly reveals his life - obsession with the theme of self - sufficiency. Pages of soaring description of wildlife and woodland living are. merely points of departure for fiery, often exuberant polemics on the need for moral fortitude in a society based on utilitarianism. Platonic ideals and mutability, the Bhagavad - Gita and Christian dogma, highly personal notes on economics and satire, are only a few of the meditative counterpoints engendered by intense contemplation of nature. Throughout this rebellious tract filled with hyperboles of youth emerging into manhood, Thoreau implicitly voices his refusal to live out a life of 'quiet desperation.' Americas ~ foremost example of the free spirit, he stands in every sense, as Emerson described him, 'a bachelor of nature.' AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY - Henry David Thoreau (July 12, 1817 - May 6, 1862) was an American author, poet, philosopher, abolitionist, naturalist, tax resister, development critic, surveyor, historian, and leading transcendentalist. He is best known for his book Walden, a reflection upon simple living in natural surroundings, and his essay Civil Disobedience, an argument for individual resistance to civil government in moral opposition to an unjust state.

[ 0099 ] Tarkington, Booth. Alice Adams. New York. 1961. Signet/New American Library. 0451500997. Afterword By Gerard Previn Meyer. 239 pages. paperback. CP99. Cover: Lambert. Signet Classic original. FROM THE PUBLISHER - Alice Adams has been called Booth Tarkington's greatest book. A Pulitzer Prize winner, it is a novel of a vain young girl's desperate efforts to surmount the barriers of small - town provincial snobbery. Unfortunately for Alice's social ambitions, her family is poor and undistinguished. When aristocratic Arthur Russell meets and falls in love with her, Alice contrives endless lies to conceal from him the Adams's true economic status. Pressured by his affection for his daughter and the incessant nagging of his wife, Virgil Adams exchanges his security as an employee for the uncertain risks of an independent manufacturer. More than the simple story of shallow social climbing, Alice Adams is the poignant study of an American family searching for its identity in a fluctuating society. Few writers of American fiction, have surpassed Tarkington's acute understanding of human nature. With consummate art he defines the character of urban. Midwest America after the First Great War - its native humor, warmth, conventions, and prejudices. Sinclair Lewis wrote of Tarkington, • . one of the American talents which are not merely agreeable but worth the most exact study. AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY - Newton Booth Tarkington (July 29, 1869 - May 19, 1946) was an American novelist and dramatist best known for his novels The Magnificent Ambersons and Alice Adams. He is one of only three novelists to win the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction more than once, along with William Faulkner and John Updike. Although he is little read now, in the 1910s and 1920s he was the U.S.'s greatest living author.

[ 0100 ] Orwell, George. 1984. New York. 1961. Signet/New American Library. 0451501004. Afterword By Erich Fromm. 269 pages. paperback. CP100. Signet Classic original. FROM THE PUBLISHER - Aldous Huxley's BRAVE NEW WORLD and George Orwell's 1984 are the great modern classics of 'Negative Utopia' - not dramas of what life might be . but nightmares of what it is becoming. The world of 1984 is one in which eternal warfare is the price of bleak prosperity, in which the Party keeps itself in power by complete control over man's actions and his thoughts. As the lovers Winston Smith and Julia learn when they try to evade the Thought Police, and then join the underground opposition, the Party can smash the last impulse of love, the last flicker of individuality. But let the reader beware: 1984 is more than a satire of totalitarian barbarism. 'It means us, too,' says Erich Fromm in his Afterword. It is not merely a political novel but also a diagnosis of the deepest alienation in the mind of Organization Man. George Orwell writes with a swift clean style that has come down from Defoe. Like Defoe, he creates an imaginary world that is completely convincing - from the first sentence to the last four words . words which might stand as the epitaph of the twentieth century. AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY - Eric Arthur Blair (25 June 1903 - 21 January 1950), known by his pen name George Orwell, was an English novelist, essayist, journalist and critic. His work is characterised by lucid prose, biting social criticism, opposition to totalitarianism, and outspoken support of democratic socialism. He is best known for the allegorical novella Animal Farm (1945) and the dystopian novel Nineteen Eighty-Four (1949). His non-fiction works, including The Road to Wigan Pier (1937), documenting his experience of working-class life in the north of England, and Homage to Catalonia (1938), an account of his experiences soldiering for the Republican faction of the Spanish Civil War (1936–1939), are as critically respected as his essays on politics and literature, language and culture.

[ 0101 ] Irving, Washington. The Sketch Book. New York. 1961. Signet/New American Library. 0451501012. Afterword By Perry Miller. 381 pages. paperback. CP101. Cover: Tsao. Signet Classic original. FROM THE PUBLISHER - Published in 1820, Washington Irving's celebrated SKETCH BOOK has proved as enduring as the enchanted Kaatskill Mountains he immortalized. From these masterpieces in miniature have emerged such universal figures of American fiction and fantasy as Rip Van Winkle, Ichabod Crane, and the Headless Horseman of Sleepy Hollow. Sage, storyteller, wit, Washington Irving touched on many subjects and treated each with a master's hand. Included in his volume are tales of romance, vignettes on bygone English customs, travel pictures, reflections on historic landmarks, essays on the American Indian, biographical discourses, and literary musings. Fresh in theme, bewitching in style, and superb in craftsmanship, his stories earned Washington Irving his place as father of American literature. Thackeray called Washington Irving the 'first ambassador whom the New World of Letters sent to the Old.' AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY - Washington Irving (April 3, 1783 - November 28, 1859) was an American author, essayist, biographer, historian, and diplomat of the early 19th century. He is best known for his short stories 'Rip Van Winkle' (1819) and 'The Legend of Sleepy Hollow'.

[ 0102 ] Dickens, Charles. Oliver Twist. New York. 1961. Signet/New American Library. 0451501020. 496 pages. paperback. CP102. Cover: Tsao. Signet Classic original. FROM THE PUBLISHER - One of the great novelist's most popular works, Oliver Twist is also the purest distillation of Dickens' genius. This tale of the orphan who is reared in a workhouse, runs away to London where he is captured by thieves and finally escapes, is a novel of social protest, a morality tale, and a detective story. Oliver Twist presents sonic of the most sinister characters in Dickens: the master thief, Fagin; the leering Artful Dodger; the murderer, Bill Sikes . along with some of his most sentimental and comical characters. Only Dickens could mix terror with farce with pathos with piety in one unified work. Only Dickens could give us nightmare and daydream together. '. Oliver Twist, amidst all the accouterments of a novel, has the primitive appeal of a fairy tale; it forms one of those basic stories that are not forgotten because they were partly familiar before they were read, being the stuff of young dreams and fears.' Edward Le Comte. AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY - Charles John Huffam Dickens (7 February 1812 - 9 June 1870) was an English writer and social critic. He created some of the world's most memorable fictional characters and is generally regarded as the greatest novelist of the Victorian period. During his life, his works enjoyed unprecedented fame, and by the twentieth century his literary genius was broadly acknowledged by critics and scholars. His novels and short stories continue to be widely popular.

[ 0103 ] Chateaubriand, Francois-Rene de. Atala & Rene. New York. 1962. Signet/New American Library. 0451501039. Newly Translated From The French & With A Foreword By Walter J. Cobb. 127 pages. paperback. CD103. Signet Classic original. FROM THE PUBLISHER - These strange and charming romances, Atala and RenE, are the most influential works of the solitary genius who has been called 'the true founder of romanticism in France.' Originally planned as two episodes in a longer work, they form a perfect fictional whole. In Atala, the tale of a young Indian adventurer and a Christianized Indian princess, Chateaubriand explores 'the harmonies the Christian religion with the scenes of nature and the passions of the human heart.' The story of RenE, a Frenchman whose melancholy drives him to the depths of the American forest, illustrates. 'the terrible consequences of impassioned love and solitude. ' For all the sweep of action, the extravagant emotional style, the fantastic scenery, the importance of these stories lies in their ideas. With Atala and RenE, Chateaubriand began to lead the emerging romantic movement toward an especially poetic kind of Catholicism, a sympathy with nature, and a preoccupation with melodramatic and romantic egos. As Walter J. Cobb says, 'With Chateaubriand, a new dawn was breaking.' AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY - Francois-RenE, vicomte de Chateaubriand (4 September 1768 - 4 July 1848) was a French writer, politician, diplomat and historian. He is considered the founder of Romanticism in French literature.

[ 0104 ] Whitman, Walt. Specimen Days. New York. 1961. Signet/New American Library. 0451501047. Foreword By Richard Chase. 271 pages. paperback. CP104. Cover: Milton Glaser. Signet Classic original. FROM THE PUBLISHER - This Signet Classic is the first generally available paperback edition at any price of the entire Specimen Days - Walt Whitman's most neglected masterpiece. In the spontaneous prose of this great work Walt Whitman reveals himself as prophetic explorer of the Open Road, printer, editor, wound - dresser in Civil War hospitals, brilliant abstractionist of Nature and teeming cities, critic of morals and literature. The emerging portrait is that of a man with huge and relentless spirit who advocates endurance in the face of despair, robust tenderness in opposition to pettiness. In these pages - vast, American, informed - the reader cannot but catch the extent to which even the smallest occasion is a point of departure for Whitman's mystique of camaraderie, his total immersion in life, his thundering, almost blasphemous defiance of death. to begin to understand Whitman is to under - stand him in his contradictions. His inner opposition, his ambiguities, his wit, like his democratic faith, his optimism, and his belief in the self, are native to the man as they are to America. For the8e reasons one cherishes Watt Whitman - and takes him to be in a real sense 'the spokesman for the tendencies of his country.' - RICHARD CHASE. AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY - Walter ‘Walt' Whitman (May 31, 1819 - March 26, 1892) was an American poet, essayist and journalist. A humanist, he was a part of the transition between transcendentalism and realism, incorporating both views in his works. Whitman is among the most influential poets in the American canon, often called the father of free verse.

[ 0105 ] James, Henry. The Madonna of the Future and Other Early Stories. New York. 1962. Signet/New American Library. 0451501055. Foreword By Willard Thorp. 284 pages. paperback. CD105. Signet Classic original. FROM THE PUBLISHER - Includes the stories - THE MADONNA OF THE FUTURE, The Story of a Year, My Friend Bingham, The Story of a Masterpiece, A Light Man, At Isella, The Last of the Valerii, Four Meetings. The 'work sheet' of James's maturation into one of the most polished stylists of world literature, these stories reveal the author's early concern with artists, travelers, idealists - here and abroad - who act out of guilt and renunciation, perversity, or a deeply private amorality. The eight stories that comprise this Signet Classic collection are printed here as they appeared in their first magazine publication, as the early readers of James's fiction first saw them. The Nation wrote of Henry James when he had published his first six stories, '[He is] the best writer of short stories in America. He is never common place, never writes without knowing what he wants to do, and never has an incident or character that is not in some way necessary to the production of such effects as he aims at.' Ezra Pound commented that 'there was emotional greatness . titanic volume, weight, in the masses he sets in opposition within his work. He uses forces no whit less specifically powerful than the proverbial 'doom of the house' - Destiny, Deus ex machina - of great traditional art.' AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY - Henry James (15 April 1843 - 28 February 1916) was an Anglo-American writer who spent most of his writing career in Britain. He is regarded as one of the key figures of 19th-century literary realism.

[ 0106 ] Wharton, Edith. The Age of Innocence. New York. 1962. Signet/New American Library. 0451501063. Foreword By Louis Auchincloss. 288 pages. paperback. CT106. Cover: Lambert. Signet Classic original. FROM THE PUBLISHER - In this Pulitzer Prize - winning novel, Edith Wharton has written the story of an affable conformist whose marriage of convenience cannot extinguish his passion for another woman . and whose moral limitations make both women seem unreal to him. Handsome, affluent, with great promise as a lawyer, Newland Archer's interest in his cold, beautiful, and conventional wife gradually flags. His attraction to Countess Ellen Olenska - bizarre and challenging, separated from her husband - becomes the single threat to his secure position in high society, and, at the same time, leads him to question the values of that society. The Age of Innocence is a highly sophisticated inquiry into the totems and taboos of nineteenth - century New York elite circles and their crippling effect on natural inclinations. Of the author, whose lifelong preoccupation lay with this facet of society, Edmund Wilson wrote: 'Her tragic heroines and heroes are. passionate or imaginative spirits, hungry for emotional and intellectual experience, who find themselves locked into a small closed system, and either destroy themselves by beating their heads against their prison or suffer a living death in resigning themselves to it. Out of these themes she got a sharp pathos all her own.' Louis Auchincloss calls The Age of Innocence 'The finest of her novels. , painted with a richness of color and detail that delights the imagination. AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY - Edith Wharton (born Edith Newbold Jones, January 24, 1862 - August 11, 1937) was a Pulitzer Prize-winning American novelist, short story writer, and designer. The upper stratum of New York society into which Edith Wharton was born in 1862 provided her with an abundance of material as a novelist but did not encourage her growth as an artist. In Europe, she met Henry James, who became her good friend, traveling companion, and the sternest but most careful critic of her fiction. In all, she wrote some 30 books, including an autobiography, A Backward Glance (1934). She died at her villa near Paris in 1937.

[ 0107 ] Saltykov-Shchedrin,M. The Golovlovs. New York. 1961. Signet/New American Library. 0451501071. Newly Translated From The Russian By Andrew R. MacAndrew.Afterword By William E. Harkins. 317 pages. paperback. CT107. Cover: Lambert. Signet Classic original. FROM THE PUBLISHER - Rated 'among the very greatest novels in the world' by Arnold Bennett, The Golovlovs is one of the last - translated, but highest - ranking, realistic novels of nineteenth - century Russia. The vicious circle of greed, self - pity and hypocritical repentance perpetuated by Anna Petrovna, her children, and her children's children in pursuit of money brings disaster to bear on Golovlovo, the gray, half - ruined estate where family and servants conspire against their mistress. Anna's venomous relationship with her sons casts early implications of the ruin to follow, in which every offender grows strangely sympathetic. One by one, and with curious reversals of character, the Golovlovs fall prey to fantasy, drink, insanity, and moral disintegration, dispensing hatred, wit, and hideous flatteries. The Golovlovs is a 'novel of the generations,' which describes the fall of a house with all the scope and insight of artworks ranging from those that dealt with the House of Atreus to the novels of Thomas Mann and William Faulkner. AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY - Mikhail Yevgrafovich Saltykov-Shchedrin (27 January 1826 - 10 May 1889), was a major Russian satirist of the 19th century. He spent most of his life working as a civil servant in various capacities.

[ 0108 ] Fielding, Henry. Jonathan Wild. New York. 1962. Signet/New American Library. 045150108x. Foreword By J.H. Plumb. 222 pages. paperback. CP108. Cover: Milton Glaser. Signet Classic original. FROM THE PUBLISHER - The outrages that Jonathan Wild commits against the simple, virtuous Heartfree epitomize one of the most villainous but memorably comic figures in literature. Wild is methodically evil: his thefts and vices, violence and grand deceptions, are merely steppingstones in his progress toward 'greatness.' In writing about this sublime blackguard, Henry Fielding drew on his knowledge of London's Gin Lane, where he served as magistrate, on legends surrounding an actual archcriminal, and on the figure of the King's minister, Sir Robert Walpole, that nemesis whom Pope, Swift, and Gay lampooned in their greatest works. Jonathan Wild is perhaps the Enlightenment's most ironic pageant of corruption - the book in which Fielding's dormant theme that 'greatness' and 'goodness' have no part in each other gleams with polished bitterness and gallows humor. AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY - Henry Fielding (22 April 1707 - 8 October 1754) was an English novelist and dramatist known for his rich earthy humour and satirical prowess, and as the author of the novel Tom Jones. Aside from his literary achievements, he has a significant place in the history of law-enforcement, having founded (with his half-brother John) what some have called London's first police force, the Bow Street Runners, using his authority as a magistrate.

[ 0109 ] McGuffey, William Holmes. McGuffey's Fifth Eclectic Reader-1879 Edition. New York. 1962. Signet/New American Library. 0451501098. Foreword By Henry Steele Commager. 364 pages. paperback. CT109. Signet Classic original. FROM THE PUBLISHER - The influence that McGuffey's Eclectic Readers exerted on the minds of American schoolchildren for the better part of a century has, in recent years, been debated in such diverse quarters a; scholarly treatises and the popular press. Extolling the Hamiltonian view of democracy, the Calvinistic approach to theology, and Blackstone's legal ideas on property, no truer index to the beliefs and goals of a generation of aspiring young Americans can be found. Of this famous selection of moral pronouncements and extracts, Hamlin Garland once said: 'I wish to acknowledge my deep obligation to Professor McGuffey for the dignity and literary grace of his selections. From the pages of his readers . I got my first taste of Shakespeare.' This Signet Classic is reprinted from the 1879 edition of McGuffey's Fifth Eclectic Reader. AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY - William Holmes McGuffey (September 23, 1800 - May 4, 1873) was a college professor president who is best known for writing the McGuffey Readers, the first widely used series of elementary school-level textbooks.

[ 0110 ] Hardy, Thomas. The Mayor of Casterbridge. New York. 1962. Signet/New American Library. 0451501101. Afterword By Walter Allen. 336 pages. paperback. CD110. Cover: Max?. Signet Classic original. FROM THE PUBLISHER - The blind energies and defiant acts that bring an ambitious man to power can also destroy him. This is the theme that Thomas Hardy explores through his portrait of his greatest and most tragic hero - Michael Henchard, the self - driven grain merchant of Casterbridge. From his drunken sale of his wife and baby at a country fair to his subjugation of a farming village, Henchard's life is an epic attempt to bring the world to heel as he hides, even from himself, all vestiges of emotional vulnerability. 'Michael Henchard dominates the novel, is the novel, to an extent unparalleled by any character in Hardy's other fiction,' writes Walter Allen. 'He is a figure of commanding stature. He seems to contain all nature within himself, as a great bull might be said to do. This almost animal impercipience separates him from Shakespeare's tragic heroes, though in one respect he has affinities with Macbeth. External nature seems to join in the fight against him, but it is nature interpreted by superstition. The superstition is made credible by its poetic quality; and the poetry enhances our apprehension of Henchard's tragic fate.' And T. S. Eliot wrote, 'The work of Thomas Hardy represents. a powerful personality uncurbed by any institutional attachment or by submission to any objective beliefs . at times his style touches sublimity.' AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY - Thomas Hardy (June 2, 1840 - January 11, 1928) was an English novelist and poet. A Victorian realist in the tradition of George Eliot, he focused on a declining rural society.

[ 0111 ] Twain, Mark. Life On the Mississippi. New York. 1961. Signet/New American Library. 045150111x. Afterword By Leonard Kriegel. 382 pages. paperback. CD111. Cover: Tsao. Signet Classic original. FROM THE PUBLISHER - Life on the Mississippi is at once a romantic history of a mighty river; an autobiographical account of Twain's early steamboat days; a storehouse of humorous anecdotes and sketches. It is the raw material from which Mark Twain wrote his finest novel - Huckleberry Finn. It is an epochal record of America's growth, a stirring remembrance of her vanished past. And it earned for its author his first recognition as a serious writer. '[This is] a book to be ranked with Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn as one of the indisputably great works in the Twain canon . a book that measures the American future by the boundaries of the American past, a bridge between the world of Thomas Jefferson and the world of John D. Rockefeller.' - Leonard Kriegel. AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY - Samuel Langhorne Clemens (November 30, 1835 - April 21, 1910), better known by his pen name Mark Twain, was an American author and humorist. He wrote The Adventures of Tom Sawyer (1876) and its sequel, Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (1885), the latter often called 'the Great American Novel'.

[ 0112 ] Hawthorne, Nathaniel. The Marble Faun. New York. 1961. Signet/New American Library. 0451501128. Afterword By Murray Kreiger. 346 pages. paperback. CD112. Cover: Lambert. Signet Classic original. FROM THE PUBLISHER - Henry James wrote of The Marble Faun: 'Hawthorne has done few things more beautiful than the picture of the unequal complicity of guilt between his immature and dimly - puzzled hero, with his clinging, unquestioning, unexacting devotion, and the dark, powerful, more widely - seeing feminine nature of Miriam. If the book contained nothing else noteworthy but. the murder committed by Donatello under Miriam's eyes and the ecstatic wandering, afterward, of the guilty couple through the 'bloodstained streets of Rome,' it would still deserve to rank high among the imaginative productions of our day.' The cosmopolitanism of this novel foreshadows one of the most important themes in our literature - the 'international theme' which was 40 later dominate the work of Henry James. Of all Hawthorne's fiction, The Marble Faun clearly dispels the myth of Hawthorne's unwavering Puritan morality. It projects the author's fascination with the eternal struggle between, in Murray Krieger's words, 'the unfeeling virtue of moral severity and the yielding grace of faulty humanity . the profound conflict between the limited claims of American moralism and of European aestheticism.' AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY - Nathaniel Hawthorne (born Nathaniel Hathorne; July 4, 1804 - May 19, 1864) was an American novelist and short story writer. Much of Hawthorne's writing centers on New England, many works featuring moral allegories with a Puritan inspiration.

[ 0113 ] Disraeli, Benjamin. Coningsby. New York. 1962. Signet/New American Library. 0451501136. Foreword By Asa Briggs. 480 pages. paperback. CT113. Signet Classic original. FROM THE PUBLISHER - Composed by a master diplomat who, in an. hour of defeat, possessed the drive and ability to fashion a work of art, Coningsby stands first in the thorny genre of the English political novel. It juxtaposes the romantic and cynical mind focused on the intrigues of government; it gains its power from two contrasted figures who grow in dimension specifically through the novel's historical elements rather than through conventional romantic portraiture. Pragmatic and fair - minded Harry Coningsby is a man who seeks reform; the enigmatic Sidonia, who possesses surpassing wealth and lacks the right to vote (although he advises kings), serves as a corrective to Coningsby's ends by questioning his means. Spanning the years from the first reform bill to the General Election of 1841, Disraeli's novel explores the default of Whigs and Tories to the new Conservative Party, the young lawmakers who have harnessed the best of ancient, chivalric tradition and current strategy to the goal of modern diplomacy. AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY - Benjamin Disraeli (21 December 1804 - 19 April 1881) was a British Conservativepolitician and writer, who twice served as Prime Minister. He played a central role in the creation of the modern Conservative Party, defining its policies and its broad outreach.

[ 0114 ] Alegria, Ciro. The Golden Serpent. New York. 1963. Signet/New American Library. Translated From The Spanish & With An Afterword By Harriet de Onis. 190 pages. paperback. CP114. Cover: Kossin. FROM THE PUBLISHER - Unpredictably swift and menacing, unfathomable in its nature, the 'Golden Serpent' inspires reverence and terror in the tiny, scattered communities that border its banks - villages of peons pitched between pagan recklessness and Christian despair. Hardy agrarians, these people are prone to supernatural fears that arise from total dependence upon a river that bestows great gifts and, at times, destroys all that it has given. Here are the Andean peaks, surging rapids, river men, flower girls, fiestas, and mournful pipes. Here are the victims of avalanche and flood, witch hunts and plagues that corrode the mind and body. Ciro Alegria's lyric eloquence has produced a hypnotic vision of the remorseless Marañon country of Peru. In the words of Harriet de Onis, 'He has created a world peopled by beings teeming with life, with their sorrows and joys, their aspirations and defeats, and all suffused with that poetry which comes from emotion recalled in tranquillity. And when progress has spanned the turbulent Maranon with bridges, has dammed and channeled its treacherous waters, and the boatmen of Calemar have disappeared, their work done, The Golden Serpent will remain as a monument to the days when it ran free and bold, tamed only by brave men.' AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY - Ciro Alegría Bazán (November 4, 1909 - February 17, 1967) was a Peruvian journalist, politician, and novelist. Born in Huamachuco District, he exposed the problems of the native Peruvians while learning about their way of life.

[ 0115 ] Wilde, Oscar. The Picture of Dorian Gray. New York. 1962. Signet/New American Library. 0451501152. Foreword By Gerald Weales. 304 pages. paperback. CP115. Cover: James Hill. Signet Classic original. FROM THE PUBLISHER - THE PICTURE OF DORIAN GRAY is Oscar Wilde's novel of a youth whose features, year after year, retain the same youthful appearance of innocent beauty, while the shame of his hideous vices become mirrored, year after year, on the features of his portrait. Tempted by the cynical Lord Henry Wotton, the angelic - faced Dorian Gray enters into a life of gradual dissipation. Soon student surpasses master. Dorian's power for evil leads him into acts of debauchery, degradation, and finally murder, before the diabolic secret he shares with his portrait is dramatically revealed. Published in 1891, THE PICTURE OF DORIAN GRAY was attacked by many as a piece of hedonism, praised by others as a penetrating commentary on life. It reflects the rebellious philosophy of the Esthetic Movement and epitomizes Wilde's literary revolt against the propriety and pious sentimentality of the Victorian Era. Included in this Signet Classic are three of Oscar Wilde's short stories - the witty and sophisticated LORD ARTHUR SAVILE'S CRIME, and two charming fairy tales, THE HAPPY PRINCE and THE BIRTHDAY OF THE INFANTA. AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY - Oscar Wilde was born in Dublin in 1854. He graduated from Oxford University in 1878 with a reputation as a brilliant scholar and quickly dazzled London society with his wit and his flamboyant dress.

[ 0116 ] Stephens, James. Deirdre. New York. 1962. Signet/New American Library. 0451501160. Afterword By Walter Starkie. 155 pages. paperback. CP116. Signet Classic original. FROM THE PUBLISHER - The tragic theme of Deirdre has meant for every Irish man and woman what the legend of Helen of Troy meant for the ancient Greeks, and Deirdre's beauty has inspired the Gaelic poets for centuries,' writes Walter Starkie in his Afterword. He goes on to point out that of all the modern versions of the legend - including those by W. B. Yeats and J. M. Synge - 'only that of James Stephens tells the complete tragic tale according to the Gaelic original.' James Stephens' Deirdre is a magical novel couched in antiquity's bold and barbaric trappings. It is a story of innocence and experience, of the clash of desires between youth and middle age. '[He) has all my admiration. ' - W. B. Yeats . 'To James Stephens Demeter gave the rhapsodic gift of minstrelsy as well as storytelling, which impelled him to forsake the higher slopes of Parnassus for the lonely glens and raths haunted by the 'shee,' the ghostly descendants of the ancient heroes of the Gaels.' - Walter Starkie. AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY - James Stephens (9 February 1880 - 26 December 1950) was an Irish novelist and poet. James Stephens produced many retellings of Irish myths and fairy tales. His retellings are marked by a rare combination of humour and lyricism.

[ 0117 ] James, Henry. The Ambassadors. New York. 1960. Signet/New American Library. 0451501179. Afterword By R.W. Stallman. 384 pages. paperback. CP117. Cover: Milton Glaser. Signet Classic reprint. FROM THE PUBLISHER - Henry James considered this book to be his most perfect work of art. The ambassadors of the title are the emissaries sent by Mrs. Newsome, a wealthy New England widow, to restore to the home town and the family business her son Chad who has lingered too long in Paris, reputedly detained by a sordid liaison. Lambert Strether, the first of the envoys and the novel's strait-laced hero, embarks on the mission only to find himself caught up in a romantic intrigue, the outcome of which will radically change the direction and purpose of his life. Since its publication in 1903, The Ambassadors has come to be regarded as a masterpiece of American fiction because of its remarkable technical structure, its profound moral significance, and its perceptive contrast of New World conscience and Old World culture. AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY - Henry James (15 April 1843 - 28 February 1916) was an Anglo-American writer who spent most of his writing career in Britain. He is regarded as one of the key figures of 19th-century literary realism.

[ 0118 ] Shaw, George Bernard. Plays. New York. Signet/New American Library. 0451501187. paperback. CP118. Signet Classic reprint. FROM THE PUBLISHER - Includes: Mrs. Warren's Profession, Arms and the Man, Candida, & Man and Superman. George Bernard Shaw demanded truth and despised convention. He punctured hollow pretensions and smug prudishness - sugar - coating his criticism with ingenious and irreverent wit. In Mrs. Warren's Profession, Arms and the Man, Candida, and Man and Superman, the great playwright satirizes accepted attitudes toward: woman's place in society, military heroism, marriage, the pursuit of man by woman. From a social, literary, and theatrical standpoint, these four plays are among the foremost dramas of the ages - as, intellectually stimulating as they are thoroughly enjoyable. 'My way of joking is to tell the truth: it is the funniest joke in the world.' - G. B. Shaw. AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY - George Bernard Shaw (26 July 1856 - 2 November 1950) was an Irish playwright and a co-founder of the London School of Economics. Although his first profitable writing was music and literary criticism, in which capacity he wrote many highly articulate pieces of journalism, his main talent was for drama, and he wrote more than 60 plays.

[ 0119 ] Azuela, Mariano. The Underdogs. New York. 1963. Signet/New American Library. 0451501195. Translated From The Spanish By E. Munguia Jr. Foreword By Harriet de Onis. 151 pages. paperback. CP119. Cover: Kossin. Signet Classic original. FROM THE PUBLISHER - Ten years after its publication in a small El Paso paper, The Underdogs achieved world - wide renown as the greatest novel of the Mexican Revolution. It is the story of Demetrio Maclas, a naïve, peace - loving Indian, who is forced to side with the rebels to save his family. In the course of battle, he becomes a compulsive militarist whose courage, almost despite himself, leads to a generalship in Villa's army. But as the Cause suffers defeat after defeat, Maclas loses prestige and moral purpose at the hands of turncoats, camp followers, and the peasants who had once loved him. Carleton Beals wrote of this novel, 'The scenes have the brutality of Gorky. Azuela is the Mexican Chekhov only in so much as he is a doctor; in all else he is close to Gorky, with a touch of Gorky's terrific pessimism, but none of Gorky's revolutionary optimism.' AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY - Mariano Azuela González (January 1, 1873 - March 1, 1952) was a Mexican author and physician, best known for his fictional stories of the Mexican Revolution of 1910. He wrote novels, works for theatre and literary criticism. Azuela wrote many pieces including the newspaper piece ‘Impressions of a Student' in 1896, the novel AndrEs PErez, maderista in 1911, and Los de abajo, (or The Underdogs), in 1915.

[ 0120 ] Yeats, William Butler. The Celtic Twilight and a Selection of Early Poems. New York. 1962. Signet/New American Library. 0451501209. Foreword By Walter Starkie. 222 pages. paperback. CP120. Cover: Lambert. Signet Classic original. FROM THE PUBLISHER - The tales that comprise The Celtic Twilight Portray Yeats's mystical evolution through world - symbols and show the extent to which this century's greatest English - language poet remained essentially nationalistic in order to approach the universal concerns. Ancient Irish mythology was second nature to Yeats, and from it he drew or reconstructed heroes, lovers, beggars, and fools for these tales and lyrics - characters able to convey authoritatively his metaphysic as he himself, a common man, could not. Forced beyond the limits of fact and legend by subjects as personal as they were universal, Yeats alone was eclectic enough to turn ritual magic, alchemy, the Upanishads, even Theosophy, to his own symbolic uses without the risk of affectation. No modern poet has fully escaped the trancelike self - assurance and scourging rhythms that invigorate his verses. Of the poet himself, T. S. Eliot has said he is 'certainly the greatest in this language, and so far as I am able to judge, in any language.' AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY - William Butler Yeats (13 June 1865 - 28 January 1939) was an Irish poet and one of the foremost figures of 20th century literature. A pillar of both the Irish and British literary establishments, he was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1923, being the first Irishman so honoured.

[ 0121 ] Orwell, George. Animal Farm. New York. 1963. Signet/New American Library. 0451501217. Introduction By C.M. Woodhouse. 128 pages. paperback. CP121. Signet Classic reprint. FROM THE PUBLISHER - This remarkable book has been described in many ways - as a masterpiece. a fairy story. a brilliant satire. a frightening view of the future. A devastating attack on the pig - headed, gluttonous and avaricious rulers in an imaginary totalitarian state, it illuminates the range of human experience from love to hate, from comedy to tragedy. 'A wise, compassionate and illuminating fable for our time. The steadiness and lucidity of Orwell's wit are reminiscent of Anatole France and even of Swift.' - NEW YORK TIMES. AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY - Eric Arthur Blair (25 June 1903 - 21 January 1950), known by his pen name George Orwell, was an English novelist, essayist, journalist and critic. His work is characterised by lucid prose, biting social criticism, opposition to totalitarianism, and outspoken support of democratic socialism. He is best known for the allegorical novella Animal Farm (1945) and the dystopian novel Nineteen Eighty-Four (1949). His non-fiction works, including The Road to Wigan Pier (1937), documenting his experience of working-class life in the north of England, and Homage to Catalonia (1938), an account of his experiences soldiering for the Republican faction of the Spanish Civil War (1936–1939), are as critically respected as his essays on politics and literature, language and culture.

[ 0122 ] Bellamy, Edward. Looking Backward, 2000-1887. New York. Signet/New American Library. 0451501225. paperback. CP122. Signet Classic reprint. FROM THE PUBLISHER - Edward Bellamy's classic look at the future has been translated into over twenty languages and is the most widely read novel of its time. A young Boston gentleman is mysteriously transported from the nineteenth to the twenty - first century - - from a world of war and want to one of peace and plenty. This brilliant vision became the blueprint of utopia that stimulated some of the greatest thinkers of our age. AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY - Edward Bellamy (March 26, 1850 - May 22, 1898) was an American author and socialist, most famous for his utopian novel, Looking Backward, a Rip Van Winkle-like tale set in the distant future of the year 2000. Bellamy's vision of a harmonious future world inspired the formation of over 160 ‘Nationalist Clubs‘ dedicated to the propagation of Bellamy's political ideas and working to make them a practical reality.

[ 0123 ] Tennyson, Alfred Lord. Idylls of the King. New York. Signet/New American Library. 0451501233. paperback. CP123. Signet Classic reprint. FROM THE PUBLISHER - 'With regal melancholy and a superb sense of craft, Tennyson's poems evoke Past and Present - the Isle of the Lotos-Eaters, heraldic Camelot, his own twilit English gardens - seeking to reconcile the Victorian zeal for public progress with private despair. Using his own eloquence or masks of mythic figures, Tennyson was the stylist most imitated by poets of his day - praised over all the rest for his vigorous portrayals of the 'general conscience' of statesmen and common men alike.' AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY - Alfred Tennyson (6 August 1809 - 6 October 1892) was Poet Laureate of Great Britain and Ireland during much of Queen Victoria's reign and remains one of the most popular British poets.

[ 0124 ] Clark, Walter Van Tilburg. The Ox-Bow Incident. New York. Signet/New American Library. 0451501241. paperback. CP124. Signet Classic reprint. FROM THE PUBLISHER - This is a searing study of mob justice. The story takes place in the Old West, but it could happen anywhere, anytime that men of action let their anger goad them into taking the law into their own hands. Published in 1940, this powerful narrative was immediately hailed as a work of art. 'The Ox - Bow Incident is a triumph of restraint and workmanship. The tenseness that builds and eddies and comes back stronger is beautifully geared to the temper of each central character and the shifting emotions of the mob, as doubt, anger, stubbornness, physical cold, pity and revulsion hold them in turn,' said Max Gissen in the New Republic. Ben Ray Redman described it in The Saturday Review as 'A sinewy, masculine tale that progressively tightens its grip on the reader.' And Clifton Fadiman summed up the verdict of all the critics when he called this modern classic 'a masterpiece.' AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY - Walter Van Tilburg Clark (August 3, 1909 — November 10, 1971) was an American novelist, short story writer, and educator. He ranks as one of Nevada's most distinguished literary figures of the 20th century and is known primarily for his novels and short stories. As a writer, he taught himself to use the familiar materials of the western saga to explore the human psyche and to raise deep philosophical issues.

[ 0125 ] Lagerlof, Selma. The Saga of Gosta Berling. New York. 1962. Signet/New American Library. 045150125x. Translated From The Swedish and With An Afterword By Robert Bly. 319 pages. paperback. CT125. Signet Classic original. FROM THE PUBLISHER - An unfrocked minister's picaresque search for redemption is the central drama of The Story of Gösta Berling, set in the farmlands of nineteenth - century Sweden. After the loss of his pulpit Gösta becomes a ne'er - do - well - chivalric, attractive, given to drink and dancing - whose every adventure is circumscribed by women. Openly pitied, secretly loved, he encounters a proud and courageous heiress, a famous beauty, a love - sick devotee, and a countess who has borne an illegitimate child - each of whom proffers him chances to prove his moral nature. Selma Lagerlof has exerted great formative power in Scandinavian letter, with particular influence on Hamsun and Lagerkvist. Her novel reveals an Andersenlike stylistic lightness, warmth, and predilection for supernatural events, which have caused critics to hail it as the foremost example of Swedish regional writing. Miss Lagerlof was the first woman to win the Nobel Prize for literature. AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY - Selma Ottilia Lovisa Lagerlöf (20 November 1858 - 16 March 1940) was a Swedish author. She was the first female writer to win the Nobel Prize in Literature, and most widely known for her children's book Nils Holgerssons underbara resa genom Sverige (The Wonderful Adventures of Nils).

[ 0126 ] Kleist, Heinrich von. The Marquise of O-- & Other Stories. New York. 1962. Signet/New American Library. 0451501268. Translated From The German By Martin Greenberg.Foreword By Thomas Mann. 288 pages. paperback. CT126. Cover: Milton Glaser. Signet Classic original. FROM THE PUBLISHER - The nightmare shock - tactics and controlled hysteria that Kleist perfected led the classicist Goethe to describe his stories as 'tainted with an incurable disease.' Yet 150 years later, his characters - men who commit crimes in the name of justice, who rage at dead enemies for denying them their revenge, who are driven insane by beatific experience - maintain the reality Kleist's fiction gave them. The Marquise of 0 - and Other Stories is concerned with the effects of extreme social pressure on the individual during a time of crisis. Against varying backdrops of social revolution, religious war, cloistered marriage, unearthly ecclesiastical music, and even earthquake, the heroes of these demonic parables surpass themselves to achieve unique martyrdom - or sink to the level of human beasts. In his Foreword to the present collection, Thomas Mann writes of the author: 'He was one of the greatest, boldest, and most ambitious poets Germany has produced . a man unique in every respect, whose achievement and career seemed to violate all known codes and patterns. Kleist dedicated himself to his extravagant themes with a passion little short of frenzy.' Includes: THE MARQUISE OF O - , MICHAEL KOHLHAAS, THE BEGGARWOMAN OF LOCARNO, THE ENGAGEMENT IN SANTO DOMINGO, THE FOUNDLING, THE EARTHQUAKE IN CHILE, ST. CECILIA OR THE POWER OF MUSIC, & THE DUEL. AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY - Bernd Heinrich Wilhelm von Kleist (18 October 1777 - 21 November 1811) was a German poet, dramatist, novelist and short story writer.

[ 0127 ] Laclos, Pierre Choderlos de. Les Liaisons Dangereuses. New York. 1962. Signet/New American Library. 0451501276. Translated From The French By Richard AldingtonForeword By Harry Levin. 384 pages. paperback. CT127. Signet Classic original. FROM THE PUBLISHER - The systematic corruption of the innocent by two partners - in - jealousy is the theme of Les Liaisons Dangereuses, the great French novel that crystallizes the tragedy of the highly civilized society where the intellect reigns supreme in every facet of life, especially love. Revealed through their intimate, wickedly detached correspondence.; the conquests effected by the Marquise de Merteuil and the libertine Valmont, her former lover, are, on the surface, motivated by revenge. In a deeper sense, they are seen to be the results of a power struggle between the pair for sexual supremacy. Laclos has likened their exposure and eventual ruin to the doom of the hyperrational eighteenth - century regime whose immoralities he had observed so closely. AndrE Gide wrote of the author and his masterpiece: 'There is no doubt as to his being hand in glove with Satan. Yet this book, diabolical as its inspiration is, turns out, like every work of profound observation and exact expression, to contain, without the author's desire, much more instruction on morals than many a well - intentioned treatise.' AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY - Pierre Ambroise Francois Choderlos de Laclos (18 October 1741 - 5 September 1803) was a French novelist, official and army general, best known for writing the epistolary novel Les Liaisons Dangereuses (Dangerous Liaisons). A unique case in French literature, he was for a long time considered to be as scandalous a writer as the Marquis de Sade or Nicolas-Edme REtif.

[ 0128 ] Zola, Emile. L'Assommoir. New York. 1962. Signet/New American Library. 0451501284. Newly Translated From The French By Atwood H. TownsendAfterword By Angus Wilson. 500 pages. paperback. CT128. Cover: Milton Glaser. Signet Classic original. FROM THE PUBLISHER - Producing a vision of horror through his relentless accumulation of facts, Emile Zola expresses in L'Assommoir his fascination with the fatalistic nightly inhabitants of Parisian taverns. The novel deals with the struggle for honorable survival made by Gervaise, a lame but proud laundress, whom fate leaves to support herself and her two illegitimate children. Her perennial hope to open her own shop is crushed on the brink of achievement by the added financial burden of a drunken husband and a parasitic lover out of her past. Her complete moral deterioration through drink, the flagrant nihilism of her final street encounters, have placed this book at the pinnacle of naturalistic literary accomplishment. Writing of Zola's Rougon - Macquart series and L'Assommoir, which is one section thereof, Henry James described the author's achievement: 'One strange animal after another stepped forth into the light . though it was doubtless not till the issue of L'Assommoir that the true type of the monstrous seemed to be reached. L'Assommoir is the nature of man - but not his finer, nobler, cleaner or more cultivated nature, it is the image of his free instincts, the better and the worse, the better struggling as they can, gasping for light and air, the worse making themselves at home in darkness, ignorance and poverty.' AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY - Emile Francois Zola (2 April 1840 - 29 September 1902) was a French writer, the most important exemplar of the literary school of naturalism and an important contributor to the development of theatrical naturalism. He was a major figure in the political liberalization of France and in the exoneration of the falsely accused and convicted army officer Alfred Dreyfus, which is encapsulated in the renowned newspaper headline J'Accuse.

[ 0129 ] Dostoyevsky, Fyodor. The Possessed. New York. 1962. Signet/New American Library. 0451501292. Newly Translated From The Russian By Andrew R. MacAndrew.Afterword By Marc Slonim. 703 pages. paperback. CQ129. Cover: Milton Glaser. Signet Classic original. FROM THE PUBLISHER - THE POSSESSED is regarded the world over as the most shattering vision of nihilism in action to come out of Russia. Despite their different interpretations of radical politics, the young men, Stavrogin and Verhovensky combine fanaticism, treachery, and self - contradiction to incite an entire town to pillage, arson, and slaughter. In this story of misfits who believe in nothing and wish only to destroy, Dostoyevsky is everywhere concerned with the passion man demonstrates for the lie in order to create a chaos that mirrors his tortured soul. 'Dostoyevsky wrote of the unconscious as if it were conscious; that is in reality the reason why his characters seem 'pathological,' while they are only visualized more clearly than any other figures in imaginative literature. He was in the rank in which we set Dante, Shakespeare and Goethe.' - Edwin Muir AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY - Fyodor Mikhailovich Dostoyevsky 11 November 1821 - 9 February 1881), sometimes transliterated Dostoevsky, was a Russian novelist, short story writer, essayist and philosopher. Dostoyevsky's literary works explore human psychology in the context of the troubled political, social, and spiritual atmosphere of 19th-century Russia.

[ 0130 ] Sinclair, Upton. The Jungle. New York. Signet/New American Library. 0451501306. paperback. CP130. Signet Classic reprint. FROM THE PUBLISHER - In this powerful book we enter the world of Jurgis Rudkus, a young Lithuanian immigrant who arrives in America fired with dreams of wealth, freedom, and opportunity. And we discover, with him, the astonishing truth about ‘packingtown,' the busy, flourishing, filthy Chicago stockyards, where new world visions perish in a jungle of human suffering. Upton Sinclair, master of the ‘muckraking' novel, here explores the workingman's lot at the turn of the century: the backbreaking labor, the injustices of ‘wage-slavery,' the bewildering chaos of urban life. THE JUNGLE, a story so shocking that it launched a government investigation, recreates this startling chapter if our history in unflinching detail. Always a vigorous champion on political reform, Sinclair is also a gripping storyteller, and his 1906 novel stands as one of the most important -- and moving -- works in the literature of social change. ‘Practically alone among the American writers of his generation,' wrote Edmund Wilson, ‘[Sinclair] put to the American public the fundamental questions raised by capitalism in such a way that they could not escape them.' When it was first published in 1906, THE JUNGLE exposed the inhumane conditions of Chicago's stockyards and the laborer's struggle against industry and ‘wage slavery.' It was an immediate bestseller and led to new regulations that forever changed workers' rights and the meatpacking industry. A direct descendant of Dickens's HARD TIMES, it remains the most influential workingman's novel in American literature. AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY - Upton Beall Sinclair, Jr. (September 20, 1878 - November 25, 1968), was an American author who wrote nearly 100 books in many genres. He achieved popularity in the first half of the twentieth century, acquiring particular fame for his classic muckraking novel, The Jungle (1906). It exposed conditions in the U.S. meat packing industry, causing a public uproar that contributed in part to the passage a few months later of the 1906 Pure Food and Drug Act and the Meat Inspection Act.

[ 0131 ] Garland, Hamlin. Main-Travelled Roads. New York. 1962. Signet/New American Library. 0451501314. Afterword By Mark Schorer. 271 pages. paperback. CP131. Cover: Lambert. Signet Classic original. FROM THE PUBLISHER - This book challenges the concept of the American dream. It reveals the stubborn courage and pessimistic wit of midwest farmers who are scarcely conscious that they are somewhat to blame for their own misfortunes. Inspired by a visit to the Dakota farm country of his youth, Hamlin Garland's MAIN - TRAVELLED ROADS depicts the half - resigned, half - rebellious men and women who work the arid soil for the profit of shrewd landowners. These characters share a sense of deprivation, losing their farms, loved ones, and faith in people - with such recurrence that they feel guilt at even their own occasional, belated successes. 'If anyone is still at a loss to account for that uprising of the farmers in the West which is the translation of the Peasants' War into modern and republican terms, let him read MAIN - TRAVELLED ROADS. ' - W. D. Howells. AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY - Hannibal Hamlin Garland (September 14, 1860 - March 4, 1940) was an American novelist, poet, psychical researcher essayist, and short story writer. He is best known for his fiction involving hard-working Midwestern farmers.

[ 0132 ] Tolstoy, Leo. Fables and Fairy Tales. New York. 1962. Signet/New American Library. 0451501322. Newly Translated From The Russian By Ann Dunnigan.Illustrated By Shelia Greenwald.Foreword By Raymond Rosenthal. 141 pages. paperback. CP132. Cover: Lambert. Signet Classic original. FROM THE PUBLISHER - Fables and Fairy Tales is the first generally available translation of many of Leo Tolstoy's shorter and lesser - known works. With beautiful simplicity, the author brings his great themes of purgation and social justice to the succinct medium of the timeless fantasy - themes which are more diffuse and implicit in his novels. Simplicity of character and hard physical labor lead to spiritual reward for the kings, hermits, imps and talking animals, peasants and fools of these parables - whereas wit and cleverness are conditions for their imminent downfall. 'His art is so full and broad and true that he seems able to do for his own time and country what Shakespeare. did for his.' Havelock Ellis. 'Tolstoy perceived the dawning of a time when. the leading, illuminating and decisive spirit which is to unify and serve society must supersede the objective genius, and the ethical and intelligent rise above the irresponsibly lovely. ' - Thomas Mann. AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY - Count Lev Nikolayevich Tolstoy (9 September 1828 - 20 November 1910), usually referred to in English as Leo Tolstoy, was a Russian writer who is regarded as one of the greatest authors of all time. He received multiple nominations for the Nobel Prize in Literature every year from 1902 to 1906 and nominations for the Nobel Peace Prize in 1901, 1902 and 1910 and the fact that he never won is a major Nobel prize controversy.

[ 0133 ] James, Henry. The Turn of the Screw and Other Short Novels. New York. 1962. Signet/New American Library. 0451501330. Foreword By Willard Thorp. 254 pages. paperback. CT133. Cover: James Hill. Signet Classic original. FROM THE PUBLISHER - Includes: The Turn of the Screw, Daisy Miller, An International Episode, The Aspern Papers, The Altar of the Dead, & The Beast in the Jungle. Henry James considered 'the beautiful and blest nouvelle' to be 'the ideal form' for fiction, and to this genre he brought the full perfection of his imaginative artistry. The themes he chose and the values he set forth in the six nouvelles that comprise this Signet Classic typify the depth and power of his craftsmanship - the unique perception of a writer who unerringly deciphers the mind of a gay and flirtatious American girl adrift among the sophisticates of Europe . the motivations of a man who spends a lifetime waiting to experience his 'rare and strange' destiny. 'Few writers of fiction have been so inventive as Henry James,' writes Willard Thorp. Edmund Wilson commented that 'he can be judged only in the company of the very greatest.' AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY - Henry James (15 April 1843 - 28 February 1916) was an Anglo-American writer who spent most of his writing career in Britain. He is regarded as one of the key figures of 19th-century literary realism.

[ 0134 ] Thackeray, William Makepeace. Vanity Fair. New York. 1962. Signet/New American Library. 0451501349. Afterword By V.S. Pritchett. 832 pages. paperback. CQ134. Cover: James Hill. Signet Classic original. FROM THE PUBLISHER - VANITY FAIR is the story of Becky Sharp, one of the most beautiful, willful, and resourcefully charming pleasure - seekers in literature. With finishing - school credentials and proper connections, Becky begins as a governess, wins the hearts of the moneyed young and old, and, in the light of presentation at court and calculated scandals, emerges a full - fledged courtesan on the Continent, living surprisingly well beyond her means. Thackeray's greatest novel is a moral tapestry of early nineteenth - century English manners, and his persistent theme is the folly of the good - at - heart, the evil of those endowed with grace and wit. Anthony Trollope called Thackeray ' . one of the recognized stars of the literary heaven.' V.S. Pritchett finds Thackeray '. the first of our novelists to catch life visually and actually as it passes in fragments before us . he is above all a superb impressionist - perhaps our greatest.' AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY - William Makepeace Thackeray (18 July 1811 - 24 December 1863) was an English novelist of the 19th century. He was famous for his satirical works, particularly Vanity Fair, a panoramic portrait of English society.

[ 0135 ] Turgenev, Ivan. The Hunting Sketches. New York. 1962. Signet/New American Library. 0451501357. Newly Translated From The Russian & With An Afterword By Benard Guilbert Guerney. 415 pages. paperback. CT135. Cover: Milton Glaser. Signet Classic original. FROM THE PUBLISHER - An uncanny observer of Russians of every class, Turgenev's huntsman learns the touching, but frequently comic, secrets in the complex relationships between peasants and their masters. In his journeys through the steppes and forests he finds courageous, practical men who submit to slavery, dreamers freer than the dissolute lords who own them, and servants made cruel by bondage. He is witness to village festivals and trysts, to public and private farces perpetrated by strangely incestuous, ingrown aristocrats. A faithful account of the mores in rural Russia, this book abounds in folklore and insights into Nature - renditions no less astute than its careful destruction of every human stereotype. 'For me, when I read in that book 'The Singers,' or 'Chertopkhanov and Nedopiuskin,' or that most beautiful of all pieces of writing, 'Bezhin Meadow,' I am conscious. always of Turgenev's face looking up out of the pages. he was the supreme creative writer.' - Ford Madox Ford. 'He lived, he sought, and he expressed in his works what he found - everything he found.' - Leo Tolstoy. 'I was enthralled by the portraits you put into print. What masterly limning! How one can see, and hear, and know all these peasants of the North . and all those countrified landowners, burghers or noblemen - it needed but a few words of yours to sketch momentary encounters with them into images aquiver with life and vivid! No one could have done this better than you.' - George Sand. AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY - Ivan Sergeyevich Turgenev (November 9 1818 - September 3, 1883) was a Russian novelist, short story writer, and playwright. His first major publication, a short story collection entitled A Sportsman's Sketches (1852), was a milestone of Russian Realism, and his novel Fathers and Sons (1862) is regarded as one of the major works of 19th-century fiction.

[ 0136 ] Crevecoeur, J. Hector St. John de. Letters From An American Farmer and Sketches of Eighteenth-Century America. New York. 1963. Signet/New American Library. 0451501365. Foreword By Albert E. Stone, Jr. 477 pages. paperback. CQ136. Cover: Tsao. Signet Classic original. FROM THE PUBLISHER - What, then, is the American, this new man?' An immigrant in a land of immigrants, caught between the contradictions of high ideals and harsh realities, Crèvecoeur was the first to give voice to the question, which runs like a leitmotiv through American thought and literature. His description of eighteenth - century America, from the seafaring towns of New England to the forests of the frontier, from the farms of freemen to plantations nurtured by the sweat of slaves, is more than brilliant reportage; it is a search forced by the writer's own pressing need to capture the elusive personality of his new land. In this volume, which for the first time unites under single cover Crèvecoeur's chief works, Letters from an American Farmer and Sketches of Eighteenth-Century America, the reader encounters a consciousness whose intense self - examination and often ambiguous stance is both modern and uniquely American. These writings provide not only an unsurpassed picture of the American past but also an invaluable insight into the continuing mystery of the present. 'An accomplished work of art.' - ALBERT E. STONE, JR. 'Franklin is the real practical prototype of the American. Crêvecoeur is the emotional.' - D. H. LAWRENCE AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY - Michel Guillaume Jean de Crèvecœur (December 31, 1735 - November 12, 1813), naturalized in New York as John Hector St. John, was a French-American writer. He was born in Caen, Normandy, France, to the Comte and Comtesse de Crèvecœur (Count and Countess of Crèvecœur).

[ 0137 ] Porter, Katherine Anne. Pale Horse, Pale Rider . New York. 1962. Signet/New American Library. 0451501373. Afterword By Mark Schorer. 175 pages. paperback. CP137. Cover: Milton Glaser. Signet Classic original. FROM THE PUBLISHER - Katherine Anne Porter is regarded as one of the most distinguished writers in the world today. Her style is a rare combination of subtlety and insight; her concern is 'human nature, the fatalities of life and the perils of human relationships.' In the three beautiful short novels that comprise PALE HORSE, PALE RIDER she explores the chaotic individualism experienced by those who cope with—and today outlive—their greatest crises. Miranda, the heroine of the first and last stories, survives the ghosts of a poignant but unreal childhood, the Great War, and a flu epidemic that claims her lover—to spend her days with a heightened sense of jeopardy. In 'Noon Wine', Farmer Thompson, though legally acquitted of the murder he commits, can find no justification for his crime and seeks release in a final and tragic act. 'Miss Porter is one of the finest writers of prose in America.'—Granville Hicks . 'There is a kind of magic about everything Miss Porter writes.'—New York Times . 'Katherine Anne Porter moves in the illustrious company headed by Hawthorne, Flaubert, and Henry; James.'—Saturday Review. With an Afterword by Mark Schorer AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY - Katherine Anne Porter (May 15, 1890 - September 18, 1980) was a Pulitzer Prize-winning American journalist, essayist, short story writer, novelist, and political activist. She is known for her penetrating insight; her work deals with dark themes such as betrayal, death and the origin of human evil.

[ 0138 ] Scott, Sir Walter. Ivanhoe. New York. 1962. Signet/New American Library. 0451501381. Afterword By Compton MacKenzie. 508 pages. paperback. CP138. Signet Classic original. FROM THE PUBLISHER - Sir Walter Scott gathered a popular audience as no other writer had done before him; a great innovator, he virtually created one of the outstanding literary forms of the past hundred and fifty years - the historical novel. He infused this genre of fiction with color and spectacle, with romance, action, and suspense. In IVANHOE Sir Walter Scott gives reality to the life of twelfth - century England through his gallery of flesh - and - blood characters. The disinherited knight Ivanhoe and his fair lady Rowena, Richard the LionHearted and Robin Hood - these are people shaped by the forces of tradition, molded by their nation's history. Through them the past of England comes alive - a past of crusades, chivalry, and courtly love. AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY - Sir Walter Scott (15 August 1771 - 21 September 1832) was a Scottish historical novelist, playwright, and poet. Scott was the first English-language author to have a truly international career in his lifetime.

[ 0139 ] Balzac, Honore de. Pere Goriot. New York. 1962. Signet/New American Library. 045150139x. Newly Translated From The French & With An Afterword By Henry Reed. 286 pages. paperback. CP139. Cover: James Hill. Signet Classic original. FROM THE PUBLISHER - ‘PÊRE GORIOT can rightly be regarded as one of the greatest of Balzac's novels,' writes Henry Reed of this masterful study of a father whose sacrifices for his daughters have become a maniacal compulsion. This novel marks Balzac's ‘real entrEe' into LA COMEDIE HUMAINE, his series of almost one hundred novels and short stories, which was to depict ‘human feelings, social crises, the whole pell-mell of civilization.' In PERE GORIOT the great novelist probes the ‘bourgeois tragedy' of money, power, and despair from two different directions. Through parental love Goriot is willingly reduced to poverty so that he may satisfy the demands of his well-married but debt-ridden daughters. On the other hand, Rastignac, the impoverished young man of integrity who is attracted to one of Goriot's daughters, becomes infected with ambition and succumbs to the fever for money and social success. Victor Hugo called Balzac ‘a man of genius,' and Stefan Zweig wrote that Pêre Goriot shows the ‘supreme architectonic skill with which Balzac . worked out in his mind to the last detail his vast structural design of the multifarious forms of human society.' AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY - HonorE de Balzac (20 May 1799 - 18 August 1850) was a French novelist and playwright. His magnum opus was a sequence of short stories and novels collectively entitled La ComEdie humaine, which presents a panorama of French life in the years after the 1815 fall of Napoleon. Due to his keen observation of detail and unfiltered representation of society, Balzac is regarded as one of the founders of realism in European literature. He is renowned for his multifaceted characters, who are complex, morally ambiguous and fully human.

[ 0140 ] Goethe, Johann Wolfgang von. The Sorrows of Young Werther and Selected Writings. New York. 1962. Signet/New American Library. 0451501403. Newly Translated From The German By Catherine Hutter.Foreword By Hermann J. Weigand. 256 pages. paperback. CP140. Cover: Percy?. Signet Classic original. FROM THE PUBLISHER - This book is a unique collection comprising those works of Goethe which stress his positive attitude toward love and death. In these tales and memoirs of fated courtships and redemption through death, the great classicist avoids the melodramatic and macabre, infusing his writing with clairvoyant wisdom and 'the laughter of the gods.' His heroes and heroines, confronted by irreparable loss, stand strong in their will to live and reflect the wellsprings of universal order. A revolutionary in an epoch of sentiment, Goethe was the prime force of the Romantic Movement throughout Europe. Emerson acclaimed him as the world's 'greatest writer.' Thomas Mann, whose own LOTTE IN WEIMAR recasts a central situation from THE SORROWS OF YOUNG WERTHER, Writes of this novel: 'As for Werther, all the richness of (Goethe's) gift was apparent. The extreme, nerve - shattering sensitivity of the little book. evoked a storm of applause which went beyond all bounds and fairly intoxicated the world.' AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY - Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (28 August 1749 - 22 March 1832) was a German writer, artist, and politician. His body of work includes epic and lyric poetry written in a variety of metres and styles; prose and verse dramas; memoirs; an autobiography; literary and aesthetic criticism; treatises on botany, anatomy, and colour; and four novels. In addition, numerous literary and scientific fragments, and more than 10,000 letters written by him are extant, as are nearly 3,000 drawings.

[ 0141 ] Dickens, Charles. David Copperfield. New York. 1962. Signet/New American Library. 0451501411. Afterword By Edgar Johnson. 880 pages. paperback. CT141. Cover: James Hill. Signet Classic original. FROM THE PUBLISHER - The year before he died Charles Dickens wrote of David Copperfield, 'Of all my books, I like this the best.' The story of the abandoned waif who develops a 'disciplined heart' through challenging encounters with distress and misfortune is a supreme example of Dickens' skill as a novelist. In this great work plots and counterplots are interwoven into one intricate, grand design . and a huge gallery of individual characters comes alive. The malignantly treacherous Uriah Heep, the jovial nurse Peggotty, the foolishly innocent Dora, the improvident Mr. Micawber, the egotistic and charming Steerforth - these stand among literature's most remembered people. 'Dickens excelled in character; in the creation of characters of greater intensity than human beings.' - T. S. Eliot. 'No novelist has ever captured more poignantly the brightness and magic and terror of the world as seen through the eyes of a child . the brutality and cruelty of boyhood. , the widening gaze of adolescence, the stress of starting out on a career, the silliness and delirious ecstasy and anguish of youthful love. That Dickens was able to weave all these strands into a design so richly integrated in theme and form makes it one of the transcendent achievements of the art of the novel.' - Edgar Johnson. AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY - Charles John Huffam Dickens (7 February 1812 - 9 June 1870) was an English writer and social critic. He created some of the world's most memorable fictional characters and is generally regarded as the greatest novelist of the Victorian period. During his life, his works enjoyed unprecedented fame, and by the twentieth century his literary genius was broadly acknowledged by critics and scholars. His novels and short stories continue to be widely popular.

[ 0142 ] Sterne, Laurence. Tristram Shandy. New York. 1962. Signet/New American Library. 045150142x. Foreword By Gerald Weales. 546 pages. paperback. CT142. Cover: Milton Glaser. Signet Classic original. FROM THE PUBLISHER - Laurence Sterne's TRISTRAM SHANDY is an epic of eighteenth - century Yorkshire life, and perhaps the most capriciously written classic of all time. On the surface this delightfully delirious book has no apparent order. A sentence forms a chapter; chapters begin, are broken off, or even vanish completely, only to reappear in unnumerical sequence later on. But beneath this deceptive façade of aimless frivolity is a carefully prepared design, subtle in style and brilliant in execution. In the persons of Mr. Shandy, retired merchant and student of philosophy, and of Uncle Toby, veteran of King William's War and a simple - minded sentimentalist, Sterne has created two memorable characters, as clearly defined as any in literature. The one is abstractly intellectual, the other impressionably emotional. Between these two extremes is embodied the sum of human nature. Their diligent discussions on such unprofound topics as short and long noses, the art of cursing, and the influence that names exert upon the personality are masterpieces of droll humor in the vein of Rabelais and Cervantes. Written in unprecedented style, TRISTRAM SHANDY marked a new development in the form of the English novel. AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY - Laurence Sterne (24 November 1713 - 18 March 1768) was an Anglo-Irish novelist and an Anglican clergyman. He is best known for his novels The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman and A Sentimental Journey Through France and Italy.

[ 0143 ] Twain, Mark. Roughing It. New York. 1962. Signet/New American Library. 0451501438. Foreword By Leonard Kreigel. 448 pages. paperback. CT143. Signet Classic original. FROM THE PUBLISHER - In his youth Mark Twain found himself adrift as a tenderfoot in the Wild West - working as a civil servant, gold prospector, reporter, and traveling lecturer. Roughing It is the inimitable record - fact and impression - of those early years. Twain tried his luck at anything and everything. He writes hilariously of his encounters with vigilantes; with Slade the Terrible, whose wife toted guns that blazed from under her petticoats; Brigham Young, the ambitious Morman leader; Hank Erickson, who wrote for advice on turnips to Horace Greeley and vowed revenge because he could not decipher the latter's answer. 'So we see Mark Twain, the playboy, the pioneer in letters, the strayed reveller, the leader of the herd, giving and taking with a hearty liberality, all inside the folk - feeling of his time, holding the American nation in the hollow of his hand . ' - Van Wyck Brooks. With a Foreword by Leonard Kriegel. AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY - Samuel Langhorne Clemens (November 30, 1835 - April 21, 1910), better known by his pen name Mark Twain, was an American author and humorist. He wrote The Adventures of Tom Sawyer (1876) and its sequel, Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (1885), the latter often called 'the Great American Novel'.

[ 0144 ] Stendhal (Marie-Henri Beyle). The Charterhouse of Parma. New York. 1962. Signet/New American Library. 0451501446. Translated From The French By C.K. Scott Moncrieff.Afterword by Jacques Barzun. 503 pages. paperback. CT144. Signet Classic original. FROM THE PUBLISHER - Stendhal's 'Machiavellian' insight into power politics and love is crystallized in this romantic novel of the Napoleonic Wars. The Charterhouse of Parma describes an unusually brilliant and beautiful woman who becomes the mistress of a master politician to further her beloved nephew's worldly aims. Imbued with the author's unprecedented flair for pathos pointed with wit, the book is a unique treatment of the them of female persuasion: both heroine and hero demonstrate moral integrity in their every action, despite the conflicting passions that motivate them. HonorE de Balzac has written that the ultimate subtleties of this novel can best be fathomed by 'diplomats, ministers, observers, the leaders of society, the most distinguished artists.' AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY - Marie-Henri Beyle (23 January 1783 - 23 March 1842), better known by his pen name Stendhal in English, was a 19th-century French writer. Known for his acute analysis of his characters' psychology, he is considered one of the earliest and foremost practitioners of realism, as is evident in the novels Le Rouge et le Noir (The Red and the Black, 1830) and La Chartreuse de Parme (The Charterhouse of Parma, 1839).

[ 0145 ] Wharton, Edith. Hudson River Bracketed. New York. 1962. Signet/New American Library. 0451501454. Afterword By Louis Auchincloss. 415 pages. paperback. CT145. Cover: Lambert. Signet Classic original. FROM THE PUBLISHER - 'It is astonishing that a woman who had turned her face as resolutely and for as many years away from the land of her birth as Mrs. Wharton, should, in her late sixties, have so accurately conceived a career and personality so innately American,' writes Louis Auchincloss of the hero of Hudson River Bracketed. 'Midwestern, Unsubtly gauche, brutally honest and, above all, passionately dedicated to his art,' Vance Weston is a man with confused values and divided loyalties. Reared in the Philistine environment of Euphoria, Illinois, he comes to the Willows - a Hudson River estate owned by cousins - for an extended visit. Under the influence of Halo Tarrant, his lovely and cultivated neighbor, Vance learns to despise his rootless origins and hungers to comprehend more deeply the artistic past of Europe. He writes a novel that becomes a commercial success, true to neither his background nor cultural enthusiasms. In praise of Edith Wharton's work as a moralist, Henry James wrote, '. we move in an air purged at a stroke of4~e old sentimental and romantic values.' AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY - Edith Wharton (born Edith Newbold Jones, January 24, 1862 - August 11, 1937) was a Pulitzer Prize-winning American novelist, short story writer, and designer.

[ 0146 ] Defoe, Daniel. A Journal of the Plague Year. New York. Signet/New American Library. 0451501462. 240 pages. paperback. CP146. Signet Classic reprint. FROM THE PUBLISHER - Bring out your dead! The ceaseless chant of doom echoed through a city of emptied streets and filled grave pits. For this was London in the year 1665, the Year of the Great Plague. In 1721, when the Black Death again threatened the European Continent, Daniel Defoe wrote A Journal of the Plague rear to alert an indifferent populace to the horror that was almost upon them. Through the eyes of a saddler who had chosen to remain while multitudes fled, the master realist vividly depicted a plague - stricken city. He re - enacted the terror of a helpless people caught in a tragedy they could not comprehend: the weak preying on the dying, the strong administering to the sick, the sinful orgies of the cynical, the quiet faith of the pious With dramatic insight he captured for all time the death throes of a great city. AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY - Daniel Defoe (ca. 1660 to 24 April 1731), born Daniel Foe, was an English trader, writer, journalist, pamphleteer and spy, who gained fame for his novel Robinson Crusoe. Defoe is notable for being one of the earliest proponents of the novel, as he helped to popularise the form in Britain.

[ 0147 ] Scott, Sir Walter. The Lady of the Lake and Other Poems. New York. 1962. Signet/New American Library. 0451501470. Foreword By Bartlett W. Boyden. 352 pages. paperback. CT147. Signet Classic original. FROM THE PUBLISHER - Walter Scott gave Scottish history life, and immediacy by investing it with a romantic dimension. In The Lady of the Lakes and Marmion he evokes the color and mystery of the Highland past. He re - creates fierce clan uprisings, breathless nocturnal chases, passionate trysts. , he endows his kings, warlocks, rebels and battle - shy youths, crazed hags and resplendent ladies with timeless character and heroic 'purpose. 'Scott was a very great storyteller. His characters are unlike those of any other Scottish or English writer.' - Edwin Muir. AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY - Sir Walter Scott (15 August 1771 - 21 September 1832) was a Scottish historical novelist, playwright, and poet. Scott was the first English-language author to have a truly international career in his lifetime.

[ 0148 ] Cooper, James Fenimore. The Last of the Mohicans. New York. 1962. Signet/New American Library. 0451501489. Afterword By James F. Beard. 431 pages. paperback. CD148. Signet Classic original. FROM THE PUBLISHER - THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS contains the classic portrait of the man of moral courage who severs all connections with a society whose values he can no longer accept. Despite his chosen exile, Hawk - eye (Natty Bumppo), the frontier scout, risks his life to escort two sisters through hostile Indian country. On the dangerous journey he enlists the aid of the Mohican Chingachgook. And in the challenging ordeal that follows, in their encounters with deception, brutality, and the deaths of loved ones, the friendship between the two men deepens - the scout and the Indian, each with a singular philosophy of independence that has been nurtured and shaped by the silent, virgin forest. ' . in his immortal friendship of Chingachgook and Natty Bumppo [Cooper] dreamed the nucleus of a new society A stark, stripped human relationship of two men, deeper than the deeps of sex. Deeper than property deeper than fatherhood, deeper than marriage, deeper than Love.' - D. H. Lawrence. 'THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS raises again the question of the efficacy of human effort to control irrational forces at work in individual men, races, and nations. The question has never been more pertinent than now.' - James Franklin Beard. AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY - James Fenimore Cooper (September 15, 1789 - September 14, 1851) was a prolific and popular American writer of the early 19th century. His historical romances of frontier and Indian life in the early American days created a unique form of American literature.

[ 0149 ] Baroja, Pio. The Restlessness of Shanti and ia and Selected Stories. New York. 1962. Signet/New American Library. 0451501497. Translated From The Spanish By Anthony & Elaine Kerrigan.Foreword by Anthony Kerrigan. 330 pages. paperback. CT149. Cover: James Hill. Signet Classic original. FROM THE PUBLISHER - Pio Baroja was one of Spain's chief contributions to the European and world novel in the first half of the twentieth century - a novelist who, according to Jose Ortega y Gasset, 'furnishes us an example of the genius of independence in the midst of a society like our own, where everything is compromise and surrender.' Baroja's heroes are men who do not conform. Vagabonds, adventurers, dreamers, they pit themselves against the power of nature and a society that would corrupt them. Shanti Andia is a wanderer torn by shifting allegiance to his beloved Basque country and to the sea. He idolizes his uncle Juan de Aguirre, a dead sea captain whose mysterious, seemingly aimless, voyages have made him, a village myth. In Shanti's efforts to decipher his uncle's past there unfolds a hazardous drama of Basque seamen trapped on a slave ship, of a mutiny, capture, imprisonment, and a desperate rendezvous with stolen gold. It is this search for his uncle's destiny that eventually leads Shanti to find himself. In a conversation between Ernest Hemingway and Pio Baroja, reported in TIME, the American writer is quoted as saying: 'Allow me to pay this small tribute to you who taught so much to those of us who wanted to be writers, yet received a Nobel Prize, especially when it was given to so many who deserved it less, like me, who am only an adventurer.' Baroja's reply: 'Caramba!' AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY - Pío Baroja y Nessi (December 28, 1872 - October 30, 1956) was a Spanish Basque writer, one of the key novelists of the Generation of '98.

[ 0150 ] Conrad, Joseph. Typhoon and Other Tales. New York. 1963. Signet/New American Library. 0451501500. Foreword By Albert J. Guerard. 448 pages. paperback. CT150. Cover: Kossin. Signet Classic original. FROM THE PUBLISHER - Includes - TYPHOON, The Nigger of the 'Narcissus,' Karain, An Outpost of Progress, The Lagoon, Youth, Amy Foster, & The Shadow - Line. The short novels and stories that comprise this Signet Classic are an extraordinary blend of exciting adventure and high seriousness - they are, as Albert Guerard says, 'an achievement unique in English fiction.' In his depiction of the narrow world of ship and jungle outpost the master storyteller explores the destiny of 'men of action.' He probes their reaction to tests of moral and physical courage, their conceptions of honor and of loyalty to society and to the individual. He deals with the conscientious man's need for self - punishment, with his lifelong efforts to expiate an involuntary crime of betrayal. In these tales he treats the themes that were to preoccupy him in his major works. Whether writing satirically of Europeans invading the wilderness of the Congo, or compassionately of a man obsessed by the mystery and danger of the Eastern seas, Conrad takes the reader on a profound personal search of man's voyage - within himself. AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY - Joseph Conrad (born Jozef Teodor Konrad Korzeniowski; Berdichev, Imperial Russia, 3 December 1857 - 3 August 1924, Bishopsbourne, Kent, England) was a Polish author who wrote in English after settling in England. Conrad is regarded as one of the greatest novelists in English, though he did not speak the language fluently until he was in his twenties (and always with a marked accent). He wrote stories and novels, often with a nautical setting, that depict trials of the human spirit in the midst of an indifferent universe.

[ 0151 ] Wilson, Angus. Anglo-Saxon Attitudes. New York. 1963. Signet/New American Library. 0451501519. Foreword By Frank Kermode. 352 pages. paperback. CT151. Cover: James Hill. Signet Classic original. FROM THE PUBLISHER - One of Angus Wilson s most brilliant books this novel is also the best introduction to his work. As Frank Kermode points out in the Foreword, it is 'the book in which Wilson's people. began to move freely in history and society . interpreted with that blend of cruel penetration and humanist compassion which distinguishes the moral vision of this author.' The moral vision here is focused on the dilemma of Gerald Middleton. As a young man lie had been near the scene of a discovery unique in English archaeology - an excavation which unearthed a heathen idol in the coffin of a Bishop of the early church. Middleton doubted the authenticity of the find, but said nothing. Now, forty years later when the story begins, he has attained stature as a scholar, but both his family (and his personal) life are hollow with pretense. He is unable to face up to this pretense - just as earlier he was unable to deal with the problem of the Melpham Tomb. How Middleton confronts his weaknesses and resolves his indecision is the denouement of this beautifully plotted novel which recalls in its wealth of characters and its richness of substance the work of the great Victorian realists. Paul Pickrel wrote in Harper's, 'altogether a brilliant and remarkable performance.' and Brendan Gill in The New Yorker,. ' [In this immensely entertaining volume are to be found in abundance the virtues that so much recent English fiction has lacked . energy, observation, inventiveness, conviction.' AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY - Sir Angus Frank Johnstone-Wilson (11 August 1913 - 31 May 1991) was an English novelist and short story writer. He was awarded the 1958 James Tait Black Memorial Prize for The Middle Age of Mrs Eliot and later received a knighthood for his services to literature.

[ 0152 ] Parkman, Francis. The Oregon Trail. New York. Signet/New American Library. 0451501527. Foreword By A.B. Guthrie Jr. 288 pages. paperback. CP152. Signet Classic original. FROM THE PUBLISHER - More than a century ago, a young Easterner named Francis Parkman set out to explore life in the uncivilized West. With his friend and companion Quincy Adams Shaw, he traveled up the Oregon Trail to the camps of the Pawnee and the Sioux. This book is the fascinating journal of that hazardous experience. It is an authentic record of life on the trail, an eyewitness account of the Mormons and outlaws, trappers and Indians, pioneers and adventurers who tried to conquer the frontier back in the days when America was young. Historian Henry Steele Commager wrote: ‘THE OREGON TRAIL appeared in 1849, and with its publication Parkman was launched upon his career as a storyteller without peer in American letters. It is the picturesqueness, the racy vigor, the poetic eloquence, the youthful excitement, that give THE OREGON TRAIL its enduring appeal, recreating for us, as perhaps does no other book in our literature, the wonder and beauty of life in a new world that is now old and but a memory.' AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY - Francis Parkman, Jr. (September 16, 1823 - November 8, 1893) was an American historian, best known as author of The Oregon Trail: Sketches of Prairie and Rocky-Mountain Life and his monumental seven-volume France and England in North America.

[ 0153 ] Hawthorne, Nathaniel. The Celestial Railroad and Other Stories. New York. 1963. Signet/New American Library. 0451501535. Afterword By R.P. Blackmur. 301 pages. paperback. CP153. Signet Classic original. FROM THE PUBLISHER - The daydreams which edge toward nightmare; toward our desire to be pursued, cast out. demolished, damned' is how R. P. Blackmur describes the 'mode' of the eighteen stories in this Signet Classic collection By means of weird, yet inescapably convincing fables Hawthorne explores the corroding desires of superior men and women. Thwarted in their pursuit of perfection, endeavoring to escape the reality of their existence, they fall prey to a sudden lust for the Ideal and are unwittingly compelled to commit evils in the name of pride. Of the author's insights into the Puritan's simultaneous need for fulfillment and self - destruction D. H. Lawrence wrote, 'That blue - eyed darling Nathaniel knew disagreeable things in his inner soul. He was careful to send them out in disguise.' Hawthorne's contemporary, Edgar Allan Poe, said of his writing that 'Every word tells, and there is not a word which does not tell.' AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY - Nathaniel Hawthorne (born Nathaniel Hathorne; July 4, 1804 - May 19, 1864) was an American novelist and short story writer. Much of Hawthorne's writing centers on New England, many works featuring moral allegories with a Puritan inspiration.

[ 0154 ] Tolstoy, Leo. The Death of Ivan Ilych and Other Stories. New York. Signet/New American Library. 0451501543. paperback. CP154. Signet Classic reprint. FROM THE PUBLISHER - Leo Tolstoy combined detailed physical description with perceptive psychological insight to sweep aside the sham of surface appearances and lay bare man's intimate gestures, acts, and thoughts. Murder and sacrifice. greed and devotion. lust and affection. vanity and love -- one by one, in this volume of great stories, Tolstoy dissects the basic drives, emotions, and motives of ordinary people searching for self-knowledge and spiritual perfection. Chekhov said, 'Of authors my favorite is Tolstoy.' And Turgenev 'marveled at the strength of his huge talent. It sends a cold shudder even down my back. He is a master, a master.' AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY - Count Lev Nikolayevich Tolstoy (9 September 1828 - 20 November 1910), usually referred to in English as Leo Tolstoy, was a Russian writer who is regarded as one of the greatest authors of all time. He received multiple nominations for the Nobel Prize in Literature every year from 1902 to 1906 and nominations for the Nobel Peace Prize in 1901, 1902 and 1910 and the fact that he never won is a major Nobel prize controversy.

[ 0155 ] Howells, William Dean. The Rise of Silas Lapham. New York. 1963. Signet/New American Library. 0451501551. Afterword By Henry T. Moore. 351 pages. paperback. CT155. Cover: Lambert. Signet Classic original. FROM THE PUBLISHER - ‘Let fiction cease to lie about life; let it portray men and women as they are, actuated by the motives and the passions in the measure we all know.' - William Dean Howells. The Rise of Silas Lapham, first published in book form in 1885, was the first important novel to center on the American businessman and the first to treat its theme with a realism that was to foreshadow the work of modern writers. In his story of Yankee Silas Lapham—one of the millionaires who flourished with the expanding industrialization of post - Civil War years—William Dean Howells probed the moral and social conflicts that confronted a self - made man who attempted to crash Boston's old - guard, aristocratic society. Howells was essentially sympathetic to his hero: his Silas Lapham was a man of conscience who fully realized his folly. But he was also an ambitious man who knowingly let his aspirations lead him to hazard both his fortune and his family's happiness for status in a society that could never accept him. 'His perceptions were sure, his integrity was absolute,' wrote Henry Seidel Canby of William Dean Howells, whom he credited as being 'responsible for giving the American novel form.' AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY - William Dean Howells (March 1, 1837 - May 11, 1920) was an American realist author, literary critic, and playwright. Nicknamed 'The Dean of American Letters', he was particularly known for his tenure as editor of the Atlantic Monthly as well as his own prolific writings, including the Christmas story 'Christmas Every Day', and the novels The Rise of Silas Lapham and A Traveler from Altruria.

[ 0156 ] Woolf, Virginia. Orlando. New York. 1963. Signet/New American Library. 045150156x. Afterword By Elizabeth Bowen.Includes The Original Illustrations. paperback. CP156. Signet Classic reprint. FROM THE PUBLISHER - Spanning three and a half centuries of boisterous, exuberant adventure in England, in Constantinople, with aristocrats and gypsies-first as a man and then as a woman-Orlando's story is a wild farce, a humorous history, a gay romance filled with the delightful experiences of one of the most fascinating and fantastic characters ever to rule the realm of fiction. David Daiches said: ‘Virginia Woolf can afford to rest her claims on her novels, which show her to be one of the half- dozen novelists of the present century whom the world will not easily let die.' Rebecca West called Orlando ‘a poetic masterpiece of the first rank' and Elizabeth Bowen found it ‘one of the most high spirited books I know . a book for those who are young in a big way.' AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY - Adeline Virginia Woolf (nEe Stephen; 25 January 1882 - 28 March 1941) was an English writer and one of the foremost modernists of the twentieth century. During the interwar period, Woolf was a significant figure in London literary society and a central figure in the influential Bloomsbury Group of intellectuals. Her most famous works include the novels Mrs Dalloway (1925), To the Lighthouse (1927) and Orlando (1928), and the book-length essay A Room of One's Own (1929).

[ 0157 ] Cervantes, Miguel de. The Deceitful Marriage and Other Exemplary Novels. New York. 1963. Signet/New American Library. 0451501578. Newly Translated From The Spanish & With An Foreword By Walter Starkie. 320 pages. paperback. CT157. Cover: James Hill. Signet Classic original. FROM THE PUBLISHER - Includes - The Deceitful Marriage, The Little Gypsy, Rinconete and Cortadillo, The Man of Glass, The Illustrious Kitchen Maid, and The Dogs' Colloquy. 'Cervantes was the only author who fused the rougish and the swashbuckling elements of the picaresque novel, because his aims as an artist were more universal than were those of his contemporaries, and his humor, like that of Shakespeare, with its infinite tolerance, melancholy, and love of all classes of humanity, glowed with the genius of thoughtful laughter.' ' - Walter Starkie. It was the Exemplary Novels, published three years before his death, more than his masterpiece, Don Quixote, that established Cervantes' literary reputation among the intellectuals of his time. These picaresque stories ring with racy idiom and peasant humor, and with explicit characterizations that show how well he knew the speech and folkways and psychology of the common people. Among the Exemplary Novels pre - sented here are three of his most famous ones: The Deceitful Marriage, a cynical tale of Spanish domestic life, merciless in its realism, pungent in its humor. The Little Gypsy, a love story of a high - spirited girl whose haunting counterpart has reappeared in the works of Goethe and Victor Hugo. and The Dogs' Colloquy, judged by many critics to be the greatest short story ever written. AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY - Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra (29 September 1547 (assumed) - 22 April 1616) was a Spanish novelist, poet, and playwright. His magnum opus, Don Quixote, considered to be the first modern European novel, is a classic of Western literature, and is regarded amongst the best works of fiction ever written.

[ 0158 ] Twain, Mark. A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court. New York. 1963. Signet/New American Library. 0451501586. Afterword By Edmund Reiss. 334 pages. paperback. CD158. Cover: Lambert. Signet Classic original. FROM THE PUBLISHER - Hank Morgan, cracked on the head by a crowbar in nineteenth - century Connecticut, wakes to find himself in the England of King Arthur. The tough - minded Yankee, an embodiment of scientific enlightenment, faces a world whose idyllic surface only masks the dark forces of fear, injustice, and ignorance. This is the springboard which launches one of literature's most extraordinary excursions into fantasy. With the agility of Mark Twain's unique virtuosity, this acrobatic tour de force moves from broad comedy to biting social satire, and from the pure joy of wild high jinks to deeply probing insights into the nature of man, whose capacity for progress is matched only by his capacity for destruction. The reader is shaken by laughter - and something more than laughter - as he falls under the book's enchantment and finds that the grim truths of Mark Twain's Camelot strike a resoundingly contemporary note. 'This story is something other and greater than a funny book. It is a work written with a high purpose, to convey what seemed to its author the most profound and elemental truths about human society.' - Stephen Leacock AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY - Samuel Langhorne Clemens (November 30, 1835 - April 21, 1910), better known by his pen name Mark Twain, was an American author and humorist. He wrote The Adventures of Tom Sawyer (1876) and its sequel, Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (1885), the latter often called 'the Great American Novel'.

[ 0159 ] Dickens, Charles. Great Expectations. New York. 1963. Signet/New American Library. 0451501594. Afterword By Angus Wilson. 534 pages. paperback. CP159. Signet Classic original. FROM THE PUBLISHER - Great Expectations is at once a superbly constructed novel of spellbinding mystery and a profound examination of moral values. Written at a time when Dickens' relationship with Victorian society had reached a crisis, this novel is peopled by characters unmistakably bearing Dickens' familiar stamp - but here they appear in a new and questioning light. The orphan, Pip, and the convict, Magwitch. the beautiful Estella, and her guardian, the embittered and vengeful Miss Havisham. the strangely ambiguous figure of the master lawyer, Mr. Jaggers. all play their part in a story whose title itself reflects the deep irony that shapes Dickens' searching reappraisal of the Victorian middle class. From the agony of his disenchantment comes a work that gives an added dimension to his matchless genius. '. the most completely unified work of art that Dickens ever produced. The only one perhaps that by its formal concentration and its unified shape at every depth of reading fulfils the sort of demands that Flaubert or Henry James makes of the novelist.' Angus Wilson. AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY - Charles John Huffam Dickens (7 February 1812 - 9 June 1870) was an English writer and social critic. He created some of the world's most memorable fictional characters and is generally regarded as the greatest novelist of the Victorian period. During his life, his works enjoyed unprecedented fame, and by the twentieth century his literary genius was broadly acknowledged by critics and scholars. His novels and short stories continue to be widely popular.

[ 0160 ] Shakespeare, William. King Lear. New York. 1964. Signet/New American Library. 0451501608. Edited & With An Introduction and Notes By Russell Fraser . 287 pages. paperback. CD160. Cover: Milton Glaser. Signet Classic original. FROM THE PUBLISHER - A royal family is thrown into utter ruin by its own poisonous web of distrust, deceit and struggle for power. Shakespeare's tragedy is one unsurpassed power and depth. It follows the descent of the ageing King Lear into madness, perpetuated by his malevolent daughters Goneril and Regan who struggle to gain power over the kingdom. Having banished his favorite daughter Cordelia, a loving, compassionate and honest woman, when she refuses to partake in a competition of flattery, he sets in motion a catastrophic sequence of events that will ultimately destroy his sanity, family and kingdom. The lines between good and evil are faultlessly drawn in this exploration of filial ingratitude, injustice, avarice and love. In a time when swollen words, false pretexts and the struggle for power are again the order of the day the message of King Lear carries renewed significance. AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY - William Shakespeare (26 April 1564 (baptised) - 23 April 1616) was an English poet, playwright, and actor, widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's national poet and the 'Bard of Avon'. His extant works, including some collaborations, consist of about 38 plays, 154 sonnets, two long narrative poems.

[ 0161 ] Shakespeare, William. Macbeth. New York. 1964. Signet/New American Library. 0451501616. Edited & With An Introduction and Notes By Sylvan Barnet . 247 pages. paperback. CD161. Cover: Milton Glaser. Signet Classic original. FROM THE PUBLISHER - Unique Features Of The Signet Classic Shakespeare MACBETH - Special Introduction to the play by the editor, Sylvan Barnet, Tufts University. General discussion of Shakespeare's life, world, and theater by the general editor of the Signet Classic Shakespeare series, Sylvan Barnet. Source from which Shakespeare derived MACBETH - selections from Raphael Holinshed's THE CHRONICLES OF ENGLAND, SCOTLAND, AND IRELAND. Dramatic criticism from the past and present: commentaries by Samuel Johnson, A. C. Bradley, Elmer Edgar Stoll, Cleanth Brooks, Oscar James Campbell, Mary McCarthy. Text and commentaries printed in the clearest, most readable type. Name of each speaker given in full. Detailed footnotes at the bottom of each page of the play keyed to the numbered lines of the text. Textual note. Extensive bibliography . Probably composed in late 1606 or early 1607, Macbeth is the last of Shakespeare's four great tragedies, the others being Hamlet, King Lear and Othello. It is a relatively short play without a major sub - plot, and it is considered by many scholars to be Shakespeare's darkest work. Lear is an utter tragedy in which the natural world is amorally indifferent toward mankind, but in Macbeth, Shakespeare adds a supernatural dimension that purposively conspires against Macbeth and his kingdom. AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY - William Shakespeare (26 April 1564 (baptised) - 23 April 1616) was an English poet, playwright, and actor, widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's national poet and the 'Bard of Avon'. His extant works, including some collaborations, consist of about 38 plays, 154 sonnets, two long narrative poems.

[ 0162 ] Shakespeare, William. Othello. New York. 1963. Signet/New American Library. 0451501624. Edited & With An Introduction and Notes By Alvin Kernan. 270 pages. paperback. CD162. Cover: Milton Glaser. Signet Classic original. FROM THE PUBLISHER - Othello (The Tragedy of Othello, the Moor of Venice) is a tragedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written in 1603. It is based on the story Un Capitano Moro ("A Moorish Captain") by Cinthio (a disciple of Boccaccio's), first published in 1565. The story revolves around its two central characters: Othello, a Moorish general in the Venetian army, and his treacherous ensign, Iago. Given its varied and enduring themes of racism, love, jealousy, betrayal, revenge, and repentance, Othello is still often performed in professional and community theatre alike, and has been the source for numerous operatic, film, and literary adaptations. Unique features of the Signet edition - Special Introduction to the play by the editor, Alvin Kernan, Yale University; General discussion of Shakespeare's life, world, and theater by the general editor of the Signet Classic Shakespeare series, Sylvan Barnet, Tufts University; Source from which .Shakespeare derived Othello - a story from Giraldi Cinthio's Hecatommithi; Dramatic criticism from the past and present: commentaries by Thomas Rymer, Samuel Taylor Coleridge, Maynard Mack, Robert B. Heilman; Text and commentaries printed in the clearest, most readable type; Name of each speaker given in full; Detailed footnotes at the bottom of each page of the play keyed to the numbered lines of the text; Textual note; Extensive bibliography. AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY - William Shakespeare (26 April 1564 (baptised) - 23 April 1616) was an English poet, playwright, and actor, widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's national poet and the 'Bard of Avon'. His extant works, including some collaborations, consist of about 38 plays, 154 sonnets, two long narrative poems.

[ 0163 ] Shakespeare, William. Richard II. New York. 1963. Signet/New American Library. 0451501632. Edited by Kenneth Muir. paperback. CD163. Signet Classic reprint. FROM THE PUBLISHER - The Life and Death of King Richard the Second, commonly called Richard II, is a history play by William Shakespeare believed to have been written in approximately 1595. It is based on the life of King Richard II of England (ruled 1377–1399) and is the first part of a tetralogy, referred to by some scholars as the Henriad, followed by three plays concerning Richard's successors: Henry IV, Part 1; Henry IV, Part 2; and Henry V. AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY - William Shakespeare (26 April 1564 (baptised) - 23 April 1616) was an English poet, playwright, and actor, widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's national poet and the 'Bard of Avon'. His extant works, including some collaborations, consist of about 38 plays, 154 sonnets, two long narrative poems.

[ 0164 ] Shakespeare, William. The Winter's Tale. New York. 1963. Signet/New American Library. 0451501640. Edited & With An Introduction and Notes By Frank Kermode . paperback. CD164. Cover: Milton Glaser. Signet Classic original. FROM THE PUBLISHER - Unique features of the Signet Classic Shakespeare An extensive of Shakespeare's life, world, and theater by the general editor of the Signet Classic Shakespeare series, Sylvan Barnet A special introduction to the play by the editor Sources from which Shakespeare derived The Winter's Tale Dramatic criticism from the past and present A comprehensive stage and screen history of notable actors, directors, and productions of The Winter's Tale, then and now Text, notes, and commentaries printed in the clearest, most readable type Up-to-date list of recommended readings AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY - William Shakespeare (26 April 1564 (baptised) - 23 April 1616) was an English poet, playwright, and actor, widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's national poet and the 'Bard of Avon'. His extant works, including some collaborations, consist of about 38 plays, 154 sonnets, two long narrative poems.

[ 0165 ] Parkman, Francis. La Salle and the Discovery of the Great West. New York. 1963. Signet/New American Library. 0451501659. Foreword By John A. Hawgood. 352 pages. paperback. CT165. Signet Classic original. FROM THE PUBLISHER - The heroic figure of Cavelier de La Salle and the epic scope of his achievements dominate this classic history of conquest and conflict in the New World. His is the leading role in a drama of Homeric proportions, set against the backdrop of a vast and savage wilderness: a network of lakes, rivers, and valleys stretching from New France to the Gulf of Mexico, shaping a dream of French empire and glory. Parkman's description of this untamed land is justly famous; but equally memorable is his vivid delineation of the indomitable explorer whose iron will and fierce pride led him both to triumph and to tragic death - struck clown by the forces of intrigue and avarice he so fiercely scorned. The reader is plunged into the living stream of the past in a saga not only of man against nature but also of man against man; he then emerges with the sense of intensely felt experience, which is the mark of history raised to the level of art. Samuel Eliot Morison called Francis Parkman 'one of the greatest - if not the greatest - historians that the New World has produced.' Frederick Jackson Turner also cited Parkman as 'a great historian' and noted that 'his work will live on because he was even greater as an artist.' AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY - Francis Parkman, Jr. (September 16, 1823 - November 8, 1893) was an American historian, best known as author of The Oregon Trail: Sketches of Prairie and Rocky-Mountain Life and his monumental seven-volume France and England in North America.

[ 0166 ] Goncharov, Ivan. Oblomov. New York. 1963. Signet/New American Library. 0451501667. Newly Translated From The Russian By Ann Dunnigan.Foreword by Harry T. Moore. 559 pages. paperback. CQ166. Cover: Lambert. Signet Classic original. FROM THE PUBLISHER - Oblomov lies in bed, pondering one vital, earth. shattering question: Should he get up? Thus we meet one of the greatest creations in all Russian literature - Oblomov, good natured and indolent, with the mind of a reasonable man and the ambition of a giant sloth, wearily reclining while a procession of visitors plead with him to change his ways. We are drawn to this strange figure in the same way as is the energetic Stolz or the beautiful and vivacious Olga. Fascinated, we watch the meanderings of his life, his attempts at reform, his inevitable descent to his peculiar fate with the interest we usually reserve for the plight of a friend, a brother, or our very selves. For Oblomov's idiosyncrasies are universal. and 'Oblomovism' knows no class, no era, no country; it finds a home in every human heart. 'That the result is a great comic story, the world knows. [Oblomov is] a juicy character, a monstrosity of indolence wrapped in the most famous dressing gown in the literature of laziness, a man who, as he yawns his way through one evasion after another, is always a magnet for our sympathies as well as for our friendly laughter.' - Harry T. Moore. AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY - Ivan Alexandrovich Goncharov (18 June 1812 - 27 September 1891) was a Russian novelist best known for his novels A Common Story (1847), Oblomov (1859), and The Precipice (1869).

[ 0167 ] Eliot, George. Middlemarch. New York. Signet/New American Library. 0451501675. Afterword By Frank Kermode. paperback. CQ167. Signet Classic original. FROM THE PUBLISHER - ‘People are almost always better than their neighbours think they are.' George Eliot's most ambitious novel is a masterly evocation of diverse lives and changing fortunes in a provincial community. Peopling its landscape are Dorothea Brooke, a young idealist whose search for intellectual fulfillment leads her into a disastrous marriage to the pedantic scholar Casaubon; the charming but tactless Dr Lydgate, whose pioneering medical methods, combined with an imprudent marriage to the spendthrift beauty Rosamond, threaten to undermine his career; and the religious hypocrite Bulstrode, hiding scandalous crimes from his past. As their stories entwine, George Eliot creates a richly nuanced and moving drama, hailed by Virginia Woolf as ‘one of the few English novels written for grown-up people.' AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY - Mary Anne (alternatively Mary Ann or Marian) Evans (22 November 1819 - 22 December 1880), better known by her pen name George Eliot, was an English novelist, journalist and translator, and one of the leading writers of the Victorian era. She is the author of seven novels, including Adam Bede (1859), The Mill on the Floss (1860), Silas Marner (1861), Middlemarch (1871–72), and Daniel Deronda (1876), most of them set in provincial England and known for their realism and psychological insight.

[ 0168 ] Shakespeare, William. As You Like It. New York. 1963. Signet/New American Library. 0451501683. Edited & With An Introduction and Notes By Albert Gilman . paperback. CD168. Cover: Milton Glaser. Signet Classic original. FROM THE PUBLISHER - Unique features of the Signet Classic Shakespeare An extensive of Shakespeare's life, world, and theater by the general editor of the Signet Classic Shakespeare series, Sylvan Barnet A special introduction to the play by the editor, Albert Gilman, Boston University Source from which Shakespeare derived As You Like It--selections from Thomas Lodge's Rosalynd Dramatic criticism from the past and present: commentaries by Arthur Colby Sprague, Helen Gardener, Peter B. Erickson, Jean E. Howard A comprehensive stage and screen history of notable actors, directors, and productions of As You Like It, then and now Text, notes, and commentaries printed in the clearest, most readable type Up-to-date list of recommended readings AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY - William Shakespeare (26 April 1564 (baptised) - 23 April 1616) was an English poet, playwright, and actor, widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's national poet and the 'Bard of Avon'. His extant works, including some collaborations, consist of about 38 plays, 154 sonnets, two long narrative poems.

[ 0169 ] Shakespeare, William. Hamlet. New York. 1963. Signet/New American Library. 0451501691. Edited & With An Introduction and Notes By Edward Hubler. 271 pages. paperback. CD169. Cover: Milton Glaser. Signet Classic original. FROM THE PUBLISHER - Unique Features Of The Signet Classic Shakespeare HAMLET: Special Introduction to the play by the editor, Edward Hubler, Princeton University, General discussion of Shakespeare's life, world, and theater by the general editor of the Signet Classic Shakespeare series, Sylvan Barnet, Tufts University, Special note on the sources on which Shakespeare drew for Hamlet, Dramatic criticism from the past and present: commentaries by Samuel Taylor Coleridge, William Hazlitt, A. C. Bradley, Harley Granville - Barker, Wolfgang Clemen, Maynard Mack, Robert Ornstein, Text and commentaries printed in the clearest, most readable type, Name of each speaker given in full, Detailed footnotes at the bottom of each page of the play keyed to the numbered lines of the text, Textual note, Extensive bibliography. THE SIGNET CLASSIC SHAKESPEARE SERIES - The work of the world's greatest dramatist in authoritative texts edited by outstanding scholars. First performed in 1603, Hamlet, The Prince of Denmark is probably the best known of William Shakespeare's works, and may well be the most famous English - language play ever written. Categorized as one of Shakespeare's 'later tragedies,' Hamlet and its namesake hero display fully the mature Bard's extraordinary talents. But while Hamlet has been the subject of admiring critical commentary since Elizabethan times, it has also developed a reputation as a difficult work to analyze, one that features a very complicated central character, addresses many complex themes, and presents the reader with a multi-layered text which defies easy interpretation. AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY - William Shakespeare (26 April 1564 (baptised) - 23 April 1616) was an English poet, playwright, and actor, widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's national poet and the 'Bard of Avon'. His extant works, including some collaborations, consist of about 38 plays, 154 sonnets, two long narrative poems.

[ 0170 ] Shakespeare, William. Julius Caesar. New York. 1963. Signet/New American Library. 0451501705. Edited & With An Introduction and Notes By William & Barbara Rosen. 240 pages. paperback. CD170. Cover: Milton Glaser. Signet Classic original. FROM THE PUBLISHER - The Tragedy of Julius Caesar (First Folio title: The Tragedie of Ivlivs Caesar) is a history play and tragedy by William Shakespeare first performed in 1599. It is one of several plays written by Shakespeare based on true events from Roman history, such as Coriolanus and Antony and Cleopatra. Set in Rome in 44 BC, the play depicts the moral dilemma of Brutus as he joins a conspiracy led by Cassius to murder Julius Caesar to prevent him from becoming dictator of Rome. Following Caesar's death, Rome is thrust into a period of civil war, and the republic the conspirators sought to preserve is lost forever. Although the play is named Julius Caesar, Brutus speaks more than four times as many lines as the title character; and the central psychological drama of the play focuses on Brutus' struggle between the conflicting demands of honour, patriotism, and friendship. This edition includes - A special Introduction to the play by the editors, Barbara Rosen and William Rosen, University of Connecticut; General discussion of Shakespeare's life, world, and theater by the general editor of the Signet Classic Shakespeare series, Sylvan Barnet, Tufts University; Sources from which Shakespeare derived Julius Caesar - selections from Plutarch's The Lives of the Noble Grecians and Romans; Dramatic criticism from the past and present: commentaries by Leonard F. Dean, R. A. Foakes, Ernest Schanzer, Roy Walker; Text and commentaries printed in the clearest, most readable type; Name of each speaker given in full; Detailed footnotes at the bottom of each page of the play keyed to the numbered lines of the text; Textual note; Extensive bibliography. AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY - William Shakespeare (26 April 1564 (baptised) - 23 April 1616) was an English poet, playwright, and actor, widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's national poet and the 'Bard of Avon'. His extant works, including some collaborations, consist of about 38 plays, 154 sonnets, two long narrative poems.

[ 0171 ] Shakespeare, William. A Midsummer Night's Dream. New York. 1963. Signet/New American Library. 0451501713. Edited & With An Introduction and Notes By Wolfgang Clemen. paperback. CD171. Cover: Milton Glaser. Signet Classic original. FROM THE PUBLISHER - Unique features of the Signet Classic Shakespeare An extensive of Shakespeare's life, world, and theater by the general editor of the Signet Classic Shakespeare series, Sylvan Barnet A special introduction to the play by the editor, Wolfgang Clemen, University of Munich A note on the sources from which Shakespeare derived A Midsummer Night's Dream Dramatic criticism from the past and present: commentaries by William Hazlitt, John Russell Brown, Frank Kermode, Linda Bamber, Camille Wells Slights A comprehensive stage and screen history of notable actors, directors, and productions of A Midsummer Night's Dream, then and now Text, notes, and commentaries printed in the clearest, most readable type Up-to-date list of recommended readings AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY - William Shakespeare (26 April 1564 (baptised) - 23 April 1616) was an English poet, playwright, and actor, widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's national poet and the 'Bard of Avon'. His extant works, including some collaborations, consist of about 38 plays, 154 sonnets, two long narrative poems.

[ 0172 ] Shakespeare, William. Troilus and Cressida. New York. 1963. Signet/New American Library. 0451501721. Edited & With An Introduction and Notes By Daniel Seltzer. 288 pages. paperback. CD172. Cover: Milton Glaser. Signet Classic original. FROM THE PUBLISHER - THE SIGNET CLASSIC SHAKESPEARE SERIES. The work of the world's greatest dramatist in authoritative texts edited by outstanding scholars. Unique Features of The Signet Classic Shakespeare Troilus and Cressida: Special Introduction to the play by the editor, Daniel Seltzer, Harvard University; General discussion of Shakespeare's life, world, and theater by the general editor of the Signet Classic Shakespeare series, Sylvan Barnet, Tufts University; Substantial note on the voluminous sources from which Shakespeare derived Troilus and Cressida with specific references to the best editions of these long works; Dramatic criticism from the past and present: commentaries by W. W. Lawrence, S. L. Bethell, Derek Traversi, R. A. Foakes, I. A. Richards, Reuben A. Brower; Text and commentaries printed in the clearest, most readable type; Name of each speaker given in full; Detailed footnotes at the bottom of each page of the play keyed to the numbered lines of the text; Textual note Extensive bibliography. AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY - William Shakespeare (26 April 1564 (baptised) - 23 April 1616) was an English poet, playwright, and actor, widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's national poet and the 'Bard of Avon'. His extant works, including some collaborations, consist of about 38 plays, 154 sonnets, two long narrative poems.

[ 0173 ] Shakespeare, William. Much Ado About Nothing. New York. 1964. Signet/New American Library. 045150173x. Edited & With An Introduction and Notes By David Stevenson. 160 pages. paperback. CD173. Cover: Milton Glaser. Signet Classic original. FROM THE PUBLISHER - THE SIGNET CLASSIC SHAKESPEARE SERIES - The work of the world's greatest dramatist in authoritative texts edited by outstanding scholars. Unique Features Of The Signet Classic Shakespeare, MUCH ADO ABOUT NOTHING: Special Introduction to the play by the editor, David L. Stevenson, Hunter College. General discussion of Shakespeare's life, world, and theater by the general editor of the Signet Classic Shakespeare series, Sylvan Barnet, Tufts University. Special note on the sources from which Shakespeare derived MUCH ADO ABOUT NOTHING. Dramatic criticism from the past and present: commentaries by Charles Gildon, Lewis Carroll, George Bernard Shaw, Donald A. Stauffer, W. H. Auden. Text and commentaries printed in the clearest, most readable Type. Name of each speaker given in full. Detailed footnotes at the bottom of each page of the play keyed to the numbered lines of the text. Textual note. Extensive bibliography. Unlike his earliest comedic works, the humor of Much Ado about Nothing does not depend upon funny situations. While it shares some standard devices with those earlier plays (misperceptions, disguises, false reports), the comedy of Much Ado derives from the characters themselves and the manners of the highly - mannered society in which they live. And while the main plot of Much Ado revolves around obstacles to the union of two young lovers (Claudio and Hero), the plays sub - plot, the 'merry war' of the sexes between Beatrice and Benedick, is much more interesting and entertaining by comparison. AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY - William Shakespeare (26 April 1564 (baptised) - 23 April 1616) was an English poet, playwright, and actor, widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's national poet and the 'Bard of Avon'. His extant works, including some collaborations, consist of about 38 plays, 154 sonnets, two long narrative poems.

[ 0174 ] Shakespeare, William. The Tempest. New York. 1964. Signet/New American Library. 0451501748. Edited & With An Introduction and Notes By Robert Langbaum. 223 pages. paperback. CD174. Cover: Milton Glaser. Signet Classic original. FROM THE PUBLISHER - Unique Features Of The Signet Classic Shakespeare - Special Introduction to the play by the editor, Robert Langbaum, University of Virginia. General discussion of Shakespeare's life, world, and theater by the general editor of the Signet Classic Shakespeare series, Sylvan Barnet, Tufts University. Substantial note on the sources of THE TEMPEST with extracts from them. Dramatic criticism from the past and present: commentaries by Samuel Taylor Coleridge, E. M.W. Tillyard, Reuben A. Brower, Bernard Knox, David William . Text and commentaries printed in the clearest, most readable Type. Name of each speaker given in full. Detailed footnotes at the bottom of each page of the play keyed to the numbered lines of the text. Textual note. Extensive bibliography King Alonso of Naples and his entourage sail home for Italy after attending his daughter Claribel's wedding in Tunis, Africa. They encounter a violent storm, or Tempest. Everyone jumps overboard and are washed ashore on a strange island inhabited by the magician Prospero who has deliberately conjured up the storm. Prospero is in fact the rightful Duke of Milan who had been put to sea to die with his three-year-old daughter Miranda by his brother, Antonio who was in league with of King Alonso. Prospero and Miranda live in a cave on the island which is also inhabited by Ariel, a sprite who carries out the bidding of Prospero, and the ugly, half human Caliban. AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY - William Shakespeare (26 April 1564 (baptised) - 23 April 1616) was an English poet, playwright, and actor, widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's national poet and the 'Bard of Avon'. His extant works, including some collaborations, consist of about 38 plays, 154 sonnets, two long narrative poems.

[ 0175 ] Shakespeare, William. Richard III. New York. 1964. Signet/New American Library. 0451501756. Edited & With An Introduction and Notes By Mark Eccles. 256 pages. paperback. CD175. Cover: Milton Glaser. Signet Classic original. FROM THE PUBLISHER - THE SIGNET CLASSIC SHAKESPEARE SERIES - The work of the world's greatest dramatist in. authoritative texts edited by outstanding scholars. Unique Features Of The Signet Classic Shakespeare: Special Introduction to the play by the editor, Mark Eccles, University of Wisconsin; General discussion of Shakespeare's life, world, and theater by the general editor of the Signet Classic Shakespeare Series, Sylvan Barnet, Tufts University; Sources from which Shakespeare derived Richard III - Sir Thomas More: from True History of King Richard III and Raphael Holinshed: from Chronicles of England, Scotland, and Ireland; Dramatic criticism from the past and present: commentaries by Charles Lamb, Lily B. Campbell, A. P. Rossiter; Text and commentaries printed in the clearest, most readable type; Name of each speaker given in full; Detailed footnotes at the bottom of each page of the play keyed to the numbered lines of the text; Textual note; Extensive bibliography. AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY - William Shakespeare (26 April 1564 (baptised) - 23 April 1616) was an English poet, playwright, and actor, widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's national poet and the 'Bard of Avon'. His extant works, including some collaborations, consist of about 38 plays, 154 sonnets, two long narrative poems.

[ 0176 ] Hasek, Jaroslav. The Good Soldier Schweik. New York. 1963. Signet/New American Library. 0451501764. Translated From The Czech By Paul Selver. Illustrations By Josef Lada. Foreword By Leslie A. Fiedler. 429 pages. paperback. CT176. Cover: James Hill. Signet Classic original. FROM THE PUBLISHER - Poor Schweik. How simpleminded he is. Possibly even a lunatic. For how else could he fail to recognize the matchless wisdom of his sergeant, his lieutenant, his colonel, and even his king, who all agree it is his noble duty to serve as a solid target for an enemy bullet. Can the author be so bold as to suggest that this miserable nobody, this disgraceful malingerer, this grain of sand in the great military machine, is the true hero of our times? In all of the literature of war there is no more deadly weapon than Schweik's blank gaze as he listens to a vital order, then marches resolutely away in the wrong direction. For in Schweik's vision of the world - a world in which it is good to live and bad to die - lies a force that can topple empires and reduce the inspiring spectacle of war to bloody absurdity. The brilliant satire of this masterpiece does more than delight the reader; it casts the healing light of sanity upon the festering wounds of this war - torn century. 'The reader is reminded of Swift, Gogol, Dickens. Hasek makes our present - day beatniks, bohemians, and would - be satirists seem very small beer by comparison.' - LONDON TIMES LITERARY SUPPLEMENT. AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY - Jaroslav Hašek (April 30, 1883 - January 3, 1923) was a Czech humorist, satirist, writer and anarchist best known for his novel The Good Soldier Švejk, an unfinished collection of farcical incidents about a soldier in World War I and a satire on the ineptitude of authority figures, which has been translated into sixty languages.

[ 0177 ] O'Hara, John. Appointment in Samarra. New York. 1963. Signet/New American Library. 0451501772. Afterword By Arthur Mizener. 216 pages. paperback. CP177. Signet Classic original. FROM THE PUBLISHER - Handsome, well - born Julian English sits in his Cadillac with only a fifth of Scotch and a pack of cigarettes to keep him company as he waits for death. What path has led him to this tragic rendezvous? Is it a fatal flaw of character that in three short days has brought his life to ruin? Is he the victim of social forces operating as inexorably as the gears in a deadly machine? With a style as finely honed as a scalpel, John O'Hara lays bare the anguish of a desperately driven man and dissects the Pennsylvania town in which he meets his fate. Exposed is a world of banker and bootlegger, country club and pool hall. Exposed are the subtleties that bind humans together, the pressures that separate them, the delicate and shifting emotional balances that can change love into hate and life into death. 'It is not Q'Hara's merely factual knowledge but his imaginative grasp of American life that makes Appointment in Samarra a remarkable book.' - ARTHUR MIZENER. 'More than anyone now writing, O'Hara understands the complex, contradictory, asymmetrical society in which we live.' - LIONEL TRILLING AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY - John Henry O'Hara (January 31, 1905 - April 11, 1970) was an American writer who earned his early literary reputation for short stories and later became a best-selling novelist before the age of 30 with Appointment in Samarra and Butterfield 8. His work stands out among that of contemporaries for its unvarnished realism.

[ 0178 ] Trollope, Anthony. Barchester Towers. New York. 1963. Signet/New American Library. 0451501780. Afterword By Robert Daniel. 536 pages. paperback. CP178. Cover: Tsao. Signet Classic original. FROM THE PUBLISHER - Who is to rule the diocese of Barchester? This is the burning question that shapes Anthony Trollope's comic masterpiece - fanning the flames of ambition, and invading the once peaceful air of a cathedral town with the spirits of cunning, malice, greed. When the redoubtable Mrs. Proudie and the indomitable Mr. Slope meet the unflinching opposition of the forces of Archdeacon Grantly, the spiritual terrain is transformed into a theater of war. Social calls become skirmishes. Parties are arranged like pitched battles. And not even the most innocent can escape the intricate net of stratagem that Trollope weaves in this satiric revelation of mid - Victorian manners and morality. Justly famous for its incisive characterizations and acute social delineation, BARCHESTER TOWERS offers an engrossing re - creation of a captivating age. Robert W. Daniel calls this work 'a masterpiece in the grand tradition of English comedy.' George Saintsbury judged it 'emphatically its author's best novel,' and Sir Hugh Walpole commented,' 'There is in BARCHESTER TOWERS, I swear, not a dull moment.' AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY - Anthony Trollope (24 April 1815 - 6 December 1882) was one of the most successful, prolific and respected English novelists of the Victorian era. Some of his best-loved works, collectively known as the Chronicles of Barsetshire, revolve around the imaginary county of Barsetshire. He also wrote perceptive novels on political, social, and gender issues, and on other topical matters.

[ 0179 ] Fielding, Henry. Tom Jones. New York. 1964. Signet/New American Library. 0451501799. Afterword By Frank Kermode. 864 pages. paperback. CT179. Cover: Milton Glaser. Signet Classic original. FROM THE PUBLISHER - Young Tom Jones, pure - hearted and warm - blooded, parentage unknown and future uncertain, stands at the center of this masterpiece of the English language. Yet he is but one of the book's expertly drawn characters his adventures on the highway of life entangle him with a variety of men and women who vividly cover the full spectrum of human virtue and vice. His high - minded love for sweet Sophia cannot restrain the demands of his flesh for the pretty and bawdy Molly or the seductive Mrs. Waters; nor can the benevolence of Squire Allworthy protect him from the wretched Bilfil. Before he recognizes his destiny, he must suffer all the outrages of comic misfortune. The richly textured pattern of Tom Jones is one of the marvels of literature and in its parody and pathos, its wit and constant surprise, the reader views the pure joy of life itself. Coleridge wrote of this work, 'Upon my word, I think the Oedipus Tyrannus, the Alchemist, and Tom Jones, the three most perfect plots ever planned.' Frank Kermode comments there are 'few works of art so perfectly made, so perfectly of their period, yet possessing the energy and high spirits and good humor to transcend it.' AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY - Henry Fielding (22 April 1707 - 8 October 1754) was an English novelist and dramatist known for his rich earthy humour and satirical prowess, and as the author of the novel Tom Jones. Aside from his literary achievements, he has a significant place in the history of law-enforcement, having founded (with his half-brother John) what some have called London's first police force, the Bow Street Runners, using his authority as a magistrate.

[ 0180 ] Merimee, Prosper. Carmen, Colomba and Selected Stories. New York. 1963. Signet/New American Library. 0451501802. Newly Translated From The French By Walter J. Cobb.Foreword By George Steiner. 286 pages. paperback. CP180. Signet Classic original. FROM THE PUBLISHER - In these tales of passion and vengeance, conflict and death, the reader encounters an unflinching honesty rare in literature. There is no veil of morality or mist of sentiment to shield him from the naked face of violence - only the impeccable style and ironic detachment of the author's matchless art. Armed with this ambiguous weapon, commanding the reader's attention even as he destroys all illusion, MErimEe is inexorably drawn to the primitive forces beneath the thin veneer of civilization. His stories may be set in the harsh landscapes of Spain and Corsica or the hospitable climes of France and Italy, on a bloody battlefield or in a tense cardroom, but his aim is unswerving: His constant target lies in the primal depths of the human heart. V. S. Pritchett calls MErimEe the 'supreme 'pure storyteller'. , unsurpassed in the technical beauty of his stories, in the ice - clear prose of his narrative.' George Steiner writes, 'Once that somewhat clipped, elegant voice has begun a tale, it becomes nearly impossible to turn away.' AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY - Prosper MErimEe (September 28, 1803 - September 23, 1870) was a French dramatist, historian, archaeologist, and short story writer. He is perhaps best known for his novella Carmen, which became the basis of Bizet's opera Carmen.

[ 0181 ] Scott, Sir Walter. Quentin Durward. New York. 1963. Signet/New American Library. 0451501810. Afterword by D. W. Brogan. 535 pages. paperback. CT181. Signet Classic original. FROM THE PUBLISHER - The rhythm of horses' hooves and the flash of swords vividly punctuate this tale of high adventure amid the desperate political intrigues of fifteenth-century France. Quentin Durward, in search of fortune in a foreign land, bears the bravely colored standard of the plot. But over- shadowing this gallant young Scotsman is the enigmatic, strangely ambiguous figure of Louis XI as he makes his coldly calculated moves on the chessboard of power against Charles the Bold, Duke of Burgundy, his opponent and opposite. The discerning reader is offered not only a superbly paced story of narrative suspense but also a dramatic portrait of the last epoch of medieval chivalry, its magnificent facade crumbling before the harsh winds of a new age. D. W. Brogan writes, ‘Scott is one of those rare figures in literature who have created a new type of book. It was Quentin Durward that made him., the rival of Byron and Goethe.' AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY - Sir Walter Scott (15 August 1771 - 21 September 1832) was a Scottish historical novelist, playwright, and poet. Scott was the first English-language author to have a truly international career in his lifetime.

[ 0182 ] Cooper, James Fenimore. The Deerslayer. New York. 1963. Signet/New American Library. 0451501829. Afterword By Allan Nevins. 544 pages. paperback. CP182. Cover: Pucci. Signet Classic original. FROM THE PUBLISHER - The last of the Leatherstocking Tales to be written, and Cooper's own favorite, The Deerslayer turns back to the entrance into manhood of Natty Bumppo, the hero of these classic frontier sagas. An idealistic youth who was raised among the Indians, his daring and resourcefulness are evident - but the Deerslayer has yet to meet the test of human conflict. In a tale of violent action and superbly sustained suspense, the harsh realities of tribal warfare force him to kill his first foe, and face torture at the stake. Still yet another kind of initiation awaits him, when he discovers not only the ruthlessness of 'civilized' men, but also the special danger of a woman's will. His youthful spirit transformed into mature courage and moral certainty, the future Leatherstocking emerges to face life with a nobility as pure and proud as the wilderness whose fierce beauty and freedom have claimed his heart. Historian Allan Nevins writes 'It is a rich and intensely exciting. story of an America now so far lost in time and change that it is hard to believe it ever existed. But it did exist, and some memory of it, in our all too artificial day, ought to be cherished by the nation.' And Van Wyck Brooks commented 'Natty Bumppo was destined to remain the symbol of a moment of civilization, the dawn of the new American soul.' AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY - James Fenimore Cooper (September 15, 1789 - September 14, 1851) was a prolific and popular American writer of the early 19th century. His historical romances of frontier and Indian life in the early American days created a unique form of American literature.

[ 0183 ] Bennett, Arnold. The Old Wives' Tale. New York. 1963. Signet/New American Library. 0451501837. Afterword By John Wain. 584 pages. paperback. CT183. Signet Classic original. FROM THE PUBLISHER - The Old Wives' Tale is a masterful study of life seen steadily, and seen whole. This story of two sisters, one married to a dull but worthy husband in a provincial English town, the other abandoned in glittering nineteenth - century Paris by the man with whom she has eloped, offers a profound vision of human destiny in which character and circumstance are inextricably interwoven. It is Arnold Bennett's genius to create from the common place clay of daily life characters of unique reality. Whether the setting be Paris under siege or the apparent peace of middle - class domesticity, he imbues the journey from the dawn of youth to the door of death with tragic grandeur - a grandeur achieved not by use of exalted subject matter, but by a compassionate understanding of the ordinary. Constructed with superb craftsmanship, his novel commands the reader's unflagging attention as two lives, seemingly worlds apart, converge upon a common fate. From their final reconciliation emerges a sense of universal truth that belongs to the highest sphere of artistic achievement. John Wain views The Old Wives' Tale as Arnold Bennett's 'most perfect work.' W Somerset Maugham called it 'a great book. eminently readable.' AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY - Enoch Arnold Bennett (27 May 1867 - 27 March 1931) was an English writer. He is best known as a novelist, but he also worked in other fields such as journalism, propaganda and film.

[ 0184 ] Twain, Mark. Pudd'nhead Wilson. New York. 1964. Signet/New American Library. 0451501845. Foreword By Wright Morris. 175 pages. paperback. CD184. Signet Classic original. FROM THE PUBLISHER - Set in a town on the Mississippi during the pre - Civil War era, Pudd'nhead Wilson centers its plot around a deception of switched identities involving a child born free and a child born slave. It is a novel of biting social commentary and enduring relevance. It is also a melodrama and a murder mystery, and it introduces one of the author's most delightful characters: Pudd'nhead Wilson, an intellectual with a penchant for amateur detection. F. R. Leavis has termed this novel 'the masterly work of a great writer.' Wright Morris comments, 'In a wide shelf of books only a handful of pages speak out for Samuel Langhorne Clemens, experienced man of the world. It is the distinction of Pudd'nhead Wilson that it contains more than a few of these pages. ' AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY - Samuel Langhorne Clemens (November 30, 1835 - April 21, 1910), better known by his pen name Mark Twain, was an American author and humorist. He wrote The Adventures of Tom Sawyer (1876) and its sequel, Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (1885), the latter often called 'the Great American Novel'.

[ 0185 ] James, Henry. The American. New York. 1963. Signet/New American Library. 0451501853. Afterword By Leon Edel. 336 pages. paperback. CP185. Signet Classic original. FROM THE PUBLISHER - Leon Edel writes of this novel: 'The American is a novel rich in the way in which it draws archetypal myths and mimetic modes. Behind its melodrama and its simple romance is the history of man's dream of better worlds, travel to strange lands, and marriage to high and noble ladies. At the same time the book reveals a deep affection for American innocence and a deep awareness that such innocence carries with it a fund of ignorance. Its novelty lay in its 'international' character. It has been spoken of as tile first truly 'international' novel. For the first time, with high humor, James here addresses himself to his major theme it was his great discovery for the American novel. '. [It is] a masterpiece of American romanticism in which James shows us his profound grasp of what he was ultimately to call 'time Americano - European legend.' AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY - Henry James (15 April 1843 - 28 February 1916) was an Anglo-American writer who spent most of his writing career in Britain. He is regarded as one of the key figures of 19th-century literary realism.

[ 0186 ] Silone, Ignazio. Bread and Wine. New York. 1963. Signet/New American Library. 0451501861. Newly Translated From The Italian By Harvey Fergusson II. A Note On The Revision By Ignazio Silone.Afterword By Marc Slonim. 287 pages. paperback. CT186. Cover: Milton Glaser. Signet Classic original. FROM THE PUBLISHER - Italy, 1938: a land deadened by dictatorship and deafened by propaganda for approaching war. This is the homeland to which Pietro Spina returns after fifteen years of exile. He is a revolutionary disguised as a priest, and he is on a mission for his people and for truth. His journey takes him from the pavements of Rome to the lovingly tended earth of the impoverished countryside, where he rediscovers a way of life attuned to the eternal rhythms of planting and harvesting, the enduring pulsebeat of birth and death. Slogans and political dogma fade beside the blossoming of a vision in which flesh and spirit are as inseparably joined as the bread and wine that give this masterpiece its title and its theme. Bread and Wine, now revised by the author to bring to sharp focus its lasting truths, is at once a panoramic portrait of Italian society and a moving moral lesson for our times. '. the best [novel] Silone has ever written and the most representative of European fiction between the two world wars.' - - - Marc Slonim. 'This novel reveals Silone's true stature as one of the most truly contemporary and significant writers of our time.' - Philip Rahv. AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY - Secondino Tranquilli (1 May 1900 - 22 August 1978), known by the pseudonym Ignazio Silone, was an Italian political leader, novelist, and short-story writer, world-famous during World War II for his powerful anti-Fascist novels. He was nominated for the Nobel prize for literature ten times.

[ 0187 ] Balzac, Honore de. The Fatal Skin. New York. 1963. Signet/New American Library. 045150187x. Newly Translated From The French By Atwood H. Townsend.Afterword By Henri Peyre. 286 pages. paperback. CP187. Cover: Lambert. Signet Classic original. FROM THE PUBLISHER - The self - consuming force of man's desire is the theme that animates this extraordinary novel. The 'fatal skin' of the title, a strange talisman that has the power to grant its owner's every wish, is no instrument of fantasy. It is a stunning symbol of vital reality in a tale in which 1ust, avarice, gluttony, and even love play their parts with grim irony. For the skin's blessing also contains its curse: Raphael must watch the talisman shrink with the fulfillment of his every joy. and as it shrinks, so shrinks his life - span. Whether he turns to a courtesan's embrace or to the arms of his young bride, whether he seeks bliss in sensual delight or refuge in the solaces of art, science or philosophy, he cannot escape the self - destruction his strong will to live entails. Set in a Paris whose frenzied pursuit of pleasure and success remarkably presages the desperate tempo of the modern world, this masterpiece of existential paradox grows in relevance with every step mankind takes toward power and annihilation. Henri Peyre calls The Fatal Skin 'the best introduction to the immense and bewildering Balzacian universe. Its tempo is fast. its structure is firm, logical, and symbolic.' AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY - HonorE de Balzac (20 May 1799 - 18 August 1850) was a French novelist and playwright. His magnum opus was a sequence of short stories and novels collectively entitled La ComEdie humaine, which presents a panorama of French life in the years after the 1815 fall of Napoleon. Due to his keen observation of detail and unfiltered representation of society, Balzac is regarded as one of the founders of realism in European literature. He is renowned for his multifaceted characters, who are complex, morally ambiguous and fully human.

[ 0188 ] Mann, Thomas. Confessions of Felix Krull, Confidence Man. New York. 1963. Signet/New American Library. 0451501888. Translated From The German By Denver Lindley.Afterword By George Steiner. 334 pages. paperback. CT188. Cover: James Hill. Signet Classic original. FROM THE PUBLISHER - Felix Krull, swindler par excellence, stands as Thomas Mann's last great literary creation. With the modest pride of a professional, Krull retraces the course of his extraordinary career from a sweet but hardly innocent child to manhood when his genius for theft, impersonation, and sensual adventure came to full flower. In these 'confessions' the irony that underlies even Mann's most serious work is transformed into high comedy, ribald farce, brilliant parody. Begun in 1911, laid aside, then resumed after a span of some forty years, this first volume of a projected trilogy is a marvel of sustained inspiration. It is a memorable tour de force in which the author's lifelong fascination with the ambiguous relationship between art and morality achieves final expression with Mann assuming the voice of an enchanting charlatan to bid the world a smiling farewell. George Steiner calls Confessions 'a garland of laughter' laid upon the 'monumental facade' of Mann's work. AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY - Thomas Mann (6 June 1875 - 12 August 1955) was a German novelist, short story writer, social critic, philanthropist, essayist, and 1929 Nobel Prize laureate, known for his series of highly symbolic and ironic epic novels and novellas, noted for their insight into the psychology of the artist and the intellectual.

[ 0189 ] Sholokhov, Mikhail. And Quiet Flows the Don. New York. 1964. Signet/New American Library. 0451501896. Translated From The Russian By Stephen Garry.Afterword By Maurice Hindus. 518 pages. paperback. CQ189. Signet Classic original. FROM THE PUBLISHER - As vast and turbulent as it is true to history, this novel vividly depicts the loyalties that divided Russia after the fall of the czarist regime and during the Civil War. Sholokhov's unsparing portrayal of the cossack Gregor's conflicting commitments to wife and mistress finds a symbolic extension in the war between the Bolsheviks and the cossacks, who by their rage to remain free are forced to oppose the revolution. AND QUIET FLOWS THE DON has been acclaimed by critics as the greatest Russian novel of the twentieth century; it is a work, according to Maxim Gorky, that 'can only be compared with Tolstoy's WAR AND PEACE.' Its publication placed Mikhail Sholokhov in the front rank of Soviet writers; his books have been reprinted 421 times in 55 languages, totaling over 21 million copies. AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY - Mikhail Aleksandrovich Sholokhov (May 24 1905 - February 21, 1984) was a Soviet/Russian novelist and winner of the 1965 Nobel Prize in Literature. He is known for writing about life and fate of Don Cossacks during Russian revolution, Civil War and collectivization, primarily the famous And Quiet Flows the Don.

[ 0190 ] Hardy, Thomas. Tess of the D'Urbervilles. New York. Signet/New American Library. 045150190x. Afterword By Donald Hall. 432 pages. paperback. CD190. Cover: Lambert. Signet Classic original. FROM THE PUBLISHER - She dances on the green with the maidens. She is raped in the wood at sixteen. She buries her child in secret. She milks a cow named Dumpling. She hacks turnips on a barren farm. She stabs a man. She hides in an old house with her lover. She wakes to a circle of police, to a noose in the morning.' Thus Donald Hall writes of the figure who dominates this classic novel of tragic destiny. In Tess, victimized by lust, poverty, and hypocrisy, Thomas Hardy created no standard Victorian heroine, but a woman whose intense vitality flares unforgettably against the bleak background of a dying rural society. Shaped by an acute sense of social injustice and by a vision of human fate cosmic in scope, her story is a singular blending of harsh realism and indelibly poignant beauty. The novel shocked its Victorian audience with its honesty; it remains a triumph of literary art and a timeless commentary on the human condition. In the words of Virginia Woolf 'If we are to place Hardy among his fellows, we must call him the greatest tragic writer in the English language.' AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY - Thomas Hardy (June 2, 1840 - January 11, 1928) was an English novelist and poet. A Victorian realist in the tradition of George Eliot, he focused on a declining rural society.

[ 0191 ] Meredith, George. The Egoist. New York. 1963. Signet/New American Library. 0451501918. Afterword By Angus Wilson. 511 pages. paperback. CT191. Cover: Lambert. Signet Classic original. FROM THE PUBLISHER - 'Meredith produced a novel nearer to classic comedy than anything else in our language,' writes Angus Wilson of this tale - the story of a fatuously self - centered nobleman and the woman whose fierce independence proves his undoing. Unique in design, universal in theme, The Egoist is indelibly stamped by George Meredith's singular wit and psychological insight. It is a work that exemplifies its author's singular blend of elliptical dialogue, incisive epigram, and remarkable metaphor. as well as his devastating talent for evoking both the entrenched male ego and the revolutionary spirit of the new woman. The words of William Ernest Henley, written upon the novel's first appearance, remain undimmed by time: 'Meredith is a companion for Balzac and Richardson, an intimate for Fielding and Cervantes. The Egoist is a piece of imaginative work as solid and rich as any that the century has seen. not only one of its author's masterpieces, but one of the strongest and most individual performances of modern literature.' AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY - George Meredith (12 February 1828 - 18 May 1909) was an English novelist and poet of the Victorian era.

[ 0192 ] Defoe, Daniel. Moll Flanders. New York. 1964. Signet/New American Library. 0451501926. Afterword By Kenneth Rexroth. 317 pages. paperback. CD192. Signet Classic original. FROM THE PUBLISHER - As Moll Flanders struggles for survival amid the harsh social realities of seventeenth - century England, there is but one snare she is determined to avoid - the deadly snare of poverty, On the twisting path that leads from her birth in Newgate prison to her final prosperous respectability, love is regarded as worth no more than its weight in gold; and such matters as bigamy, incest, theft, and prostitution occasion but a brief blush before they are reckoned in terms of profit and loss. Yet so pure is her candor, so healthy her animal appetites, so indomitable her resiliency through every vicissitude of fortune, that this extraordinary wench emerges as far more than a prototype of the mercantile mind. In Moll Flanders Defoe added a fresh dimension to the art of writing. 'We seem to see Defoe's characters through the crystal - clear medium of his style with perfect verisimilitude, as real as if we saw them in a mirror that was so flawless that it was invisible,' writes Kenneth Rexroth. Virginia Woolf ranked Moll Flanders as 'among the few English novels which we can call indisputably great.' AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY - Daniel Defoe (ca. 1660 to 24 April 1731), born Daniel Foe, was an English trader, writer, journalist, pamphleteer and spy, who gained fame for his novel Robinson Crusoe. Defoe is notable for being one of the earliest proponents of the novel, as he helped to popularise the form in Britain.

[ 0193 ] Chekhov, Anton. Selected Stories. New York. Signet/New American Library. 0451501934. Newly translated from the Russian by Ann Dunnigan. Foreword by Ernest J. Simmons. paperback. CP193. Signet Classic reprint. FROM THE PUBLISHER - One of the world's great masters of the short story, Anton Chekhov wrote about everyday life as he saw it - with humor, insight, and honesty. In this lies his genius: He portrayed the Russian people as they really were, not as he wanted them to be. This Signet Classic presents twenty Chekhov stories, including twelve of his early tales which make their first appearance in English in Thus paperback collection. The Confession * He Understood * At Sea * Surgery * Ninochka * A Cure for Drinking * The Jailer Jailed * The Dance Pianist * The Milksop * The Nincompoop * Marriage in Ten or Fifteen Years * In Spring * Agafya * The Kiss * The Father * In Exile * Three Years * The House with the Mansard * Peasants * The Darling AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY - Anton Pavlovich Chekhov (29 January 1860 - 15 July 1904) was a Russian physician, dramatist and author who is considered to be among the greatest writers of short stories in history. His career as a dramatist produced four classics and his best short stories are held in high esteem by writers and critics. Chekhov practised as a doctor throughout most of his literary career.

[ 0194 ] Orwell, George. Burmese Days. New York. 1963. Signet/New American Library. 0451501942. Afterword By Richard Rees. 255 pages. paperback. CP194. Cover: James Hill. Signet Classic original. FROM THE PUBLISHER - The product of intimate personal knowledge, Burmese Days, George Orwell's first novel, offers a scathing indictment of British Imperial rule. Against a brilliantly rendered exotic background, the author presents a bitter and satiric picture of the corruption spawned by absolute power, a corruption all - pervading and inescapable, infecting white man and native alike. His theme is given sharp focus in the struggle of. John Flory, the novel's English hero, to maintain some measure of integrity in a debilitating moral climate. As Flory is inexorably driven to final tragic defeat, the reader encounters a vividly delineated cross section of Anglo - Indian society and was an unsurpassed portrayal of an era of history whose effects still profoundly trouble the modern world. Burmese Days is a superb example of Orwell's literary skill and of the fierce and uncompromising vision that made him, in the words of V. S. Pritchett, 'the conscience of his generation.' AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY - Eric Arthur Blair (25 June 1903 - 21 January 1950), known by his pen name George Orwell, was an English novelist, essayist, journalist and critic. His work is characterised by lucid prose, biting social criticism, opposition to totalitarianism, and outspoken support of democratic socialism. He is best known for the allegorical novella Animal Farm (1945) and the dystopian novel Nineteen Eighty-Four (1949). His non-fiction works, including The Road to Wigan Pier (1937), documenting his experience of working-class life in the north of England, and Homage to Catalonia (1938), an account of his experiences soldiering for the Republican faction of the Spanish Civil War (1936–1939), are as critically respected as his essays on politics and literature, language and culture.

[ 0195 ] James, Henry. The Portrait of a Lady. New York. 1964. Signet/New American Library. 0451501950. Afterword By Oscar Cargill. 559 pages. paperback. CT195. Cover: Milton Glaser. Signet Classic original. FROM THE PUBLISHER - 'No other American and few Europeans can match [the] superb feminine creations of the chief American master of the art of fiction.' Thus writes Oscar Cargill in his appreciation of The Portrait of a Lady, which many critics consider Henry James's supreme achievement. The heroine of this novel is a young American, Isabel Archer. Blessed by nature and fortune, high - spirited and independent, she arrives in Europe to seek the full realization of her potential, In the cultured brilliance of international society, she enters a seemingly charmed existence, An English aristocrat and an aggressive American woo her; her sensitive, ironic cousin, the invalid Ralph, becomes her adoring adviser. But it is only after the ingenuous Isabel falls prey to and suffers from the machinations of a sophisticated and infinitely calculating older woman that she achieves final dimension as a woman and profound triumph as a human being. AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY - Henry James (15 April 1843 - 28 February 1916) was an Anglo-American writer who spent most of his writing career in Britain. He is regarded as one of the key figures of 19th-century literary realism.

[ 0196 ] Colette. Gigi and Selected Writings. New York. 1963. Signet/New American Library. 0451501969. Foreword By Elaine Marks. 256 pages. paperback. CT196. Signet Classic original. FROM THE PUBLISHER - The full scope of Colette's remarkable genius is vividly displayed in these selections from a half century of literary creation. Included in its entirety is the enchanting Gigi, worldly, witty, and wise, and an excerpt from one of her masterpieces, The Last of Cheri, a classic novel of an aging courtesan and her young ex - lover. Recollections of childhood and of life among music - hall artistes, portraits of people and deeply personal evocations of nature, are rendered with a scrupulous stylistic mastery that captures the finest shades of perception, the most delicate nuances of sensibility. The keynote of this collection is diversity, but the final effect is one of supreme unity; these stories, memories, meditations, and descriptions combine to form a single world, a world in which spirit and flesh are one, and the senses reign supreme. 'Colette chats with us, writes to us, in her own inimitable style, personal and objective, chock - full of past and present details. Almost until the very end, Colette celebrates. , the fire of the hearth and heart'the fire that she nourished with care and that, although the 'lanai bleu' has been turned off, glows still in the complete works of Sidonie Gabrielle Colette.' - Elaine Marks. AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY - Colette (January 28, 1873, Saint-Sauveur-en-Puisaye, France - August 3, 1954, Paris, France) was the surname of the French novelist and performer Sidonie-Gabrielle Colette. She is best known for her novel Gigi, the basis for the film and Lerner and Loewe stage production of the same title.

[ 0197 ] Shakespeare, William. Titus Andronicus. New York. Signet/New American Library. 0451501977. Edited & With An Introduction and Notes By Sylvan Barnet. paperback. CD197. Cover: Milton Glaser. Signet Classic original. FROM THE PUBLISHER - Titus Andronicus is a tragedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written between 1588 and 1593, probably in collaboration with George Peele. It is thought to be Shakespeare's first tragedy, and is often seen as his attempt to emulate the violent and bloody revenge plays of his contemporaries, which were extremely popular with audiences throughout the 16th century. The play is set during the latter days of the Roman Empire and tells the fictional story of Titus, a general in the Roman army, who is engaged in a cycle of revenge with Tamora, Queen of the Goths. It is Shakespeare's bloodiest and most violent work, and traditionally was one of his least respected plays; although it was extremely popular in its day, by the later 17th century it had fallen out of favour. In the Victorian era, it was disapproved of primarily because of what was considered to be a distasteful use of graphic violence, but from around the middle of the 20th century its reputation began to improve. AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY - William Shakespeare (26 April 1564 (baptised) - 23 April 1616) was an English poet, playwright, and actor, widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's national poet and the 'Bard of Avon'. His extant works, including some collaborations, consist of about 38 plays, 154 sonnets, two long narrative poems.

[ 0198 ] Flaubert, Gustave. Three Tales. New York. 1964. Signet/New American Library. 0451501985. Newly Translated From The French By Walter J. Cobb. Foreword By Henri Peyre. 127 pages. paperback. CP198. Signet Classic original. FROM THE PUBLISHER - 'Biographers and critics have generally hailed these three tales, Flaubert's last complete work, not only as his testament, but as the culmination and the summation of his literary career.' Thus writes Henri Peyre, who terms these classic stories 'the fittest initiation to the rest of Flaubert's works.' In them, the reader witnesses the astonishing scope of the author's creative imagination and the full range of his stylistic virtuosity. They deal with the life of a servant woman in nineteenth - century France, the terrible sins and atonement of a legendary medieval saint, and the violent conflict of races and religions during the first century of the Christian era. Whether Flaubert seeks to capture commonplace reality through his selection of essential detail, suspend disbelief with vivid and precise dream imagery, or re - create the oriental splendor and barbarous passions of the ancient world through richly sensuous description, he displays supreme mastery of his art. Flaubert has been praised by such writers as Kafka, Joyce, and Hemingway, and Allen Tate credits him with having 'created the modern novel. created the modern short story. created modern fiction.' Includes - A Simple Heart, The Legend of St. Julian The Hospitaler, & Herodias. AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY - Gustave Flaubert (December 12, 1821 - May 8, 1880) was an influential French writer who is counted among the greatest novelists in Western literature. He is known especially for his first published novel, Madame Bovary (1857), for his Correspondence, and for his scrupulous devotion to his art and style.

[ 0199 ] Balzac, Honore de. Eugenie Grandet. New York. 1964. Signet/New American Library. 0451501993. Newly Translated From The French By Henry ReedAfterword By Roger Shattuck. 222 pages. paperback. CP199. Signet Classic original. FROM THE PUBLISHER - In EugEnie Grandet appear two of Balzac's most memorable characters. One is Grandet, a man consumed by avarice; the other, EugEnie, his daughter, who lives in his shadow. quiet, docile, and desperately hungering for love. Around them, a provincial village comes to life with its fine gradations in rank, its bitter rivalries, and its all - pervading obsession with money. In this society Grandet reigns supreme. But for EugEnie it represents a life without hope. A chance of escape is offered her when her handsome and penniless cousin arrives from Paris; she defies her father. only to find that her lover, too, is corrupted by the power of gold. A magnificently told story of dehumanizing greed and tragic waste, EugEnie Grandet occupies an integral place in Balzac's vast Human Comedy. As Roger Shattuck writes, 'Its provincial setting and compact narrative line balance the frenetic pace of the Paris novels. Yet the calm of Saumur cannot conceal for long the tidal forces that drive. men, wherever they are.' AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY - HonorE de Balzac (20 May 1799 - 18 August 1850) was a French novelist and playwright. His magnum opus was a sequence of short stories and novels collectively entitled La ComEdie humaine, which presents a panorama of French life in the years after the 1815 fall of Napoleon. Due to his keen observation of detail and unfiltered representation of society, Balzac is regarded as one of the founders of realism in European literature. He is renowned for his multifaceted characters, who are complex, morally ambiguous and fully human.

[ 0200 ] Dickens, Charles. The Pickwick Papers. New York. 1964. Signet/New American Library. 0451502000. Afterword By Steven Marcus. 888 pages. paperback. CQ200. Cover: Kossin. Signet Classic original. FROM THE PUBLISHER - The adventures of the immortal Pickwick Club, headed by the good Mr. Pickwick himself, abetted by his faithful manservant, Sam Weller, form the basis of this, Dickens' first great literary achievement. In no other work does Dickens' richness of comic invention display itself so lavishly. Following the intrepidly bumbling Pickwickians along the highways and byways of old England, he creates a vivid world of highwaymen, duels, lawsuits, jails, hilarious romantic imbroglios - but a world, too, of deeply affecting human warmth and generosity. Superbly vigorous, filled with a host of indelible character creations, Pickwick Papers has never ceased to enjoy the popularity it won with its initial publication - when it rocketed its author to sudden fame and launched a career without equal in the history of the English novel. Steven Marcus writes: 'Pickwick Papers is the one novel in which Dickens achieved the thing we tend to think is the exclusive property of only the greatest, most mature, most fully consummated artists . a representation of life that fulfills the vision that men have never relinquished of the ideal possibilities of human relations . ' AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY - Charles John Huffam Dickens (7 February 1812 - 9 June 1870) was an English writer and social critic. He created some of the world's most memorable fictional characters and is generally regarded as the greatest novelist of the Victorian period. During his life, his works enjoyed unprecedented fame, and by the twentieth century his literary genius was broadly acknowledged by critics and scholars. His novels and short stories continue to be widely popular.

[ 0201 ] Norris, Frank. McTeague. New York. 1964. Signet/New American Library. 0451502019. Afterword By Kenneth Rexroth. 351 pages. paperback. CP201. Signet Classic original. FROM THE PUBLISHER - 'I never truckled. I never took off the hat to Fashion and held it out for pennies. I told them the truth. They liked it or they didn't like it. What had that to do with me? I told them the truth,' declared Frank I Norris, shortly before his death at the age of thirty - two. Of his novels, none shocked his reading public more than McTeague, and few works since have captured the seamy side of American urban life with such graphic immediacy as does this portrayal of human degradation in turn - of - the - century San Francisco. Its protagonists - men and women alike - are shown as both products and victims of a debasing social order. Heredity and environment play the role of fate in a tale that moves toward its harrowing conclusion with the grim power and inevitability of Classic tragedy. Unsparing in its objectivity, McTeague has been termed by Alfred Kazin 'the first great tragic portrait in America of an acquisitive society.' Kenneth Rexroth comments, '. the writing is easy arid natural, the moral earnestness refreshing, and the construction masterful.' AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY - Benjamin Franklin Norris, Jr. (March 5, 1870 - October 25, 1902) was an American novelist during the Progressive Era, writing predominantly in the naturalist genre. His notable works include McTeague (1899), The Octopus: A Story of California (1901), and The Pit (1903).

[ 0202 ] McGuffey, William Holmes. McGuffey's Sixth Eclectic Reader-1879 Edition. New York. 1963. Signet/New American Library. 0451502027. Foreword By Henry Steele Commager. 492 pages. paperback. CT202. Signet Classic original. FROM THE PUBLISHER - The text of this Signet Classic is that of the revised Sixth Reader, published in 1879. With a Foreword by Henry Steele Commager McGuffey's Henry Steele Commager assesses the contribution of the McGuffey Readers to the education, morals, and culture of nineteenth - century America: 'Justice Holmes said of John Marshall that part of his greatness was in being there; so, too, we can say that part of the greatness. of the McGuffey Readers was that they were thereat the right time - they were there to be read by millions of children from all parts of the country, from all classes, of all faiths. They gave to the American child of the nineteenth century what he so conspicuously lacks today - a common body of allusions, a sense of common experience and of common possession. 'The McGuffey Readers, then, are far more than a historical curiosity. They played an important role in American education and in American culture, and helped shape that elusive thing we call the American character.' AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY - William Holmes McGuffey (September 23, 1800 - May 4, 1873) was a college professor president who is best known for writing the McGuffey Readers, the first widely used series of elementary school-level textbooks.

[ 0203 ] Babel, Isaac. Lyubka the Cossack and Other Stories. New York. 1963. Signet/New American Library. 0451502035. Newly Translated From The Russian & With An Afterword By Andrew R. MacAndrew. 285 pages. paperback. CT203. Signet Classic original. FROM THE PUBLISHER - Babel has been compared to Hemingway in the violence he depicts, in his abiding theme of test and initiation, in his intense artistic dedication. Yet his style and vision are uniquely his own. Babel's tales are shaped by deeply personal and intense ironies: maternal love vies with the harsh realities of ghetto life; a starving writer is coupled with a sensual wealthy woman; a Jewish intellectual enters into a strange alliance with brutal Cossacks in the Goyaesque horrors of war in Poland. Babel's stories are written with passionate devotion to the mot juste, the swift phrase, the unexpected image, and they form a series of lightninglike attacks upon the reader's sensibilities. From the author's juxtaposition of gruesome detail and lyric grace there emerges an unforgettable revelation of the mingled bestiality and beauty that lie in primitive emotion and naked action. Lionel Trilling called the stories in RED CAVALRY 'the most remarkable work of fiction that had yet come out of revolutionary Russia . having upon it the mark of exceptional talent, even of genius.' AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY - Isaac Emmanuilovich Babel (13 July 1894 - 27 January 1940) was a Russian writer, journalist, playwright, and literary translator. He is best known as the author of Red Cavalry, Story of My Dovecote and The Odessa Tales - stories from the life of Jewish gangsters from Odessa led by Benya Krik. He has been acclaimed as "the greatest prose writer of Russian Jewry". Babel was arrested by the NKVD on 15 May 1939 on fabricated charges of terrorism and espionage, and executed on 27 January 1940.

[ 0204 ] Wharton, Edith. The House of Mirth. New York. 1964. Signet/New American Library. 0451502043. Afterword By Louis Auchincloss. 352 pages. paperback. CT204. Cover: Lambert. Signet Classic original. FROM THE PUBLISHER - THE HOUSE OF MIRTH stands as the work that first established Edith Wharton's eminent literary reputation. In it she discovered her major subject: the fashionable New York society in which she had been raised, whose power to debase both people and ideals forms the dramatic core of this finely wrought novel. Its heroine, Lily Bart, the poor relation of a wealthy woman, is beautiful, intelligent, and hopelessly addicted to the pleasures of a moneyed world of luxury and grace. But, ironically, her delicacy of taste and moral sensibility - qualities representing the ideal goals of that world - render her unfit for survival in it. As she struggles to maintain her tenuous position, she is helpless against the vulgarity and greed that form the true foundations of the glittering social edifice; the society that has created her commences ruthlessly to destroy her. A brilliant portrayal of both human frailty and nobility, and a bitter attack on false social values, THE HOUSE OF MIRTH has been termed by Louis Auchincloss as 'uniquely authentic among American novels of manners. AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY - Edith Wharton (born Edith Newbold Jones, January 24, 1862 - August 11, 1937) was a Pulitzer Prize-winning American novelist, short story writer, and designer.

[ 0205 ] David, Alfred and Mary Elizabeth (editors). The Twelve Dancing Princesses and Other Fairy Tales. New York. 1964. Signet/New American Library. 0451502051. Edited & With An Introduction By Alfred & Mary Elizabeth David. 319 pages. paperback. CT205. Cover: Milton Glaser. Signet Classic original. FROM THE PUBLISHER - 'Fairy tales are not . a form of children's literature; they are, like fables, legends, and ballads, among the many forms of adult literature that children have adopted. The apparent artlessness of these simple stories is not easily achieved. It is, in fact, the product of an art perhaps older than the art of writing.' Thus write Alfred and Mary Elizabeth David in their revealing introduction to a collection that ranges from the Grimm brothers' inimitable recreations of archetypal folktales to the modern prose wizardry of James Thurber's Many Moons. Represented is the refined intelligence of Perrault,. the wondrous imagination of Andersen, the descriptive power of Ruskin, the bittersweet melancholy of Wilde. These are but a few of the artists in this remarkably inclusive selection of works from Germany, Russia, France, Scandinavia, England, and America, many in brilliant new translations and all testifying eloquently to the unceasing vitality of this literary genre. The sophisticated reader will rediscover an enchantment that remains forever fresh and will discern below the shimmering surfaces of these delightful tales profound and enduring human truths. AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY -

[ 0206 ] Howells, William Dean. The Landlord at Lion's Head. New York. 1964. Signet/New American Library. 045150206x. Afterword By Eleanor M. Tilton. 319 pages. paperback. CT206. Cover: SA or Shields??. Signet Classic original. FROM THE PUBLISHER - . Howells steadfastly refused to flatter the human race. He would not render weakness as villainy or decency as heroism, common sense as wisdom or folly as vice. Nor would he dignify human error by subsuming it under pseudoscientific laws. ' Thus Eleanor Tilton describes this master of American realism, here represented by one of his most notable works. In this tale of the transformation of an impoverished New England farm into a summer hotel, and of the ruthless pursuit of success by its new proprietor, the author memorably displays both his novelistic skill and his integrity of vision. He portrays the book's central figure, Jeff Durgin, virile and iron-willed, with the same objectivity as he does his spiritual opposite, the overrefined artist, Westover,with the same compassion as he does the flirtatious Boston society girl, Bessie Lynde. It is not Howells' purpose to take sides in the conflict of values between the genteel past and the rising tide of the future, but to convey the very nature of that conflict-and with it, the unique nature of the American experience. As Lionel Trilling has written, 'When we praise Howells' social observation, we must see that it is of a precision and subtlety which carry it beyond sociology to literature.' AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY - William Dean Howells (March 1, 1837 - May 11, 1920) was an American realist author, literary critic, and playwright. Nicknamed 'The Dean of American Letters', he was particularly known for his tenure as editor of the Atlantic Monthly as well as his own prolific writings, including the Christmas story 'Christmas Every Day', and the novels The Rise of Silas Lapham and A Traveler from Altruria.

[ 0207 ] Grahame, Kenneth. The Golden Age & Dream Days. New York. 1964. Signet/New American Library. 0451502078. Foreword by Vernon Watkins. 240 pages. paperback. CT207. Signet Classic original. FROM THE PUBLISHER - 'One cannot for a moment accept The Golden Age and Dream Days as children's books. Wherever they are found in the juvenile section of a library, they are mistakenly placed there,' writes Vernon Watkins, in his Foreword to the works that first earned Kenneth Grahame his unique place in the world of literature. In this series of tales of five orphaned children who live with relatives in an English country house, the author's superbly modulated prose captures the sensuousness, the mercurial temper, and the fantasy life of childhood. Neither sentimental nor condescending, with perfect sympathy and gentle humor, Grahame creates a world in which each child is a distinctive individual, adults are regarded as doubtful guests, and every passing moment brings the promise of rare adventure. The host of readers who treasure his classic Wind in the Willows will find further evidence of Kenneth Grahame's singular genius in these delightful stories. They are, in the words of the poet Swinburne, 'well - nigh too praiseworthy for praise. The art of writing adequately and receptively about children is among the rarest and most precious of all arts.' AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY - Kenneth Grahame (March 8, 1859 - 6 July 1932) was a Scottish writer, most famous for The Wind in the Willows (1908), one of the classics of children's literature.

[ 0208 ] Gorky, Maxim. A Sky-Blue Life and Selected Stories. New York. 1964. Signet/New American Library. 0451502086. Translated From The Russian & With A Foreword By George Reavey. 256 pages. paperback. CT208. Cover: Lambert. Signet Classic original. FROM THE PUBLISHER - The world Gorky described in his stories was one of uneasy fermentation, pressing change, and desperate urgency. It was a world of almost American dynamism, but its keynote was rebellion,' writes George Reavey, who has both selected and given superb new translations to this collection of Gorky's finest tales. The heir to the great Russian literary tradition of the nineteenth century, it was Gorky's genius to strike out on a bold new path of vigorous, often harsh, realism, exploring a vast uncharted area of human experience - the 'lower depths' of Russian society. Against a background of steppe and shore, river and mountain, peasant village and teeming city, Gorky brings to life an unforgettable gallery of characters, portrayed in all their ignorance and wisdom; their brutality; their delicate, almost inarticulate, yearnings. These tales tell of theft and murder, love and birth, tragic pain and fleeting beauty; in them, Gorky reveals both his intimate knowledge of the most sordid aspects of existence and his indomitable faith in the infinite potential of the human spirit. He was, in the words of Stefan Zweig, 'a pure true man, a great creative artist.' AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY - Alexei Maximovich Peshkov (28 March 1868 - 18 June 1936), primarily known as Maxim (Maksim) Gorky, was a Russian and Soviet writer, a founder of the Socialist realism literary method and a political activist.

[ 0209 ] Cervantes, Miguel de. Interludes. New York. 1964. Signet/New American Library. 0451502094. Translated From The Spanish & With A Foreword By Edwin Honig. 160 pages. paperback. CT209. Cover: Lambert. Signet Classic original. FROM THE PUBLISHER - Published the year before the author's death, and long unavailable to American readers, these short plays represent a pure, untrammeled expression of Cervantes' literary genius. Freed from the complicated mechanics of plot, he concentrates his powers on the area of his greatest mastery - the creation 'of living, breathing, and, above all, magnificently vocal characters. Deceived husbands and straying wives, ambitious politicians and ingenious frauds, garrulous prostitutes and respectable pimps. It crowds his stage with unforgettable characters who, combined, present a superbly barbed depiction of manners and morals in early - sixteenth - century Spain and a timeless portrayal of the never - ending human comedy. 'These eight short plays are among the most beguiling things Cervantes ever wrote,' comments Edwin Honig, who goes on to say that 'what he achieves in the interludes is something very close to the concentrative spirit of poetry and something characteristically dramatic as well. dramatic in the way that Don Quixote and Sancho Panza are dramatic.' AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY - Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra (29 September 1547 (assumed) - 22 April 1616) was a Spanish novelist, poet, and playwright. His magnum opus, Don Quixote, considered to be the first modern European novel, is a classic of Western literature, and is regarded amongst the best works of fiction ever written.

[ 0210 ] Pirandello, Luigi. The Merry-Go-Round of Love and Selected Stories. New York. 1964. Signet/New American Library. 0451502108. Translated From The Italian By Frances Keene & Lily Duplaix.Foreword By Irving Howe. 320 pages. paperback. CT210. Cover: Milton Glaser. Signet Classic original. FROM THE PUBLISHER - Pirandello is widely known as one of the great playwrights of the twentieth century. Yet before turning to the theater, he wrote a vast number of tales of extraordinary quality; this Signet Classic edition provides a memorable introduction to this facet of his genius. In settings that range from harsh Sicilian landscapes to the midnight streets of Rome, these stories deal with the frustrations of youth and the despair of age, with couples caught in the tentacles of marriage, and men and women living in hopeless isolation; they vary in mood from the high comedy of The Merry - Go - Round of Love, a novella here rendered into English for the first time, to the Chekhovian tragedy of such superbly wrought tales as 'Such Is Life.' In them the reader encounters a masterful economy in narrative technique, an austere objectivity, and, above all, a consciousness singularly attuned to the spiritual travails of the modern world. As Irving Howe writes: 'To stay with a writer like Pirandello takes strong nerves, a gritted determination to see things as they are. The reward, however, is a penetration into truth. His stories live.' AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY - Luigi Pirandello (28 June 1867 - 10 December 1936) was an Italian dramatist, novelist, poet, and short story writer whose greatest contributions were his plays. He was awarded the 1934 Nobel Prize in Literature for "his almost magical power to turn psychological analysis into good theatre." Pirandello's works include novels, hundreds of short stories, and about 40 plays.

[ 0211 ] Melville, Herman. Mardi. New York. 1964. Signet/New American Library. 0451502116. Afterword by Henry Popkin. 557 pages. paperback. CT211. Cover: Seymour Chwast. Signet Classic original. FROM THE PUBLISHER - MARDI marks the great turning point in Melville's literary career. The novel begins in the vein of the colorful narrative that had won the author his early fame. But gradually this tale of a young mariner's adventures on a mythical Polynesian archipelago takes on a new dimension as his search for his lost love is transformed into an entirely different quest - a richly symbolic exploration of man's estate on earth. The reader encounters bitingly, satiric commentary on political institutions, profound meditations on human morality, and soaring metaphysical speculations in a work that baffled its original audience and has won ever greater appreciation in modern times. Describing this book, Lewis Mumford has written: '[Melville's] thoughts exploded in a succession of great rockets and Roman candles and flagbombs; and the spectacle was a dazzling and beautiful one. Such wit, such humor, such starry intelligence. were not known in American literature before.' Henry Popkin terms MARDI 'Melville's metaphor for the world . the bridge by which he crossed over from his first books . to his masterpiece, MOBY DICK.' AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY - Herman Melville (August 1, 1819 - September 28, 1891) was an American novelist, poet, and writer of short stories. His works includes the whaling novel Moby-Dick (1851), Bartleby, the Scrivener (1853), Benito Cereno (1855), and Billy Budd, Sailor (1924).

[ 0212 ] Norris, Frank. The Octopus. New York. 1964. Signet/New American Library. 0451502124. Afterword By Oscar Cargiller. 472 pages. paperback. CT212. Signet Classic original. FROM THE PUBLISHER - The first novel in a projected 'trilogy of wheat,' The Octopus combines vigorous realism with a vision epic in scope. Dominating the story are the vast wheat fields of the San Joaquin Valley in California; these rippling miles of grain are the prize in a titanic struggle between the powerful farmers who grow the wheat and the railroad monopoly that controls its transportation. It is a conflict in which no quarter is given, whether the battle be with guns in an open field, or bribes behind closed doors. The lives of a multitude of characters are encompassed as the struggle flourishes, yielding a grim harvest of death and disillusion, financial and moral ruin. From the interplay of individual destinies and inexorable economic forces, Frank Norris created a social drama of unprecedented proportions in American literature, and an unsurpassed portrayal of a dynamic and ruthless era. The Octopus is ranked by Robert E. Spiller as Norris's most impressive work.' Warren French terms it 'a magnificent imaginative achievement, one of the few American novels to bring a significant episode from our history to life.' AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY - Benjamin Franklin Norris, Jr. (March 5, 1870 - October 25, 1902) was an American novelist during the Progressive Era, writing predominantly in the naturalist genre. His notable works include McTeague (1899), The Octopus: A Story of California (1901), and The Pit (1903).

[ 0213 ] Dickens, Charles. Bleak House. New York. 1964. Signet/New American Library. 0451502132. Afterword By Geoffrey Tillotson. 896 pages. paperback. CT213. Cover: Thomas R. Allen. Signet Classic original. FROM THE PUBLISHER - BLEAK HOUSE opens in a London shrouded by an all - pervading fog - a fog that swirls about the Court of Chancery, where the case of Jarndyce and Jarndyce lies lost in endless litigation. This drawn - out lawsuit over an inheritance stands at the center of a scathing portrayal of a moribund legal system and of a society permeated with greed, deception, delusion, and guilt. In no other work are the many facets of Dickens' genius - his powers of characterization, dramatic construction, social satire, and poetic evocation - so memorably combined. Peopled by an immense gallery of vivid characters, major and minor, comic and tragic, in settings which range from the mansion of a fear - haunted noblewoman to the squalor of the London slums, this superb example of narrative art has been ranked by Edmund Wilson as 'The masterpiece of [Dickens'] middle period.' Geoffrey Tillotson writes: 'BLEAK HOUSE. is, all told, the finest literary work the nineteenth century produced in England. Dickens was the supreme literary genius of his time. AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY - Charles John Huffam Dickens (7 February 1812 - 9 June 1870) was an English writer and social critic. He created some of the world's most memorable fictional characters and is generally regarded as the greatest novelist of the Victorian period. During his life, his works enjoyed unprecedented fame, and by the twentieth century his literary genius was broadly acknowledged by critics and scholars. His novels and short stories continue to be widely popular.

[ 0214 ] Cooper, James Fenimore. The Pioneers. New York. 1964. Signet/New American Library. 0451502140. Afterword By Robert E. Spiller. 447 pages. paperback. CP214. Cover: Pucci. Signet Classic original. FROM THE PUBLISHER - The Pioneers is set in a time of transition. The forests still abound with deer, passenger pigeons darken the sky, fish teem in the lakes and streams - but over the wilderness falls the ever - lengthening shadow of civilization. Natty Bumppo, the Leatherstocking, now on the threshold of old age, finds his way of life challenged as the land he has roamed for so long becomes private property; and the laws of man supplant the laws of nature. His struggle to retain his fiercely cherished freedom helps shape a drama of conflicting human values, and an unsparing, often caustic, delineation of frontier society. The most realistically written of the Leatherstocking Tales, The Pioneers combines unrivaled descriptive power with an abiding concern for complex social and moral questions; it offers an enthralling re - creation of a colorful, exciting, and enduringly significant era of our history. As Robert E. Spiller writes:'. the reader moves back in time to an era in our history that only an imagination like Cooper's could recreate. Characters come to life in their responses to nature in both her savage and her grander moments. we can be grateful . for Cooper's total sense of the stuff of which the American people are made, as well as for his power of expression. that has preserved so much of our 'usable past' for our present enrichment.' AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY - James Fenimore Cooper (September 15, 1789 - September 14, 1851) was a prolific and popular American writer of the early 19th century. His historical romances of frontier and Indian life in the early American days created a unique form of American literature.

[ 0215 ] Ibsen, Henrik. Peer Gynt. New York. 1964. Signet/New American Library. 0451502159. Newly Translated From The Norwegian & With A Foreword by Rolf Fjelde. 253 pages. paperback. CP215. Cover: Seymour Chwast. Signet Classic original. FROM THE PUBLISHER - The central theme of this epic drama is the search for self amid moral chaos. Opportunistic and unscrupulous, Peer Gynt wanders the earth, from the supernatural kingdom of the trolls to the desert wastes of Africa. In the roles of son, lover, businessman, prophet, and philosopher, he deceives, betrays, and exploits - only to be duped and victimized in turn. Yet, as he passes from youth to maturity to old age, the mercurial fluctuations of his fortunes yield only an inner emptiness and desperate fear of a final reckoning. Rooted in folklore, transformed by poetic imagination, illumined throughout by the clear northern light of Ibsen's searching moral vision, Peer Gynt represents a truly profound exploration of modern man's existential dilemma, justifying Pirandello's remark: 'After Shakespeare, without hesitation, I put Ibsen first.' As RoIf Flelde writes: 'In this anti - romantic work that employs the full resources of the romantic theater, the nonheroic hero is the pilot model of the hollow man of our own time, rendered perplexed and anxious by problems of identity and direction.' AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY - Henrik Johan Ibsen (20 March 1828 - 23 May 1906) was a major 19th-century Norwegian playwright, theatre director, and poet. He is often referred to as 'the father of realism' and is one of the founders of Modernism in theatre. His major works include Brand, Peer Gynt, An Enemy of the People, Emperor and Galilean, A Doll's House, Hedda Gabler, Ghosts, The Wild Duck, Rosmersholm, and The Master Builder.

[ 0216 ] Austen, Jane. Emma. New York. 1964. Signet/New American Library. 0451502167. Afterword By Graham Hough. 399 pages. paperback. CD216. Cover: Tsao. Signet Classic original. FROM THE PUBLISHER - Emma represents the mature flowering of Jane Austen's singular genius. Set in a world the author made uniquely her own - the world of country gentry in Regency England - the novel centers upon a supremely self - assured young lady, determined to arrange her life and the lives of all around her into a pattern dictated by her romantic fancy. By turn intelligent and foolish, wreaking havoc with best intentions, Miss Emma Woodhouse is a captivating embodiment of feminine contradiction, portrayed with the stylistic grace, the wit, and the wisdom that have ensured Jane Austen's continuing popularity. The book's resourceful narrative technique - with its masterly use of point of view and its skillful employment of the elements of mystery - makes it, in the words of Frank O'Connor, 'a delight and a flattery for the knowing type of reader.' Graham Hough writes: 'Emma has a good claim to be the most perfect of Jane Austen's novels, the one in which comedy and gravity, irony and sympathy, are most completely blended.' AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY - Jane Austen (16 December 1775 - 18 July 1817) was an English novelist whose works of romantic fiction, set among the landed gentry, earned her a place as one of the most widely read writers in English literature. Her realism and biting social commentary have gained her historical importance among scholars and critics.

[ 0217 ] London, Jack. The Sea-Wolf and Selected Stories. New York. 1964. Signet/New American Library. 0451502175. Afterword By Franklin Walker. 351 pages. paperback. CP217. Signet Classic original. FROM THE PUBLISHER - Includes: The Sea - Wolf, The Law of Life, The One Thousand Dozen All GoId Canyon, & Moon - Face. 'That tremendous creation, Wolf Larsen . the hewing out and setting up of such a figure is enough for a man to do in one lifetime.' Thus Ambrose Bierce wrote of one of Jack London's greatest characterizations, the unforgettable protagonist of The Sea - Wolf. Strong, ruthless, fearless, Larsen is both the prototype of rugged individualism, a man possessed of a demonic will to power, and the negation of every civilized virtue. The perilous voyage of his ship, the seal - hunting Ghost, forms the background of a confrontation between two opposing views of life, a brutal drama played out to a harrowing conclusion. Franklin Walker calls The Sea - Wolf 'one of the world's great sea novels.' Together with the stories selected for this volume, it gives superb expression to the genius of a writer who was, in the words of Maxwell Geismar, 'the poet of the savage Darwinian struggle.' AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY - John Griffith ‘Jack' London (born John Griffith Chaney, January 12, 1876 - November 22, 1916) was an American author, journalist, and social activist. He was a pioneer in the then-burgeoning world of commercial magazine fiction and was one of the first fiction writers to obtain worldwide celebrity and a large fortune from his fiction alone. He is best remembered as the author of The Call of the Wild and White Fang, both set in the Klondike Gold Rush.

[ 0218 ] Shakespeare, William. Antony and Cleopatra. New York. 1964. Signet/New American Library. 0451502183. Edited & With An Introduction and Notes By Barbara Everett. 276 pages. paperback. CD218. Cover: Milton Glaser. Signet Classic original. FROM THE PUBLISHER - A magnificent drama of love and war, this riveting tragedy presents one of Shakespeare's greatest female characters--the seductive, cunning Egyptian queen Cleopatra. The Roman leader Mark Antony, a virtual prisoner of his passion for her, is a man torn between pleasure and virtue, between sensual indolence and duty . between an empire and love. Bold, rich, and splendid in its setting and emotions, Antony And Cleopatra ranks among Shakespeare's supreme achievements. A prose retelling of William Shakespeare's play about the love affair between the Roman soldier, Antony, and the Egyptian queen, Cleopatra. AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY - William Shakespeare (26 April 1564 (baptised) - 23 April 1616) was an English poet, playwright, and actor, widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's national poet and the 'Bard of Avon'. His extant works, including some collaborations, consist of about 38 plays, 154 sonnets, two long narrative poems.

[ 0219 ] Shakespeare, William. The Two Gentlemen of Verona. New York. 1964. Signet/New American Library. 0451502191. Edited & With An Introduction and Notes By Bertrand Evans. paperback. CD219. Cover: Milton Glaser. Signet Classic original. FROM THE PUBLISHER - The Two Gentlemen of Verona is a comedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written between 1589 and 1593. It is considered by some to be Shakespeare's first play,[a] and is often seen as showing his first tentative steps in laying out some of the themes and motifs with which he would later deal in more detail; for example, it is the first of his plays in which a heroine dresses as a boy. The play deals with the themes of friendship and infidelity, the conflict between friendship and love, and the foolish behaviour of people in love. The highlight of the play is considered by some to be Launce, the clownish servant of Proteus, and his dog Crab, to whom "the most scene-stealing non-speaking role in the canon" has been attributed. AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY - William Shakespeare (26 April 1564 (baptised) - 23 April 1616) was an English poet, playwright, and actor, widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's national poet and the 'Bard of Avon'. His extant works, including some collaborations, consist of about 38 plays, 154 sonnets, two long narrative poems.

[ 0220 ] Thomas, Dylan. Adventures in the Skin Trade. New York. 1961. Signet/New American Library. 0451502205. Afterword By Vernon Watkins. paperback. CP220. Signet Classic reprint. FROM THE PUBLISHER - One of the twentieth century's most gifted writers, Dylan Thomas created a vital, lusty, antic world of truly memorable characters. This Signet Classic offers a distinguished selection of his work - twenty stories plus all of his famous unfinished novel, ADVENTURES IN THE SKIN TRADE. The title piece relates the adventures of Samuel Bennet, a young innocent embarked on a wild pilgrimage through modern London. The stories range in theme from life and love to nature and madness, but all are written with the extravagant humor, the brilliant imagery, the magic awareness of the true poet. The New York Times wrote of ADVENTURES IN THE SKIN TRADE: 'The human warmth keeps bubbling up through the satire. Thomas' last work of fiction, in addition to its intrinsic interest, has a meaningfulness comparable to that of Keats' letters and Yeats' memoirs.' The New York Herald Tribune found it a 'vein of pure gold.' And The Saturday Review called Dylan Thomas 'a genius.' AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY - Dylan Marlais Thomas (27 October 1914 - 9 November 1953) was a Welsh poet and writer whose works include the poems 'Do not go gentle into that good night' and 'And death shall have no dominion', the 'Play for Voices', Under Milk Wood, and stories and radio broadcasts such as A Child's Christmas in Wales and Portrait of the Artist as a Young Dog.

[ 0221 ] Bunyan, John. The Pilgrim's Progress. New York. 1964. Signet/New American Library. 0451502213. Afterword By F.R. Leavis. 301 pages. paperback. CD221. Cover: James Hill. Signet Classic original. FROM THE PUBLISHER - THE PILGRIM'S PROGRESS represents the rarest of achievements, a nearly flawless work of art created for non - artistic ends. Bunyan cast his book in the form of a religious allegory; but it is allegory transformed into intense drama, its style an unsurpassed evocation of the power of plain English prose. The multitude of characters who appear on its pages escape the bounds of narrow didactic design; they are superbly individualized, indelibly alive, as memorable as are those landmarks on Christian's perilous journey toward salvation: the Slough of Despond and the Delectable Mountains, Doubting Castle and the Palace Beautiful, Vanity Fair and the Celestial City. The author's religious faith, pure and ever present, serves to imbue the immediacy of his narrative with added dimension; the result belongs to the highest realm of literature, a continuously compelling tale framed in an unwavering vision of eternity. As F R. Leavis writes: 'The Pilgrim's Progress stands alone . the work of a great creative writer. , there was only one Bunyan.' AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY - John Bunyan (baptised 28 November 1628 - 31 August 1688) was an English writer and preacher best remembered as the author of the religious allegory The Pilgrim's Progress.

[ 0222 ] James, Henry. Washington Square. New York. 1964. Signet/New American Library. 0451502221. Afterword By Donald Hall. 192 pages. paperback. CP222. Signet Classic original. FROM THE PUBLISHER - 'Everyone likes Washington Square. Even the denigrators of Henry James,' writes Donald Hall in his appreciative Afterword. One of the few' Jamesian novels set in his native land, its style is direct and economical; its plot - centering upon an heiress favored by neither beauty nor brilliance, her proud and pitiless father, her fortune - hunting suitor - has the simplicity of a classic drama. Henry James portrays the shifting relationships of his characters through a series of confrontations and self - revelations. And from this depiction there emerges a view of love and cruelty, innocence and treachery, singularly shaped by his intense moral vision. Clifton Fadiman has written of the novel's 'almost Mozartian combination of sweetness and depth.' While F. W. Dupee has deemed it 'a first - rate novel of James's early period, or of any of his periods . its surfaces are so fine, the writing so perfect, and the fusion of humor and pathos so inevitable.' AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY - Henry James (15 April 1843 - 28 February 1916) was an Anglo-American writer who spent most of his writing career in Britain. He is regarded as one of the key figures of 19th-century literary realism.

[ 0223 ] Cooper, James Fenimore. The Prairie. New York. 1964. Signet/New American Library. 045150223x. Afterword By John William Ward. 415 pages. paperback. CP223. Signet Classic original. FROM THE PUBLISHER - The Prairie marks the closing chapter in James Fenimore Cooper's great American saga, of the frontiersman Natty Bumppo. In flight from the ever - encroaching forces of civilization, the aging hero of the Leatherstocking Tales has journeyed westward seeking to end his days in the still - virgin wilderness of the Great Plains. But once more he is drawn into an involvement with society in the form of an emigrant party led by the embittered outcast, Ishmael Bush. Once again this man of nature finds himself in dramatic confrontation with civilization - called upon to exhibit his courage, his resourcefulness, his singular brand of moral rectitude. Written with the narrative vigor and descriptive power that shape the entire Leatherstocking series, The Prairie is, in the words of John William Ward, 'a threnody over the passing of something fine and heroic in American life. the passing of an ideal natural order before the inevitable advance of society. We still read Cooper today because he was the first of our authors to seize upon the dramatic possibilities of that unfallen western world that stands at the beginning of our national life.' AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY - James Fenimore Cooper (September 15, 1789 - September 14, 1851) was a prolific and popular American writer of the early 19th century. His historical romances of frontier and Indian life in the early American days created a unique form of American literature.

[ 0224 ] Dana Jr., Richard Henry. Two Years Before the Mast. New York. 1964. Signet/New American Library. 0451502248. Afterword By Wright Morris. 384 pages. paperback. CP224. Cover: Thomas R. Allen. Signet Classic original. FROM THE PUBLISHER - In the year 1834, a young man, recently of Harvard, signed on as a common seaman aboard the brig Pilgrim for the perilous voyage around Cape Horn to California. During the next two years was to realize the singular joys and almost incredible hardships of a sailor's lot. He recorded his experiences in a daily journal; later he gave them permanent form in one of the most vivid re - creations of life at sea ever published. Conceived as a protest against brutal injustice, written to improve the working conditions of the common sailor, TWO YEARS BEFORE THE MAST is a tale of high adventure, a powerful portrayal of the testing of man's courage and endurance. It is a book that combines descriptive force with striking delineations of character; and it greatly influenced the work of Herman Melville. In the words of Wright Morris, 'A manual for the seafarer, it was also a book of sea - poetry. one of the first books of its kind: a book that opened the sea to the landlocked seafaring mind.' AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY - Richard Henry Dana Jr. (August 1, 1815 - January 6, 1882) was an American lawyer and politician from Massachusetts, a descendant of an eminent colonial family, who gained renown as the author of the American classic, the memoir Two Years Before the Mast. Both as a writer and as a lawyer, he was a champion of the downtrodden, from seamen to fugitive slaves.

[ 0225 ] Verga, Giovanni. The House By the Medlar Tree. New York. 1964. Signet/New American Library. 0451502256. Newly Translated From The Italian & With A Foreword By Raymond Rosenthal. 272 pages. paperback. CT225. Cover: James Hill. Signet Classic original. FROM THE PUBLISHER - This Signet Classic edition presents the first complete English translation of The House by the Medlar Tree. Anticipating such writers as Joyce, Faulkner, and Henry Green, Verga tells his story through the varied voices of his characters, the inhabitants of a poor Sicilian fishing village. With vivid immediacy these voices - magnificently individualized and dramatically juxtaposed - re - create the comedy, the irony, and the abiding tragedy of existence, in a work that gives artistic form to a profound vision of human destiny. As Raymond Rosenthal writes: 'Its theme is the harsh, age - old theme of the meaning of work and the dignity of human striving and suffering. [Verga] has rediscovered in poverty and hardship. an ancient rhythm, a sorrowing lyricism, an epic intonation. When D. H. Lawrence first discovered Verga, he could find only one word adequate to his primitive depth and power: Homeric.' AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY - Giovanni Carmelo Verga (2 September 1840 - 27 January 1922) was an Italian realist (Verismo) writer, best known for his depictions of life in his native Sicily, and especially for the short story (and later play) Cavalleria Rusticana and the novel I Malavoglia (The House by the Medlar Tree)

[ 0226 ] Faulkner, William. Sartoris. New York. 1964. Signet/New American Library. 0451502264. Afterword By Lawrance Thompson. 317 pages. paperback. CT226. Cover: James Hill. Signet Classic original. FROM THE PUBLISHER - The specter of an heroic past is ever present in Sartoris, casting its ironic light upon the novel's protagonists. Heirs to the aristocratic traditions of the Old South, they have been left with only romantic rhetoric, pride, and self-pity to face a world that no longer mirrors their self-image. Bayard Sartoris seeks refuge in compulsive acts of physical courage; Horace Benbow, in a bloodless aestheticism; and Narcissa Benbow, in a desperate clinging to appearances. But for them there is to be no escape-only ultimate futility, whether in the form of violent self-destruction, or a living death in a fragile world of dreams. A brilliant dissection of a decaying social class, and a vivid evocation of both the physical landscape and psychological climate of the South, Sartoris introduces many of the key themes, places, and characters of the Faulkner canon. By itself, it stands as his first memorable projection of a vision that, as Lawrance Thompson writes, ‘recognizes the inseparability of human weaknesses and strengths, of positives and negatives, of good and evil . what [Faulkner] later called ‘the problems of the human heart in conflict with itself.' AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY - William Cuthbert Faulkner (born Falkner, September 25, 1897 - July 6, 1962), also known as Will Faulkner, was an American writer and Nobel Prize laureate from Oxford, Mississippi. Faulkner is one of the most important writers in both American literature generally and Southern literature specifically.

[ 0227 ] Lermontov, Mikhail Yurevich. A Hero of Our Time. New York. 1964. Signet/New American Library. 0451502272. Translated From The Russian By Philip Longworth. Afterword By William E. Harkins. 206 pages. paperback. CT227. Signet Classic original. FROM THE PUBLISHER - 'Lermontov created, almost alone, a Russian novel in which the psychology of the hero played a major role; it was with this example in mind that the great masters of Russian fiction, Turgenev, Dostoevsky, and Tolstoy, went on to explore. profound psychological depths' writes William F. Harkins in his Afterword. A Hero of Our Time centers upon the dashing exploits of a truly enigmatic figure - a young Army officer named Pechorin. Handsome, brilliant, cynical, world - weary, he plunges into reckless adventure. He stakes his life on trifles, he ruins the woman who adores him, he kills without conscience - but he cannot escape the crushing weight of his own profound indifference. In a series of five episodes, which first weave a spell of mystery around Pechorin, then subject him to searching analysis, he emerges as far more than the standard Byronic hero. He stands in all his inner contradiction and complexity as a prototype of the self - tortured, spiritually adrift, existential man. A vivid reflection of his own age's malaise, he has become a hero of our time as well. AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY - Mikhail Yuryevich Lermontov (October 15 1814 - July 27 1841), a Russian Romantic writer, poet and painter, the most important Russian poet after Alexander Pushkin's death in 1837 and the greatest figure in Russian Romanticism.

[ 0228 ] Swinburne, Algernon. Love's Cross Currents. New York. 1964. Signet/New American Library. 0451502280. Afterword By Marya Zaturenska. 158 pages. paperback. CP228. Signet Classic original. FROM THE PUBLISHER - With the growing reputation of this, Swinburne's one completed novel, a fresh and intriguing facet of his genius has come to light. Centering upon a great English family, its members bound together both by ties of blood and by near - incestuous attraction, Love's Cross - Currents offers the reader access to a world explored by no other Victorian writer: the closed inner circle of the British aristocracy, a hermetic society with its own inbred code of manners and morals, its own peculiar emotional climate. In the unfolding of this intricate tale of passion and calculation, the reader encounters a brilliant series of character portraits, and a superb depiction of shifting human relationships. Termed by Edmund Wilson as 'unique in English Victorian fiction,' and praised by Marya Zaturenska for 'its true sophistication, its crisp, cool style,' this long - neglected masterpiece bears the stamp of one of the most remarkable writers of his time. AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY - Algernon Charles Swinburne (5 April 1837 - 10 April 1909) was an English poet, playwright, novelist, and critic. He wrote several novels, and contributed to the famous Eleventh Edition of the Encyclopædia Britannica.

[ 0229 ] Maugham, W. Somerset. The Summing Up. New York. 1964. Signet/New American Library. 0451502299. Foreword By Glenway Wescott. 194 pages. paperback. CP229. Cover by Lambert. Signet Classic original. FROM THE PUBLISHER - The Summing Up is precisely what its title indicates: the summing up of a life, and a distillation of hard - won wisdom. Unsentimental, unapologetic, and superbly crafted, it represents the personal testament of a writer who achieved an extraordinarily successful literary career and created a pattern of existence of singular inner integrity. Within it are blended the most varied elements - autobiographical detail and philosophical speculation, incisive commentary on the art of writing and broad reflections upon religion, morality, and above all, humanity. Combining profound skepticism with an abiding reverence for life, and unyielding pride of intellect with acute awareness of personal limitations, The Summing Up is remarkable for its honesty and illumination; it stands as both a portrait and a product of one of the truly fascinating minds of our time. It is, as Glenway Wescott writes, 'a first - rate book' by 'a very strong and strange and meaningful human being, in some respects the most interesting human being I have known.' AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY - William Somerset Maugham (25 January 1874 - 16 December 1965) was a British playwright, novelist and short story writer. He was among the most popular writers of his era and reputedly the highest paid author during the 1930s.

[ 0230 ] Twain, Mark. The Prince and the Pauper. New York. 1964. Signet/New American Library. 0451502302. Afterword By Kenneth S. Lynn. 224 pages. paperback. CD230. Signet Classic original. FROM THE PUBLISHER - They are the same age. They look alike. In fact, there is but one difference between them: Tom Canty is a child of the London slums; Edward Tudor is heir to the throne of England. Just how insubstantial this difference is becomes all too clear when a chance encounter leads to an exchange of clothing - and of roles . with the pauper caught up in the pomp and folly of the royal court, and the prince wandering horror-stricken through the lower depths of sixteenth-century English society. Out of the theme of switched identities Mark Twain fashioned both a scathing attack upon social hypocrisy and injustice, and an irresistible comedy imbued with the sense of high-spirited play that belongs to his happiest creative period. THE PRINCE AND THE PAUPER is, in the worlds of Kenneth S. Lynn, ‘ . expressive of its author's genius. Indeed, nothing he ever wrote, not even HUCKLEBERRY FINN, introduces us to more of the themes that preoccupied - and finally obsessed - Mark Twain's imagination.' AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY - Samuel Langhorne Clemens (November 30, 1835 - April 21, 1910), better known by his pen name Mark Twain, was an American author and humorist. He wrote The Adventures of Tom Sawyer (1876) and its sequel, Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (1885), the latter often called 'the Great American Novel'.

[ 0231 ] Chekhov, Anton. Chekhov: The Major Plays. New York. 1964. Signet/New American Library. 0451502310. Newly Translated From The Russian By Ann Dunnigan.Foreword By Robert Brustein.Includes - Ivanov, The Sea Gull, Uncle Vanya, The Three Sister, & The Cherry Orchard. 382 pages. paperback. CP231. Signet Classic original. FROM THE PUBLISHER - 'Let the things that happen on stage be just as complex and yet just as simple as they are in life. For instance, people are having a meal, just having a meal, but at the same time their happiness is being created, or their lives are being smashed up.' Thus Chekhov summed up the credo that finds expression in the subtle construction and electrically charged atmosphere of his plays. In these portrayals of human beings trapped in a stultifying environment, victimized as much by their own weakness as by the greed of others, the most casual words and everyday actions assume the import of acts of destiny. Tragedy is mingled with farce, protest wars with resignation, in a world that yields from its darkest despair a singular moral affirmation - an affirmation that stands as the final mark and measure of Chekhov's art. As Robert Brustein declares: '. in the modern theater . there are none who bring the drama to a higher realization of its human role.' AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY - Anton Pavlovich Chekhov (29 January 1860 - 15 July 1904) was a Russian physician, dramatist and author who is considered to be among the greatest writers of short stories in history. His career as a dramatist produced four classics and his best short stories are held in high esteem by writers and critics. Chekhov practised as a doctor throughout most of his literary career.

[ 0232 ] James, Henry. The Europeans. New York. 1964. Signet/New American Library. 0451502329. Afterword By Richard Poirier. 192 pages. paperback. CP232. Cover: Milton Glaser. Signet Classic original. FROM THE PUBLISHER - A departure from the familiar Jamesian theme of Americans astray in Europe, this novel centers upon a pair of Europeans - a captivating woman and her engaging brother - who have come to seek their fortunes in America. They are polished in manner, refined in sensibility, wise in the ways of the world. But nothing in their Old World experience has prepared them for the Wentworths, a clan personifying the supreme provincialism of nineteenth - century New England. From this confrontation, depicted with lucidity, grace, and objectivity, emerges a sharply etched, double - edged comedy of manners and morals. Steadily gaining in reputation, The Europeans has come to be recognized as one of James's finest performances, a delightful fable of cultures in collision, with a heroine who, in the words of Richard Poirier, 'is meant to escape our customary moral evaluations and to claim our admiration for her mode of being, her style. ' As F. R. Leavis noted: 'This small book, written so early in James's career, is a masterpiece of major quality.' AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY - Henry James (15 April 1843 - 28 February 1916) was an Anglo-American writer who spent most of his writing career in Britain. He is regarded as one of the key figures of 19th-century literary realism.

[ 0233 ] Shakespeare, William. Measure For Measure. New York. 1964. Signet/New American Library. 0451502337. Edited & With An Introduction and Notes By S. Nagarajan. 240 pages. paperback. CD233. Cover: Milton Glaser. Signet Classic original. FROM THE PUBLISHER - Measure for Measure's main themes include justice, "morality and mercy in Vienna", and the dichotomy between corruption and purity: "some rise by sin, and some by virtue fall". Mercy and virtue prevail, as the play does not end tragically, with virtues such as compassion and forgiveness being exercised at the end of the production. While the play focuses on justice overall, the final scene illustrates that Shakespeare intended for moral justice to temper strict civil justice: a number of the characters receive understanding and leniency, instead of the harsh punishment to which they, according to the law, could have been sentenced. Measure for Measure is often called one of Shakespeare's problem plays. It continues to be classified as a comedy, although its tone sometimes defies this classification. Unique Features Of The Signet Classic Shakespeare, MEASURE FOR MEASURE: Special Introduction to the play by the editor, S. Nagarajan, University of Poona, India. General discussion of Shakespeare's life, world, and theater by the general editor of the Signet Classic Shakespeare series, Sylvan Barnet, Tufts University. Special note on the sources from which Shakespeare derived MEASURE FOR MEASURE. Dramatic criticism from the past and present: commentaries by William Hazlitt, Walter Pater, G. Wilson Knight, R. W. Chambers, Mary Lascelles. Text and commentaries printed in the clearest, most readable type. Name of each speaker given in full. Detailed footnotes at the bottom of each page of the play keyed to the numbered lines of the text. Textual note. Extensive bibliography. AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY - William Shakespeare (26 April 1564 (baptised) - 23 April 1616) was an English poet, playwright, and actor, widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's national poet and the 'Bard of Avon'. His extant works, including some collaborations, consist of about 38 plays, 154 sonnets, two long narrative poems.

[ 0234 ] Flaubert, Gustave. Madame Bovary. New York. 1964. Signet/New American Library. 0451502345. Newly Translated From The French By Mildred Marmur.Foreword By Mary McCarthy. 405 pages. paperback. CD234. Cover: Milton Glaser. Signet Classic original. FROM THE PUBLISHER - 'She is a very ordinary middle - class woman, with banal expectations of life and an urge to dominate her surroundings. Her character is remarkable only for an unusual deficiency of natural feeling.' Thus Mary McCarthy, in her memorable Foreword to this Signet Classic edition, describes Emma Bovary, whose ill - starred pursuit of tawdry romantic dreams shapes Flaubert's great novel. Set amid the stifling atmosphere of nineteenth - century bourgeois France, MADAME BOVARY is at once an unsparing depiction of a woman's gradual corruption and a savagely ironic study of human shallowness and stupidity. Neither Emma, nor her lovers, nor Homais, the 'man of science,' escapes the author's searing castigation; and it is the book's final profound irony that only Charles, Emma's oxlike, eternally deceived husband, emerges with a measure of human grace through his stubborn and selfless love. With its rare formal perfection, MADAME BOVARY represents, as Frank O'Connor has declared, 'possibly the most beautifully written book ever composed; undoubtedly the most beautifully written novel . a book that invites superlatives . the most important novel of the century.' AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY - Gustave Flaubert (December 12, 1821 - May 8, 1880) was an influential French writer who is counted among the greatest novelists in Western literature. He is known especially for his first published novel, Madame Bovary (1857), for his Correspondence, and for his scrupulous devotion to his art and style.

[ 0235 ] Dreiser, Theodore. An American Tragedy. New York. 1964. Signet/New American Library. 0451502353. Afterword By Irving Howe. 831 pages. paperback. CQ235. Signet Classic original. FROM THE PUBLISHER - On one level, An American Tragedy is the story of the corruption and destruction of one man, Clyde Griffiths, who forfeits his life in desperate pursuit of success. On a deeper, more profound level, however, the novel represents a massive portrayal of the society whose values both shape Clyde's tawdry ambitions and seal his fate: it is an unsurpassed depiction of the harsh realities of American life and of the dark side of the American Dream. Extraordinary in scope and power, vivid in its sense of wholesale human waste, unceasing in its rich compassion, An American Tragedy stands as the supreme achievement of a writer who ranks, in the words of Irving Howe, 'among the American giants, one of the very few American giants we have had' As Mr. Howe goes on to declare: 'Reading An American Tragedy again. 1 have found myself greatly moved and shaken by its repeated onslaughts of narrative, its profound immersion in human suffering, its dredging up of those shapeless desires which lie, as if in fever, just below the plane of consciousness. It is a masterpiece, nothing less' AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY - Theodore Herman Albert Dreiser (August 27, 1871 - December 28, 1945) was an American novelist and journalist of the naturalist school. His novels often featured main characters who succeeded at their objectives despite a lack of a firm moral code, and literary situations that more closely resemble studies of nature than tales of choice and agency. Dreiser's best known novels include Sister Carrie (1900) and An American Tragedy (1925).

[ 0236 ] Ford, Ford Madox. Some Do Not. & No More Parades. New York. 1964. Signet/New American Library. 0451502361. Afterword By Arthur Mizener. 520 pages. paperback. CQ236. Signet Classic original. FROM THE PUBLISHER - The two young men - they were of the English public - official class - sat in the perfectly appointed railway carriage.' Thus, amid the illusory surface decorum of an England on the verge of moral bankruptcy, begins Some Do Not. ,the first of the four novels that constitute Parade's End. Now available in a Signet Classic two - volume edition, this monumental work is an unsurpassed portrayal of the end of an epoch and the ushering in of the chaos of the modern world. Dominating the tetralogy is Christopher Tietjens, 'the last English Tory,' both witness and victim of the general collapse. Inescapably he is caught up in the vicious intrigue and folly let loose by war, and enmeshed in bitter sexual conflict with his faithless, vengeful wife; inescapably he is forced to choose between allegiance to an outmoded code of honor and personal survival in a corrupt age. Distinguished by brilliant technical innovation and masterful harmony of total design, these novels offer what Robie Macauley has termed 'a major act of understanding ourselves and our era.' In the words of Graham Greene: 'There is no novelist of the century more likely to live than Ford Madox Ford' AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY - Ford Madox Ford (17 December 1873 - 26 June 1939), born Ford Hermann Hueffer, was an English novelist, poet, critic and editor whose journals, The English Review and The Transatlantic Review, were instrumental in the development of early 20th-century English literature. He is now remembered best for his publications The Good Soldier (1915), the Parade's End tetralogy (1924–28) and The Fifth Queen trilogy (1906–08).

[ 0237 ] Ford, Ford Madox. A Man Could Stand Up-& Last Post. New York. 1964. Signet/New American Library. 045150237x. Afterword By Arthur Mizener. 352 pages. paperback. CT237. Signet Classic original. FROM THE PUBLISHER - A Man Could Stand Up - , the third novel of Ford Madox Ford's monumental tetralogy, Parade's End, opens in 1918 as the Great War ends and the personal drama of Christopher Tietjens moves toward its resolution. Joined by his mistress, Valentine Wannop, Tietjens is free at last from the moral code that has imprisoned him in a doomed society and a destructive marriage; together the lovers resolve to survive. Set against a rapidly shifting background of battlefield and drawing room, hospital and manor, these novels masterfully depict both the course of individual destinies and the fate of an entire way of life. They complete the grand design of a work whose breadth of vision, psychological insight, and consummate artistry place it among the truly great achievements of the modern novel. Granville Hicks has declared: 'With a brilliance that was at times almost too dazzling, Ford portrayed a revolution in manners. in human values. We have not yet caught up with his insights.' In the words of Graham Greene: 'There is no novelist of the century more likely to live than Ford Madox Ford.' AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY - Ford Madox Ford (17 December 1873 - 26 June 1939), born Ford Hermann Hueffer, was an English novelist, poet, critic and editor whose journals, The English Review and The Transatlantic Review, were instrumental in the development of early 20th-century English literature. He is now remembered best for his publications The Good Soldier (1915), the Parade's End tetralogy (1924–28) and The Fifth Queen trilogy (1906–08).

[ 0238 ] Melville, Herman. Typee. New York. 1964. Signet/New American Library. 0451502388. Afterword By Harrison Hayford. 320 pages. paperback. CP238. Signet Classic original. FROM THE PUBLISHER - Herman Melville's first book, Typee, the work. that won him his greatest lifetime fame, is a narrative of a four - month sojourn among primitive South Sea Islanders. In it Melville combines his own extraordinary personal experiences with later intensive research to produce a vivid and imaginative work. Shocking his original audience with its frankness, this portrayal of Polynesian tribal life endures as one of exotic fascination, given sharp focus by a narrator drawn to this primitive pattern of existence, yet forced to remain ever alien to it. In this ambivalent vision appears the first evidence of the author's later moral complexities; but here it is an element that remains below the surface of the vigor and color of this, Melville's freshest, most high - spirited achievement. Harrison Hayford declares, 'Typee is no Moby - Dick . - but it is a classic - and not just a children's classic - in its own right.' As Lewis Mumford has written: 'One reads Typee, and life suddenly shows a new vista. Adventure is possible: Eden is real.' AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY - Herman Melville (August 1, 1819 - September 28, 1891) was an American novelist, poet, and writer of short stories. His works includes the whaling novel Moby-Dick (1851), Bartleby, the Scrivener (1853), Benito Cereno (1855), and Billy Budd, Sailor (1924).

[ 0239 ] Conrad, Joseph. An Outcast of the Islands. New York. 1964. Signet/New American Library. 0451502396. Afterword By Thomas Moser. 287 pages. paperback. CD239. Cover: Milton Glaser. Signet Classic original. FROM THE PUBLISHER - 'An Outcast of the Islands occupies a crucial place in Conrad's career. it marks the beginning of his real commitment to the craft of fiction. ' Thus writes Thomas Moser of this dramatic tale of East and West. Set against a magnificently rendered background of tropical river and jungle, the novel depicts the gradual degeneration of Willems, its white protagonist: his progression through a career of treachery to final self. betrayal, his descent through sensuality to final humiliation amid the growing horror of his alienation from compatriots and natives alike. Combining vivid, sensuous detail with acute psychological insight, An Outcast of the Islands represents one of Conrad's most memorable explorations of the primitive impulses that plague civilized man, and of the fundamental spiritual isolation of the human condition. It stands as a superb projection of a complex tragic vision, a vision entranced by the rich romance of life, yet drawn eternally toward the abyss. AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY - Joseph Conrad (born Jozef Teodor Konrad Korzeniowski; Berdichev, Imperial Russia, 3 December 1857 - 3 August 1924, Bishopsbourne, Kent, England) was a Polish author who wrote in English after settling in England. Conrad is regarded as one of the greatest novelists in English, though he did not speak the language fluently until he was in his twenties (and always with a marked accent). He wrote stories and novels, often with a nautical setting, that depict trials of the human spirit in the midst of an indifferent universe.

[ 0240 ] Maupassant, Guy de. Boule De Suif and Selected Stories. New York. 1964. Signet/New American Library. 045150240x. Newly Translated From The French By Andrew R. MacAndrew.Foreword By Edward D. Sullivan. 285 pages. paperback. CD240. Signet Classic original. FROM THE PUBLISHER - Maupassant is universally regarded as one of the true masters of the short story, unsurpassed in his swift economy of style and sense of narrative form. In this collection, - which ranges from 'Boule de Suif,' his first and most famous tale, to the stories that belong to his last great creative outpouring - the reader is offered a sampling of. his finest work. These stories are set in farm, town, or city; their characters include grand ladies and prostitutes, peasants and aristocrats, workingmen and members of the bourgeoisie - but all are shaped by the same intensity of vision. It is a vision that tears away the blinders of official morality; a vision that accepts only the evidence of the senses; a vision that invests each of these tautly written tales with the force of truth. As Edward D. Sullivan writes: '[Maupassant's] dread of being deluded drove him to depict the world as it is and not as it purports to be. People protect themselves with masks; society screens itself by hypocrisy. The task of a writer, as he saw it, was to lift those masks and remove that screen.' AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY - Henri RenE Albert Guy de Maupassant (5 August 1850 - 6 July 1893) was a popular French writer, considered one of the fathers of the modern short story and one of the form's finest exponents.

[ 0241 ] Roosevelt, Theodore. Theodore Roosevelt's Letters To His Children. New York. 1964. Signet/New American Library. 0451502418. Prologue & Epilogue By Elting E. Morison.Illustrations By Theodore Roosevelt. 159 pages. paperback. CP241. Signet Classic original. FROM THE PUBLISHER - 'I would rather have this book published than anything that has ever been written about me,' declared Theodore Roosevelt when, shortly before his death, he helped select the letters for this volume. Spanning more than twenty years, filled with a wealth of day - to - day incident, these letters are remarkable for their vividness of detail, and for the natural, storytelling gift they display. They combine to offer a superb picture of vigorous, richly varied, near - idyllic family life; they offer, too, unique insight into one of the most complex personalities in American history, a man behind whose hearty public manner lay a searching intellect, and whose moral sense was no less finely balanced for all its firmness. From these letters, with their mixture of entertainment and serious counsel, outward delight and inward reflection, emerges, in the words of Elting Morison, 'a piece of genuine Americana. - - [but] not all hearty exercise and small boy's pranks. There are moments of doubt, of pain, of uncertainty, and of loneliness, shots of irony and mordant wit.' AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY - Theodore 'T.R.' Roosevelt Jr. (October 27, 1858 - January 6, 1919) was an American politician, author, naturalist, soldier, explorer, and historian who served as the 26th President of the United States. He was a leader of the Republican Party and founder of the Progressive Party insurgency of 1912.

[ 0242 ] Longfellow, Henry Wadsworth. Evangeline and Selected Tales and Poems . New York. 1964. Signet/New American Library. 0451502426. Afterword By Horace Gregory. 288 pages. paperback. CP242. Signet Classic original. FROM THE PUBLISHER - Henry Wadsworth Longfellow was the first American poet successfully to employ the classic form and style of the Old World to express the subjects and sentiments of the New. His narrative poems - Evangeline, The Song of Hiawatha, The Courtship of Miles Standish - have long been part of our national heritage; but Longfellow has more than the familiar to offer the discerning modern reader. Only recently have critics rediscovered his gift for creating superb melodies and harmonies in his verse. The shorter lyrics, the sonnets, are among the finest American poems in the Romantic tradition. The distinguished modern poet Horace Gregory has selected thirty - seven of Longfellow's most enduring poems for this edition, which offers to the student and to the general reader a perceptive insight into the many facets of the poet's genius. 'Longfellow's dignified, yet lighthearted phrasing is unique . his mastery in telling a story and reciting a fable is unequaled in American verse.' - Horace Gregory. AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY - Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (February 27, 1807 - March 24, 1882) was an American poet and educator whose works include 'Paul Revere's Ride', The Song of Hiawatha, and Evangeline.

[ 0243 ] Lear, Edward. The Nonsense Books of Edward Lear. New York. 1964. Signet/New American Library. 0451502434. Foreword By Howard Moss. 320 pages. paperback. CT243. Cover: Milton Glaser. Signet Classic original. FROM THE PUBLISHER - 'His poems shed light in several directions: toward the cartoon strip and the animated cartoon, and, more seriously, toward Joyce, Beerbohm, Beckett, and Ionesco.' Thus writes Howard Moss in his Foreword to this Signet Classic edition of The Nonsense Books of Edward Lear. In this collection the reader is transported far beyond the normal boundaries of the imagination. He will visit the land of the Dong and Pobble, the Quangle Wangle and Willeby-wat; he will wander upon the Gramboolian Plain and over the hills of Chankly Bore; he will set sail with the Owl and the Pussy-cat upon one of poetry's most unforgettable voyages into absurdity. Yet, strange though this world and its inhabitants may be, often they seem even more strangely familiar. For it was Edward Lear's genius to be able .to combine a singular innocence of vision with a unique form of artistry, touching upon a core of truth common to child and adult alike, and providing a secret shock of recognition in the midst of the rarest of fantasies. AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY - Edward Lear (12 or 13 May 1812 - 29 January 1888) was an English artist, illustrator, musician, author and poet, and is known now mostly for his literary nonsense in poetry and prose and especially his limericks, a form he popularised.

[ 0244 ] Dickens, Charles. Our Mutual Friend. New York. 1964. Signet/New American Library. 0451502442. Afterword By J. Hillis Miller. 916 pages. paperback. CQ244. Cover: Seymour Chwast. Signet Classic original. FROM THE PUBLISHER - 'Our Mutual Friend is about 'money, money, money, and what money can make of life.' This theme plays an important part in Dickens' earlier fiction, too, but never does Dickens so concentrate his attention on the power of money as in this last of his completed novels.' Thus writes J. Hillis Miller in his Afterword to a work that ranks among Dickens' greatest artistic triumphs. Utilizing in its dramatically constructed plot a mysterious inheritance, a bitter love triangle, and a cast of characters who range from the highest to the lowest social levels, the novel presents a witty indictment of a society fallen prey to the dehumanizing spirit of a burgeoning commercial age. Dickens' matchless powers of characterization plumb new depths of human complexity, his evocation of the physical world is charged with extraordinary poetic force, in a work that represents, as Edmund Wilson has declared, 'His final judgement on the whole Victorian exploit.' It is, in the words of J. B. Priestley, 'a dark mixture of anger and despair. an astonishingly sustained effort of Dickens' creative imagination.' AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY - Charles John Huffam Dickens (7 February 1812 - 9 June 1870) was an English writer and social critic. He created some of the world's most memorable fictional characters and is generally regarded as the greatest novelist of the Victorian period. During his life, his works enjoyed unprecedented fame, and by the twentieth century his literary genius was broadly acknowledged by critics and scholars. His novels and short stories continue to be widely popular.

[ 0245 ] Trollope, Anthony. The Warden. New York. 1964. Signet/New American Library. 0451502450. Afterword By Geoffrey Tillotson. 215 pages. paperback. CD245. Cover: James Hill. Signet Classic original. FROM THE PUBLISHER - A battle of wits and wills between two very different men of the cloth forms the basis of this, the first of the Barsetshire novels. The warden of the title, the aged and timorous Reverend Septimus Harding, is director of a charity home that provides the needy with sustenance and himself with a lucrative income. Attempting to extricate himself from his comfortable but compromising position, Harding runs afoul of the awesome Reverend Theophilus Grantly, implacable defender of thc status quo. From this seemingly unequal struggle emerges a tale of devious stratagem that ranks as one of Trollope's finest novels - a delightfully barbed fable of the eternal conflict between progress and reaction, the weak and the strong, the pure of heart and the tough of mind. It is, as Geoffrey Tillotson writes, 'a variant of the David and Goliath story . Trollope must have had no difficulty in accepting Darwin's conception of the survival of the fittest, and it is part of the comedy of THE WARDEN that he sees the fittest as sometimes the people who lack the most obvious sorts of strength.' AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY - Anthony Trollope (24 April 1815 - 6 December 1882) was one of the most successful, prolific and respected English novelists of the Victorian era. Some of his best-loved works, collectively known as the Chronicles of Barsetshire, revolve around the imaginary county of Barsetshire. He also wrote perceptive novels on political, social, and gender issues, and on other topical matters.

[ 0246 ] Kipling, Rudyard. The Mark of the Beast and Other Stories. New York. 1964. Signet/New American Library. 0451502469. Foreword By Roger Burlingame. 352 pages. paperback. CD246. Signet Classic original. FROM THE PUBLISHER - Throughout his lifetime Kipling roamed the world widely, recording its infinite variety with unique insight and unsurpassed artistry. No writer was more sensitive to the complex conflict of races and cultures in the colonial East or more finely keyed to the new tempos of the Age of the Machine; and none combined so knowledgeable an eye for colorful surface detail with so keen a sense of the loneliness, terror, and deprivation underlying human existence. These, his finest tales - set in India and England, America and Europe - are both vividly realistic and darkly shadowed, of their time yet timeless. They combine to offer a memorable introduction to a writer praised by T. S. Eliot for ‘an immense gift for using words, an amazing curiosity and power of observation with his mind and all his senses.' INCLUDES the stories - The Mark of the Beast; Without Benefit of Clergy; Georgie Porgie; The Brushwood Boy; ‘They'; Baa Baa, Black Sheep; An Habitation Enforced; Brother Square-Toes; .007; The Gardener; The Man Who Was; The Incarnation of Krishna Mulvaney; The Man Who Would Be King; Garm-A Hostage; The Strange Ride of Morrowbie Jukes. AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY - Joseph Rudyard Kipling (30 December 1865 - 18 January 1936) was an English short-story writer, poet, and novelist. He wrote tales and poems of British soldiers in India and stories for children. He was born in Bombay, in the Bombay Presidency of British India, and was taken by his family to England when he was five years old. Kipling's works of fiction include The Jungle Book (1894), Kim (1901), and many short stories, including 'The Man Who Would Be King' (1888).'

[ 0247 ] Thackeray, William Makepeace. The History of Henry Esmond. New York. 1964. Signet/New American Library. 0451502477. Afterword By Walter Allen. 480 pages. paperback. CP247. Cover: James Hill. Signet Classic original. FROM THE PUBLISHER - He is a Hamlet, but a Hamlet who acts, even though he constantly doubts the wisdom of his actions. It is through this painfully complex mind that we see the tangled politics, the clash of faiths and loyalties, the mixture of self - seeking ambition and disinterestedness, that characterize the last decades of the seventeenth century and the first of the, eighteenth.' Thus Walter Allen writes of Henry Esmond, whose struggle to overcome the stigma of illegitimate birth and the anguish of a hopeless love forms the central strand in this masterfully woven historical novel. Both an unsurpassed evocation of an age and a deeply moving portrayal of individual destiny, the book is superb in its delicate cadences and rich visual detail. It stands as Thackeray's greatest achievement in psychological portraiture, often prophetic in its insight, and is rivaled only by Vanity Fair as the highest expression of the author's extraordinary narrative art. As Thackeray's eminent contemporary George Saintsbury wrote: 'A greater novel than Henry Esmond I do not know; and I do not know many greater books.' AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY - William Makepeace Thackeray (18 July 1811 - 24 December 1863) was an English novelist of the 19th century. He was famous for his satirical works, particularly Vanity Fair, a panoramic portrait of English society.

[ 0248 ] Bojer, Johan. The Last of the Vikings. New York. 1965. Signet/New American Library. 0451502485. Translated From The Norwegian By Jessie Muir.Afterword By Richard Vowles. 256 pages. paperback. CP248. Signet Classic original. FROM THE PUBLISHER - Set against the harsh beauty of the Lofoten Islands, The Last of the Vikings is a stirring depiction both of man's perseverance and of the end of an era. Its action centers upon a single fishing season, when the Norwegian peasantry, descendants of the Vikings, make their annual voyage to the Islands. Battling wind and sea as their ancestors have done for a thousand years, now they also must face a new challenge: the competition of the machine, inevitably dooming their age - old way of life. It is this way of life that dominates these pages. Masterfully portrayed are men and women whose intimate relationship to Nature invests them with an extra - human dimension; and recreated is a vanished rhythm of existence, a 'tenacious struggle with soil, sea, and self,' that holds special meaning amid the disjointed patterns of the modern age. Ranking The Last of the Vikings 'the finest of Bojer's novels,' Richard Vowles writes, 'The essential conflict of the novel is not man versus sea but sea versus land in the Norwegian sensibility - hence man's sensibility.' AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY - Johan Bojer (6 March 1872 - 3 July 1959) was a popular Norwegian novelist and dramatist. He principally wrote about the lives of the poor farmers and fishermen, both in his native Norway and among the Norwegian immigrants in the United States.

[ 0249 ] Howells, William Dean. A Modern Instance. New York. 1964. Signet/New American Library. 0451502493. Afterword By Wallace Brockway. 432 pages. paperback. CT249. Signet Classic original. FROM THE PUBLISHER - A Modern Instance, William Dean Howells' first major novel, ranks among the finest of his achievements. Set in rural New England, Boston, and the Middle West, his portrayal of the America of his day is a triumph of accurate reportage coupled with novelistic art. But, far more than a surface study of manners and mores, this is the story of the deterioration of a marriage - the marriage of a worldly, unscrupulous newspaperman and a woman whose initial love is gradual1y transformed into a fiercely possessive passion. Tracing the shifting balance of power between husband and wife, A Modern Instance is at once a richly ironic moral fable and an exploration of a man - woman relationship which displays a psychological acuity rare in American fiction. On first reading the novel, Mark Twain wrote to Howells, 'I am in a state of wild enthusiasm. It's perfectly dazzling - it's masterly - incomparable. You can never match this one.' Wallace Brockway adds, 'Nowhere else, not even in Silas Lapham and A Hazard of New Fortunes, did [Howells] ever probe characters as deeply, as relentlessly.' AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY - William Dean Howells (March 1, 1837 - May 11, 1920) was an American realist author, literary critic, and playwright. Nicknamed 'The Dean of American Letters', he was particularly known for his tenure as editor of the Atlantic Monthly as well as his own prolific writings, including the Christmas story 'Christmas Every Day', and the novels The Rise of Silas Lapham and A Traveler from Altruria.

[ 0250 ] Dreiser, Theodore. The Titan. New York. 1965. Signet/New American Library. 0451502507. Afterword By John Berryman. 511 pages. paperback. CQ250. Signet Classic original. FROM THE PUBLISHER - The theme of The Titan is one man's drive for absolute power. Power ruthlessly pursued, power blindly worshiped. Power over a business, a city, a life. The setting is Chicago and New York in the age of the Robber Barons; the protagonist is Frank Cowperwood, already wealthy, but out to build a financial empire vast enough to satisfy his appetite for what he thinks is success. The novel traces the career of this driven man as he seeks his elusive goal - only to find his marriage destroyed, his mistresses loveless, his mansions no better than mausoleums, his every triumph a hollow defeat. A powerful study of spiritual emptiness amid material opulence, The Titan represents Dreiser's social vision at its most piercing, his narrative vigor at its highest. It is a major contribution of a novelist who forced Americans to look without blinders both at their society and at their very selves. AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY - Theodore Herman Albert Dreiser (August 27, 1871 - December 28, 1945) was an American novelist and journalist of the naturalist school. His novels often featured main characters who succeeded at their objectives despite a lack of a firm moral code, and literary situations that more closely resemble studies of nature than tales of choice and agency. Dreiser's best known novels include Sister Carrie (1900) and An American Tragedy (1925).

[ 0251 ] Austen, Jane. Mansfield Park. New York. 1964. Signet/New American Library. 0451502515. Afterword By Marvin Mudrick. 384 pages. paperback. CD251. Signet Classic original. FROM THE PUBLISHER - Of Jane Austen's novels, Mansfield Park is unique in its moral design, with a heroine far different from the author's previous creations. This young lady, Miss Fanny Price, poor relation of a wealthy family, possesses only natural goodness to aid her against a dazzlingly witty and lovely rival as they compete for the man they both love. Her ultimate triumph is one of character over personality, purity of heart over brilliance of manner, in a tale that constitutes a sharply pointed attack on social sham Written with the stylistic grace and delicate perception that distinguish the entire Austen canon, Mansfield Park stands as one of the most complex and fascinating achievements of a writer ranked by Virginia Woolf as 'the most perfect artist among women.' It is, as Marvin Mudrick declares, 'the first novel that Jane Austen wrote in the maturity of her powers. a long novel, her longest, and its length is an index of magnitude.' AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY - Jane Austen (16 December 1775 - 18 July 1817) was an English novelist whose works of romantic fiction, set among the landed gentry, earned her a place as one of the most widely read writers in English literature. Her realism and biting social commentary have gained her historical importance among scholars and critics.

[ 0252 ] Kipling, Rudyard. Captains Courageous. New York. 1964. Signet/New American Library. 0451502523. Afterword By C.A. Bodelsen. 172 pages. paperback. CD252. Signet Classic original. FROM THE PUBLISHER - One of Rudyard Kipling's most enduringly popular works, Captains Courageous is both a stirring tale of the sea and a fable of a boy's initiation into the world of men. The boy in question is Harvey Cheyne, pampered son of an American millionaire; his initiation commences when he is saved from drowning by a New England fishing schooner and forced to prove his worth in the only way the captain and crew will accept: through the slow and arduous mastery of skills upon which common survival depends. Depicted with what C. A. Bodelsen terms 'Kipling's brilliant impressionism . his almost infallible sense of the right word,' the voyage of the We're Here is one of both physical and moral adventure; it serves to give memorable, dramatic definition to the author's rigorous concept of the laws governing human existence. As C. A. Bodelsen goes on to write: 'Kipling is making the same point here as he did in The Jungle Books: that the basic conditions of human life are those of Nature, and that the civilization we have created is only a thin screen between us and immutable forces only disregarded at our peril.' AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY - Joseph Rudyard Kipling (30 December 1865 - 18 January 1936) was an English short-story writer, poet, and novelist. He wrote tales and poems of British soldiers in India and stories for children.

[ 0253 ] Melville, Herman. The Confidence Man. New York. 1964. Signet/New American Library. 0451502531. Afterword By R.W.B. Lewis. 278 pages. paperback. CP253. Cover: Kossin. Signet Classic original. FROM THE PUBLISHER - Like Moby - Dick, The Confidence Man takes place aboard a ship - but one far different from the whaler Pequod. Its setting is a Mississippi steamboat, the Fidèle; and its protagonist, the mysterious Confidence Man, is on a voyage after human prey. He is a man of many guises, but a single role: in a complex series of impostures, this ever - ambiguous figure relentlessly strips away, one by one, the hypocritical pretenses of his fellow passengers. Charged with savage irony and black humor, the novel is merciless as a depiction of greed and selfishness, of a dark and wolfish world. It represents one of Melville's great later achievements, a roman noir that gives final expression to an intense and tortured vision of the human condition. 'It is,' as R. W. B: Lewis declares, 'the recognizable and awe - inspiring ancestor of . Nathaniel WEST'S THE DAY OF THE LOCUST, Faulkner's THE HAMLET, Ralph Ellison's INVISIBLE MAN and William Gaddis' RECOGNITIONS. Melville bequeathed . the vision of an apocalypse that is no less terrible for being enormously comic, the self - extinction of a world characterized by deceit and thronging with imposters. ' AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY - Herman Melville (August 1, 1819 - September 28, 1891) was an American novelist, poet, and writer of short stories. His works includes the whaling novel Moby-Dick (1851), Bartleby, the Scrivener (1853), Benito Cereno (1855), and Billy Budd, Sailor (1924).

[ 0254 ] Sterne, Laurence. A Sentimental Journey & Journal To Eliza. New York. 1964. Signet/New American Library. 045150254x. Afterword By Monroe Engel. 206 pages. paperback. CP254. Signet Classic original. FROM THE PUBLISHER - Ostensibly A Sentimental Journey is the story of a holiday abroad, a leisurely eighteenth - century continental tour. In reality, it represents a different sort of tour, a different kind of holiday - an exploration of the resources of narrative art, a free flight of sensibility. Sterne's encounters with Anglophile French noblemen and the petty French bureaucracy, with high - born lady and seductive chambermaid, his adventures in city and town, in inn and palace, shape a work of wit, delicate eroticism, and boundless love of life. Together with the Journal to Eliza, a series of epistles written from the Continent to a married woman with whom Sterne was in love, A Sentimental Journey stands as a reflection of a most remarkable personality, and as a brilliant product of per - haps one of the most delightful prose styles in the English language. Monroe Engel terms it 'a comic novel that is still read with immediate pleasure and that novelists still look to with a kind of envious admiration. a complete and highly ordered work' of extraordinary art.' AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY - Laurence Sterne (24 November 1713 - 18 March 1768) was an Anglo-Irish novelist and an Anglican clergyman. He is best known for his novels The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman and A Sentimental Journey Through France and Italy.

[ 0255 ] Smollett, Tobias. Roderick Random. New York. 1964. Signet/New American Library. 0451502558. Afterword By John Barth. 480 pages. paperback. CT255. Signet Classic original. FROM THE PUBLISHER - It is for sheer narrative pleasure and exuberant inventiveness that we read Smollett, master of the picaresque. Of his novels, none better typifies his art than this chronicle of the career of Roderick Random, pursuing love and fortune through every conceivable twist and turn of fate. Before this indomitable protagonist achieves his final vindication, the reader is offered an unforgettable journey through a lusty, brawling Hogarthian world, in a work that stands as the very embodiment of that age's unflagging energy and boundless appetite for life. In the words of John Barth: 'Sailors, soldiers, fine gentlemen and ladies, whores, homosexuals, cardsharpers, fortune hunters, tradesmen of all description, clerics, fops, scholars, lunatics, highwaymen. , crowd a stage that extends from Glasgow to Guinea, from Paris to Paraguay, and among themselves perpetrate battles, debaucheries, swindles, shanghais, duels, seductions, rescues, pranks, poems, shipwrecks, heroisms, murders, and marriages. They wail and guffaw, curse and sing, make love and foul their breeches: in short, they live.' AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY - Tobias George Smollett (19 March 1721 - 17 September 1771) was a Scottish poet and author. He was best known for his picaresque novels, such as The Adventures of Roderick Random (1748) and The Adventures of Peregrine Pickle (1751).

[ 0256 ] Austen, Jane. Persuasion. New York. 1964. Signet/New American Library. 0451502566. Afterword By Marvin Mudrick. 255 pages. paperback. CD256. Signet Classic original. FROM THE PUBLISHER - In this, Jane Austen's last novel, appears her most memorable heroine - Anne Elliot, a young woman of perfect breeding, profound depth of emotion, and unswerving integrity. These virtues, however, exist in a world—the world of country gentry in Regency England—in which shallowness and hypocrisy thrive and ever threaten to win dominion. It is Anne's poised confrontation with these forces, as she vies for the affections of the man she loves, which gives shape to a work which displays Jane Austen's rich maturity of vision and her new-found sense of human potential. Blending sharp wit and warm sympathy, stylistic brilliance and tender insight, Persuasion represents the crowning achievement of Jane Austen's career, the final unfolding of her matchless art. As Marvin Mudrick writes: ‘The proper parochial society that for a quarter of a century Jane Austen had been laughing at and amusing, despising and defending, at all events copiously memorializing, comes to its late flower in the unassuming grace, the finely balanced feelings, the secret strength and charm of character, of Anne Elliot.' an Afterword by Marvin Mudrick. AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY - Jane Austen (16 December 1775 - 18 July 1817) was an English novelist whose works of romantic fiction, set among the landed gentry, earned her a place as one of the most widely read writers in English literature. Her realism and biting social commentary have gained her historical importance among scholars and critics.

[ 0257 ] Shakespeare, William. The Sonnets. New York. Signet/New American Library. 0451502574. Edited By William Burto.Introduction By W.H. Auden. paperback. CD257. Cover: Milton Glaser. Signet Classic original. FROM THE PUBLISHER - While Shakespeare inserted sonnets into several of his plays, the designation 'Shakespeare's Sonnets' customarily denotes a group of 154 poems that were first published in collective form under the title of Shakespeare's Sonnets in 1609. Scholars have concluded that Shakespeare actually composed these 154 verse pieces over a comparatively long time span (most probably between 1592 and 1597 or so), and at a relatively early juncture in his literary career, i.e., around the time that he wrote his most famous early tragedy, Romeo and Juliet, a love story that includes examples of the Shakespearean sonnet within its text. The pieces included in the 1609 edition of Shakespeare's Sonnets all conform to the standard format of 14 lines concluding with a rhymed couplet, and all (with one suspect exception) are written in the natural meter of iambic pentameter, lending them a stress pattern that approximates English language speech. AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY - William Shakespeare (26 April 1564 (baptised) - 23 April 1616) was an English poet, playwright, and actor, widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's national poet and the 'Bard of Avon'. His extant works, including some collaborations, consist of about 38 plays, 154 sonnets, two long narrative poems.

[ 0258 ] Conrad, Joseph. Almayer's Folly and Other Stories. New York. 1965. Signet/New American Library. 0451502582. Afterword By Jocelyn Baines. 320 pages. paperback. CP258. Cover: Milton Glaser. Signet Classic original. FROM THE PUBLISHER - 'A new great writer and a new and splendid region of romance have entered into our literature.' Thus the critic T. P O'Connor hailed the initial publication of this, Joseph Conrad's first work of fiction. The scene of Almayer's Folly is a trading post on the Malayan archipelago; its theme is that of physical and moral decay, as the tantalizing dreams of wealth which have sustained the novel's white protagonist elude him, leaving him in helpless isolation. Vividly contrasting the frailty of human hopes and designs with the fathomless power of Nature, the book embodies the qualities of style and vision which were to place its author among the masters of the English novel. It stands as both a striking psychological study and a portrayal of the confrontation of alien cultures, a work in which Conrad, as Jocelyn Baines declares, 'employs the full emotive force of his vocabulary to evoke the exotic, corrupting power of the East.' This Signet Classic volume includes two of Joseph Conrad's later stories of the East and the sea - Freya of the Seven Isles and The Planter of Malata. AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY - Joseph Conrad (born Jozef Teodor Konrad Korzeniowski; Berdichev, Imperial Russia, 3 December 1857 - 3 August 1924, Bishopsbourne, Kent, England) was a Polish author who wrote in English after settling in England. Conrad is regarded as one of the greatest novelists in English, though he did not speak the language fluently until he was in his twenties (and always with a marked accent). He wrote stories and novels, often with a nautical setting, that depict trials of the human spirit in the midst of an indifferent universe.

[ 0259 ] Dickens, Charles. Hard Times. New York. Signet/New American Library. 0451502590. paperback. CP259. Signet Classic reprint. FROM THE PUBLISHER - The 'terrible mistake' was the contemporary utilitarian philosophy, expounded in Hard Times (1854) as the Philosophy of Fact by the hard-headed disciplinarian Thomas Gradgrind. But the novel, Dickens's shortest, is more than a polemical tract for the times; the tragic story of Louisa Gradgrind and her father is one of Dickens's triumphs. When Louisa, trapped in a loveless marriage, falls prey to an idle seducer, the crisis forces her father to reconsider his cherished system. Yet even as the development of the story reflects Dickens's growing pessimism about human nature and society, Hard Times marks his return to the theme which had made his early works so popular: the amusements of the people. Sleary's circus represents Dickens's most considered defence of the necessity of entertainment, and infuses the novel with the good humour which has ensured its appeal to generations of readers. Hard Times--Dickens's shortest novel and one of his major triumphs--tells the tragic story of Louisa Gradgrind and her father. AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY - Charles John Huffam Dickens (7 February 1812 - 9 June 1870) was an English writer and social critic. He created some of the world's most memorable fictional characters and is generally regarded as the greatest novelist of the Victorian period. During his life, his works enjoyed unprecedented fame, and by the twentieth century his literary genius was broadly acknowledged by critics and scholars. His novels and short stories continue to be widely popular.

[ 0260 ] Grimm, Jacob & Wilhelm. The Frog King and Other Tales of the Brothers Grimm. New York. 1964. Signet/New American Library. 0451502604. Newly Translated From German, Edited and With An Introduction By Alfred & Mary Elizabeth David.Illustrated By Shelia Greenwald. 318 pages. paperback. CT260. Signet Classic original. FROM THE PUBLISHER - These stories are pervaded by the same purity that makes children seem so marvelous and blessed to us.' Thus Wilhelm Grimm described the folk tales he and his brother so lovingly gathered and recorded. In the grace, simplicity, and seeming artlessness of these tales, the reader encounters the literary distillation of a verbal art whose origins extend far into the dim past. To read them is to enter an enchanted land, where nature and the supernatural are joined, where wicked stepmothers and fair princesses, poor lost children and gallant young men, all play their parts in the eternal conflict between light and darkness, good and evil. Retaining an almost magical power both to delight and to illumine, enacting with haunting symbolic truth the basic dramas of human existence, these archetypal tales, as Alfred and Mary Elizabeth David declare, 'still speak to us and tell us about ourselves: about our hopes and dreams. , our fears and anxieties.' AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY - The Brothers Grimm (or Die Brüder Grimm), Jacob (1785–1863) and Wilhelm Grimm (1786–1859), were German academics, linguists, cultural researchers, lexicographers and authors who together specialized in collecting and publishing folklore during the 19th century.

[ 0261 ] Dickens, Charles. Dombey and Son. New York. 1964. Signet/New American Library. 0451502612. Afterword By Alan Pryce-Jones. 918 pages. paperback. CQ261. Cover: Lambert. Signet Classic original. FROM THE PUBLISHER - Dombey and Son marks the great turning point of Dickens' artistic career. In it, he departs forever from the picaresque world of his earlier novels, in which only individual villainy had marred the landscape of life; for the first time he envisions evil as inherent in the very structure of his society, and gives unified form to this vision in all its scope, depth, and complexity. Set in an England caught in the throes of industrial revolution and commercial expansion, this tale of a proud, ambitious, and morally blind businessman, and of his pernicious effect upon the multitude of lives around him, stands as a memorable indictment of a corrosive economic system, and as a profound plea for human values. Written with immense vitality, abounding in characters of extraordinary vividness, and superb in total design, Dombey and Son is, as Edgar Johnson has written, 'one of Dickens' greatest books' - 'the first great masterpiece of Dickens' maturity.' Alan Pryce - Jones declares: 'In a word, the book is carried through by its gusto. We do not have to suspend disbelief. Dickens has the air, the panache, to make us believe . ' AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY - Charles John Huffam Dickens (7 February 1812 - 9 June 1870) was an English writer and social critic. He created some of the world's most memorable fictional characters and is generally regarded as the greatest novelist of the Victorian period. During his life, his works enjoyed unprecedented fame, and by the twentieth century his literary genius was broadly acknowledged by critics and scholars. His novels and short stories continue to be widely popular.

[ 0262 ] Storm, Theodor. The Rider On the White Horse and Selected Stories. New York. 1964. Signet/New American Library. 0451502620. Newly Translated From The German & With A Foreword By James Wright. 262 pages. paperback. CT262. Cover: Lambert. Signet Classic original. FROM THE PUBLISHER - This unique collection offers for the first time in English a broad survey of the Novellen of Theodor Storm - a master of that literary genre. 'The Novelle of today,' Storm wrote in 1881, 'like the drama. deals with the profoundest problems of human life.' Throughout his life, he used this form in several different ways. His youthful Novellen. are suffused with an elegiac resignation on the vanished happiness of childhood. His later ones become more dramatic, more realistic, though still retaining the subtle poetic quality that is perhaps his prime characteristic. Like many northern European writers, Storm was influenced by folk tales, particularly those dealing with the supernatural. This is particularly apparent in The Rider on the White Horse, a Novelle which Thomas Mann called 'the masterpiece with which Storm crowned his life - work.' Includes - The Rider on the White Horse, In the Great Hall, Immensee, A Green Leaf, In the Sunlight, Veronika, In St. Jurgen, Aquis Submersus. AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY - Hans Theodor Woldsen Storm (14 September 1817 - 4 July 1888), commonly known as Theodor Storm, was a German writer. Storm was born in the small town of Husum, on the west coast of Schleswig, then a formally independent duchy ruled by the king of Denmark. He was one of the most important authors of 19th-century German Literary realism.

[ 0263 ] Scott, Sir Walter. Waverley. New York. 1964. Signet/New American Library. 0451502639. Afterword By Edgar Johnson. 576 pages. paperback. CT263. Cover: Lambert. Signet Classic original. FROM THE PUBLISHER - The Rebellion of 1745, when the Highland clans of Scotland rallied to support Charles Stuart, Pretender to the throne of England, forms the dramatic background to Waverley. Its hero, Edward Waverley, is a young man of divided loyalties, gallant but naïve, and thirsting for high romance. Won over to the Stuart cause, he encounters the adventure he seeks, but amid a steadily mounting tempo of action and intrigue, he also comes to learn the stern realities of love, warfare, and politics. Remarkable for its descriptions of the Scottish Highlands and for its host of superbly varied character portraits, Waverley stands as Sir Walter Scott's first great historical novel; it represents both the prototype of a major literary genre and an enduring triumph of storytelling art. As Edgar Johnson writes: 'It is a mistake to think of Scott primarily as a historical romancer. He is not interested in tin armor and cardboard battlements. A gifted historian he assuredly is. But he is above all a novelist, outstanding in his talent for dramatic narrative and penetrating in the vivid and accurate portrayal of human nature.' AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY - Sir Walter Scott (15 August 1771 - 21 September 1832) was a Scottish historical novelist, playwright, and poet. Scott was the first English-language author to have a truly international career in his lifetime.

[ 0264 ] no information. Signet Classic title - no information. New York. Signet/New American Library. 0451502647. paperback. 264. FROM THE PUBLISHER - No information available. AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY -

[ 0265 ] Lincoln, Abraham. Abraham Lincoln: A Documentary Portrait Through His Speeches & Writings. New York. 1964. Signet/New American Library. 0451502655. Edited & With An Introduction By Don E. Fehrenbacher. 288 pages. paperback. CT265. Cover: Kossin. Signet Classic original. FROM THE PUBLISHER - Around the figure of Abraham Lincoln an immense legend has grown - a legend that pays tribute to his greatness, but that tends to obscure the qualities upon which that greatness rests. It is to present a true portrait of this complex human being that this volume is designed, employing the materials best suited to this challenging task: Lincoln's own words. Dating from his entrance into political life to his final presidential message, these selections range from informal private letters to magnificently phrased public documents. They serve to record the drama of Lincoln's extraordinary career, and vividly reflect the development of his positions in a variety of significant areas: economics, presidential power, national purpose, and the crucial issue of slavery - positions often seriously distorted by latter - day partisan commentary. Addressed both to students of history and to those seeking to understand a heritage still actively shaping contemporary events, these selections combine to shed invaluable light upon the man who, as Don F. Fehrenbacher writes, 'saved and rededicated a nation.' AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY - Abraham Lincoln (February 12, 1809 - April 15, 1865) was the 16th President of the United States, serving from March 1861 until his assassination in April 1865. Lincoln led the United States through its Civil War—its bloodiest war and its greatest moral, constitutional and political crisis. In doing so, he preserved the Union, abolished slavery, strengthened the federal government, and modernized the economy.

[ 0266 ] Musil, Robert. Young Torless. New York. 1964. Signet/New American Library. 0451502663. Translated From The German By Eithne Wilkins & Ernst Kaiser.Afterword By John Simon. 192 pages. paperback. CT266. Signet Classic original. FROM THE PUBLISHER - '. there are two worlds within him [Törless] corresponding to two worlds without him: a quotidian existence of rational, routine activity. , and also a dark, exciting realm of violent, often destructive. impulses and adventures. Which is more real? Which is to be espoused?' Thus John Simon states the theme which animates this remarkable novel of sexual and intellectual awakening. Set within the confines of a military boarding school, the book has as its center the shifting, tension - ridden relationship of Törless and three fellow students. With near - hallucinatory vividness, the intense conflicts and fevered emotions of adolescence are evoked; yet always present is a note of cool, analytic detachment, tracing the pattern of future destiny as it emerges from this atmosphere of mingled youthful idealism and brutal sadism, rigorous discipline and perverse sensuality. A work of superb art and prophetic psychological insight, Young Törless offers a memorable introduction to a writer who has come to be recognized as one of the singular talents of the century. It is a novel, as John Simon writes, 'as unique in our day as it was sixty years ago.' AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY - Robert Musil (6 November 1880 - 15 April 1942) was an Austrian writer. His unfinished novel The Man Without Qualities (German: Der Mann ohne Eigenschaften) is generally considered to be one of the most important modernist novels.

[ 0267 ] James, Henry. The Wings of the Dove. New York. 1964. Signet/New American Library. 0451502671. Afterword By F.W. Dupee. 512 pages. paperback. CT267. Signet Classic original. FROM THE PUBLISHER - One of the masterpieces of James's final period, The Wings of the Dove represents the author's artistic genius at its summit of formal perfection, his vision at its highest pitch of creative intensity. The setting is one James made singularly his own: the fashionable world of London mansion and Venetian palace, of drawing room and dinner party, of burnished elegance and grace. The theme is the human price this world exacts as it transforms two lovers - a man of good conscience and a woman of superb vitality - into conspirators set on victimizing an American millionairess, a naïve young woman in love with life, and inexorably doomed. Ranking among James's most memorable characterizations, these three act out a meticulously designed drama of treachery and self - betrayal in a work whose consummate artistry reflects a moral judgment all - pervading and profound. As F. W. Dupee writes, 'Les splendeurs et misères du monde remains James's principal subject; and nowhere in his work is the world, its beauty and its terror, better presented than in The Wings of the Dove.' AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY - Henry James (15 April 1843 - 28 February 1916) was an Anglo-American writer who spent most of his writing career in Britain. He is regarded as one of the key figures of 19th-century literary realism.

[ 0268 ] Howells, William Dean. A Hazard of New Fortunes. New York. 1965. Signet/New American Library. 045150268x. Afterword By Benjamin DeMott. 445 pages. paperback. CT268. Cover: Luvin?. Signet Classic original. FROM THE PUBLISHER - Set against a vividly depicted background of fin de siècle New York, this novel centers upon the conflict between a self - made millionaire and a fervent social revolutionary - a conflict in which a man of goodwill futilely attempts to act as mediator, only to be forced himself into a crisis of conscience. Evident throughout this multifaceted work is William Dean Howells' grasp of the realities of the American experience in an age of emerging social struggle; evident as well is his absolute determination to render justice to every point of view. Both a memorable portrait of an era and a profoundly moving study of human interrelatednness, A Hazard of New Fortunes fully justifies Alfred Kazin's ranking of Howells as 'the first great domestic novelist of American life.' Benjamin DeMott praises 'Howells' dream of bursting free from self, of entering with large imaginative understanding into the lives of others,' and goes on to declare: 'Howells' dream was. moral to the core.' AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY - William Dean Howells (March 1, 1837 - May 11, 1920) was an American realist author, literary critic, and playwright. Nicknamed 'The Dean of American Letters', he was particularly known for his tenure as editor of the Atlantic Monthly as well as his own prolific writings, including the Christmas story 'Christmas Every Day', and the novels The Rise of Silas Lapham and A Traveler from Altruria.

[ 0269 ] Mill, John Stuart. Autobiography of John Stuart Mill. New York. 1964. Signet/New American Library. 0451502698. Foreword By Asa Briggs. 224 pages. paperback. CT269. Cover: Milton Glaser. Signet Classic original. FROM THE PUBLISHER - AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF JOHN STUART MILL deals with but one part of a life, the life of the mind - but a mind which ranks as one of the most remarkable and significant of the nineteenth century. The book memorably depicts the emergence of a brilliant child prodigy, the product of an extraordinary education which both hastened his development and brought him to the brink of suicide by the age of twenty - one; illumined with equal clarity is the story of John Stuart Mill's renewed commitment to life, and of the further conflicts which marked his long evolution toward maturity as a major philosopher and social thinker. Superb in its dispassionate objectivity, the Autobiography stands as a work of enduring stature and relevance, the final testament of a rare and luminous intelligence. As Asa Briggs Writes: 'Concerned as it is throughout with a remarkable 'age of transition' in English history and with many of the circles of thinkers who set out to interpret or to mould the age, the Autobiography is as important a document for the understanding of the nineteenth century as it is for the understanding of Mill himself. It will remain of profound importance. ' AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY - John Stuart Mill, (20 May 1806 - 8 May 1873) was a British philosopher, political economist and civil servant. He was an influential contributor to social theory, political theory and political economy. He has been called 'the most influential English-speaking philosopher of the nineteenth century'.

[ 0270 ] Shakespeare, William. Romeo and Juliet. New York. 1964. Signet/New American Library. 0451502701. Edited By J.A. Bryant Jr. 220 pages. paperback. CD270. Cover: Milton Glaser. Signet Classic original. FROM THE PUBLISHER - One of Shakespeare's most popular and accessible plays, Romeo and Juliet tells the story of two star-crossed lovers and the unhappy fate them as a long bitter feud between families. The play contains some of Shakespeare's most beautiful and lyrical love poetry and is perhaps the finest celebration of the joys of young love ever written. Unique features of the Signet Classic Shakespeare An extensive of Shakespeare's life, world, and theater by the general editor of the Signet Classic Shakespeare series, Sylvan Barnet A special introduction to the play by the editor, J. A. Bryant, Jr., University of Kentucky Source from which Shakespeare derived Romeo and Juliet--Arthur Brooke's The Tragicall Historye of Romeus and Juliet Dramatic criticism from the past and present: commentaries by Samuel Johnson, Samuel Taylor Coleridge, Michael Goldman, Susan Snyder, Marianne Novy A comprehensive stage and screen history of notable actors, directors, and productions of Romeo and Juliet, then and now Text, notes, and commentaries printed in the clearest, most readable type Up-to-date list of recommended readings. AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY - William Shakespeare (26 April 1564 (baptised) - 23 April 1616) was an English poet, playwright, and actor, widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's national poet and the 'Bard of Avon'. His extant works, including some collaborations, consist of about 38 plays, 154 sonnets, two long narrative poems.

[ 0271 ] Melville, Herman. Pierre, or the Ambiguities. New York. 1964. Signet/New American Library. 045150271x. Afterword By Lawrance Thompson. 408 pages. paperback. CT271. Signet Classic original. FROM THE PUBLISHER - 'Parody, parody, parody-and an odd assortment of parody procedures-will be found throughout the context which Melville builds around the central narrative of Pierre's pilgrim-like progress to defeat and damnation.' Thus writes Lawrance Thompson, describing this story of the downfall of a highborn young man, whose unselfish love entraps him in an incestuous passion, and whose noble actions hasten his ignoble end. In theme and style the novel mocks both Christian allegory and the cheerful pastoral romances of the day; but neither irony nor virtuosity can mask its underlying seriousness of purpose, or the dark vision which shapes it. Written immediately after Moby Dick, Pierre represents Melville's further exploration of the meaning and nature of evil. A dramatic expression of its author's most profound anxieties and obsessions, it stands as the strangely compelling creation of an intensely troubled, eternally questioning mind. As William Ellery Sedgewick has written: 'Pierre was the only book of Melville's maturity as ambitious as Moby Dick.' AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY - Herman Melville (August 1, 1819 - September 28, 1891) was an American novelist, poet, and writer of short stories. His works includes the whaling novel Moby-Dick (1851), Bartleby, the Scrivener (1853), Benito Cereno (1855), and Billy Budd, Sailor (1924).

[ 0272 ] Stevenson, Robert Louis. Treasure Island. New York. 1965. Signet/New American Library. 0451502728. Afterword By G.S. Fraser. 224 pages. paperback. CD272. Signet Classic original. FROM THE PUBLISHER - For sheer storytelling delight and pure adventure, TREASURE ISLAND has never been surpassed. From the moment young Jim Hawkins first encounters the sinister Blind Pew at the Admiral Benbow Inn until the climactic battle for treasure on a tropic isle, the novel creates scenes and characters that have fired the imaginations of generations of readers. Written by a superb prose stylist, a master of both action and atmosphere, the story centers upon the conflict between good and evil - but in this case a particularly engaging form of evil. It is the villainy of that most ambiguous rogue Long John Silver that sets the tempo of this tale of treachery, greed, and daring. Designed to forever kindle a dream of high romance and distant horizons, TREASURE ISLANd is, in the words of G. K. Chesterton, 'the realization of an ideal, that which is promised in its provocative and beckoning map; a vision not only of white skeletons but also green palm trees and sapphire seas' G. S. Fraser terms it 'an utterly original book' and goes on to write: 'There will always be a place for stories like TREASURE ISLAND that can keep boys and old men happy.' AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY - ROBERT LOUIS STEVENSON was born in Edinburgh, Scotland, in 1850 and became one of the world's most popular writers. He was novelist, essayist, and poet - master of a widely acclaimed style. His works include TREASURE ISLAND, KIDNAPPED, DAVID BALFOUR, THE STRANGE CASE OF DR. JEKYLL AND MR. HYDE, and his collection of poems for children, A CHILD'S GARDEN OF VERSES.

[ 0273 ] Cervantes, Miguel de. Don Quixote. New York. 1964. Signet/New American Library. 0451502736. Translated From The Spanish & With An Introduction By Walter Starkie. 1052 pages. paperback. CY273. Signet Classic original. FROM THE PUBLISHER - Here presented complete and unabridged, in the memorable Walter Starkie translation, is the epic tale of the most illustrious Don Quixote of La Mancha and his faithful, long - suffering squire, Sancho Panza. Their adventures in the picaresque world of sixteenth - century Spain form the basis of one of the great treasures of Western literature, both an immortal satire on an outdated chivalric code and a biting portrayal of an age in which nobility can be only a form of madness. Imbued with irrepressible comedy and superbly balanced irony, Don Quixote stands as the reflection of a vision ever rich in meaning and as the product of an artistry inexhaustible in delight. It is, as Walter Starkie writes, 'the first modern novel in the world, created Out of a life of disillusion, privation, and poverty by a maimed ex - soldier . whose noble nature and gentle sense of humorous tolerance taught him that life is an unending dialogue between a knight of the spirit who is ever striving to soar aloft, and a squire who clings to his master and strives with might and main to keep his feet firmly planted on the ground.' Translated and with an Introduction by Walter Starkie. AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY - Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra (29 September 1547 (assumed) - 22 April 1616) was a Spanish novelist, poet, and playwright. His magnum opus, Don Quixote, considered to be the first modern European novel, is a classic of Western literature, and is regarded amongst the best works of fiction ever written.

[ 0274 ] Ibsen, Henrik. Ibsen Four Major Plays: Volume 1 . New York. 1965. Signet/New American Library. 0451502744. Newly Translated From The Norwegian & With A Foreword By Rolf Fjelde. 384 pages. paperback. CP274. Signet Classic original. FROM THE PUBLISHER - 'Before I write down one word, I have to have the character in mind through and through. I must penetrate to the last wrinkle of his soul. Then I do not let him go until his fate is fulfilled.' Thus Henrik Ibsen described the process of visual creation by which he shaped the major works of his maturity. Brilliant in design, multi- leveled in meaning, these four plays project Ibsen's revealing criticism of society and his almost uncanny perception of the intricacies of human motivations and relationships. Exposed are the demonic forces of greed, fear, sexual hostility, and willful destructiveness, rising to shatter the prosaic surface of middle-class life. Here, presented in memorable new translations, are dramas of universal significance, the crowning achievements of the artist who stands as the father of the modern theater. As Rolf Fjelde writes, it was Ibsen's purpose 'not to lull-nor merely shock-the bourgeoisie, not to lecture the proletariat, but to instigate human beings into existence, to dare each individual to think, to feel, to question, to live. ' Includes - A Doll House, The Wild Duck, Hedda Gabler, The Master Builder. AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY - Henrik Johan Ibsen (20 March 1828 - 23 May 1906) was a major 19th-century Norwegian playwright, theatre director, and poet. He is often referred to as 'the father of realism' and is one of the founders of Modernism in theatre. His major works include Brand, Peer Gynt, An Enemy of the People, Emperor and Galilean, A Doll's House, Hedda Gabler, Ghosts, The Wild Duck, Rosmersholm, and The Master Builder.

[ 0275 ] Howe, E. W. The Story of a Country Town. New York. 1964. Signet/New American Library. 0451502752. Afterword By John William Ward. 317 pages. paperback. CT275. Signet Classic original. FROM THE PUBLISHER - The Story of a Country Town is both a pioneering triumph of realistic fiction and a landmark in the development of the American literary consciousness. Written by a Kansas newspaperman who was forced to publish the original edition himself, this novel represents a sharp departure from the nineteenth - century image of the 'idyllic' rural life. Howe's portrait of an American small town is a damning indictment of an arid way of life - of an environment that corrodes the spirit and cripples the mind. His view of village and farm is colored by harsh pessimism and filled with a pervasive sense of human waste. As John William Ward writes: 'The Story of a Country Town marks the moment when the myth of the garden in America gave way to the wasteland of broken dreams. After Edgar W. Howe came other American writers: Joseph Kirkland, Hamlin Garland, Edgar Lee Masters, Zona Gale, Sherwood Anderson, and Sinclair Lewis. They deepened, amplified; and finally made a tradition in American letters of what Howe, writing alone out of his own bitter experience, had first put down.' AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY - Edgar Watson Howe (May 3, 1853 - October 3, 1937), sometimes referred to as E. W. Howe, was an American novelist and newspaper and magazine editor in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. He was perhaps best known for his magazine, E.W. Howe's Monthly.

[ 0276 ] Farrell, James T. Studs Lonigan. New York. 1965. Signet/New American Library. 0451502760. Afterword By Philip Allan Friedman. 840 pages. paperback. CQ276. Signet Classic original. FROM THE PUBLISHER - In the three decades since its original publication, Studs Lonigan has established itself as a classic of the American social novel, Its setting is the South Side of Chicago during the moral chaos of the Prohibition era. Its protagonist, Studs Lonigan, is a young man seeking a destiny he cannot find, leaving behind him only lost ideals and unanswered questions to mark his swift passage from youth to early death. In his frustrated ambitions, his gradual brutalization, and his final failure, Studs emerges as a prototype of the lost and self - alienated American, both product and victim of urban society.The trilogy is, in the words of Philip Allan Friedman, 'a monumental work in the tradition of American literary naturalism. Alfred kazin has called Studs Lonigan 'one of the most honest and important works of our time.' AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY - James Thomas Farrell (February 27, 1904 - August 22, 1979) was an American novelist, short-story writer, and poet. He is most remembered for the Studs Lonigan trilogy, which was made into a film in 1960 and a television series in 1979.

[ 0277 ] Shakespeare, William. The Merchant of Venice. New York. 1965. Signet/New American Library. 0451502779. Edited By Kenneth O. Myrick. 176 pages. paperback. CD277. Cover: Milton Glaser. Signet Classic original. FROM THE PUBLISHER - THE SIGNET CLASSIC SHAKESPEARE SERIES - The work of the world's greatest dramatist in authoritative texts edited by outstanding scholars. Unique Features Of The Signet Classic Shakespeare, THE MERCHANT OF VENICE: Special Introduction to the play by the editor, Kenneth Myrick, Tufts University. General discussion of Shakespeare's life, world, and theater by the general editor of the Signet Classic Shakespeare series, Sylvan Barnet, Tufts University. A note on the sources from which Shakespeare derived THE MERCHANT OF VENICE. Dramatic criticism from the past and present: commentaries by Nicholas Rowe, William Hazlitt, Elmer Edgar Stoll, and an anonymous review of Henry Irving's important production. Text and commentaries printed in the clearest, most readable type. Name of each speaker given in full. Detailed footnotes at the bottom of each page of the play keyed to the numbered lines of the text. Textual note. Extensive bibliography. AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY - William Shakespeare (26 April 1564 (baptised) - 23 April 1616) was an English poet, playwright, and actor, widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's national poet and the 'Bard of Avon'. His extant works, including some collaborations, consist of about 38 plays, 154 sonnets, two long narrative poems.

[ 0278 ] Eliot, George. The Mill On the Floss. New York. 1965. Signet/New American Library. 0451502787. Afterword By Morton Berman. 560 pages. paperback. CT278. Signet Classic original. FROM THE PUBLISHER - One of George Eliot's finest achievements, The Mill on the Floss is famed both for its unsurpassed depiction of English rural 'life and for its striking, superbly drawn heroine, Maggie Tulliver. The novel's evocation of childhood in the English countryside - at once unsentimental, yet rich with delight - stands as an enduring triumph; but equally memorable are its portrayal of a narrow, tradition - bound society and its dramatic unfolding of tragic human destiny. The conflict between Maggie and1 her brother, Tom - a conflict between romance and reason, daring and caution, rebellion and acceptance - helps shape a work that explores the full moral complexities of human choice and action. The book is a work that gives vivid display of the author's mastery of narrative art, her broad range of understanding, and her profound sense of artistic purpose. As Morton Berman writes: 'George Eliot's concept of art is really very simple. art has a moral mission; it widens men's sympathies by affording, in addition to sensuous delight, 'a faithful depiction of humanity. The Mill on the Floss is earnest, moral, and long; it is hard, however, to see why anyone would want it otherwise.' AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY - Mary Anne (alternatively Mary Ann or Marian) Evans (22 November 1819 - 22 December 1880), better known by her pen name George Eliot, was an English novelist, journalist and translator, and one of the leading writers of the Victorian era. She is the author of seven novels, including Adam Bede (1859), The Mill on the Floss (1860), Silas Marner (1861), Middlemarch (1871–72), and Daniel Deronda (1876), most of them set in provincial England and known for their realism and psychological insight.

[ 0279 ] Koestler, Arthur. Darkness at Noon. New York. Signet/New American Library. 0451502795. paperback. CP279. Signet Classic reprint. FROM THE PUBLISHER - Focused on the era of the Moscow trials, Darkness at Noon describes an aging Bolshevik's total loss of perspective when faced by the new regime's inquisitors. At given intervals, Rubashov leaves the rumor - ridden limbo of his prison cell for interrogation - or else is appeased with gifts - first by the reproachful ironist, Ivanov, then by his remote and sadistic colleague, Gletkin. The machine of guilt is brought fully to bear; and, in a nightmarish moment of failing logic, Rubashov makes his preposterous and fatal confession. 'The book reaches the stature of tragedy, whereas an English or American writer could at most have made it into a polemical tract . from his European angle [Koestler] can see such things as purges and mass deportations for what they are. ' George Orwell AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY - Arthur Koestler (5 September 1905, Budapest - 3 March 1983, London) was an author of essays, novels and autobiographies. In 1940 he published his devastating anti-totalitarian novel, DARKNESS AT NOON, which propelled him to international fame.

[ 0280 ] no information. Signet Classic title - no information. New York. Signet/New American Library. 0451502809. paperback. 280. FROM THE PUBLISHER - No information available. AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY -

[ 0281 ] Ghosh, Oroon (translator). The Dance of Shiva and Other Tales From India. New York. 1965. Signet/New American Library. 0451502817. Newly Translated By Oroon Ghosh.Foreword By A.L. Basham. Illustrations By Baniprosonno. 341 pages. paperback. CT281. Signet Classic original. FROM THE PUBLISHER - Nowhere is the tradition of storytelling more deeply rooted than in India, where tales told three thousand years ago are still part of popular culture. In this volume, a rich sampling of the many strands that make up this tradition has been memorably rendered into English. These stories range over a wide human spectrum. They deal with love and adventure, religion and philosophy; among them are to be found animal stories that predate Aesop, and stories of Buddha that form part of India's great spiritual heritage. Some of these tales have the naïve purity of folk art; others are shaped with rare sophistication. All, however, help the reader understand - and delight in - one of the most fascinating of civilizations. Highly colored and exotic, of the spirit and of the flesh, they illumine universal human truth. In the words of A. L. Basham: 'The cultural heritage of the Western world is strengthened and deepened by the efforts of Dr. Ghosh and others like him, for thus new elements are injected into the intellectual stream . I hope that these stories will be enjoyed by a very wide circle of readers, wherever the English language is spoken.' Illustrations by Baniprosonno. AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY -

[ 0282 ] Irving, Washington. The Sketch Book. New York. 1961. Signet/New American Library. 0451502825. Afterword by Perry Miller. 381 pages. paperback. CT282. Cover: Tsao. Signet Classic reprint. FROM THE PUBLISHER - Published in 1820, Washington Irving's celebrated SKETCH BOOK has proved as enduring as the enchanted Kaatskill Mountains he immortalized. From these masterpieces in miniature have emerged such universal figures of American fiction and fantasy as Rip Van Winkle, Ichabod Crane, and the Headless Horseman of Sleepy Hollow. Sage, storyteller, wit, Washington Irving touched on many subjects and treated each with a master's hand. Included in his volume are tales of romance, vignettes on bygone English customs, travel pictures, reflections on historic landmarks, essays on the American Indian, biographical discourses, and literary musings. Fresh in theme, bewitching in style, and superb in craftsmanship, his stories earned Washington Irving his place as father of American literature. Thackeray called Washington Irving the 'first ambassador whom the New World of Letters sent to the Old.' AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY - Washington Irving (April 3, 1783 - November 28, 1859) was an American author, essayist, biographer, historian, and diplomat of the early 19th century. He is best known for his short stories 'Rip Van Winkle' (1819) and 'The Legend of Sleepy Hollow' (1820).

[ 0283 ] Shakespeare, William. Henry IV, Part 1. New York. 1965. Signet/New American Library. 0451502833. Edited & With An Introduction By Maynard Mack. paperback. CD283. Cover: Milton Glaser. Signet Classic original. FROM THE PUBLISHER - Henry IV: Part I is the second in a series of four English history plays that make up Shakespeare's major tetralogy. It continues the saga of the Bolingbrook family and the Plantagenet monarchy that begins with Henry IV's seizure of power in Richard II; it leads naturally to Henry IV: Part II; the tetralogy culminates in Henry V, as Prince Hal of Henry IV's reign becomes Henry V, the great and beloved warrior king of the English people. Quite obviously, Shakespeare drew upon chronicles of actual English history as the framework for Henry IV: Part I and the other three plays in the series. Just as clearly, the playwright compressed the timing of events for dramatic purposes and composed all of the play's dialogue. But even more important, the 'tavern' dimension of Henry IV: Part I is purely Shakespeare's creation. Its addition allows Shakespeare to use the dramatic techniques of juxtaposition, inversion, and antithesis as the plot shifts back and forth between the troubled realm of Henry IV's court and the madcap, vulgar world of the tavern in which Sir John Falstaff presides. Indeed, the counterpoint contrast between the high and the low that Shakespeare uses here was a radical stage innovation in its day, allowing for the inclusion of comic episodes within a deadly serious political history. At bottom, Henry IV: Part I is essentially a coming of age story in which the king's son, Prince Henry or Hal, emerges from his youthful role as a wastrel companion of the tavern crew, into the role of a genuine English monarch by virtue of both blood and character. -- R. Moore. AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY - William Shakespeare (26 April 1564 (baptised) - 23 April 1616) was an English poet, playwright, and actor, widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's national poet and the 'Bard of Avon'. His extant works, including some collaborations, consist of about 38 plays, 154 sonnets, two long narrative poems.

[ 0284 ] Smollett, Tobias. Humphry Clinker. New York. Signet/New American Library. 0451502841. paperback. CP284. Signet Classic reprint. FROM THE PUBLISHER - With the sharp sensitivity of 'a man without skin' Tobias Smollett humorously attacked the frivolity and foibles of eighteenth - century England. Humphry Clinker is his mirthful tale of a tour by coach and four through cities and countryside. Five people embark on the journey: the crusty eccentric, Squire Bramble; his husband - hunting sister, Tabitha; her maid, Winifred; and Bramble's youthful niece and nephew,. Lydia and Jery. En route they are joined by Humphry Clinker, an honest Wiltshire lad of tattered cloth and empty purse. As misadventure follows misadventure, each character reveals his true self by giving his own conflicting view of the incidents, places, and people encountered along the way. The result is an entertaining and realistic picture of that wonderful age when gentlemen duelled, ladies swooned, and servants rose from rags to riches. AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY - Tobias George Smollett (19 March 1721 - 17 September 1771) was a Scottish poet and author. He was best known for his picaresque novels, such as The Adventures of Roderick Random (1748) and The Adventures of Peregrine Pickle (1751).

[ 0285 ] Gogol, Nicolai. The Diary of a Madman and Other Stories. New York. Signet/New American Library. 045150285x. paperback. CP285. Signet Classic reprint. FROM THE PUBLISHER - NIKOLAI GOGOL is universally regarded as the father of Russian realism. His stories are rooted in commonplace events; his characters are the underdog and the insignificant. A romantic at heart, he used a startling blend of broad comedy and weird fantasy to expose the stupidity, coarseness, and meanness of life. This Signet Classic includes five of Gogol's most famous stories: THE DIARY OF A MADMAN, THE NOSE, THE CARRIAGE, THE OVERCOAT, and a full - length historical romance: TARAS BULBA. AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY - Nikolay Vasilyevich Gogol (1809-52), Russian writer, whose plays, short stories, and novels rank among the great masterpieces of 19th-century Russian realist literature.

[ 0286 ] Tennyson, Alfred Lord. Idylls of the King. New York. Signet/New American Library. 0451502868. paperback. CT286. Signet Classic reprint. FROM THE PUBLISHER - 'With regal melancholy and a superb sense of craft, Tennyson's poems evoke Past and Present - the Isle of the Lotos-Eaters, heraldic Camelot, his own twilit English gardens - seeking to reconcile the Victorian zeal for public progress with private despair. Using his own eloquence or masks of mythic figures, Tennyson was the stylist most imitated by poets of his day - praised over all the rest for his vigorous portrayals of the 'general conscience' of statesmen and common men alike.' AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY - Alfred Tennyson (6 August 1809 - 6 October 1892) was Poet Laureate of Great Britain and Ireland during much of Queen Victoria's reign and remains one of the most popular British poets.

[ 0287 ] Dickens, Charles. Martin Chuzzlewit. New York. 1965. Signet/New American Library. 0451502876. Afterword By Marvin Murdrick. 896 pages. paperback. CQ287. Signet Classic original. FROM THE PUBLISHER - A parable of selfishness, a grisly melodrama, and an exuberant triumph of comic invention, Martin Chuzzlewit gives full display to Dickens' genius. Peopled by many of the author's most famous character creations - among them the memorable Mr. Pecksniff and the inimitable Mrs. Sarah Gamp - it tells a story of innocence, treachery, and retribution, with a young hero who makes the near - fatal error of seeking his fortune in America. The complex plot marks the transition from Dickens' earlier picaresque narratives to the structural unity of his later works; the novel's depiction of American life represents a high point in Dickensian social satire, rendering a judgment since echoed by many foreign visitors to our shores, but never in a form so bitter, so biting, or so wonderfully entertaining. Writing of Dickens, Marvin Mudrick declares: 'The point is not that he is a master of the comic and the ridiculous, though of course he is. The operative word is 'extravagances': it is the unexpended and startling momentum, the reckless improvisation, the demoniacal gusto. that identify the special Dickensian ridiculous.' AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY - Charles John Huffam Dickens (7 February 1812 - 9 June 1870) was an English writer and social critic. He created some of the world's most memorable fictional characters and is generally regarded as the greatest novelist of the Victorian period. During his life, his works enjoyed unprecedented fame, and by the twentieth century his literary genius was broadly acknowledged by critics and scholars. His novels and short stories continue to be widely popular.

[ 0288 ] Villon, Francois. The Poems of Francois Villon. New York. 1965. Signet/New American Library. 0451502884. Newly Translated From The French & With An Introduction By Galway Kinnell.Bilingual Edition. 224 pages. paperback. CT288. Signet Classic original. FROM THE PUBLISHER - Francois Villon lived five centuries ago. Of his life, little more than a shadowy legend remains - the legend of a student turned vagabond and thief, living amid desperate poverty and violence. Yet the poems Villon created strike the modern reader with singular clarity. He was the first of all great poets of the city; the first to encompass within his art the harsh physical realities and unsentimental vision of life lived in the urban lower depths. His is a poetry that is direct, forceful, yet infinitely supple, capable of biting satire, uninhibited ribaldry, gallows humor - and capable, too, of unsurpassed lyric flight and haunting, poignant beauty. In this Signet Classic bilingual edition - with French and English texts printed on facing pages - the poet Galway Kinnell has achieved memorable translations of poems which remain forever fresh, as vivid as the extraordinary sensibility which gave them birth. In the words of Mr. Kinnell: '[Villon's] poetry starts from the grossest base, it is made of pain and laughter, and it is indestructible.' The French text in this edition is based upon the authoritative Longnon - Foulet text of 1932. AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY - Francois Villon (born in Paris in 1431 and disappeared from view in 1463), is the best known French poet of the late Middle Ages. A ne'er-do-well who was involved in criminal behavior and got into numerous scrapes with authorities, Villon wrote about some of these experiences in his poems.

[ 0289 ] Shakespeare, William. Timon of Athens. New York. 1965. Signet/New American Library. 0451502892. Edited By Maurice Charney. 239 pages. paperback. CD289. Cover: Milton Glaser. Signet Classic original. FROM THE PUBLISHER - In Timon of Athens, the wealthy, magnificent, and extravagantly generous figure of Timon expects that, having received as gifts all that he owned, his friends will be equally generous to him. Once his creditors clamor for repayment however, Timon finds that his idealization of friendship is an illusion. He repudiates his friends, abandons Athens, and retreats to the woods. Yet his misanthropy arises from the destruction of an admirable illusion, from which his subsequent hatred can never be entirely disentangled. Unique Features Of The Signet Classic Shakespeare - TIMON OF ATHENS. Special Introduction to the play by the editor, Maurice Charney, Rutgers University. General discussion of Shakespeare's life, world, and theater by the general editor of the Signet Classic Shakespeare serigs, Sylvan Barnet, Tufts, University. Sources from which Shakespeare derived TIMON OF ATHENS - Lucian: Timon, translated by Lionel Casson; Plutarch: from The Lives of the Noble Grecians and Romans, translated by Sir Thomas North; William Painter: Selections from The Palace of Pleasure ~ Dramatic criticism from the past and present: commentaries by William Richardson, Roy Walker, David Cook ~ Text and commentaries printed in the clearest,: most readable type. Name of each speaker given in full. Detailed footnotes at the bottom of each page of the play keyed to the numbered lines of the text. Textual note. Extensive bibliography. AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY - William Shakespeare (26 April 1564 (baptised) - 23 April 1616) was an English poet, playwright, and actor, widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's national poet and the 'Bard of Avon'. His extant works, including some collaborations, consist of about 38 plays, 154 sonnets, two long narrative poems.

[ 0290 ] Chekhov, Anton. Ward Six and Other Stories. New York. 1965. Signet/New American Library. 0451502906. Newly Translated from the Russian by Ann Dunnigan. Afterword by Rufus W. Mathewson. 399 pages. paperback. CT290. Cover by Cliff Condak??. FROM THE PUBLISHER - These six stories-here presented in memorable new translations-represent Chekhov's narrative genius at the full range and power of its maturity. As masterfully constructed as his earlier stories, but with far greater richness and dimension, they deal with human beings suffering the pain of existence, their lives illumined by the author's rigorous objectivity. The novella Ward Six, with its hauntingly symbolic depiction of the world of an insane asylum; The Duel, with its theme of moral degradation, its hint of regeneration; and A Dull Story, with its relentless depiction of a culture that corrupts and alienates., these and others present a vivid portrait of what Rufus W, Mathewson calls a ‘blighted' society, seen through the eyes of a writer whose understanding of ‘human foolishness' is without equal. In his incisive Afterword Mr. Mathewson discards the accepted stereotypes, reappraising Chekhov's personality and work. He points out that Chekhov demands much of his readers, but gives much in return: ‘The reader is challenged to collaborate in the experience of the story, to interpret it in the way an actor interprets the text of a play, or a musician a score. A good performance' by the reader will yield a very great reward.' AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY - Anton Pavlovich Chekhov (29 January 1860 - 15 July 1904) was a Russian physician, dramatist and author who is considered to be among the greatest writers of short stories in history. His career as a dramatist produced four classics and his best short stories are held in high esteem by writers and critics. Chekhov practised as a doctor throughout most of his literary career.

[ 0291 ] Hölderlin, Friedrich. Hyperion. New York. 1965. Signet/New American Library. 0451502914. Newly Translated From The German By Willard R. Trask.Foreword By Alexander Gode-von Aesch. 173 pages. paperback. CT291. Signet Classic original. FROM THE PUBLISHER - Here, presented in its first English translation, is Friedrich Hölderlin's great novel, Hyperion. Cast in the form of letters from its eighteenth - century protagonist to a German friend, this book charts the course of a desperate search for fulfillment in action, in love, and in final contemplation; its story is one of human disillusion and human rebirth. In it the reader will encounter one of the most vivid of all literary landscapes - a landscape the author never saw but to which he dedicated all the resources of his art - the landscape of Greece, bathed in blazing sunlight, infused with remembered glory. Written in a prose whose remarkable rhythmic power deeply influenced Nietzsche, Hyperion represents a triumph of the poetic imagination and a projection of a vision of the human condition that has caused the figure of Hölderlin to loom ever larger in the contemporary literary consciousness. In the words of Alexander Gode - von Aesch: 'if ever it seems a little 'absurd' that existentialism. has on its roster no name of a poet not hedged by excuses and qualifications, turn to Hölderlin.' AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY - Johann Christian Friedrich Hölderlin (20 March 1770 - 7 June 1843) was a major German lyric poet, commonly associated with the artistic movement known as Romanticism. Hölderlin was also an important thinker in the development of German Idealism, particularly his early association with and philosophical influence on his seminary roommates and fellow Swabians Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel and Friedrich Wilhelm Joseph Schelling.

[ 0292 ] Emerson, Ralph Waldo. Selected Writings of Ralph Waldo Emerson. New York. 1965. Signet/New American Library. 0451502922. Edited & With A Foreword By William H. Gilman. 479 pages. paperback. CQ292. Cover: Lambert. Signet Classic original. FROM THE PUBLISHER - Ralph Waldo Emerson stands as one of the great figures of nineteenth-century America. More than any other man he personifies the brilliant late flowering of the New England tradition. This Signet Classic edition of selections from Emerson's Journals, Letters, Essays, and Poetry offers a broad view of the author's finest work. Featured here is a considerable amount of new material from the Journals, including an entry discovered in 1964 in the Library of Congress which reveals Emerson's enlightened attitude about the Negro question. The writings range from homely descriptions of daily life to superbly polished meditations on human purpose and destiny, from sharply etched biographical studies to soaring, lyric, philosophical flights. Shaped by a passionate belief in individual freedom and a deep humility before the immensity of Nature, they reflect a life and a spirit whose independence and integrity speak out with resounding significance to the modern world. As the noted Emerson scholar and editor William H. Gilman writes: 'Emerson took constant risks in following the bent of his thought wherever it might go - all the risks a man can take when he grimly determines to abandon repose and seek the truth. The example to the twentieth century is obvious. A man or woman today might not want to imitate Emerson, but if he did, at least he would know what it meant to be fully alive.' AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY - Ralph Waldo Emerson (May 25, 1803 - April 27, 1882) was an American essayist, lecturer, and poet, who led the Transcendentalist movement of the mid-19th century. He was seen as a champion of individualism and a prescient critic of the countervailing pressures of society, and he disseminated his thoughts through dozens of published essays and more than 1,500 public lectures across the United States.

[ 0293 ] Shakespeare, William. Twelfth Night. New York. 1963. Signet/New American Library. 0451502930. Edited By Herschel Baker. 208 pages. paperback. CD293. Cover: Milton Glaser. Signet Classic original. FROM THE PUBLISHER - 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. Unique Features Of The Signet Classic Shakespeare - TWELFTH NIGHT. Special Introduction to the play by Herschel Baker, Harvard University. General discussion of Shakespeare's life, world, and theater by the general editor of the Signet Classic Shakespeare series, Sylvan Barnet, Tufts University. Source from which Shakespeare derived TWELFTH NIGHT - Barnabe Rich: OF APOLONIUS AND SILLA. Dramatic criticism from the past and present: commentaries by Samuel Johnson, William Hazlitt, Charles Lamb, Harley Granville - Barker, John Dover Wilson. Text and commentaries printed in the clearest, most readable type. Name of each speaker given in full. Detailed footnotes at the bottom of each page of the play keyed to the numbered lines of time text. Textual note. Extensive bibliography. AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY - William Shakespeare (26 April 1564 (baptised) - 23 April 1616) was an English poet, playwright, and actor, widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's national poet and the 'Bard of Avon'. His extant works, including some collaborations, consist of about 38 plays, 154 sonnets, two long narrative poems.

[ 0294 ] Shakespeare, William. Pericles. New York. 1965. Signet/New American Library. 0451502949. Edited By Ernest Schanzer. 208 pages. paperback. CD294. Cover: Milton Glaser. Signet Classic original. FROM THE PUBLISHER - Pericles tells of a prince who risks his life to win a princess, but discovers that she is in an incestuous relationship with her father and flees to safety. He marries another princess, but she dies giving birth to their daughter. The adventures continue from one disaster to another until the grown-up daughter pulls her father out of despair and the play moves toward a gloriously happy ending. Unique Features Of The Signet Classic Shakespeare - PERICLES. Special Introduction to the play by the editor Ernest Schanzer, University of Munich. General discussion of Shakespeare's life, world, and theater by the general editor of the Signet Classic Shakespeare series, Sylvan Barnet, Tufts University. Sources from which Shakespeare derived PERICLES - John Cower: from Confessio Amantis ; Laurence Twine: from The Pattern of Painful Adventures. Major dramatic criticism: commentaries by G. Wilson Knight, John F. Danby, Kenneth Muir, M. St. Clare Byrne. Text and commentaries printed in the clearest, most readable type. Name of each speaker given in full. Detailed footnotes at the bottom of each page of the play keyed to the numbered lines of the text. Textual note. Extensive bibliography. AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY - William Shakespeare (26 April 1564 (baptised) - 23 April 1616) was an English poet, playwright, and actor, widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's national poet and the 'Bard of Avon'. His extant works, including some collaborations, consist of about 38 plays, 154 sonnets, two long narrative poems.

[ 0295 ] Hugo, Victor. The Hunchback of Notre Dame. New York. 1965. Signet/New American Library. 0451502957. Newly Translated From The French By Walter J. Cobb.Afterword By Andre Maurois. 512 pages. paperback. CT295. Signet Classic original. FROM THE PUBLISHER - The setting of this extraordinary historical novel is medieval Paris: a city of vividly intermingled beauty and grotesquerie, surging with violent life under the twin towers of its greatest structure and supreme symbol, the cathedral of Notre - Dame. Against this background Victor Hugo unfolds the haunting drama of Quasimodo, the monstrous hunch back; Esmera Ida, the gypsy dancer; and Claude Frollo, the priest tortured by the specter of his own damnation. Shaped by a profound sense of tragic irony, it is a work which gives full play to the author's brilliant historical imagination, his remarkable powers of description. Whether depicting the frenzy of a brutish mob or the agony of a solitary soul, whether capturing the drunken blaze of sunlight or dungeon darkness, Victor Hugo's art never fails in its quest for the immediacy of felt experience. Immensely popular from its original publication to the present day, The Hunchback of Notre - Dame stands as an unsurpassed and enduring literary triumph. As AndrE Maurois writes: 'Hugo's characters were to live in the minds of men of all countries and all races. They are unforgettable because they possess the elemental grandeur of myths and epics.' AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY - Victor Marie Hugo (26 February 1802 - 22 May 1885) was a French poet, novelist, and dramatist of the Romantic movement. He is considered one of the greatest and best known French writers. In France, Hugo's literary fame comes first from his poetry but also rests upon his novels and his dramatic achievements.

[ 0296 ] Shakespeare, William. All's Well That Ends Well. New York. 1965. Signet/New American Library. 0451502965. Edited By Sylvan Barnet. 200 pages. paperback. CD296. Cover: Milton Glaser. Signet Classic original. FROM THE PUBLISHER - Shakespeare's All's Well That Ends Well is the story of its heroine, Helen, more so than the story of Bertram, for whose love she yearns. Helen wins Bertram as her husband despite his lack of interest and higher social standing, but she finds little happiness in the victory as he shuns, deserts, and attempts to betray her. The play suggests some sympathy for Bertram. As a ward to the French king, he must remain at court while his friends go off to war and glory. When Helen cures the King, he makes Bertram available to her. To exert any control over his life, Bertram goes to war in Italy. Helen then takes the initiative in furthering their marriage, undertaking an arduous journey and a daring trick. Few today, however, see a fairy-tale ending. AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY - William Shakespeare (26 April 1564 (baptised) - 23 April 1616) was an English poet, playwright, and actor, widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's national poet and the 'Bard of Avon'. His extant works, including some collaborations, consist of about 38 plays, 154 sonnets, two long narrative poems.

[ 0297 ] Edwards, Jonathan. Jonathan Edwards: Basic Writings. New York. 1966. Signet/New American Library. 0451502973. Selected,Edited,& With A Foreword by Ola Elizabeth Winslow. 255 pages. paperback. CT297. Cover: Lambert. Signet Classic original. FROM THE PUBLISHER - The writings selected for this Signet Classic edition form the principal legacy of one of the most remarkable thinkers our country has produced. As a Puritan divine Jonathan Edwards represented a major influence in American religious life; as a metaphysician he was the first American to gain an international reputation; as a human being he imbued every page he wrote with profound personal commitment and moral concern. These selections extend from his first essays as a youthful prodigy to the great sermons and treatises of his maturity; they offer both a fascinating record of spiritual evolution and a body of intellectual achievement of truly enduring import. Writing of Edwards, Ola Winslow declares him 'not only a master logician but also a great creative mind, calmly searching out meanings that have engaged great thinkers since the beginning of time - the meaning of God, the universe, and man in this world and in any future there may be. In the small but distinguished company to which he belongs, he is one of the few men of the far past who still have something to say to men of the present hour. AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY - Jonathan Edwards (October 5, 1703 - March 22, 1758) was a Christian preacher, philosopher, and theologian. Edwards 'is widely acknowledged to be America's most important and original philosophical theologian,' and one of America's greatest intellectuals.

[ 0298 ] Porter, Katherine Anne. Pale Horse, Pale Rider. New York. 1967. Signet/New American Library. 0451502981. 175 pages. paperback. CP298. Signet Classic reprint. FROM THE PUBLISHER - Katherine Anne Porter is regarded as one of the most distinguished writers in the world today. Her style is a rare combination of subtlety and insight; her concern is 'human nature, the fatalities of life and the perils of human relationships.' In the three beautiful short novels that comprise PALE HORSE, PALE RIDER she explores the chaotic individualism experienced by those who cope with—and today outlive—their greatest crises. Miranda, the heroine of the first and last stories, survives the ghosts of a poignant but unreal childhood, the Great War, and a flu epidemic that claims her lover—to spend her days with a heightened sense of jeopardy. In 'Noon Wine', Farmer Thompson, though legally acquitted of the murder he commits, can find no justification for his crime and seeks release in a final and tragic act. 'Miss Porter is one of the finest writers of prose in America.'—Granville Hicks . 'There is a kind of magic about everything Miss Porter writes.'—New York Times . 'Katherine Anne Porter moves in the illustrious company headed by Hawthorne, Flaubert, and Henry; James.'—Saturday Review. With an Afterword by Mark Schorer AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY - Katherine Anne Porter (May 15, 1890 - September 18, 1980) was a Pulitzer Prize-winning American journalist, essayist, short story writer, novelist, and political activist. She is known for her penetrating insight; her work deals with dark themes such as betrayal, death and the origin of human evil.

[ 0299 ] Shakespeare, William. Henry IV, Part 2. New York. Signet/New American Library. 045150299x. Edited & With An Introduction and Notes By Norman N. Holland. paperback. CD299. Cover: Milton Glaser. Signet Classic original. FROM THE PUBLISHER - Picking up where Henry IV, Part One left off after the Battle of Shrewsbury, Henry IV, Part Two is the story of England's King Henry IV during his final months of life, his reconciliation with his wayward heir, and his eventual death. AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY - William Shakespeare (26 April 1564 (baptised) - 23 April 1616) was an English poet, playwright, and actor, widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's national poet and the 'Bard of Avon'. His extant works, including some collaborations, consist of about 38 plays, 154 sonnets, two long narrative poems.

[ 0300 ] Dostoyevsky, Fyodor. Notes From Underground/White Nights/The Dream of a Ridiculous Man & Selections From the House of the Dead. New York. Signet/New American Library. 0451503007. 240 pages. paperback. CT300. Cover: Milton Glaser. Signet Classic reprint. FROM THE PUBLISHER - Includes: NOTES FROM UNDERGROUND, WHITE NIGHTS, THE DREAM OF A RIDICULOUS MAN, and SELECTIONS FROM THE HOUSE OF THE DEAD. In this Signet Classic volume can be seen Dostoyevsky's evolving outlook on man's fate. The works presented here were written at distinct periods in the author's life, at decisive moments in his groping for political philosophy and a religious answer. The characters are representative of the human hearts he probed with such surprising insight. They include a whole range of tormented people - from the primitive peasant who kills without understanding that he is destroying a human life to the irritating, anxious antihero of NOTES FROM UNDERGROUND, a man who both craves and despises affection. Thomas Mann described Dostoyevsky as 'an author whose Christian sympathy is ordinarily devoted to human misery, sin, vice, the depths of lust and crime, rather than to nobility of body and soul' and NOTES FROM UNDERGROUND as 'an awe - and terror - inspiring example of this sympathy.' AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY - Fyodor Mikhailovich Dostoyevsky 11 November 1821 - 9 February 1881), sometimes transliterated Dostoevsky, was a Russian novelist, short story writer, essayist and philosopher. Dostoyevsky's literary works explore human psychology in the context of the troubled political, social, and spiritual atmosphere of 19th-century Russia.

[ 0301 ] Shaw, George Bernard. Plays. New York. Signet/New American Library. 0451503015. paperback. CT301. Signet Classic reprint. FROM THE PUBLISHER - Includes: Mrs. Warren's Profession, Arms and the Man, Candida, & Man and Superman. George Bernard Shaw demanded truth and despised convention. He punctured hollow pretensions and smug prudishness - sugar - coating his criticism with ingenious and irreverent wit. In Mrs. Warren's Profession, Arms and the Man, Candida, and Man and Superman, the great playwright satirizes accepted attitudes toward: woman's place in society, military heroism, marriage, the pursuit of man by woman. From a social, literary, and theatrical standpoint, these four plays are among the foremost dramas of the ages - as, intellectually stimulating as they are thoroughly enjoyable. 'My way of joking is to tell the truth: it is the funniest joke in the world.' - G. B. Shaw. AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY - George Bernard Shaw (26 July 1856 - 2 November 1950) was an Irish playwright and a co-founder of the London School of Economics. Although his first profitable writing was music and literary criticism, in which capacity he wrote many highly articulate pieces of journalism, his main talent was for drama, and he wrote more than 60 plays.

[ 0302 ] Jimenez, Juan Ramon. Platero and I. New York. Signet/New American Library. 0451503023. Translated From The Spanish By William H. and Mary M. Roberts. Introduction By William H. Roberts. paperback. CP302. Signet Classic reprint. FROM THE PUBLISHER - He's the children's playmate, the gray goat's companion, and the poet's cherished friend. Small and downy soft, the donkey named Platero romps through the pages of a book that has captured the hearts of readers everywhere. Written by Juan Ramon JimEnez, the 1956 winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature, Platero and I has been translated into the main languages of Western Europe as well as Hebrew and Basque. Like the great Spanish classic Don Quixote, it has found favor with the young, who delight in the adventures of the merry little donkey and the sad poet, and with their elders, who look beyond the narrative to see what the writer has to say about man and his world. Drawings by Baltasar Lobo. AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY - Juan Ramon JimEnez Mantecon (24 December 1881 - 29 May 1958) was a Spanish poet, a prolific writer who received the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1956. One of JimEnez's most important contributions to modern poetry was his advocacy of the French concept of ‘pure poetry.'

[ 0303 ] Butler, Samuel. Erewhon. New York. 1961. Signet/New American Library. 0451503031. Afterword by Kingsley Amis. 240 pages. paperback. CP303. Signet Classic reprint. FROM THE PUBLISHER - Disease is a crime punishable by imprisonment. Machines are considered dangerous; they have been destroyed and banished from the land. This is the way of the world in Erewhon, the imaginary country of simple, straightforward people that was created by Samuel Butler to serve as a foil for his attack on ‘modern' life and thought. With wit and imagination the master satirist lashed out at evolution, medicine, education, justice. And paradoxically he presented several sides of each issue in a many- sided tale of adventure, ideas, escape. As Kingsley Amis points out in his Afterword to this Signet Classic, EREWHON is the first modern Utopian romance, a novel which directly anticipates Huxley's BRAVE NEW WORLD and Orwell's 1984. AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY - Samuel Butler (4 or 5 December 1835 - 18 June 1902) was an iconoclastic Victorian-era English author who published a variety of works. Two of his most famous pieces are the Utopian satire Erewhon and a semi-autobiographical novel published posthumously, The Way of All Flesh. He is also known for examining Christian orthodoxy, substantive studies of evolutionary thought, studies of Italian art, and works of literary history and criticism. Butler also made prose translations of the Iliad and Odyssey which remain in use to this day.

[ 0304 ] Orwell, George. Animal Farm. New York. Signet/New American Library. 045150304x. 128 pages. paperback. CT304. Signet Classic reprint. FROM THE PUBLISHER - This remarkable book has been described in many ways - as a masterpiece. a fairy story. a brilliant satire. a frightening view of the future. A devastating attack on the pig - headed, gluttonous and avaricious rulers in an imaginary totalitarian state, it illuminates the range of human experience from love to hate, from comedy to tragedy. 'A wise, compassionate and illuminating fable for our time. The steadiness and lucidity of Orwell's wit are reminiscent of Anatole France and even of Swift.' - NEW YORK TIMES AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY - Eric Arthur Blair (25 June 1903 - 21 January 1950), known by his pen name George Orwell, was an English novelist, essayist, journalist and critic. His work is characterised by lucid prose, biting social criticism, opposition to totalitarianism, and outspoken support of democratic socialism. He is best known for the allegorical novella Animal Farm (1945) and the dystopian novel Nineteen Eighty-Four (1949). His non-fiction works, including The Road to Wigan Pier (1937), documenting his experience of working-class life in the north of England, and Homage to Catalonia (1938), an account of his experiences soldiering for the Republican faction of the Spanish Civil War (1936–1939), are as critically respected as his essays on politics and literature, language and culture.

[ 0305 ] Tagore, Rabindranath. The Housewarming and Other Selected Writings. New York. 1965. Signet/New American Library. 0451503058. Translated From The Bengali By Mary Lago,Tarun Gupta, & Amiya Chakravarty.Edited & With An Introduction By Amiya Chakravarty. 318 pages. paperback. CT305. Signet Classic original. FROM THE PUBLISHER - Thirty years ago, Rabindranath Tagore's was a name known to all readers, in several languages. Tagore was the sage of the East, the first Asian to win the Nobel Prize for Literature, the master of the story and novella who accommodated Eastern lore and color to Western literary techniques, the teacher who presented India to the rest of the world.' Today, continues the distinguished Indian scholar, lecturer, and author, Professor Amiya Chakravarty, the work of this 'greatest writer of modern India and one of the greatest writers in world literature remains largely unread in America. He points out that Tagore's earlier celebrity was at least partly a triumph of his towering personality, since many of his stories had not yet been translated from the original Bengali. This Signet Classic presents a broader selection of the author's work than has appeared before, the greater part newly translated especially for this edition, although some familiar favorites are included. The many facets of Tagore's creative genius are generously represented: prose sketches, short stories, narrative poems, and ballads based on historical events. Manifest throughout this collection is Tagore's startling ability to communicate to Western readers the nuances of Eastern lore and culture so that the color is not dimmed; to crystallize human experience so that it speaks with universal meaning. Here, too, is fresh evidence of the sweep and depth of Rabindranath Tagore's mind, of his lofty spirit, of his mastery of the very special art of the storyteller. AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY - Rabindranath Tagore (May 7, 1861 - August 7, 1941, Kolkata, India) was born in Bengal. Gitanjali, a group of over 100 prose poems, translated into English by Tagore himself and published in 1911 with the help of the poet Yeats, earned him the 1913 Nobel laureate for literature.

[ 0306 ] Shakespeare, William. Love's Labors Lost. New York. Signet/New American Library. 0451503066. Edited By John Arthos. paperback. CD306. Cover: Milton Glaser. Signet Classic original. FROM THE PUBLISHER - Love's Labour's Lost is one of William Shakespeare's early comedies, believed to have been written in the mid-1590s for a performance at the Inns of Court before Queen Elizabeth I. It follows the King of Navarre and his three companions as they attempt to swear off the company of women for three years of study and fasting. Their subsequent infatuation with the Princess of France and her ladies makes them forsworn. In an untraditional ending for a comedy, the play closes with the death of the Princess's father, and all weddings are delayed for a year. The play draws on themes of masculine love and desire, reckoning and rationalization, and reality versus fantasy. AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY - William Shakespeare (26 April 1564 (baptised) - 23 April 1616) was an English poet, playwright, and actor, widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's national poet and the 'Bard of Avon'. His extant works, including some collaborations, consist of about 38 plays, 154 sonnets, two long narrative poems.

[ 0307 ] Moffett, James and McElheny, Kenneth P. (editors). Points of View: An Anthology of Short Stories. New York. 1966. Signet/New American Library. 0451503074. 576 pages. paperback. CQ307. Signet Classic original. FROM THE PUBLISHER - The scope of this Signet Classic anthology is immense: its forty - one authors range from such figures as Dostoevski, Joyce, Conrad, Gogol, Chekhov, James, De Maupassant, Katherine Mansfield, and Stephen Crane to such modern writers as John Updike, Saul Bellow, Katherine Anne Porter, Truman Capote, Bernard Malamud, Dylan Thomas, Eudora Welty, and Alan Sillitoe. The stories presented here are not the familiar anthology pieces; they offer the reader fresh contact with masters of the short story form. Equally important is the anthology's unique arrangement: editors Moffett and McElheny have grouped the stories according to narrative method, thereby providing a total spectrum of the diverse fictional techniques inherent in the use of point of view. As they detail in their incisive commentary, the tale cannot be separated from the teller; subject and meaning alter as the form alters. 'Just imagine Vanity Fair told by one of its characters instead of by its godlike author, or The Great Gatsby narrated by Gatsby instead of Nick. Intuitively or not, an author chooses his techniques according to his meaning. Good art, as we all know, weds form to content, either through the dissonance of irony or the consonance of harmony. What makes such fusions possible is that our ways of apprehending and sharing experience are themselves a crucial part of what we call experience.' AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY - James Moffett is an author and educator. His works include Points of Departure, Points of View, Teaching the Universe of Discourse, and Storm in the Mountains, among many others. The recipient of the California Association of Teachers of English's Distinguished Author Award and the Carnegie Corporation Grant, Moffett has taught at Harvard; San Diego State University; University of California, Berkeley; and Middlebury College.

[ 0308 ] Roosevelt, Theodore. The Rough Riders. New York. 1961. Signet/New American Library. 0451503082. Afterword by Lawrence Clark Powell. 216 pages. paperback. CD308. Signet Classic reprint. FROM THE PUBLISHER - We Are Coming! There was a war to be fought with Spain in 1898,. and so they volunteered. Choctaws, Creeks, Cherokees from the newly tamed Indian Territory. Cowpunchers, stage drivers, government scouts from the Great Plains states. Riflemen, trappers, miners from the Rocky Mountain West. As Teddy Roosevelt's Rough Riders they rode and fought to fame and glory at Las Guasimas, Santiago. and San Juan Hill. More than a chronicle of a war and men in battle, The Rough Riders endures as a living record of a time, a personality, and a legend. Reading it, we become witnesses to a young America emerging as a great power. a dynamic Roosevelt rushing to fulfill his destined place in her future. , and the cowboy hero's last glorious fling in tribute to her colorful past. AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY - Theodore 'T.R.' Roosevelt Jr. (October 27, 1858 - January 6, 1919) was an American politician, author, naturalist, soldier, explorer, and historian who served as the 26th President of the United States. He was a leader of the Republican Party and founder of the Progressive Party insurgency of 1912.

[ 0309 ] Saint-Exupery, Antoine De. Night Flight. New York. Signet/New American Library. 0451503090. Translated From The French By Stuart Gilbert.Foreword By Andre Gide. 128 pages. paperback. CP309. Signet Classic reprint. FROM THE PUBLISHER - In a novel of rare beauty and power, Saint - ExupEry charts the perilous world of pioneer aviation. Night Flight is the story of hazardous flights made by night through the dangers of darkness and the destructive splendor of sudden Andean storms. It is a story of men who risk their lives to deliver mail in flimsy crates . Fabien, the youthful pilot, who sees in flying a chance for heroic action. Rivière, his superior, who believes that man's salvation lies not in freedom but in the acceptance of duty. 'Aviation, like the exploration of uncharted lands has its early heroic age and Night Flight, which describes the tragic adventure of one of these pioneers of the air, sounds, naturally enough, the authentic epic note.' - AndrE Gide AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY - Antoine de Saint-ExupEry (officially Antoine Marie Jean-Baptiste Roger, comte de Saint ExupEry 29 June 1900 - 31 July 1944) was a French aristocrat, writer, poet, and pioneering aviator.

[ 0310 ] Twain, Mark. The Innocents Abroad. New York. 1966. Signet/New American Library. 0451503104. Afterword By Leslie Fielder. 496 pages. paperback. CT310. Cover: Tsao. Signet Classic original. FROM THE PUBLISHER - One of the most famous travel books ever written about Europe and the Holy Land by an American, The Innocents Abroad is Mark Twain's irreverent and incisive commentary on the 'New Barbarians' encounter with the 'Old World.' Twain's hilarious satire is a double - edged weapon, impaling with sharp wit the chauvinist and the cosmopolitan alike. His naïve Westerner is a blustering pretender to sophistication, a too - quick convert to culture. Turning the coin, the ruins of antiquity appear but a shadow of their heralded glory; the scenery of 'Europe and the Holy Land 'dwarfs in contrast to the splendor of a, Western landscape. With stunning agility Twain unconsciously uses his travelogue - as Leslie A. Fiedler points out - to search out the 'archetypal differences' between Americans and Europeans - the 'American identity.' As Mr. Fiedler points out in his pungent Afterword, this was a quest that was to obsess Mark Twain's literary career: ' . over and over, he was to return to the themes of The Innocents Abroad. a classic work which, without ceasing to be amusing, marks a critical point in the development of our literature, and especially in our attempt through literature to find out who we Americans are.' The Signet Classic edition of The Innocents A broad is based on the text of the first edition, which was published in 1869. AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY - Samuel Langhorne Clemens (November 30, 1835 - April 21, 1910), better known by his pen name Mark Twain, was an American author and humorist. He wrote The Adventures of Tom Sawyer (1876) and its sequel, Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (1885), the latter often called 'the Great American Novel'.

[ 0311 ] Orwell, George. 1984. New York. Signet/New American Library. 0451503112. paperback. CT311. Signet Classic reprint. FROM THE PUBLISHER - Aldous Huxley's BRAVE NEW WORLD and George Orwell's 1984 are the great modern classics of 'Negative Utopia' - not dramas of what life might be . but nightmares of what it is becoming. The world of 1984 is one in which eternal warfare is the price of bleak prosperity, in which the Party keeps itself in power by complete control over man's actions and his thoughts. As the lovers Winston Smith and Julia learn when they try to evade the Thought Police, and then join the underground opposition, the Party can smash the last impulse of love, the last flicker of individuality. But let the reader beware: 1984 is more than a satire of totalitarian barbarism. 'It means us, too,' says Erich Fromm in his Afterword. It is not merely a political novel but also a diagnosis of the deepest alienation in the mind of Organization Man. George Orwell writes with a swift clean style that has come down from Defoe. Like Defoe, he creates an imaginary world that is completely convincing - from the first sentence to the last four words . words which might stand as the epitaph of the twentieth century. AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY - Eric Arthur Blair (25 June 1903 - 21 January 1950), known by his pen name George Orwell, was an English novelist, essayist, journalist and critic. His work is characterised by lucid prose, biting social criticism, opposition to totalitarianism, and outspoken support of democratic socialism. He is best known for the allegorical novella Animal Farm (1945) and the dystopian novel Nineteen Eighty-Four (1949). His non-fiction works, including The Road to Wigan Pier (1937), documenting his experience of working-class life in the north of England, and Homage to Catalonia (1938), an account of his experiences soldiering for the Republican faction of the Spanish Civil War (1936–1939), are as critically respected as his essays on politics and literature, language and culture.

[ 0312 ] Austen, Jane. Northanger Abbey. New York. 1965. Signet/New American Library. 0451503120. Afterword By Elizabeth Hardwick. 224 pages. paperback. CD312. Cover: Kessler. Signet Classic original. FROM THE PUBLISHER - Written during the same period as Pride and Prejudice and Sense and Sensibility, this novel represents Jane Austen's genius at its freshest and most enchanting. Its heroine is Catherine Morland, the mistakenly invited guest at an isolated, and quite mysterious, country manor. There the charming young husband - seeker falls in love with the young man of the house - and becomes willing prey to dark fancies bred in her by the fashionable Gothic horror novels of the day. Before Catherine's difficulties are resolved, the reader is permitted to witness the romantic chase in all its prescribed ritual, and its prime motivations: ambition, pleasure. greed, power, self - interest. , love. With Northanger Abbey Jane Austen created a superb blending of social comedy and barbed literary satire, shaped by a vision merciless toward human folly, yet acutely sensitive to every form of cruelty. Her book stands as the product of an art at once delicate and strong, seemingly fragile hut imperishable - an art which has made Jane Austen. as Elizabeth Hardwick declares, one of the glories of English literatureY In the words of F. R. Leavis, 'Jane Austcn is one of the trLtly great writers, and herself a major fact in the background of other great writers.' AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY - Jane Austen (16 December 1775 - 18 July 1817) was an English novelist whose works of romantic fiction, set among the landed gentry, earned her a place as one of the most widely read writers in English literature. Her realism and biting social commentary have gained her historical importance among scholars and critics.

[ 0313 ] Browning, Robert. The Selected Poetry of Browning. New York. 1966. Signet/New American Library. 0451503139. Edited By George M. Ridenour. 464 pages. paperback. CQ313. Signet Classic original. FROM THE PUBLISHER - THE SIGNET CLASSIC POETRY SERIES PRESENTS SELECTED. WORKS OF THE MAJOR BRITISH AND AMERICAN POETS IN AUTHORITATIVE TEXTS EDITED BY OUTSTANDING SCHOLARS. UNIQUE FEATURES OF THE SELECTED POETRY OF BROWNING: Concentrates on the longer poems of this major Victorian poet. The old favorites are well represented but the editor has placed emphasis on the poems that show us the Browning that modern scholarship reveals. Included among the forty poems are 'Fra Lippo Lippi,' 'Childe Roland to the Dark Tower Came,' 'Two in the Campagna,' 'The Heretic's Tragedy,' 'A Toccata of Galuppi's' and selections from The Ring and the Book. General Introduction to the special character and development of Browning's poetry by the editor, George M. Ridenour, Professor of English at The University of New Mexico and author of critical studies on Browning, Byron and Coleridge. Chronology of Browning's life. Text printed in the clearest, most readable type. Footnotes at the bottom of page keyed to the text. Extensive bibliography. AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY - Robert Browning (7 May 1812 - 12 December 1889) was an English poet and playwright whose mastery of dramatic verse, especially dramatic monologues, made him one of the foremost Victorian poets.

[ 0314 ] Hardy, Thomas. Tess of the D'Urbervilles. New York. Signet/New American Library. 0451503147. paperback. CP314. Signet Classic reprint. FROM THE PUBLISHER - She dances on the green with the maidens. She is raped in the wood at sixteen. She buries her child in secret. She milks a cow named Dumpling. She hacks turnips on a barren farm. She stabs a man. She hides in an old house with her lover. She wakes to a circle of police, to a noose in the morning.' Thus Donald Hall writes of the figure who dominates this classic novel of tragic destiny. In Tess, victimized by lust, poverty, and hypocrisy, Thomas Hardy created no standard Victorian heroine, but a woman whose intense vitality flares unforgettably against the bleak background of a dying rural society. Shaped by an acute sense of social injustice and by a vision of human fate cosmic in scope, her story is a singular blending of harsh realism and indelibly poignant beauty. The novel shocked its Victorian audience with its honesty; it remains a triumph of literary art and a timeless commentary on the human condition. In the words of Virginia Woolf 'If we are to place Hardy among his fellows, we must call him the greatest tragic writer in the English language.' AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY - Thomas Hardy (June 2, 1840 - January 11, 1928) was an English novelist and poet. A Victorian realist in the tradition of George Eliot, he focused on a declining rural society.

[ 0315 ] Twain, Mark. A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court. New York. Signet/New American Library. 0451503155. paperback. CP315. Signet Classic reprint. FROM THE PUBLISHER - Hank Morgan, cracked on the head by a crowbar in nineteenth - century Connecticut, wakes to find himself in the England of King Arthur. The tough - minded Yankee, an embodiment of scientific enlightenment, faces a world whose idyllic surface only masks the dark forces of fear, injustice, and ignorance. This is the springboard which launches one of literature's most extraordinary excursions into fantasy. With the agility of Mark Twain's unique virtuosity, this acrobatic tour de force moves from broad comedy to biting social satire, and from the pure joy of wild high jinks to deeply probing insights into the nature of man, whose capacity for progress is matched only by his capacity for destruction. The reader is shaken by laughter - and something more than laughter - as he falls under the book's enchantment and finds that the grim truths of Mark Twain's Camelot strike a resoundingly contemporary note. 'This story is something other and greater than a funny book. It is a work written with a high purpose, to convey what seemed to its author the most profound and elemental truths about human society.' - Stephen Leacock AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY - Samuel Langhorne Clemens (November 30, 1835 - April 21, 1910), better known by his pen name Mark Twain, was an American author and humorist. He wrote The Adventures of Tom Sawyer (1876) and its sequel, Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (1885), the latter often called 'the Great American Novel'.

[ 0316 ] De Quincey, Thomas . Confessions of An English Opium Eater and Other Writings. New York. 1966. Signet/New American Library. 0451503163. Foreword By Aileen Ward. 335 pages. paperback. CT316. Cover: Milton Glaser. Signet Classic original. FROM THE PUBLISHER - 'Opium gives and takes away. It ruins the natural power of life; but it develops preternatural paroxysms of intermitting power.' This is the theme which shapes Confessions of an English Opium Eater, one of the most brilliant achievements in the literature of addiction. Written in the sensuous prose style of which De Quincey was a master, this remarkable book does more than chart the course of the author's dependence upon opium; with kaleidoscopic vividness it evokes the opposing poles of pleasure and pain which comprise an addict's life, the world of dreams and the world of terrible realities. A singular blending of objective analysis and subjective revelation, the Confessions emerges as a superb depiction of a drug - and as a deeply moving self - portrait of a tragically flawed man. 'De Ouincey introduced a new dimension into biography,' writes Aileen Ward, who goes on to declare: 'It is an extraordinary life that De Quincey records - a sober testimony to the resilience of the human spirit and to the creative stimulus to be found in suffering.' This Signet Classic edition includes Suspiria de Profundis, a sequel to the Confessions; a long and partly autobiographical essay 'The English Mail - Coach'; and three critical essays 'On Murder Considered as One of the Fine Arts'. 'On the Knocking at the Gate in Macbeth' and 'The Literature of Knowledge and the Literature of Power.' AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY - Thomas Penson De Quincey (15 August 1785 - 8 December 1859) was an English essayist, best known for his Confessions of an English Opium-Eater (1821). In publishing this work, many scholars suggest that De Quincey inaugurated the tradition of addiction literature in the West, changing the perception of drugs in the European imagination forever.

[ 0317 ] Guiraldes, Ricardo. Don Segundo Sombra. New York. 1966. Signet/New American Library. 0451503171. Translated From The Spanish & With An Afterword By Harriet de Onis.Illustrations By Alberto Guiraldes. 222 pages. paperback. CT317. Cover: Kessler. Signet Classic original. FROM THE PUBLISHER - '[The work of Ricardo Guiraldes] is probably the most original and enduring that Spanish America has produced in this century' writes the noted editor and translator Harriet de Onis in her Afterword to this Signet Classic volume. His most famous novel, Don Segundo Sombra, centers on the adventures of Fabio, a wayward waif. On the surface it is the story oflthe young boy's apprenticeship to Don Segundo, the gaucho who schools him in the skills of broncobusting and cattle - wrangling and in the art of life - life lived according to the 'gaucho canons: patience in the face of adversity, endurance, the vocation and pursuit of freedom, self - discipline, prudence, loyalty.' But more than this, Don Segundo Sombra is the story of a land and its people; in it Guiraldes has 'distilled the essence' of the 'two cornerstones of Argentine mythology' - of the pampa, the vast, treeless plain of Argentina, and of the gaucho, the fabled cowboy of South America. 'Within [the novel's] simple framework,' Harriet de Onis continues, 'is packed all the beauty of the land, of work, of the companionship of men, of freedom, of adventure, told in a language that is a blend of the precise, sober, yet colorful speech of the gaucho, and Guiraldes's sensitive scintillating prose, in which classic and modern influence have been tempered by his genius into an instrument having the beauty and power of a Toledo blade.' AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY - Ricardo Güiraldes (13 February 1886 - 8 October 1927) was an Argentine novelist and poet, one of the most significant Argentine writers of his era, particularly known for his 1926 novel Don Segundo Sombra, set amongst the gauchos.

[ 0318 ] Shakespeare, William. The Merry Wives of Windsor. New York. 1965. Signet/New American Library. 045150318x. Edited By William Green. 188 pages. paperback. CD318. Cover: Milton Glaser. Signet Classic original. FROM THE PUBLISHER - The Merry Wives of Windsor is a comedy by William Shakespeare, first published in 1602, though believed to have been written in or before 1597. The Windsor of the play's title is a reference to the town of Windsor, also the location of Windsor Castle, in Berkshire, England, and though nominally set in the reign of Henry IV, the play makes no pretence to exist outside contemporary Elizabethan era English middle class life. It features the character Sir John Falstaff, the fat knight who had previously been featured in Henry IV, Part 1 and Part 2. It has been adapted for the opera on several occasions. The play is one of Shakespeare's lesser-regarded works among literary critics. AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY - William Shakespeare (26 April 1564 (baptised) - 23 April 1616) was an English poet, playwright, and actor, widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's national poet and the 'Bard of Avon'. His extant works, including some collaborations, consist of about 38 plays, 154 sonnets, two long narrative poems.

[ 0319 ] Lewis, Wyndham. A Soldier of Humor and Selected Writings. New York. 1966. Signet/New American Library. 0451503198. Edited & With An Introduction By Raymond Rosenthal. 461 pages. paperback. CQ319. Signet Classic original. FROM THE PUBLISHER - This Signet Classic volume is the first anthology to cover the full spectrum of Wyndham Lewis' writings. Spanning more than fifty years, these selections offer a creative self - portrait of one of the great, multifaceted talents of our century - a writer who received high critical acclaim but whose work, until now, has not, been readily accessible to the general reader. Included here are such superlative tales as 'A Soldier of Humor,' 'The Death of the Ankou' and others; the play, The Enemy of the Stars; the author's classic studies of Hemingway, Sartre and Malraux; and his boldly original essays on modern art, politics and society. Here, too, are vivid recollections 0ff World War I battlefields, and of the brilliant artistic circle who, with Lewis, set a decisive new course for modern literature. Ever on display are the enormous wit and honesty of an intellect constantly engaged with the problem of human individuality in the world of the machine and mass man. Saul Bellow called Wyndham Lewis 'a brilliant critic and observer,' and T. S. Eliot described him as 'the only writer among my contemporaries to create a new, an original prose style . the most fascinating personality of our time.' As Raymond Rosenthal writes, Wyndham Lewis 'discovered and described the absurd, the anguish of being caught between being and the void, long before these ideas reached us as an intellectual fashion . There is a prophetic quality to all of Lewis' writing.' AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY - Percy Wyndham Lewis (18 November 1882 - 7 March 1957) was an English painter and author (he dropped the name 'Percy', which he disliked). He was a co-founder of the Vorticist movement in art, and edited the literary magazine of the Vorticists, BLAST.

[ 0320 ] Cooper, James Fenimore. The Last of the Mohicans. New York. [1962]. Signet/New American Library. 0451503201. 432 pages. paperback. CP320. Signet Classic reprint. FROM THE PUBLISHER - THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS contains the classic portrait of the man of moral courage who severs all connections with a society whose values he can no longer accept. Despite his chosen exile, Hawk - eye (Natty Bumppo), the frontier scout, risks his life to escort two sisters through hostile Indian country. On the dangerous journey he enlists the aid of the Mohican Chingachgook. And in the challenging ordeal that follows, in their encounters with deception, brutality, and the deaths of loved ones, the friendship between the two men deepens - the scout and the Indian, each with a singular philosophy of independence that has been nurtured and shaped by the silent, virgin forest. ' . in his immortal friendship of Chingachgook and Natty Bumppo [Cooper] dreamed the nucleus of a new society A stark, stripped human relationship of two men, deeper than the deeps of sex. Deeper than property deeper than fatherhood, deeper than marriage, deeper than Love.' - D. H. Lawrence. 'THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS raises again the question of the efficacy of human effort to control irrational forces at work in individual men, races, and nations. The question has never been more pertinent than now.' - James Franklin Beard. AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY - James Fenimore Cooper (September 15, 1789 - September 14, 1851) was a prolific and popular American writer of the early 19th century. His historical romances of frontier and Indian life in the early American days created a unique form of American literature.

[ 0321 ] Hawthorne, Nathaniel. The Marble Faun. New York. Signet/New American Library. 045150321x. paperback. CP321. Signet Classic reprint. FROM THE PUBLISHER - Henry James wrote of The Marble Faun: 'Hawthorne has done few things more beautiful than the picture of the unequal complicity of guilt between his immature and dimly - puzzled hero, with his clinging, unquestioning, unexacting devotion, and the dark, powerful, more widely - seeing feminine nature of Miriam. If the book contained nothing else noteworthy but. the murder committed by Donatello under Miriam's eyes and the ecstatic wandering, afterward, of the guilty couple through the 'bloodstained streets of Rome,' it would still deserve to rank high among the imaginative productions of our day.' The cosmopolitanism of this novel foreshadows one of the most important themes in our literature - the 'international theme' which was 40 later dominate the work of Henry James. Of all Hawthorne's fiction, The Marble Faun clearly dispels the myth of Hawthorne's unwavering Puritan morality. It projects the author's fascination with the eternal struggle between, in Murray Krieger's words, 'the unfeeling virtue of moral severity and the yielding grace of faulty humanity . the profound conflict between the limited claims of American moralism and of European aestheticism.' AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY - Nathaniel Hawthorne (born Nathaniel Hathorne; July 4, 1804 - May 19, 1864) was an American novelist and short story writer. Much of Hawthorne's writing centers on New England, many works featuring moral allegories with a Puritan inspiration.

[ 0322 ] Stowe, Harriet Beecher. Uncle Tom's Cabin. New York. 1966. Signet/New American Library. 0451503228. Afterword by John William Ward. 496 pages. paperback. CT322. Cover by Milton Glaser. Signet Classic original. FROM THE PUBLISHER - ‘So this is the little lady who made this big war ‘Abraham Lincoln's legendary comment upon meeting Mrs. Stowe has been seriously questioned, but few will deny that this work fed the passions and prejudices of countless numbers. If it did not ‘make' the Civil War, it flamed the embers. That UNCLE TOM'S CABIN is far more than an outdated work of propaganda confounds literary criticism. The novel's overwhelming power and persuasion have outlived even the most severe of critics. As Professor John William Ward of Amherst College points out in his incisive Afterword, the dilemma posed by Mrs. Stowe is no less relevant today thin it was in 1852: What is it to be ‘a moral human being' ? Can such a person live in society -any society? Commenting on the timeless significance of the book, Professor Ward writes: ‘UNCLE TOM'S CABIN is about slavery but it is about slavery because the fatal weakness of the slave's condition is the extreme manifestation of the sickness of the general society, a society breaking up into discrete, atomistic individuals where human beings, white or black, can find no secure relation one with another. Mrs. Stowe was more radical than even those in the South who hated her could see. Uncle Tom's Cabin suggests no less than the simple and terrible possibility that society has no place in it for love . ‘ With an Afterword by John William Ward. AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY - Harriet Elisabeth Beecher Stowe (June 14, 1811 - July 1, 1896) was an American abolitionist and author. Her novel Uncle Tom's Cabin (1852) was a depiction of life for African Americans under slavery; it reached millions as a novel and play, and became influential in the United States and United Kingdom.

[ 0323 ] Milton, John. Samson Agonistes and the Shorter Poems of Milton. New York. 1966. Signet/New American Library. 0451503236. Edited By Isabel Gamble MacCaffrey. 216 pages. paperback. CT323. Signet Classic original. FROM THE PUBLISHER - UNIQUE FEATURES OF SAMSON AGONISTES AND THE SHORTER POEMS OF MILTON: Covers the full spectrum of Milton's, art ranging from the early hymn 'On the Morning of Christ's Nativity' to the tragic drama Samson Agonistes. More than forty selections are presented, including Lycidas, Comus, 'Il Penseroso,' 'L'Allegro' and selected Sonnets General Introduction to the special character and development of Milton's poetry by the editor, Isabel Gamble MacCaffrey, Associate Professor of English at Bryn Mawr College and author of Paradise Lost as 'Myth ' . Chronology of Milton's life. Text printed in the clearest, most readable type. Footnotes at the bottom of page keyed to the text Extensive bibliography AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY - John Milton (9 December 1608 - 8 November 1674) was an English poet, polemicist, man of letters, and a civil servant for the Commonwealth of England under Oliver Cromwell. He wrote at a time of religious flux and political upheaval, and is best known for his epic poem Paradise Lost (1667), written in blank verse.

[ 0324 ] Doyle, Sir Arthur Conan. The Adventures of the Speckled Band and Other Stories of Sherlock Holmes. New York. 1965. Signet/New American Library. 0451503244. Introduction By William S. Baring-Gould. 287 pages. paperback. CD324. Cover: James McMullan. Signet Classic original. FROM THE PUBLISHER - Except for Hamlet, no fictional character has been the subject of more scholarly argument and speculation than Sherlock Holmes. His adventures have been translated into 41 languages. He has appeared in 21 plays, 121 movies, and is currently starring on Broadway in the musical, 'Baker Street.' To quote from Baring - Gould's brilliant - nay, Holmesian - lntroduction: '. it is the character of Holmes that grips us - a character so real that to this day letters are written to 'Mr. Sherlock Holmes, 221B Baker Street, London, England.' Perhaps William Bolitho expressed it best when he said that 'Holmes is the spirit of a town and a time.' The town, of course, is London - a gaslit London where the fog swirls thick against the windowpanes, and four - wheelers and hansoms rumble down the cobblestoned streets - and the time is the late Victorian and early Edwardian eras. If you would see for yourself why Sherlock Holmes has for so long held his place in English literature, turn to the twelve stories in this volume. They have been selected with great discrimination, and each is explained in a lengthy, delightful note by William S. Baring - Gould, the editor of this Signet Classic and author of the definitive 'biography' of Sherlock Holmes. AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY - Sir Arthur Ignatius Conan Doyle (22 May 1859 - 7 July 1930) was a Scottish physician and writer who is most noted for his fictional stories about the detective Sherlock Holmes, which are generally considered milestones in the field of crime fiction.

[ 0325 ] Keats, John. The Selected Poetry of Keats. New York. 1966. Signet/New American Library. 0451503252. Edited & With An Introduction By Paul de Man. 352 pages. paperback. CQ325. Cover: Milton Glaser. Signet Classic original. FROM THE PUBLISHER - The Signet Classic poetry series presents selected works of the major British and American poets in authoritative texts edited by outstanding scholars. Unique features of the selected poetry of Keats: Presents the major works of the great Romantic poet in full - EUDYMION, HYPERION, THE FALL OF HYPERION . the odes, including ‘On a Grecian Urn' and ‘ To a Nightingale' . as well as a representative selection of Keats's sonnets and his letters. General introduction to the special character and development of Keats's work by the editor, Paul de Man, Professor of Comparative Literature at Cornell University and author of THE POST - ROMANTIC PREDICAMENT and ENGLISH ROMANTIC POETS. Chronology of Keats's life. Text printed in the clearest, most readable type. Footnotes at the bottom of page keyed to the text. Extensive bibliography. AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY - John Keats was one of the main figures of the second generation of romantic poets along with Lord Byron and Percy Bysshe Shelley, despite his work only having been in publication for four years before his death. Although his poems were not generally well received by critics during his life, his reputation grew after his death, so that by the end of the 19th century he had become one of the most beloved of all English poets.

[ 0326 ] Shakespeare, William. The Comedy of Errors. New York. 1965. Signet/New American Library. 0451503260. Edited By Harry Levin. paperback. CD326. Cover: Milton Glaser. Signet Classic original. FROM THE PUBLISHER - The Comedy of Errors is one of William Shakespeare's early plays. It is his shortest and one of his most farcical comedies, with a major part of the humour coming from slapstick and mistaken identity, in addition to puns and word play. The Comedy of Errors (along with The Tempest) is one of only two of Shakespeare's plays to observe the Unity of Time (classical unities). It has been adapted for opera, stage, screen and musical theatre numerous times worldwide. The Comedy of Errors tells the story of two sets of identical twins that were accidentally separated at birth (Shakespeare was father to one pair of twins). Antipholus of Syracuse and his servant, Dromio of Syracuse, arrive in Ephesus, which turns out to be the home of their twin brothers, Antipholus of Ephesus and his servant, Dromio of Ephesus. When the Syracusans encounter the friends and families of their twins, a series of wild mishaps based on mistaken identities lead to wrongful beatings, a near-seduction, the arrest of Antipholus of Ephesus, and false accusations of infidelity, theft, madness, and demonic possession. AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY - William Shakespeare (26 April 1564 (baptised) - 23 April 1616) was an English poet, playwright, and actor, widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's national poet and the 'Bard of Avon'. His extant works, including some collaborations, consist of about 38 plays, 154 sonnets, two long narrative poems.

[ 0327 ] Shakespeare, William. Henry V. New York. 1965. Signet/New American Library. 0451503279. Edited By John Russell Brown. 240 pages. paperback. CD327. Cover: Milton Glaser. Signet Classic original. FROM THE PUBLISHER - THE SIGNET CLASSIC SHAKESPEARE SERIES The work of the world's greatest dramatist in authoritative texts edited by outstanding scholars. Unique Features Of The Signet Classic Shakespeare, HENRY V: Special Introduction to the play by the editor, John Russell Brown, University of Birmingham. General discussion of Shakespeare's life, world, and theater by the general editor of the Signet Classic Shakespeare series, Sylvan Barnet, Tufts University. Source from which Shakespeare derived HENRY V - Raphael Holinshed: from Chronicles of England, Scotland and Ireland. Dramatic criticism from the past and present: commentaries by William Hazlitt, W. B. Yeats, E. M. W. Tillyard. Text and commentaries printed in the clearest, most readable Type. Name of each speaker given in full. Detailed footnotes at the bottom of each page of the play keyed to the numbered tines of the Text. Textual note. Extensive bibliography. AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY - William Shakespeare (26 April 1564 (baptised) - 23 April 1616) was an English poet, playwright, and actor, widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's national poet and the 'Bard of Avon'. His extant works, including some collaborations, consist of about 38 plays, 154 sonnets, two long narrative poems.

[ 0328 ] Shakespeare, William. Coriolanus. New York. Signet/New American Library. 0451503287. Edited By Reuben Brower. paperback. CD328. Cover: Milton Glaser. Signet Classic original. FROM THE PUBLISHER - Coriolanus is a tragedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written between 1605 and 1608. The play is based on the life of the legendary Roman leader Caius Marcius Coriolanus. The tragedy is numbered as one of the last two tragedies written by Shakespeare, along with Antony and Cleopatra. Coriolanus is the name given to a Roman general after his more than adequate military success against various uprisings challenging the government of Rome. Following this success, Coriolanus becomes active in politics and seeks political leadership. His temperament is unsuited for popular leadership and he is quickly deposed, whereupon he aligns himself to set matters straight according to his own will. The alliances he forges along the way result in his ultimate downfall. AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY - William Shakespeare (26 April 1564 (baptised) - 23 April 1616) was an English poet, playwright, and actor, widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's national poet and the 'Bard of Avon'. His extant works, including some collaborations, consist of about 38 plays, 154 sonnets, two long narrative poems.

[ 0329 ] Shelley, Mary. Frankenstein. New York. 1965. Signet/New American Library. 0451503295. Afterword By Harold Bloom. 224 pages. paperback. CD329. Cover: Tsao. Signet Classic original. FROM THE PUBLISHER - The story of Victor Frankenstein and of the monstrous creature he created has held the reading public spellbound since its publication almost a century and a half ago. On the surface, it is a novel of tense and steadily mounting horror; but on a more profound level, it offers searching illumination of the human condition in its portrayal of a scientist who oversteps the bounds of conscience and of a monster brought to life in an alien world, ever more desperately attempting to escape the torture of his solitude. A brilliant exercise in the macabre, written with near - hallucinatory intensity, Frankenstein represents one of the most striking flowerings of the Romantic imagination. Of its contemporary significance, Harold Bloom writes: 'The greatest paradox and most astonishing achievement of Mary Shelley's novel is that the monster is more human than his creator. This nameless being, as much a modern Adam as his creator is a modern Prometheus, is more lovable than his creator and more hateful, more to be pitied and more to be feared, and above all able to give the attentive reader that shock of added consciousness in which aesthetic recognition compels a heightened realization of the self.' AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY - Mary Shelley (nEe Wollstonecraft Godwin; 30 August 1797 - 1 February 1851) was an English novelist, short story writer, dramatist, essayist, biographer, and travel writer, best known for her Gothic novel Frankenstein: or, The Modern Prometheus (1818). She also edited and promoted the works of her husband, the Romantic poet and philosopher Percy Bysshe Shelley.

[ 0330 ] Shakespeare, William. King John. New York. 1966. Signet/New American Library. 0451503309. Edited By William H. Matchett. 224 pages. paperback. CD330. Cover: Milton Glaser. Signet Classic original. FROM THE PUBLISHER - Special Introduction to the play by William H. Matchett, University of Washington ~ General discussion of Shakespeare's life, world, and theater by the general editor of the Signet Classic Shakespeare series, Sylvan Barnet, Tufts University ~ The sources from which Shakespeare derived King John - Raphael Holinshed: from Chronicles of England, Scotland, and Ireland; and Edward Hall: from The Union of the Two Noble and Illustre Families of Lancaster and York '~ Dramatic criticism: commentaries by Donald A. Stauffer, Harold C. Goddard, Muriel St. Glare Byrne '~ Text and commentaries printed in the clearest, most readable type ~ Name of each speaker given in full '~ Detailed footnotes at the bottom of each page of the play. keyed to the numbered lines of the text ~ Textual note ~ Extensive bibliography AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY - William Shakespeare (26 April 1564 (baptised) - 23 April 1616) was an English poet, playwright, and actor, widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's national poet and the 'Bard of Avon'. His extant works, including some collaborations, consist of about 38 plays, 154 sonnets, two long narrative poems.

[ 0331 ] Shakespeare, William. The Taming of the Shrew. New York. 1966. Signet/New American Library. 0451503317. Edited By Heilman. paperback. CD331. Cover: Milton Glaser. Signet Classic original. FROM THE PUBLISHER - A rough-and-tumble farce centered around a lively battle of the sexes, The Taming of the Shrew brims with action and bawdy humor. The unconventional romance between a lusty fortune-hunter and a bitter shrew unfolds to the accompaniment of witty, fast-paced dialogue and physical humor. Unique features of the Signet Classic Shakespeare An extensive of Shakespeare's life, world, and theater by the general editor of the Signet Classic Shakespeare series, Sylvan Barnet A special introduction to the play by the editor, Robert B. Heilman, University of Washington Sources from which Shakespeare derived The Taming of the Shrew Dramatic criticism from the past and present: commentaries by Richard Hosley, Maynard Mack, Germaine Greer, Alexander Leggatt, Linda Bamber, Karen Newman, Camille Wells Sights A comprehensive stage and screen history of notable actors, directors, and productions of The Taming of the Shrew, then and now Text, notes, and commentaries printed in the clearest, most readable type Up-to-date list of recommended readings AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY - William Shakespeare (26 April 1564 (baptised) - 23 April 1616) was an English poet, playwright, and actor, widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's national poet and the 'Bard of Avon'. His extant works, including some collaborations, consist of about 38 plays, 154 sonnets, two long narrative poems.

[ 0332 ] Shakespeare, William. Two Noble Kinsmen. New York. Signet/New American Library. 0451503325. Edited By Clifford Leech. 268 pages. paperback. CD332. Cover: Milton Glaser. Signet Classic original. FROM THE PUBLISHER - The Two Noble Kinsmen is a Jacobean tragicomedy, first published in 1634 and attributed to John Fletcher and William Shakespeare. Its plot derives from "The Knight's Tale" in Geoffrey Chaucer's The Canterbury Tales, which had already been dramatised at least twice before. Formerly a point of controversy, the dual attribution is now generally accepted by the scholarly consensus. AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY - William Shakespeare (26 April 1564 (baptised) - 23 April 1616) was an English poet, playwright, and actor, widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's national poet and the 'Bard of Avon'. His extant works, including some collaborations, consist of about 38 plays, 154 sonnets, two long narrative poems.

[ 0333 ] Shakespeare, William. Henry VI, Part 1. New York. 1967. Signet/New American Library. 0451503333. Edited By Lawrence V. Ryan. paperback. CD333. Cover: Milton Glaser. Signet Classic original. FROM THE PUBLISHER - This edition of Shakespeare's Henry IV, Part 1 uses a variety of approaches to Shakespeare, including historical and cultural studies approaches. Shakespeare's text is accompanied by an intriguing collection of thematically arranged historical and cultural documents and illustrations designed to give a firsthand knowledge of the contexts out of which Henry IV, Part 1 emerged. AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY - William Shakespeare (26 April 1564 (baptised) - 23 April 1616) was an English poet, playwright, and actor, widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's national poet and the 'Bard of Avon'. His extant works, including some collaborations, consist of about 38 plays, 154 sonnets, two long narrative poems.

[ 0334 ] Andersen, Hans Christian. The Snow Queen and Other Tales. New York. 1966. Signet/New American Library. 0451503341. Newly Translated From The Danish & With An Introduction By Pat Shaw Iversen.Illustrated By Shelia Greenwald. 318 pages. paperback. CT334. Cover: Tsao. Signet Classic original. FROM THE PUBLISHER - The settings of the stories range from the fragile porcelain palace of The Emperor of China to a pigsty; from the Gates of Heaven to the Devil's Anteroom; from the Cave of the Winds to the castle of the King of the Sea. We are transported in flying trunks or on the back of, the East Wind, in humble wheelbarrows or in airships yet to be invented. ' Thus writes Pat Shaw Iversen, who has provided splendid new translations of these forty - seven tales. In creating these wondrous narratives, Hans Christian Andersen reworked ancient folk tradition to harmonize with his own singular sensibility, blending unsurpassed fantasy with delightfully evocative realistic detail. His vision is rich in humor, and sharp with irony; his tales reflect the poignant sadness as well as the bright joy of existence. In them readers young and old alike encounter an enduring revelation of human truth - as clear as the nakedness of the Emperor in his new clothes, or the final beauty of the Ugly Duckling - illumined by the magic art of a storyteller who ranks, in the words of Pat Shaw Iversen, as 'one of the greatest literary geniuses the world has ever known.' AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY - Hans Christian Andersen (April 2, 1805 - August 4, 1875) was a Danish author and poet. Although a prolific writer of plays, travelogues, novels, and poems, Andersen is best remembered for his fairy tales. Andersen's popularity is not limited to children; his stories—called eventyr, or ‘fairy-tales'—express themes that transcend age and nationality.

[ 0335 ] La Fontaine, Jean de. Selected Fables and Tales of La Fontaine. New York. 1966. Signet/New American Library. 045150335x. Newly Translated From The French By Marie Ponsot.Afterword By Wallace Fowlie. 190 pages. paperback. CT335. Cover: Lambert. Signet Classic original. FROM THE PUBLISHER - As Racine gave new dimension to tragedy, and Moliere to comedy, La Fontaine transformed the genre of the fable. His fables are masterpieces of swift narrative, heightened by superlative poetic art, and sharpened by the insight of a shrewd, witty, worldly observer of mankind. Brought to near - magic are foxes, lions, wolves, donkeys, rats and all the other members of a wondrous bestiary, enacting dramas whose enchantment has remained undimmed over the centuries. Presented in new verse translations, these selected fables - along with a rich sampling of La Fontaine's sophisticated tales and highly engaging occasional poems - introduce a genius both representative of his age and far transcending it. As Wallace Fowlie writes, 'Mrs. Ponsot has made a judicious selection. The duplication of the La Fontaine line is quite remarkable, and this, all the more so, because the English here is strong, idiomatic, whimsical, and comical (when intended to be). This translation is obviously the work of a poet who draws upon rich resources of language and technique. She has caught that playfulness of La Fontaine which is combined with seriousness.' AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY - Jean de La Fontaine (8 July 1621 - 13 April 1695) was the most famous French fabulist and one of the most widely read French poets of the 17th century. He is known above all for his Fables, which provided a model for subsequent fabulists across Europe and numerous alternative versions in France, and in French regional languages.

[ 0336 ] Shakespeare, William. Henry VI, Part 2. New York. Signet/New American Library. 0451503368. Edited BY Arthur Freeman. paperback. CD336. Cover: Milton Glaser. Signet Classic original. FROM THE PUBLISHER - Picking up where Henry IV, Part One left off after the Battle of Shrewsbury, Henry IV, Part Two is the story of England's King Henry IV during his final months of life, his reconciliation with his wayward heir, and his eventual death. AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY - William Shakespeare (26 April 1564 (baptised) - 23 April 1616) was an English poet, playwright, and actor, widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's national poet and the 'Bard of Avon'. His extant works, including some collaborations, consist of about 38 plays, 154 sonnets, two long narrative poems.

[ 0337 ] Doyle, Sir Arthur Conan. The Hound of the Baskervilles. New York. 1967. Signet/New American Library. 0451503376. Introduction By William S. Baring-Gould. 176 pages. paperback. CD337. Cover: James McMullan. Signet Classic original. FROM THE PUBLISHER - A centuries - old family curse; an eerie mansion on the windswept Devon moors; a mysterious and violent death; and an urgent summons to London for the aid of 'the world's only consulting detective' - all combine to set the stage for Sherlock Holmes's most baffling and blood - chilling assignment. Accompanied by his faithful companion, the good Dr. Watson, the immortal master sleuth embarks upon a case whose only clues seem to defy all rational explanation. In this wonderfully wrought novel, the reader will encounter a spellbinding magic that many writers have imitated but none come close to equaling. Here are the singular qualities of narrative, atmosphere and characterization that have led so eminent a critic as Edmund Wilson to declare, 'Sherlock Holmes is literature. The Sherlock Holmes stories [have] a life of their own.' Here is vivid demonstration of Christopher Morley's assertion that 'perhaps no fiction character ever created has become so real to his readers.' In the words of William S. Baring - Gould, Holmesian expert and author of the definitive 'biography' of the great detective, 'Read, and enjoy. Here you will find Holmes and Watson and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle at their best.' AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY - Sir Arthur Ignatius Conan Doyle (22 May 1859 - 7 July 1930) was a Scottish physician and writer who is most noted for his fictional stories about the detective Sherlock Holmes, which are generally considered milestones in the field of crime fiction.

[ 0338 ] Beerbohm, Max. Zuleika Dobson. New York. 1966. Signet/New American Library. 0451503384. Afterword By F.W. Dupee. 256 pages. paperback. CT338. Signet Classic original. FROM THE PUBLISHER - The most consistent achievement of fantasy in our time' was E. M. Forster's assessment of Zuleika Dobson in 1927, sixteen years after its initial appearance. Since then, time has only increased the stature of this rare literary delight. Its setting is Oxford University; its heroine a dazzling enchantress in search of a man she cannot captivate; its artistry the product of one of the most elegant talents in the English language. As Zuleika Dobson decimates the undergraduate population, and destroys the proud young Duke of Dorset, 'the incomparable Max' fashions his tale with the blend of elfin charm and mordant human wit that was his alone. As the distinguished critic F. W. Dupee writes: 'All known devices of rhetoric and syntax are set to performing with unobtrusive gaiety. For [Max Beerbohm,] loving and dying were mysteries too inscrutable to be accounted for by the word 'tragedy.' Assuagement lay in laughter and the craftsmanship required to provoke it, to the right degree and in the right kind.' AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY - Sir Henry Maximilian 'Max' Beerbohm (London 24 August 1872 - 20 May 1956 Rapallo) was an English essayist, parodist, and caricaturist best known today for his 1911 novel Zuleika Dobson.

[ 0339 ] Bellamy, Edward. Looking Backward, 2000-1887. New York. Signet/New American Library. 0451503392. paperback. CT339. Signet Classic reprint. FROM THE PUBLISHER - Edward Bellamy's classic look at the future has been translated into over twenty languages and is the most widely read novel of its time. A young Boston gentleman is mysteriously transported from the nineteenth to the twenty - first century - - from a world of war and want to one of peace and plenty. This brilliant vision became the blueprint of utopia that stimulated some of the greatest thinkers of our age. AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY - Edward Bellamy (March 26, 1850 - May 22, 1898) was an American author and socialist, most famous for his utopian novel, Looking Backward, a Rip Van Winkle-like tale set in the distant future of the year 2000. Bellamy's vision of a harmonious future world inspired the formation of over 160 ‘Nationalist Clubs‘ dedicated to the propagation of Bellamy's political ideas and working to make them a practical reality.

[ 0340 ] Dickens, Charles. Great Expectations. New York. 1963. Signet/New American Library. 0451503406. Afterword By Angus Wilson. 534 pages. paperback. CT340. Signet Classic reprint. FROM THE PUBLISHER - Great Expectations is at once a superbly constructed novel of spellbinding mystery and a profound examination of moral values. Written at a time when Dickens' relationship with Victorian society had reached a crisis, this novel is peopled by characters unmistakably bearing Dickens' familiar stamp-but here they appear in a new and questioning light. The orphan, Pip, and the convict, Magwitch. the beautiful Estella, and her guardian, the embittered and vengeful Miss Havisham. the strangely ambiguous figure of the master lawyer, Mr. Jaggers. all play their part in a story whose title itself reflects the deep irony that shapes Dickens' searching reappraisal of the Victorian middle class. From the agony of his disenchantment comes a work that gives an added dimension to his matchless genius. ‘. the most completely unified work of art that Dickens ever produced. The only one perhaps that by its formal concentration and its unified shape at every depth of reading fulfils the sort of demands that Flaubert or Henry James makes of the novelist.' Angus Wilson. AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY - Charles John Huffam Dickens (7 February 1812 - 9 June 1870) was an English writer and social critic. He created some of the world's most memorable fictional characters and is generally regarded as the greatest novelist of the Victorian period. During his life, his works enjoyed unprecedented fame, and by the twentieth century his literary genius was broadly acknowledged by critics and scholars. His novels and short stories continue to be widely popular.

[ 0341 ] Thomas, Dylan. Adventures in the Skin Trade. New York. Signet/New American Library. 0451503414. Afterword by Vernon Watkins. paperback. CT341. Signet Classic reprint. FROM THE PUBLISHER - One of the twentieth century's most gifted writers, Dylan Thomas created a vital, lusty, antic world of truly memorable characters. This Signet Classic offers a distinguished selection of his work - twenty stories plus all of his famous unfinished novel, ADVENTURES IN THE SKIN TRADE. The title piece relates the adventures of Samuel Bennet, a young innocent embarked on a wild pilgrimage through modern London. The stories range in theme from life and love to nature and madness, but all are written with the extravagant humor, the brilliant imagery, the magic awareness of the true poet. The New York Times wrote of ADVENTURES IN THE SKIN TRADE: 'The human warmth keeps bubbling up through the satire. Thomas' last work of fiction, in addition to its intrinsic interest, has a meaningfulness comparable to that of Keats' letters and Yeats' memoirs.' The New York Herald Tribune found it a 'vein of pure gold.' And The Saturday Review called Dylan Thomas 'a genius.' AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY - Dylan Marlais Thomas (27 October 1914 - 9 November 1953) was a Welsh poet and writer whose works include the poems 'Do not go gentle into that good night' and 'And death shall have no dominion', the 'Play for Voices', Under Milk Wood, and stories and radio broadcasts such as A Child's Christmas in Wales and Portrait of the Artist as a Young Dog.

[ 0342 ] Shelley, Percy Bysshe. The Selected Poetry of Shelley. New York. Signet/New American Library. 0451503422. Edited & With An Introduction By Harold Bloom. paperback. CQ342. Signet Classic original. FROM THE PUBLISHER - Shelley's short, prolific life produced some of the most memorable and well-known lyrics of the Romantic period. THE SIGNET CLASSIC POETRY SERIES PRESENTS SELECTED WORKS OF THE MAJOR BRITISH AND AMERICAN POETS IN AUTHORITATIVE TEXTS EDITED BY OUTSTANDING SCHOLARS. UNIQUE FEATURES OF THE SELECTED POETRY AND PROSE OF SHELLEY: Presents the major works of one of the greatest lyrical poets in Western tradition. Sixty selections include Prometheus Unbound, "Hymn of Apollo," The Triumph of Life, The Witch of Atlas, "Ode to the West Wind," Hellas, "Hymn to Intellectual Beauty," "To a Skylark," "Mont Blanc," Adonais, and the two prose works On a Future State and A Defense of Poetry. General Introduction to the special character and development of Shelley's poetry by Harold Bloom, Professor of English at Yale University. Winner of the John Addison Porter Prize (1956), a Morse Fellow at Yale (1958-59) and a Guggenheim Fellow (1962-63), Mr. Bloom is the author of Shelley's Mythmaking and Blake's Apocalypse. Chronology of Shelley's life. Text printed in the clearest, most readable type. Footnotes at the bottom of page keyed to the text. Extensive bibliography. AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY - Percy Bysshe Shelley (4 August 1792 - 8 July 1822) was one of the major English Romantic poets, and is regarded by some critics as amongst the finest lyric poets in the English language. A radical in his poetry as well as his political and social views, Shelley did not achieve fame during his lifetime, but recognition for his poetry grew steadily following his death.

[ 0343 ] Donne, John. The Selected Poetry of Donne. New York. 1966. Signet/New American Library. 0451503430. Edited By Marius Bewley. 288 pages. paperback. CQ343. Signet Classic original. FROM THE PUBLISHER - UNIQUE FEATURES OF THE SELECTED POETRY OF DONNE: Covers the full spectrum of the works of the great metaphysical poet, leader of the avant - garde in late Elizabethan and Jacobean London. Includes the complete Songs and Sonnets, Elegies, Epithalamions and Satyres. Letters to Several Personages: 'The Storm, ''To the Countess of Bedford,' 'To the Countess of Huntingdon'. The Second Anniversary, The Progress of the Soul, selections from Divine Poems. Also includes Carew's Elegy Upon the Death of Donne. General Introduction to the special character and development of Donne's poetry by the editor, Dr. Marius Bewley, Professor at Fordham University, and author of The Complex Fate and The Eccentric Design: Form in the Classic American Novel. Chronology of Donne's life. Text printed in the clearest, most readable type. Footnotes at the bottom of page keyed to the text. Extensive bibliography. THE SIGNET CLASSIC POETRY SERIES PRESENTS SELECTED WORKS OF THE MAJOR BRITISH AND AMERICAN POETS IN AUTHORITATIVE TEXTS EDITED BY OUTSTANDING SCHOLARS AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY - John Donne (22 January 1572 - 31 March 1631) was an English poet and a cleric in the Church of England. He is considered the pre-eminent representative of the metaphysical poets.

[ 0344 ] Lewis, Sinclair. Babbitt. New York. Signet/New American Library. 0451503449. Afterword by Mark Schorer. paperback. CQ344. Signet Classic reprint. FROM THE PUBLISHER - First published in 1922, this modern classic is a biting satire of middle-American values that retains much of its poignancy today. The novel follows George F. Babbitt, an outwardly successful but inwardly unhappy real estate salesman, as he pursues the American Dream, but then loses faith in it and rebels against conformity. AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY - Harry Sinclair Lewis (February 7, 1885 - January 10, 1951) was an American novelist, short-story writer, and playwright. In 1930, he became the first writer from the United States to receive the Nobel Prize in Literature, which was awarded ‘for his vigorous and graphic art of description and his ability to create, with wit and humor, new types of characters.' His works are known for their insightful and critical views of American capitalism and materialism between the wars.

[ 0345 ] Hochfield, George (editor). Selected Writings of the American Transcendentalists. New York. 1966. Signet/New American Library. 0451503457. Edited & With An Introduction By George Hochfield. 432 pages. paperback. CQ345. Signet Classic original. FROM THE PUBLISHER - '. the fullest, most radical, rashest expression of that vision we have had: the 'American dream' at its moment of greatest intensity and innocence.' Thus George Hochfield characèterizes the movement which dominated the nation's intellectual life during the second third of the nineteenth century, and which has found renewed relevance at a time when the problems of private conscience and social protest once again command our concern. Bursting with explosive force upon the American scene, Transcendentalism sought to revivify religion by stripping it of all dogma; to realize the full promise of the democratic ideal by creating a new social order, a new breed of man; and, above all, to affirm the primacy of personal vision, individual consciousness. Here, collected in one volume, are selections from the writings of Ralph Waldo Emerson, Bronson Alcott, Orestes A. Brownson, Margaret Fuller, Theodore Parker, George Ripley, Henry David Thoreau, and others-men and women who, as George Hochfield declares, 'wrote an irreplaceable chapter of American history. They were among the first of a breed which has played a decisive role in our culture: the unattached, committed intellectual who confronts the problems of society. Both their example and their dreams continue to haunt us.' AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY - George Hochfield taught in the English Departments at Penn State and Ohio State. He is the author of a monograph on Henry Adams and editor of Selected Writings of the American Transcendentalists.

[ 0346 ] Byron, George Gordon Lord. The Selected Poetry and Prose of Byron. New York. 1966. Signet/New American Library. 0451503465. Edited & With An Introduction By W.H. Auden. 320 pages. paperback. CQ346. Signet Classic original. FROM THE PUBLISHER - UNIQUE FEATURES OF THE SELECTED POETRY AND PROSE OF BYRON: The noted poet and critic W H. Auden has chosen especially for this Signet Classic volume a comprehensive selection of the poetry and prose of Lord Byron, the great nineteenth - century poet whom tradition classifies as Romantic but 'whose genius,' in the words of Mr. Auden, 'was essentially a comic one.' Includes 'Beppo,' 'Epistle to Augusta,' 'The Vision of Judgment'. selections from Don Juan, Childe Harold, English Bards and Scotch Reviewers, Hints from Horace. numerous letters . and extracts from Byron's Journal of 1816 and his Diary of 1821. General Introduction to the special character and development of Byron's poetry by the editor, W H. Auden. Chronology of Byron's life Text printed in the clearest, most readable type Footnotes at the bottom of page keyed to the text Extensive bibliography. AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY - George Gordon Byron (22 January 1788 - 19 April 1824), commonly known simply as Lord Byron, was an English poet and a leading figure in the Romantic movement. Among Byron's best-known works are the lengthy narrative poems Don Juan and Childe Harold's Pilgrimage and the short lyric ‘She Walks in Beauty.' He is regarded as one of the greatest British poets and remains widely read and influential.

[ 0347 ] Andric, Ivo. The Bridge On the Drina. New York. 1967. Signet/New American Library. 0451503473. Translated From The Serbo-Croatian By Lovett F. Edwards.Afterword By John Simon. 352 pages. paperback. CQ347. Signet Classic original. FROM THE PUBLISHER - A novel in the grand tradition, written by Ivo AndriE, the greatest of modern Yugoslâv writers and 1961 winner of the Nobel Prize, The Bridge on the Drina spans three and a half centuries. The center of the narrative is the bridge of the title, built by the Turkish masters of Yugoslavia in 1571, and destroyed by the retreating Austrian rulers in 1914. The action comprises a multitude of individual dramas - comic and tragic, ignoble and heroic - played out while the bridge endures. Through the superb artistry of lvo Andric, two opposing forces - the unchanging, strong and flawless structure of the bridge, and the ceaseless flux and flow of human affairs - combine to reflect a rich, complex vision of life. As John Simon writes, 'In Andric's novel, the bridge is . a symbol as pervasive as it is unobtrusive, as poetic as it is mundane. It operates on various levels, yet remains straightforward and unforced. Standing at the beginning of the novel and at its end, it acts as a bridge even between the outermost layer of the action and the most arcane inner meanings. The bridge is the novel, and the novel is a bridge.' AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY - Ivo Andric (October 9, 1892 - March 13, 1975) was a novelist, short story writer, and the 1961 winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature from Yugoslavia (he was born in Bosnia and Herzegovina, that in the time of his biggest popularity was a part of Yugoslavia). His novels The Bridge on the Drina and Chronicles of Travnik / The Days of the Consuls dealt with life in Bosnia under the Ottoman Empire.

[ 0348 ] Addams, Jane. Twenty Years at Hull-House: With Autobiographical Notes. New York. Signet/New American Library. 0451503481. 320 pages. paperback. CQ348. Signet Classic reprint. FROM THE PUBLISHER - Twenty Years at Hull - House is Jane Addams's graphic account of her famed settlement house in Chicago's West Side slums. Covering the years 1889 to 1909, a time when America was fired with fear of subversives and suspicion of foreigners, this book stands as the immortal testament of a woman who lived and worked among the immigrant settlers, the sweat - shop toilers, the unwed mothers, the hungry, the aged, the sick, to show them in practice what others merely preached: the true concept of American democracy. 'She discerned and revealed the beauty of the cultural life and spiritual value of the immigrant at the time when nothing was so despised and unconsidered in American life as the foreigner.' - Frances Perkins, U. S. Secretary of Labor, 1933 - 1945. 'For the helpless, young and old, for the poor, the unlearned, the stranger, the despised, you have urged understanding and then justice.' - Dr. Marian Parks, former President of Bryn Mawr College. AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY - Jane Addams (September 6, 1860 - May 21, 1935) was a pioneer American settlement social worker, public philosopher, sociologist, author, and leader in women's suffrage and world peace.

[ 0349 ] Thoreau, Henry David. Selected Journals of Henry David Thoreau. New York. 1967. Signet/New American Library. 045150349x. Edited & With A Foreword By Carl Bode. 335 pages. paperback. CT349. Cover: Lambert. Signet Classic original. FROM THE PUBLISHER - On October 22, 1837, Henry David Thoreau, newly returned from Harvard to his native Concord, began a journal. He was to continue it throughout his life, quarrying from it his major works, and leaving behind notebooks that would fill fourteen volumes when posthumously published in 1906. These selections from the journal, chosen in large part so as not to duplicate the material Thoreau published separately, form a living record of his greatness, bearing testimony to his relationship with nature, with his fellow man, and with a society whose standards he often condemned. Written with the blending of keen sensory perception and strong intellect that was the hallmark of Thoreau's genius, the journal, as Carl Bode declares, 'houses his deepest feelings, his most private thoughts. It offers us a clearer insight into him, in more ways than one, than do the now famous works which he himself set before the public. And it offers us fresh insight into life in general. With Thoreau we can look at it with the eye of innocence because we do it a new way. Thoreau turned the American scale of values upside down; that is perhaps his greatest service to us.' AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY - Henry David Thoreau (July 12, 1817 - May 6, 1862) was an American author, poet, philosopher, abolitionist, naturalist, tax resister, development critic, surveyor, historian, and leading transcendentalist. He is best known for his book Walden, a reflection upon simple living in natural surroundings, and his essay Civil Disobedience, an argument for individual resistance to civil government in moral opposition to an unjust state.

[ 0350 ] Spencer, Edmund. The Selected Poetry of Spencer. New York. 1966. Signet/New American Library. 0451503503. Edited By A.C. Hamilton. 548 pages. paperback. CY350. Cover: Milton Glaser. Signet Classic original. FROM THE PUBLISHER - THE SIGNET CLASSIC POETRY SERIES UNIQUE FEATURES OF THE SELECTED POETRY OF SPENSER: Extensive selections from the six books of Spenser's ‘The Faerie Queene' - the major work of this great poet of the English Renaissance who was hailed by his sixteenth - century contemporaries as the successor to Chaucer. Also includes ‘Epithalamion'; ‘The Letter to Raleigh'; and ‘The Shepheardes Calender: January October December'. ‘Epilogue.' General Introduction to the special character and development of Spenser's poetry by the editor, A. C. Hamilton, Professor of English at the University of Washington in Seattle and author of The Structure of Allegory in ‘The Faerie Queene' and The Early Shakespeare. Chronology of Spenser's life. Text printed in the clearest, most readable type. Footnotes at the bottom of page keyed to the text. Extensive bibliography. PRESENTS SELECTED WORKS OF THE MAJOR BRITISH AND AMERICAN POETS IN AUTHORITATIVE TEXTS EDITED BY OUTSTANDING SCHOLARS. AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY - Edmund Spenser (1552/1553 - 13 January 1599) was an English poet best known for The Faerie Queene, an epic poem and fantastical allegory celebrating the Tudor dynasty and Elizabeth I. He is recognized as one of the premier craftsmen of nascent Modern English verse, and is often considered one of the greatest poets in the English language.

[ 0351 ] O'Flaherty, Liam. The Informer. New York. Signet/New American Library. 0451503511. paperback. CT351. Signet Classic reprint. FROM THE PUBLISHER - This is Liam O'Flaherty's great novel of a troubled Ireland divided by the chaos of Civil War in the 1920's. It is the story of an informer, damned with the curse of his country's unforgivable sin, hunted by the shadowy executioners of an outlawed revolutionary organization. Two characters dominate this tragedy of betrayal and retribution: Gypo Nolan, the hulking oaf of a giant who, under stress of poverty, discloses the whereabouts of the wanted Frankie McPhillip for the paltry twenty - pound reward; and Dan Gallagher, the egotistical commandant of the militant organization that has sworn to hunt down and kill the unknown informer. Through the fogbound Dublin slum streets they re - enact the eternal drama of man pitted against man. A classic of modern literature, The Informer treats a recurrent theme in Irish folklore, ballad, and story . the abhorrent outcast who betrays a cause or a people to the enemy. The violence of O'Flaherty's own youth is reflected in his harshly realistic image of an Irish Republic at war with itself, suffering the birth pangs of newly gained independence, beset by the self - destructive forces of misguided idealism and anarchy. AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY - Liam O'Flaherty (28 August 1896 - 7 September 1984) was a significant Irish novelist and short story writer and a major figure in the Irish literary renaissance.

[ 0352 ] Lewis, Sinclair. Main Street. New York. Signet/New American Library. 045150352x. Afterword by Mark Schorer. paperback. CQ352. Signet Classic reprint. FROM THE PUBLISHER - The lonely predicament of Carol Kennicott, caught between her desires for social reform and individual happiness, reflects the position in which America's turn - of - the - century, 'emancipated woman' found herself. Carol's dilemma is intensified by the fact that lives in the small, self - satisfied, Midwestern town of Gopher Prairie. An allegory of exile and return, Main Street attacks the drab complacency and ingrown mores of those who resist change, who are under the illusion that they have chosen their tradition. Carol's ostracism, however, results more from her own guilt at 'crusading' than from her rejection by those whom she would have changed. Maxwell Geismar lauded this work as 'a remarkable diary of the middle- class mind in America.' Its author was hailed by John Galsworthy for having written 'a most searching and excellent piece of work; a feather in the cap of literature AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY - Harry Sinclair Lewis (February 7, 1885 - January 10, 1951) was an American novelist, short-story writer, and playwright. In 1930, he became the first writer from the United States to receive the Nobel Prize in Literature, which was awarded ‘for his vigorous and graphic art of description and his ability to create, with wit and humor, new types of characters.' His works are known for their insightful and critical views of American capitalism and materialism between the wars.

[ 0353 ] Wells, H. G. Tono-Bungay. New York. Signet/New American Library. 0451503538. paperback. CT353. Signet Classic reprint. FROM THE PUBLISHER - Mischievous, stimulating, aromatic, attractive, Tono - Bungay is a patent medicine. It brings a quick fortune to a conscience - ridden scientist and his uncle, a lovable Satan of early mass production. Anti it launches them on a series of semicomic, sometimes grotesque adventures in gray, anonymous, turn - of - the - century London - adventures which culminate in the downfall of their product empire and a flight from creditors by night in a strange and experimental airship. Alternating between vaudevillian gusto and the economic incisiveness of high satire, Tono - Bungay merges the traditional character chronicle with the modern novel of social invective. Henry James described its author's style as one of 'robust pitch' and lauded Wells for possessing an eye and ear comparable to Dickens'. AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY - Herbert George ‘H. G.' Wells (21 September 1866 - 13 August 1946) was an English writer, now best known for his work in the science fiction genre. He was also a prolific writer in many other genres, including contemporary novels, history, politics and social commentary, even writing textbooks and rules for war games.

[ 0354 ] Tolstoy, Leo. The Death of Ivan Ilych and Other Stories. New York. Signet/New American Library. 0451503546. paperback. CT354. Signet Classic reprint. FROM THE PUBLISHER - Leo Tolstoy combined detailed physical description with perceptive psychological insight to sweep aside the sham of surface appearances and lay bare man's intimate gestures, acts, and thoughts. Murder and sacrifice. greed and devotion. lust and affection. vanity and love -- one by one, in this volume of great stories, Tolstoy dissects the basic drives, emotions, and motives of ordinary people searching for self-knowledge and spiritual perfection. Chekhov said, 'Of authors my favorite is Tolstoy.' And Turgenev 'marveled at the strength of his huge talent. It sends a cold shudder even down my back. He is a master, a master.' AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY - Count Lev Nikolayevich Tolstoy (9 September 1828 - 20 November 1910), usually referred to in English as Leo Tolstoy, was a Russian writer who is regarded as one of the greatest authors of all time. He received multiple nominations for the Nobel Prize in Literature every year from 1902 to 1906 and nominations for the Nobel Peace Prize in 1901, 1902 and 1910 and the fact that he never won is a major Nobel prize controversy.

[ 0355 ] Cooper, James Fenimore. The Deerslayer. New York. Signet/New American Library. 0451503554. paperback. CT355. Signet Classic reprint. FROM THE PUBLISHER - The last of the Leatherstocking Tales to be written, and Cooper's own favorite, The Deerslayer turns back to the entrance into manhood of Natty Bumppo, the hero of these classic frontier sagas. An idealistic youth who was raised among the Indians, his daring and resourcefulness are evident - but the Deerslayer has yet to meet the test of human conflict. In a tale of violent action and superbly sustained suspense, the harsh realities of tribal warfare force him to kill his first foe, and face torture at the stake. Still yet another kind of initiation awaits him, when he discovers not only the ruthlessness of 'civilized' men, but also the special danger of a woman's will. His youthful spirit transformed into mature courage and moral certainty, the future Leatherstocking emerges to face life with a nobility as pure and proud as the wilderness whose fierce beauty and freedom have claimed his heart. Historian Allan Nevins writes 'It is a rich and intensely exciting. story of an America now so far lost in time and change that it is hard to believe it ever existed. But it did exist, and some memory of it, in our all too artificial day, ought to be cherished by the nation.' And Van Wyck Brooks commented 'Natty Bumppo was destined to remain the symbol of a moment of civilization, the dawn of the new American soul.' AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY - James Fenimore Cooper (September 15, 1789 - September 14, 1851) was a prolific and popular American writer of the early 19th century. His historical romances of frontier and Indian life in the early American days created a unique form of American literature.

[ 0356 ] Hardy, Thomas. Far From the Madding Crowd. New York. Signet/New American Library. 0451503562. paperback. CP356. Signet Classic reprint. FROM THE PUBLISHER - There is in England no more real or typical district than Thomas Hardy's imaginary Wessex, the scattered fields and farms of which were first discovered in Far from the Madding Crowd. It is here that Gabriel Oak observes Bathsheba, the young mistress of Weatherbury Farm, fall victim to her amorous caprices. He stands by her through one marriage to a handsome, corruptly sentimental sergeant. Selflessly altruistic, he sees her through another betrothal to her compulsive, puritanical neighbor—as unaware as she of the stroke of Fate that will effect their ultimate union. Published anonymously and first attributed to George Eliot, Far from the Madding Crowd won Hardy immediate success; it combines an architecturally perfect plot with the philosophical overtones that were to set the theme for all his later works. The text of this Signet Classic is set from Hardy's revised final version of Far from the Madding Crowd, published in 1912 in the authoritative Wessex edition. AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY - Thomas Hardy (June 2, 1840 - January 11, 1928) was an English novelist and poet. A Victorian realist in the tradition of George Eliot, he focused on a declining rural society.

[ 0357 ] Cooper, James Fenimore. The Pathfinder. New York. Signet/New American Library. 0451503570. Afterword by Thomas Berger. paperback. CT357. Signet Classic reprint. FROM THE PUBLISHER - Vigorous, self - reliant, amazingly resourceful and moral, James Fenimore Cooper's Natty Bumppo towers over and above the author's majestic descriptions of early frontier life, Indian raiders, and defenseless outposts. He the prototype of the Western hero; his vision of man in a natural context and his hatred of' middle - class hypocrisy give him his stature as a faultless arbiter of wilderness justice. He is no less adept at judging his own feelings of love - divided as they are between the woman whom he protects on a hazardous journey and the deep woods that sustain him in his beliefs. A rapid, climactic narrative, The Pathfinder is among the finest examples of epic action literature. '. the examples [Cooper] has given in his glorious fictions, of heroism, honor, and truth, of large sympathies between man and man. shall live through centuries to come. ' - William Cullen Bryant. AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY - James Fenimore Cooper (September 15, 1789 - September 14, 1851) was a prolific and popular American writer of the early 19th century. His historical romances of frontier and Indian life in the early American days created a unique form of American literature.

[ 0358 ] James, Henry. The Portrait of a Lady. New York. [1963]. Signet/New American Library. 0451503589. Afterword by Oscar Cargill. 559 pages. paperback. CQ358. Cover art by Milton Glaser. Signet Classic reprint. FROM THE PUBLISHER - 'No other American and few Europeans can match [the] superb feminine creations of the chief American master of the art of fiction.' Thus writes Oscar Cargill in his appreciation of The Portrait of a Lady, which many critics consider Henry James's supreme achievement. The heroine of this novel is a young American, Isabel Archer. Blessed by nature and fortune, high - spirited and independent, she arrives in Europe to seek the full realization of her potential, In the cultured brilliance of international society, she enters a seemingly charmed existence, An English aristocrat and an aggressive American woo her; her sensitive, ironic cousin, the invalid Ralph, becomes her adoring adviser. But it is only after the ingenuous Isabel falls prey to and suffers from the machinations of a sophisticated and infinitely calculating older woman that she achieves final dimension as a woman and profound triumph as a human being. AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY - Henry James (15 April 1843 - 28 February 1916) was an Anglo-American writer who spent most of his writing career in Britain. He is regarded as one of the key figures of 19th-century literary realism.

[ 0359 ] Gogol, Nicolai. The Diary of a Madman and Other Stories. New York. Signet/New American Library. 0451503597. paperback. CT359. Signet Classic reprint. FROM THE PUBLISHER - NIKOLAI GOGOL is universally regarded as the father of Russian realism. His stories are rooted in commonplace events; his characters are the underdog and the insignificant. A romantic at heart, he used a startling blend of broad comedy and weird fantasy to expose the stupidity, coarseness, and meanness of life. This Signet Classic includes five of Gogol's most famous stories: THE DIARY OF A MADMAN, THE NOSE, THE CARRIAGE, THE OVERCOAT, and a full - length historical romance: TARAS BULBA. AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY - Nikolay Vasilyevich Gogol (1809-52), Russian writer, whose plays, short stories, and novels rank among the great masterpieces of 19th-century Russian realist literature.

[ 0360 ] Dostoyevsky, Fyodor. The Possessed. New York. 1962. Signet/New American Library. 0451503600. Newly Translated From The Russian By Andrew R. MacAndrew.Afterword By Marc Slonim. 703 pages. paperback. CY360. Cover: Milton Glaser. Signet Classic reprint. FROM THE PUBLISHER - THE POSSESSED is regarded the world over as the most shattering vision of nihilism in action to come out of Russia. Despite their different interpretations of radical politics, the young men, Stavrogin and Verhovensky combine fanaticism, treachery, and self - contradiction to incite an entire town to pillage, arson, and slaughter. In this story of misfits who believe in nothing and wish only to destroy, Dostoyevsky is everywhere concerned with the passion man demonstrates for the lie in order to create a chaos that mirrors his tortured soul. 'Dostoyevsky wrote of the unconscious as if it were conscious; that is in reality the reason why his characters seem 'pathological,' while they are only visualized more clearly than any other figures in imaginative literature. He was in the rank in which we set Dante, Shakespeare and Goethe.' - Edwin Muir AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY - Fyodor Mikhailovich Dostoyevsky 11 November 1821 - 9 February 1881), sometimes transliterated Dostoevsky, was a Russian novelist, short story writer, essayist and philosopher. Dostoyevsky's literary works explore human psychology in the context of the troubled political, social, and spiritual atmosphere of 19th-century Russia.

[ 0361 ] Clark, Walter Van Tilburg. The Ox-Bow Incident. New York. Signet/New American Library. 0451503619. paperback. CT361. Signet Classic reprint. FROM THE PUBLISHER - This is a searing study of mob justice. The story takes place in the Old West, but it could happen anywhere, anytime that men of action let their anger goad them into taking the law into their own hands. Published in 1940, this powerful narrative was immediately hailed as a work of art. 'The Ox - Bow Incident is a triumph of restraint and workmanship. The tenseness that builds and eddies and comes back stronger is beautifully geared to the temper of each central character and the shifting emotions of the mob, as doubt, anger, stubbornness, physical cold, pity and revulsion hold them in turn,' said Max Gissen in the New Republic. Ben Ray Redman described it in The Saturday Review as 'A sinewy, masculine tale that progressively tightens its grip on the reader.' And Clifton Fadiman summed up the verdict of all the critics when he called this modern classic 'a masterpiece.' AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY - Walter Van Tilburg Clark (August 3, 1909 — November 10, 1971) was an American novelist, short story writer, and educator. He ranks as one of Nevada's most distinguished literary figures of the 20th century and is known primarily for his novels and short stories. As a writer, he taught himself to use the familiar materials of the western saga to explore the human psyche and to raise deep philosophical issues.

[ 0362 ] Dostoyevsky, Fyodor. Crime and Punishment. New York. 1968. Signet/New American Library. 0451503627. Translated From The Russian & With An Afterword By Sidney Monas. 543 pages. paperback. CT362. Signet Classic original. FROM THE PUBLISHER - CRIME AND PUNISHMENT is the story of a murder and its consequences, a tale of suspense without equal. On a more profound level, it is an unsurpassed study of pride and rebellion, guilt and redemption, far reaching in its implications. Its setting is a Russia in the midst of troubled transition to the modern age; its driven young hero, Raskolnikov, stands as a timeless prototype of alienated youth; its unforgettable gallery of characters - ranging from police inspector to prostitute, from incorrigible sinner to unbearable prig - comes to vivid being in an atmosphere of life - charged with living, in a world where thought and action are fused by intense emotion. Here, in a brilliant new translation by the noted scholar and literary critic Sidney Monas, is one of the greatest novels ever written. - CRIME AND PUNISHMENT is the supreme expression of an author who 'explored pathological states and the psychology of high tension, the realm of 'obsession' and 'possession,' because it was there one could most clearly and dramatically see the human consequences of an idea carried ruthlessly through to its logical conclusion. For Dostoyevsky, an idea always has skin around it, and a human personality.' Translated and with an Afterword by Sidney Monas. UNABRIDGED. AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY - Fyodor Mikhailovich Dostoyevsky 11 November 1821 - 9 February 1881), sometimes transliterated Dostoevsky, was a Russian novelist, short story writer, essayist and philosopher. Dostoyevsky's literary works explore human psychology in the context of the troubled political, social, and spiritual atmosphere of 19th-century Russia.

[ 0363 ] Marvell, Andrew. The Selected Poetry of Marvell. New York. 1967. Signet/New American Library. 0451503635. Edited By Frank Kermode. 189 pages. paperback. CQ363. Signet Classic original. FROM THE PUBLISHER - UNIQUE FEATURES OF THE SELECTED POETRY OF MARVELL: Features almost the entire canon - political, pastoral, satirical, lyric and philosophical - of the great seventeenth - century poet's work. Includes An Horatian Ode upon Cromwell's Return from Ireland, The First Anniversary of the Government under 0. C., The Garden, Upon Appleton House, The Nymph Complaining for the Death of her Fawn, To his Coy Mistress, Dialogue between the Resolved Soul and Created Pleasure, The Definition of Love . and the 'Mower' poems. General Introduction to the special quality and character of Marvell's poetry by Frank Kermode, Professor of English at the University of Bristol, England, and author of Romantic Image, John Donne, and The Living Milton. Chronology of Marvell's life. Text printed in the clearest, most readable type. Footnotes at the bottom of page keyed to the text. Extensive bibliography. AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY - Andrew Marvell (31 March 1621 - 16 August 1678) was an English metaphysical poet and politician who sat in the House of Commons at various times between 1659 and 1678.

[ 0364 ] Moliére, Jean-Baptiste. Tartuffe and Other Plays. New York. 1967. Signet/New American Library. 0451503643. Translated From The French & With An Introduction By Donald Frame. 384 pages. paperback. CY364. Signet Classic original. FROM THE PUBLISHER - Includes - TARTUFFE, THE RIDICULOUS PRECIEUSES, THE SCHOOL FOR HUSBANDS, THE SCHOOL FOR WIVES, DON JUAN, THE VERSAILLES IMPROMPTU, AND THE CRITIQUE OF THE SCHOOL FOR WIVES. 'Moliere is probably the greatest and best - loved French author, and comic author, who ever lived. To the reader as well as the spectator, today as well as three centuries ago, the appeal of his plays is immediate and durable; they are both instantly accessible and inexhaustible.' Thus writes the noted French scholar Professor Donald M. Frame, who has selected and given memorable new translations to the seven plays in this volume. Representing the many facets of Moliere's genius, this Signet Classic collection spans the dramatist's artistic development as it offers a superb introduction to the 'comic inventiveness, richness of fabric, and insight' which comprise Moliere's living legacy to the theater and to literature. Henri Peyre of Yale University comments on Donald M. Frame's translation: 'His Moliere will be the English Moliere for a long time. His language is tact fully colloquial, his style is flowing and varied. He has fully succeeded in giving us a true, accurate and poetical Moliere.' AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY - Jean-Baptiste Poquelin, known by his stage name Molière (1622–1673), was a French playwright and actor who is considered to be one of the greatest masters of comedy in Western literature. Among Molière's best-known works are The Misanthrope, The School for Wives, Tartuffe, The Miser, The Imaginary Invalid, and The Bourgeois Gentleman.

[ 0365 ] Dreiser, Theodore. An American Tragedy. New York. Signet/New American Library. 0451503651. paperback. CY365. Signet Classic reprint. FROM THE PUBLISHER - Theodore Dreiser's An American Tragedy (1925) is a novel about the harsh realities of American life. Based on an actual murder case, the story concerns a young man, Clyde Griffiths, who is born into a religious family. His life changes when he takes work as a bellboy in a hotel in Kansas City and is exposed to the world of alcohol and prostitution. Griffiths's affair with a girl, Roberta, results in pregnancy, and she expects to marry him. But by now Clyde loves another woman. AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY - Theodore Herman Albert Dreiser (August 27, 1871 - December 28, 1945) was an American novelist and journalist of the naturalist school. His novels often featured main characters who succeeded at their objectives despite a lack of a firm moral code, and literary situations that more closely resemble studies of nature than tales of choice and agency. Dreiser's best known novels include Sister Carrie (1900) and An American Tragedy (1925).

[ 0366 ] Herbert, George. The Selected Poetry of George Herbert. New York. 1967. Signet/New American Library. 045150366x. Edited By Joseph H. Summers. 288 pages. paperback. CY366. Signet Classic original. FROM THE PUBLISHER - UNIQUE FEATURES OF THE SELECTED POETRY OF GEORGE HERBERT: Features almost the entire canon of the poetry of George Herbert - the great seventeenth - century parson - poet who has recently been rediscovered by modern - day scholars and critics. Includes Affliction, The Altar, The Church - porch, The Church - floor, Church - music, The Collar, Easter - wings, The Elixir, The Flower, Good Friday, Jordan, The Pulley, The Quiddity General Introduction to the special quality and character of Herbert's poetry by Professor Joseph H. Summers, Chairman of the English Department of Washington University and author of George Herbert: His Religion and His Art. Chronology of Herbert's life. Text printed in the clearest, most readable type. Footnotes at the bottom of page keyed to the text. Extensive bibliography. AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY - George Herbert (3 April 1593 - 1 March 1633) was a Welsh-born poet, orator and Anglican priest. Herbert's poetry is associated with the writings of the metaphysical poets, and he is recognised as "one of the foremost British devotional lyricists."

[ 0367 ] Lewis, Sinclair. Arrowsmith. New York. Signet/New American Library. 0451503678. Afterword by Mark Schorer. paperback. CQ367. Signet Classic reprint. FROM THE PUBLISHER - Martin Arrowsmith's singular, if somewhat ascetic, devotion to science affords Sinclair Lewis his most dramatic opportunity to portray an American whose work becomes his life. Forced to give up successive sinecures - instructor in medicine, small - town doctor, research pathologist - by obstacles ranging from public ignorance to the publicity - mindedness of a great foundation, Arrowsmith becomes virtually isolated as a seeker after truth. Even so, Lewis' poignant thesis would seem to be that American idealism cannot beget true tragedy, because its adherents lack a sympathetic audience and their stumbling - blocks are, for the most part, petty. Observing the Nobel Prize - winning author's double gifts for satire and realism, E. M. Forster said, 'He has lodged a piece of a Continent in the world's imagination' and AndrE Maurois proclaimed him 'a great novelist.' AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY - Harry Sinclair Lewis (February 7, 1885 - January 10, 1951) was an American novelist, short-story writer, and playwright. In 1930, he became the first writer from the United States to receive the Nobel Prize in Literature, which was awarded ‘for his vigorous and graphic art of description and his ability to create, with wit and humor, new types of characters.' His works are known for their insightful and critical views of American capitalism and materialism between the wars.

[ 0368 ] Leopardi, Giacomo. Selected Prose and Poetry of Giacomo Leopardi. New York. 1967. Signet/New American Library. 0451503686. Translated From The Italian, Edited & With An Introduction By Iris Origo & John Heath-Stubbs. 299 pages. paperback. CY368. Signet Classic original. FROM THE PUBLISHER - The name of Giacomo Leopardi is but little known to American readers. Yet this solitary, in many ways tragic figure ranks as the supreme Italian lyric poet since Dante and Petrarch, and as one of the extraordinary intellects of the 19th century. From his encyclopedic notebook - the Zibaldone - and from his Operette Morali, Pensieri, essays, letters and autobiographical fragments, Iris Origo has made a selection designed to illumine the singular blending of romanticism and classicism, idealism and pessimism, yearning love and painful alienation that so distinctively marked the poet. John Heath - Stubbs has translated seventeen of the Canti - here printed with Italian and English on facing pages - and has provided a valuable critical introduction. 'To some,' he writes, 'Leopardi's aristocratic humanism will seem sterile and reactionary; but to others he will appear the most essentially modern and clearsighted, as well as one of the greatest poets, of his time.' Poet and critic John Hollander declares: 'Now we really have Leopardi in English. Certainly both translators have succeeded wonderfully in. presenting to the modern reader this astounding contemplative genius. AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY - Giacomo Leopardi (June 29, 1798 - June 14, 1837) was born in Ricanti, Italy, in 1798. He was a poet, essayist, philosopher, and philologis

[ 0369 ] Stowe, Harriet Beecher. Uncle Tom's Cabin. New York. Signet/New American Library. 0451503694. paperback. 369. Signet Classic reprint. FROM THE PUBLISHER - ‘So this is the little lady who made this big war ‘Abraham Lincoln's legendary comment upon meeting Mrs. Stowe has been seriously questioned, but few will deny that this work fed the passions and prejudices of countless numbers. If it did not ‘make' the Civil War, it flamed the embers. That UNCLE TOM'S CABIN is far more than an outdated work of propaganda confounds literary criticism. The novel's overwhelming power and persuasion have outlived even the most severe of critics. As Professor John William Ward of Amherst College points out in his incisive Afterword, the dilemma posed by Mrs. Stowe is no less relevant today thin it was in 1852: What is it to be ‘a moral human being' ? Can such a person live in society -any society? Commenting on the timeless significance of the book, Professor Ward writes: ‘UNCLE TOM'S CABIN is about slavery but it is about slavery because the fatal weakness of the slave's condition is the extreme manifestation of the sickness of the general society, a society breaking up into discrete, atomistic individuals where human beings, white or black, can find no secure relation one with another. Mrs. Stowe was more radical than even those in the South who hated her could see. Uncle Tom's Cabin suggests no less than the simple and terrible possibility that society has no place in it for love . ‘ With an Afterword by John William Ward. AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY - Harriet Elisabeth Beecher Stowe (June 14, 1811 - July 1, 1896) was an American abolitionist and author. Her novel Uncle Tom's Cabin (1852) was a depiction of life for African Americans under slavery; it reached millions as a novel and play, and became influential in the United States and United Kingdom.

[ 0370 ] Jimenez, Juan Ramon. Platero and I. New York. Signet/New American Library. 0451503708. Translated From The Spanish By William H. and Mary M. Roberts. Introduction By William H. Roberts. paperback. CT370. Signet Classic reprint. FROM THE PUBLISHER - He's the children's playmate, the gray goat's companion, and the poet's cherished friend. Small and downy soft, the donkey named Platero romps through the pages of a book that has captured the hearts of readers everywhere. Written by Juan Ramon JimEnez, the 1956 winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature, Platero and I has been translated into the main languages of Western Europe as well as Hebrew and Basque. Like the great Spanish classic Don Quixote, it has found favor with the young, who delight in the adventures of the merry little donkey and the sad poet, and with their elders, who look beyond the narrative to see what the writer has to say about man and his world. Drawings by Baltasar Lobo. AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY - Juan Ramon JimEnez Mantecon (24 December 1881 - 29 May 1958) was a Spanish poet, a prolific writer who received the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1956. One of JimEnez's most important contributions to modern poetry was his advocacy of the French concept of ‘pure poetry.'

[ 0371 ] Norris, Frank. The Octopus. New York. Signet/New American Library. 0451503716. paperback. CQ371. Signet Classic reprint. FROM THE PUBLISHER - Like his more famous contemporary Upton Sinclair, American author BENJAMIN FRANKLIN NORRIS, JR. (1870-1902) also highlighted the corruption and greed of corporate monopolies in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. themes that continue to make his work riveting reading more than a century later. The Octopus, first published in 1901, is the tale of a war between wheat growers in California and the Railroad Trust. Rancher Magnus Derrick and railroad representative S. Behrman square off-to disastrous results-as poet Presley, a stand-in for Norris, observes and chronicles the tragedy. The first part of Norris's projected 'Trilogy of the Epic of the Wheat,' The Octopus is followed by 1903's The Pit (Norris died before he could write the third volume, The Wolf). AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY - Benjamin Franklin Norris, Jr. (March 5, 1870 - October 25, 1902) was an American novelist during the Progressive Era, writing predominantly in the naturalist genre. His notable works include McTeague (1899), The Octopus: A Story of California (1901), and The Pit (1903).

[ 0372 ] Goethe, Johann Wolfgang von. The Sorrows of Young Werther and Selected Writings. New York. Signet/New American Library. 0451503724. paperback. CQ372. Signet Classic reprint. FROM THE PUBLISHER - This book is a unique collection comprising those works of Goethe which stress his positive attitude toward love and death. In these tales and memoirs of fated courtships and redemption through death, the great classicist avoids the melodramatic and macabre, infusing his writing with clairvoyant wisdom and 'the laughter of the gods.' His heroes and heroines, confronted by irreparable loss, stand strong in their will to live and reflect the wellsprings of universal order. A revolutionary in an epoch of sentiment, Goethe was the prime force of the Romantic Movement throughout Europe. Emerson acclaimed him as the world's 'greatest writer.' Thomas Mann, whose own LOTTE IN WEIMAR recasts a central situation from THE SORROWS OF YOUNG WERTHER, Writes of this novel: 'As for Werther, all the richness of (Goethe's) gift was apparent. The extreme, nerve - shattering sensitivity of the little book. evoked a storm of applause which went beyond all bounds and fairly intoxicated the world.' AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY - Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (28 August 1749 - 22 March 1832) was a German writer, artist, and politician. His body of work includes epic and lyric poetry written in a variety of metres and styles; prose and verse dramas; memoirs; an autobiography; literary and aesthetic criticism; treatises on botany, anatomy, and colour; and four novels.

[ 0373 ] Galsworthy, John. The Man of Property. New York. 1967. Signet/New American Library. 0451503732. Afterword By Louis Auchincloss. 301 pages. paperback. CQ373. Signet Classic original. FROM THE PUBLISHER - 'It has a subject as large and solid as the Albert Memorial or the Royal Courts of Justice: a prosperous, fecund, upper - middle - class family in the London of the late eighties, united by a joint concern for the acquisition and preservation of wealth, with their dark, densely furnished, immaculate houses, their gleaming carriages . with their serene social self - assurance. they seem of the very essence of the British empire at its most arrogant and most far - flung. To see the fortress which they created against hunger and question marks after that fortress has largely crumbled, as we see it in reading Galsworthy today, provides an added layer of irony.' Thus the noted critic and novelist Louis Auchincloss writes in his Afterword to this, the first and greatest of the novels of the Forsyte Saga. The story centers upon Soames Forsyte, 'the man of property,' and the woman whose troubling beauty he seeks to make part of that property, first through marriage, then through destruction of the man she loves. A chronicle of voracious acquisitiveness, its intimate, unsparing depiction of late - Victorian life and values has never been equaled. It is a work which established its author as the foremost voice of his age, and as one of the major novelists of the century. AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY - John Galsworthy (14 August 1867 - 31 January 1933) was an English novelist and playwright. Notable works include The Forsyte Saga (1906–1921) and its sequels, A Modern Comedy and End of the Chapter. He won the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1932.

[ 0374 ] Shakespeare, William. Henry VIII. New York. 1967. Signet/New American Library. 0451503740. Edited By Samuel Schoenbaum. 239 pages. paperback. CT374. Cover: Milton Glaser. Signet Classic original. FROM THE PUBLISHER - Many believe Henry VIII to be Shakespeare's last play, but others firmly believe that the Bard had little, if anything, to do with its creation. Queen Katherine of Aragon is upright and virtuous and married to King Henry VIII. Henry was a proud and wilful monarch who defies Rome's ban on divorce to marry Ann Bullen (Boleyn). Cardinal Wolsey the Powerful Lord Chancellor of England and accomplished politician attempts to bend Rome to the king's wishes in the Bullen matter. Later, near death, he repents his unpriestly activity. Katherine is divorced and sent to Kimbolton Castle and Anne marries King Henry VIII to become his queen. THE SIGNET CLASSIC SHAKESPEARE SERIES. The work of the world's greatest dramatist in authoritative texts edited by outstanding scholars. Unique features of the Signet Classic Shakespeare - Special Introduction to the play by the editor, S. Schoenbaum, Northwestern University; General discussion of Shakespeare's life, world, and theater by the general editor of the Signet Classic Shakespeare series, Sylvan Barnet, Tufts University; Sources from which Shakespeare derived HENRY VIII - selections from Raphael Holinshed: CHRONICLES OF ENGLAND, SCOTLAND, AND IRELAND and John Foxe: ACTS AND MONUMENTS OF MARTYRS; Dramatic criticism: from the past and present: commentaries by William Hazlitt, F. E. Spurgeon, G. Wilson Knight, Mark Van Doren; Text and commentaries printed in the clearest, most readable type; Name of each speaker given in full; Detailed footnotes at the bottom of each page of the play keyed to the numbered lines of the text; Textual note; Extensive bibliography. AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY - William Shakespeare (26 April 1564 (baptised) - 23 April 1616) was an English poet, playwright, and actor, widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's national poet and the 'Bard of Avon'. His extant works, including some collaborations, consist of about 38 plays, 154 sonnets, two long narrative poems.

[ 0375 ] Dreiser, Theodore. The Genius. New York. 1967. Signet/New American Library. 0451503759. Afterword By Larzer Ziff. 733 pages. paperback. CW375. Signet Classic original. FROM THE PUBLISHER - The 'Genius' stands as the most directly personal of Theodore Dreiser's novels - and, to the original audience which recoiled from its unprecedented sexual candor, the most shocking. Its story traces the career of Eugene Witla, a talented young artist from a small town in the Midwest. Seeking fulfillment in art and life, he comes first to Chicago and then to New York. As the fiercely driven Eugene gains recognition. enters the world of advertising and mass - circulation magazines. moves from woman to woman. the reader comes to view artistic expression, sexual desire and material ambition as but different manifestations of a single central human force. The 'Genius' is intensely written and deeply felt - a novel with a hero whose vitality colors every page. In the words of Professor Larzer Ziff, of the University of California at Berkeley, The 'Genius' 'dramatizes its author's radical perception that the artist's crisis in rich America will not come from the conflict between artistic success and financial success, but from the gap between success itself and the hungering self that refuses to be sated.' AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY - Theodore Herman Albert Dreiser (August 27, 1871 - December 28, 1945) was an American novelist and journalist of the naturalist school. His novels often featured main characters who succeeded at their objectives despite a lack of a firm moral code, and literary situations that more closely resemble studies of nature than tales of choice and agency. Dreiser's best known novels include Sister Carrie (1900) and An American Tragedy (1925).

[ 0376 ] Dreiser, Theodore. The Financier. New York. 1967. Signet/New American Library. 0451503767. Afterword By Larzer Ziff. 463 pages. paperback. CY376. Signet Classic original. FROM THE PUBLISHER - American success story stripped down to brutal realities - a struggle for spoils without conscience, pity, or even final purpose. A work of immense social documentation, shaped by intense human compassion, The Financier is a major achievement of a writer whom Alfred Kazin has termed 'stronger than all the others of his time, and at the same time more poignant; greater than the world he has described, but as significant as the people in it.' Here, Dreiser, as Professor Larzer Ziff of the University of California at Berkeley declares, 'succeeded beyond any of his predecessors or successors in producing a great American business novel .' AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY - Theodore Herman Albert Dreiser (August 27, 1871 - December 28, 1945) was an American novelist and journalist of the naturalist school. His novels often featured main characters who succeeded at their objectives despite a lack of a firm moral code, and literary situations that more closely resemble studies of nature than tales of choice and agency. Dreiser's best known novels include Sister Carrie (1900) and An American Tragedy (1925).

[ 0377 ] Franklin, Benjamin. The Autobiography and Other Writings. New York. Signet/New American Library. 0451508009. paperback. CP377. Signet Classic reprint. FROM THE PUBLISHER - Availing himself of the best texts and the latest scholarship in the field, L. Jesse Lemisch presents in this Signet Classic a lively and authentic portrait of Benjamin Franklin, the whole man. Seen through his own eyes and through the eyes of others, here is Franklin the public figure: scientist, inventor, educator, diplomat, politician, humorist . and Franklin the private person: father, husband, friend. Richard B. Morris, Chairman of the History Department of Columbia University, wrote about this book, 'I think that Mr. Lemisch has brought together an extraordinarily interesting collection of material about an extraordinary person. He has done it so skillfully that the reader will easily obtain a fully rounded portrait of the many - sided Franklin, notably the moralist, humanitarian, scientist, and unconventional human being. The notes are lively, balanced, and informative, and heighten the interest in the text.' The Signet Classic edition of THE AUTOBIOGRAPHY uses the definitive Farrand text. AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY - Benjamin Franklin (January 17, 1706 - April 17, 1790) was one of the Founding Fathers of the United States. A noted polymath, Franklin was a leading author, printer, political theorist, politician, postmaster, scientist, musician, inventor, satirist, civic activist, statesman, and diplomat.

[ 0378 ] Boswell, James. Boswell's Life of Johnson. New York. 1968. Signet/New American Library. 0451503783. Edited, Abridged,& With An Introduction By Frank Brady. 664 pages. paperback. CY378. Signet Classic original. FROM THE PUBLISHER - 'I will venture to promise that my Life of my revered friend will be the richest piece of biography that has ever appeared.' Thus, in 1786, James Boswell wrote of a work that had its genesis in his first meeting, twenty - three years before, with the eminent Samuel Johnson. The Life of Samuel Johnson, LL.D. did not appear until 1791, but it was to justify fully its author's prophecy. Drawing upon Johnson's sparkling conversations, his writings, the opinions of contemporaries as well as his own recollections, Boswell employed his superb gift for dramatic scene and concrete detail to create a remarkable portrait. Brought to full and vivid life is a genius of common sense, a magnificent critic, a passionate moralist, a man of reason and idiosyncrasy who climbed from poverty and obscurity to become the literary ruler of his age. To the modern reader, however, it is not only Johnson's personality, ideas, and milieu that make this book so fascinating; there is also the implicit presence of the biographer, conveyed by his subtle powers of observation and his vigorous prose. Boswell has come to be recognized in this century as a writer of the first rank, and the LIFE OF JOHNSON to be the greatest of all biographies. AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY - James Boswell (1740-1795) was a lawyer, diarist, and author. He is best known as the biographer of Samuel Johnson.

[ 0379 ] Taylor, Robert Lewis. W.C. Fields: His Follies and Fortunes. New York. 1967. Signet/New American Library. 0451503791. 287 pages. paperback. CQ379. Signet Classic original. FROM THE PUBLISHER - He was born William Claude Dukinfield, son of a London cockney who migrated to Philadelphia in the late 1870's: he became W C. Fields, star of The Bank Dick and My Little Chickadee, in the opinion of many the greatest comic artist the world has known. Pulitzer Prize - winner Robert Lewis Taylor chronicles the incredible life story of W C. Fields from his childhood as a knockabout street urchin to his heyday as the celebrity who hobnobbed with Edward VII. To write a book, commensurately funny, about a comic genius and to raise it to the level of literature is a feat that requires a gift of unique rarity. Mr. Taylor's contribution, in W. C. FIELDS: His Follies and Fortunes, is a separate venture in creation, rich in both humor and pathos, as marvelous in its way as Mr. Fields himself. Harry Golden comments on this remarkable portrait of the century's funniest man: 'Fields makes all the modern beats look like little Lord Fauntleroys. He was a supreme artist and a supreme individual and Taylor does him full justice.' Richard Maney says in The New York Times, 'Robert Lewis Taylor has written a hilarious history of the fabulous comedian, written it with understanding, sympathy and a gay respect for the scandalous facts involved.' AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY - Robert Lewis Taylor (September 24, 1912 - September 30, 1998) was an American author and winner of the 1959 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction.

[ 0380 ] Fielding, Henry. Tom Jones. New York. Signet/New American Library. 0451503805. paperback. CQ380. Cover: Milton Glaser. Signet Classic reprint. FROM THE PUBLISHER - Young Tom Jones, pure - hearted and warm - blooded, parentage unknown and future uncertain, stands at the center of this masterpiece of the English language. Yet he is but one of the book's expertly drawn characters his adventures on the highway of life entangle him with a variety of men and women who vividly cover the full spectrum of human virtue and vice. His high - minded love for sweet Sophia cannot restrain the demands of his flesh for the pretty and bawdy Molly or the seductive Mrs. Waters; nor can the benevolence of Squire Allworthy protect him from the wretched Bilfil. Before he recognizes his destiny, he must suffer all the outrages of comic misfortune. The richly textured pattern of Tom Jones is one of the marvels of literature and in its parody and pathos, its wit and constant surprise, the reader views the pure joy of life itself. Coleridge wrote of this work, 'Upon my word, I think the Oedipus Tyrannus, the Alchemist, and Tom Jones, the three most perfect plots ever planned.' Frank Kermode comments there are 'few works of art so perfectly made, so perfectly of their period, yet possessing the energy and high spirits and good humor to transcend it.' AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY - Henry Fielding (22 April 1707 - 8 October 1754) was an English novelist and dramatist known for his rich earthy humour and satirical prowess, and as the author of the novel Tom Jones. Aside from his literary achievements, he has a significant place in the history of law-enforcement, having founded (with his half-brother John) what some have called London's first police force, the Bow Street Runners, using his authority as a magistrate.

[ 0381 ] Norris, Frank. McTeague. New York. Signet/New American Library. 0451503813. Afterword By Kenneth Rexroth. paperback. CT381. Signet Classic reprint. FROM THE PUBLISHER - Frank Norris' graphic portrayal of the seamy side of survival in turn-of-the-century urban America remains shocking and powerful today -and its conclusion just as harrowing. AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY - Benjamin Franklin Norris, Jr. (March 5, 1870 - October 25, 1902) was an American novelist during the Progressive Era, writing predominantly in the naturalist genre. His notable works include McTeague (1899), The Octopus: A Story of California (1901), and The Pit (1903).

[ 0382 ] Milton, John. Paradise Lost and Paradise Regained. New York. 1968. Signet/New American Library. 0451503821. Edited & With An Introduction By Christopher Ricks. paperback. CJ382. Signet Classic original. FROM THE PUBLISHER - These controversial epic poems demonstrate Milton's genius for fusing sense and sound, classicism and innovation, narrative and drama in profound explorations of the moral problems of God's justice-and what it truly means to be human. AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY - John Milton (9 December 1608 - 8 November 1674) was an English poet, polemicist, man of letters, and a civil servant for the Commonwealth of England under Oliver Cromwell. He wrote at a time of religious flux and political upheaval, and is best known for his epic poem Paradise Lost (1667), written in blank verse.

[ 0383 ] Shakespeare, William. Henry VI, Part 3. New York. 1968. Signet/New American Library. 045150383x. Edited By Milton Crane. 224 pages. paperback. CT383. Cover: Milton Glaser. Signet Classic original. FROM THE PUBLISHER - Special Introduction to the play by the editor, Milton Crane, The George Washington University. General discussion of Shakespeare's life, world, and theater by the general editor of the Signet Classic Shakespeare series, Sylvan Barnet, Tufts University. Special notes on the sources of Henry VI, Part Three - selections from Edward Hall: The Union of the Two Noble and Illustre Families of Lancaster and York'; Dramatic criticism: commentaries by Samuel Johnson,. E. M. W. Tillyard, J.P. Brockbank; Text and commentaries printed in the clearest, most readable type; Name of each speaker given in full; Detailed footnotes at the bottom of each page of the play keyed to the numbered lines of the text; Textual note; Extensive bibliography. AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY - William Shakespeare (26 April 1564 (baptised) - 23 April 1616) was an English poet, playwright, and actor, widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's national poet and the 'Bard of Avon'. His extant works, including some collaborations, consist of about 38 plays, 154 sonnets, two long narrative poems.

[ 0384 ] Poe, Edgar Allan. The Complete Poetry and Selected Criticism of Edgar Allan Poe. New York. 1968. Signet/New American Library. 0451503848. Edited & With An Introduction By Allan Tate. 287 pages. paperback. CY384. Signet Classic original. FROM THE PUBLISHER - Edgar Allan Poe's career was marked by a profoundly divided inner life. The clarity of his mind and the torments of his imagination produced poetry of measured hallucinatory power. A unique figure in American letters, Poe was neglected in his own country at the time he was honored and imitated in France as one of the pioneers of the Symbolist movement. Employing his genius to explore rather than to moralize the human psyche, he became, in the words of Allan Tate, 'a type of alienated poet, the outcast, the poEte maudit - the poet accursed.' One of the first professional men of letters in America, Poe also wrote literary criticism and journalism of a very high order; his essays on poetry are among the landmarks of American literature as well as excellent guides to the theory and practice of his own verse. AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY - Edgar Allan Poe (January 19, 1809 - October 7, 1849) was an American author, poet, editor and literary critic, considered part of the American Romantic Movement. Best known for his tales of mystery and the macabre, Poe was one of the earliest American practitioners of the short story and is considered the inventor of the detective-fiction genre. He is further credited with contributing to the emerging genre of science fiction.

[ 0385 ] Porter, Katherine Anne. Pale Horse, Pale Rider. New York. Signet/New American Library. 0451503856. 176 pages. paperback. CT385. Signet Classic reprint. FROM THE PUBLISHER - Katherine Anne Porter is regarded as one of the most distinguished writers in the world today. Her style is a rare combination of subtlety and insight; her concern is 'human nature, the fatalities of life and the perils of human relationships.' In the three beautiful short novels that comprise PALE HORSE, PALE RIDER she explores the chaotic individualism experienced by those who cope with—and today outlive—their greatest crises. Miranda, the heroine of the first and last stories, survives the ghosts of a poignant but unreal childhood, the Great War, and a flu epidemic that claims her lover—to spend her days with a heightened sense of jeopardy. In 'Noon Wine', Farmer Thompson, though legally acquitted of the murder he commits, can find no justification for his crime and seeks release in a final and tragic act. 'Miss Porter is one of the finest writers of prose in America.'—Granville Hicks . 'There is a kind of magic about everything Miss Porter writes.'—New York Times . 'Katherine Anne Porter moves in the illustrious company headed by Hawthorne, Flaubert, and Henry; James.'—Saturday Review. With an Afterword by Mark Schorer. AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY - Katherine Anne Porter (May 15, 1890 - September 18, 1980) was a Pulitzer Prize-winning American journalist, essayist, short story writer, novelist, and political activist. She is known for her penetrating insight; her work deals with dark themes such as betrayal, death and the origin of human evil.

[ 0386 ] Smollett, Tobias. Humphry Clinker. New York. Signet/New American Library. 0451503864. Foreword by Monroe Engel. paperback. CQ386. Signet Classic reprint. FROM THE PUBLISHER - With the sharp sensitivity of 'a man without skin' Tobias Smollett humorously attacked the frivolity and foibles of eighteenth - century England. Humphry Clinker is his mirthful tale of a tour by coach and four through cities and countryside. Five people embark on the journey: the crusty eccentric, Squire Bramble; his husband - hunting sister, Tabitha; her maid, Winifred; and Bramble's youthful niece and nephew,. Lydia and Jery. En route they are joined by Humphry Clinker, an honest Wiltshire lad of tattered cloth and empty purse. As misadventure follows misadventure, each character reveals his true self by giving his own conflicting view of the incidents, places, and people encountered along the way. The result is an entertaining and realistic picture of that wonderful age when gentlemen duelled, ladies swooned, and servants rose from rags to riches. AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY - Tobias George Smollett (19 March 1721 - 17 September 1771) was a Scottish poet and author. He was best known for his picaresque novels, such as The Adventures of Roderick Random (1748) and The Adventures of Peregrine Pickle (1751).

[ 0387 ] Mann, Thomas. Confessions of Felix Krull, Confidence Man. New York. Signet/New American Library. 0451503872. paperback. CQ387. Signet Classic reprint. FROM THE PUBLISHER - Felix Krull, swindler par excellence, stands as Thomas Mann's last great literary creation. With the modest pride of a professional, Krull retraces the course of his extraordinary career from a sweet but hardly innocent child to manhood when his genius for theft, impersonation, and sensual adventure came to full flower. In these 'confessions' the irony that underlies even Mann's most serious work is transformed into high comedy, ribald farce, brilliant parody. Begun in 1911, laid aside, then resumed after a span of some forty years, this first volume of a projected trilogy is a marvel of sustained inspiration. It is a memorable tour de force in which the author's lifelong fascination with the ambiguous relationship between art and morality achieves final expression with Mann assuming the voice of an enchanting charlatan to bid the world a smiling farewell. George Steiner calls Confessions 'a garland of laughter' laid upon the 'monumental facade' of Mann's work. AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY - Thomas Mann (6 June 1875 - 12 August 1955) was a German novelist, short story writer, social critic, philanthropist, essayist, and 1929 Nobel Prize laureate, known for his series of highly symbolic and ironic epic novels and novellas, noted for their insight into the psychology of the artist and the intellectual.

[ 0388 ] Austen, Jane. Emma. New York. Signet/New American Library. 0451503880. paperback. CT388. Signet Classic reprint. FROM THE PUBLISHER - Emma represents the mature flowering of Jane Austen's singular genius. Set in a world the author made uniquely her own - the world of country gentry in Regency England - the novel centers upon a supremely self - assured young lady, determined to arrange her life and the lives of all around her into a pattern dictated by her romantic fancy. By turn intelligent and foolish, wreaking havoc with best intentions, Miss Emma Woodhouse is a captivating embodiment of feminine contradiction, portrayed with the stylistic grace, the wit, and the wisdom that have ensured Jane Austen's continuing popularity. The book's resourceful narrative technique - with its masterly use of point of view and its skillful employment of the elements of mystery - makes it, in the words of Frank O'Connor, 'a delight and a flattery for the knowing type of reader.' Graham Hough writes: 'Emma has a good claim to be the most perfect of Jane Austen's novels, the one in which comedy and gravity, irony and sympathy, are most completely blended.' AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY - Jane Austen (16 December 1775 - 18 July 1817) was an English novelist whose works of romantic fiction, set among the landed gentry, earned her a place as one of the most widely read writers in English literature. Her realism and biting social commentary have gained her historical importance among scholars and critics.

[ 0389 ] Twain, Mark. The Mysterious Stranger and Other Stories. New York. Signet/New American Library. 0451503899. paperback. CP389. Signet Classic reprint. FROM THE PUBLISHER - Includes the stories: THE CELEBRATED JUMPING FROG OF CALAVERAS COUNTY, THE FACTS CONCERNING THE RECENT CARNIVAL OF CRIME IN CONNECTICUT, THE STOLEN WHITE ELEPHANT, LUCK, THE £1,000,000 BANKNOTE, THE MAN THAT CORRUPTED HADLEYBURG, THE FIVE BOONS OF LIFE,& WAS IT HEAVEN? OR HELL? . THE MYSTERIOUS STRANGER is that rarity in the work of Mark Twain - a novelette in which the author turns his sardonic, free - wheeling wit to the problem of Eternal Evil in a distant time and place. In the other eight stories presented here Twain debunks his Gilded Age; he ransacks the back yards of daily life and fable to find his notorious, sometimes preposterous, metaphors. He is as apt to deal with the great minds of the law hunting a wayward elephant as with a man who has a bank - note no one can cash. 'Mark Twain transcends all other American humorists . There is always. the companionship of a spirit which is at once delightfully open and deliciously shrewd.' - William Dean Howells. AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY - Samuel Langhorne Clemens (November 30, 1835 - April 21, 1910), better known by his pen name Mark Twain, was an American author and humorist. He wrote The Adventures of Tom Sawyer (1876) and its sequel, Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (1885), the latter often called 'the Great American Novel'.

[ 0390 ] Melville, Herman. Typee. New York. Signet/New American Library. 0451503902. paperback. CT390. Signet Classic reprint. FROM THE PUBLISHER - Almost from the time of its publication in 1846, Melville's first book, based on his own travels in the South Seas, has been recognized as a classic in the literature of travel and adventure. Although initially rejected as too fantastic to be true, Typee was immensely popular and regarded in Melville's lifetime as his best work. It established his reputation as the literary discoverer of the South Seas and inspired the likes of Jack London and Robert Louis Stevenson. Two common sailors jump ship and are held in benign captivity by Polynesian natives. Through the narrator's eyes we see a literate (if romanticized) portrait of the people and their culture presented in vivid, even scientific, detail. Melville's racy style and irreverence toward Christian missionaries caused a scandal, and critics denounced the narrator's suggestion that the native life might be superior to that of modern civilization. An adventure story above all, albeit one with a philosophical bent, Typee is a combination of elements that even early in Melville's career hinted at the towering ambition he would fulfill with Moby-Dick. AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY - Herman Melville (August 1, 1819 - September 28, 1891) was an American novelist, poet, and writer of short stories. His works includes the whaling novel Moby-Dick (1851), Bartleby, the Scrivener (1853), Benito Cereno (1855), and Billy Budd, Sailor (1924).

[ 0391 ] Longfellow, Henry Wadsworth. Evangeline and Selected Tales and Poems . New York. Signet/New American Library. 0451503910. 288 pages. paperback. CT391. Signet Classic reprint. FROM THE PUBLISHER - Henry Wadsworth Longfellow was the first American poet successfully to employ the classic form and style of the Old World to express the subjects and sentiments of the New. His narrative poems - Evangeline, The Song of Hiawatha, The Courtship of Miles Standish - have long been part of our national heritage; but Longfellow has more than the familiar to offer the discerning modern reader. Only recently have critics rediscovered his gift for creating superb melodies and harmonies in his verse. The shorter lyrics, the sonnets, are among the finest American poems in the Romantic tradition. The distinguished modern poet Horace Gregory has selected thirty-seven of Longfellow's most enduring poems for this edition, which offers to the student and to the general reader a perceptive insight into the many facets of the poet's genius. 'Longfellow's dignified, yet lighthearted phrasing is unique . his mastery in telling a story and reciting a fable is unequaled in American verse.'-Horace Gregory. AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY - Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (February 27, 1807 - March 24, 1882) was an American poet and educator whose works include 'Paul Revere's Ride', The Song of Hiawatha, and Evangeline.

[ 0392 ] Shakespeare, William. Antony and Cleopatra. New York. Signet/New American Library. 0451503929. paperback. CT392. Cover: Milton Glaser. Signet Classic reprint. FROM THE PUBLISHER - A magnificent drama of love and war, this riveting tragedy presents one of Shakespeare's greatest female characters--the seductive, cunning Egyptian queen Cleopatra. The Roman leader Mark Antony, a virtual prisoner of his passion for her, is a man torn between pleasure and virtue, between sensual indolence and duty . between an empire and love. Bold, rich, and splendid in its setting and emotions, Antony And Cleopatra ranks among Shakespeare's supreme achievements. A prose retelling of William Shakespeare's play about the love affair between the Roman soldier, Antony, and the Egyptian queen, Cleopatra. AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY - William Shakespeare (26 April 1564 (baptised) - 23 April 1616) was an English poet, playwright, and actor, widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's national poet and the 'Bard of Avon'. His extant works, including some collaborations, consist of about 38 plays, 154 sonnets, two long narrative poems.

[ 0393 ] Stowe, Harriet Beecher. Uncle Tom's Cabin. New York. Signet/New American Library. 0451503937. paperback. CT393. Signet Classic reprint. FROM THE PUBLISHER - ‘So this is the little lady who made this big war ‘Abraham Lincoln's legendary comment upon meeting Mrs. Stowe has been seriously questioned, but few will deny that this work fed the passions and prejudices of countless numbers. If it did not ‘make' the Civil War, it flamed the embers. That UNCLE TOM'S CABIN is far more than an outdated work of propaganda confounds literary criticism. The novel's overwhelming power and persuasion have outlived even the most severe of critics. As Professor John William Ward of Amherst College points out in his incisive Afterword, the dilemma posed by Mrs. Stowe is no less relevant today thin it was in 1852: What is it to be ‘a moral human being' ? Can such a person live in society -any society? Commenting on the timeless significance of the book, Professor Ward writes: ‘UNCLE TOM'S CABIN is about slavery but it is about slavery because the fatal weakness of the slave's condition is the extreme manifestation of the sickness of the general society, a society breaking up into discrete, atomistic individuals where human beings, white or black, can find no secure relation one with another. Mrs. Stowe was more radical than even those in the South who hated her could see. Uncle Tom's Cabin suggests no less than the simple and terrible possibility that society has no place in it for love . ‘ With an Afterword by John William Ward. AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY - Harriet Elisabeth Beecher Stowe (June 14, 1811 - July 1, 1896) was an American abolitionist and author. Her novel Uncle Tom's Cabin (1852) was a depiction of life for African Americans under slavery; it reached millions as a novel and play, and became influential in the United States and United Kingdom.

[ 0394 ] Shakespeare, William. Cymbeline. New York. 1968. Signet/New American Library. 0451503945. Edited By Richard Hosley. 239 pages. paperback. CT394. Cover: Milton Glaser. Signet Classic original. FROM THE PUBLISHER - Cymbeline tells the story of a British king, Cymbeline, and his three children, presented as though they are in a fairy tale. The secret marriage of Cymbeline's daughter, Imogen, triggers much of the action, which includes villainous slander, homicidal jealousy, cross-gender disguise, a deathlike trance, and the appearance of Jupiter in a vision. Kidnapped in infancy, Cymbeline's two sons are raised in a Welsh cave. As young men, they rescue a starving stranger (Imogen in disguise); kill Cymbeline's stepson; and fight with almost superhuman valor against the Roman army. The king, meanwhile, takes on a Roman invasion rather than pay a tribute. He too is a familiar figure—a father who loses his children and miraculously finds them years later; a king who defeats an army and grants pardon to all. Special Introduction to the play by the editor, Richard Hosley, University of Arizona ~ General discussion of Shakespeare's life, world, and theater by the general editor of the Signet Classic Shakespeare Series, Sylvan Barnet, Tufts University. Sources from which Shakespeare derived Cymbeline - Giovanni Boccaccio: from The Decameron; Raphael Holinshed: from The Chronicles of England, Scotland, and Ireland '~ Dramatic criticism: commentaries by Northrop Frye, and Bertrand Evans, from Shakespeare's comedies; Text and commentaries printed in the clearest, most readable type; Name of each speaker given in full; Detailed footnotes at the bottom of each page of the play keyed to the numbered lines of the text; Textual note; Extensive bibliography. AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY - William Shakespeare (26 April 1564 (baptised) - 23 April 1616) was an English poet, playwright, and actor, widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's national poet and the 'Bard of Avon'. His extant works, including some collaborations, consist of about 38 plays, 154 sonnets, two long narrative poems.

[ 0395 ] Faulkner, William. Sartoris. New York. Signet/New American Library. 0451503953. paperback. CQ395. Signet Classic reprint. FROM THE PUBLISHER - The specter of an heroic past is ever present in Sartoris, casting its ironic light upon the novel's protagonists. Heirs to the aristocratic traditions of the Old South, they have been left with only romantic rhetoric, pride, and self-pity to face a world that no longer mirrors their self-image. Bayard Sartoris seeks refuge in compulsive acts of physical courage; Horace Benbow, in a bloodless aestheticism; and Narcissa Benbow, in a desperate clinging to appearances. But for them there is to be no escape-only ultimate futility, whether in the form of violent self-destruction, or a living death in a fragile world of dreams. A brilliant dissection of a decaying social class, and a vivid evocation of both the physical landscape and psychological climate of the South, Sartoris introduces many of the key themes, places, and characters of the Faulkner canon. By itself, it stands as his first memorable projection of a vision that, as Lawrance Thompson writes, ‘recognizes the inseparability of human weaknesses and strengths, of positives and negatives, of good and evil . what [Faulkner] later called ‘the problems of the human heart in conflict with itself.' AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY - William Cuthbert Faulkner (born Falkner, September 25, 1897 - July 6, 1962), also known as Will Faulkner, was an American writer and Nobel Prize laureate from Oxford, Mississippi. Faulkner is one of the most important writers in both American literature generally and Southern literature specifically.

[ 0396 ] Poe, Edgar Allan. The Fall of the House of Usher and Other Tales. New York. Signet/New American Library. 0451503961. Foreword by R. P. Blackmur. paperback. CP396. Signet Classic reprint. FROM THE PUBLISHER - Collected in these two volumes are roe's legendary tales of terror that attest to his stylistic brilliance in evoking an atmosphere of gloom and obsession. Creatures, eyes, coffins, walls-all are symbols in roe's efforts to create an aura of evil. What reader would not share the anxiety of the traveler in The Fall of the House of Usher, who upon his first glimpse of the house, finds an 'insufferable gloom pervading my spirit. an utter depression of the soul. an iciness, a sinking, a sickening of the heart'? In volume 2 his nightmarish visions take us down untraveled paths revealing the dark side of the human experience. AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY - Edgar Allan Poe (January 19, 1809 - October 7, 1849) was an American author, poet, editor and literary critic, considered part of the American Romantic Movement. Best known for his tales of mystery and the macabre, Poe was one of the earliest American practitioners of the short story and is considered the inventor of the detective-fiction genre. He is further credited with contributing to the emerging genre of science fiction.

[ 0397 ] Dickens, Charles. David Copperfield. New York. Signet/New American Library. 045150397x. paperback. CQ397. Signet Classic reprint. FROM THE PUBLISHER - The year before he died Charles Dickens wrote of David Copperfield, 'Of all my books, I like this the best.' The story of the abandoned waif who develops a 'disciplined heart' through challenging encounters with distress and misfortune is a supreme example of Dickens' skill as a novelist. In this great work plots and counterplots are interwoven into one intricate, grand design . and a huge gallery of individual characters comes alive. The malignantly treacherous Uriah Heep, the jovial nurse Peggotty, the foolishly innocent Dora, the improvident Mr. Micawber, the egotistic and charming Steerforth - these stand among literature's most remembered people. 'Dickens excelled in character; in the creation of characters of greater intensity than human beings.' - T. S. Eliot. 'No novelist has ever captured more poignantly the brightness and magic and terror of the world as seen through the eyes of a child . the brutality and cruelty of boyhood. , the widening gaze of adolescence, the stress of starting out on a career, the silliness and delirious ecstasy and anguish of youthful love. That Dickens was able to weave all these strands into a design so richly integrated in theme and form makes it one of the transcendent achievements of the art of the novel.' - Edgar Johnson. AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY - Charles John Huffam Dickens (7 February 1812 - 9 June 1870) was an English writer and social critic. He created some of the world's most memorable fictional characters and is generally regarded as the greatest novelist of the Victorian period. During his life, his works enjoyed unprecedented fame, and by the twentieth century his literary genius was broadly acknowledged by critics and scholars. His novels and short stories continue to be widely popular.

[ 0398 ] Shakespeare, William. Narrative Poems. New York. 1968. Signet/New American Library. 0451503988. Introduction By William Empson.Edited By William Burto. 223 pages. paperback. CQ398. Cover: Milton Glaser. Signet Classic original. FROM THE PUBLISHER - Narrative Poems complements the Signet Classic edition of The Sonnets (Introduction by W. H. Auden). It contains the rest of Shakespeare's poems, including the two long erotic narratives in verse, Venus and Adonis and The Rape of Lucrece; A Lover's Complaint; the short poems published under the title The Passionate Pilgrim; and The Phoenix and the Turtle, one of the masterpieces of the Shakespearean canon. These poems are presented with commentaries by noted critics C. S. Lewis, Hallett Smith, Francis Berry, Kenneth Muir, and Sean O'Loughlin, and with an imaginative Introduction by the poet and critic William Empson. Mr. Empson believes that the narrative poems record 'an experience so formative that the plays echo it for the rest of [Shakespeare's] life.' AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY - William Shakespeare (26 April 1564 (baptised) - 23 April 1616) was an English poet, playwright, and actor, widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's national poet and the 'Bard of Avon'. His extant works, including some collaborations, consist of about 38 plays, 154 sonnets, two long narrative poems.

[ 0399 ] Turgenev, Ivan. Fathers and Sons. New York. Signet/New American Library. 0451503996. paperback. CP399. Signet Classic reprint. FROM THE PUBLISHER - The publication of Fathers and Sons enraged old and young, reactionaries, romantics, and radicals. Unlike its predecessors, it attacked all social classes through its portrait of the blatant nihilist, Bazarov, who makes a practice of exposing self - deception in those around him. On a visit to the Kirsanov estate, Bazarov's scathing comments, his dark example, threaten the integrity of each of his hosts: the old landowner, Nicholas, who prides himself on his mistress, a former peasant, the old man's decadent brother, Paul, who prides himself on his fashionable lack of purpose; and Arcady, Nicholas' intellectual on, who prides himself on his understanding of Bazarov's motivation. Widely criticized by Russia's radical press, Turgenev won the acclaim of Flaubert, Maupassant and Henry James for being the first author to use psychological character studies instead of elaborate plot, and the first to create the modern revolutionary type, the 'outsider.' AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY - Ivan Sergeyevich Turgenev (November 9 1818 - September 3, 1883) was a Russian novelist, short story writer, and playwright. His first major publication, a short story collection entitled A Sportsman's Sketches (1852), was a milestone of Russian Realism, and his novel Fathers and Sons (1862) is regarded as one of the major works of 19th-century fiction.

[ 0400 ] Azuela, Mariano. The Underdogs. New York. Signet/New American Library. 0451504003. paperback. CT400. Signet Classic reprint. FROM THE PUBLISHER - Ten years after its publication in a small El Paso paper, The Underdogs achieved world - wide renown as the greatest novel of the Mexican Revolution. It is the story of Demetrio Maclas, a naïve, peace - loving Indian, who is forced to side with the rebels to save his family. In the course of battle, he becomes a compulsive militarist whose courage, almost despite himself, leads to a generalship in Villa's army. But as the Cause suffers defeat after defeat, Maclas loses prestige and moral purpose at the hands of turncoats, camp followers, and the peasants who had once loved him. Carleton Beals wrote of this novel, 'The scenes have the brutality of Gorky. Azuela is the Mexican Chekhov only in so much as he is a doctor; in all else he is close to Gorky, with a touch of Gorky's terrific pessimism, but none of Gorky's revolutionary optimism.' AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY - Mariano Azuela González (January 1, 1873 - March 1, 1952) was a Mexican author and physician, best known for his fictional stories of the Mexican Revolution of 1910. He wrote novels, works for theatre and literary criticism. Azuela wrote many pieces including the newspaper piece ‘Impressions of a Student' in 1896, the novel AndrEs PErez, maderista in 1911, and Los de abajo, (or The Underdogs), in 1915.

[ 0401 ] Hawthorne, Nathaniel. The Celestial Railroad and Other Stories. New York. Signet/New American Library. 0451504011. paperback. CT401. Signet Classic reprint. FROM THE PUBLISHER - The daydreams which edge toward nightmare; toward our desire to be pursued, cast out. demolished, damned' is how R. P. Blackmur describes the 'mode' of the eighteen stories in this Signet Classic collection By means of weird, yet inescapably convincing fables Hawthorne explores the corroding desires of superior men and women. Thwarted in their pursuit of perfection, endeavoring to escape the reality of their existence, they fall prey to a sudden lust for the Ideal and are unwittingly compelled to commit evils in the name of pride. Of the author's insights into the Puritan's simultaneous need for fulfillment and self - destruction D. H. Lawrence wrote, 'That blue - eyed darling Nathaniel knew disagreeable things in his inner soul. He was careful to send them out in disguise.' Hawthorne's contemporary, Edgar Allan Poe, said of his writing that 'Every word tells, and there is not a word which does not tell.' AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY - Nathaniel Hawthorne (born Nathaniel Hathorne; July 4, 1804 - May 19, 1864) was an American novelist and short story writer. Much of Hawthorne's writing centers on New England, many works featuring moral allegories with a Puritan inspiration.

[ 0402 ] Butler, Samuel. The Way of All Flesh. New York. Signet/New American Library. 045150402x. paperback. CP402. Signet Classic reprint. FROM THE PUBLISHER - This devastating indictment of Victorian. values presents an ironic and incisive portrait. of a determined, young man in revolt against father, religion, society, self. In describing Ernest Pontifex's flight to freedom, Samuel Butler illustrated the emotional and intellectual experiences of every artist who educates himself through trial and error. He created a novel that was to inspire, in spirit and form, the works of such writers as Somerset Maugham, James Joyce, Thomas Wolfe. George Bernard Shaw was deeply influenced by Butler's ideas on religion and money. In his preface to Major Barbara, Shaw recorded this debt and called Butler 'a man of genius' who was 'in his own department, the greatest English writer of the latter half of the nineteenth century.' AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY - Samuel Butler (4 or 5 December 1835 - 18 June 1902) was an iconoclastic Victorian-era English author who published a variety of works. Two of his most famous pieces are the Utopian satire Erewhon and a semi-autobiographical novel published posthumously, The Way of All Flesh. He is also known for examining Christian orthodoxy, substantive studies of evolutionary thought, studies of Italian art, and works of literary history and criticism. Butler also made prose translations of the Iliad and Odyssey which remain in use to this day.

[ 0403 ] Tolstoy, Leo. Resurrection. New York. Signet/New American Library. 0451504038. paperback. CQ403. Signet Classic reprint. FROM THE PUBLISHER - RESURRECTION - Tolstoy's final novel - is a joint embodiment of his vast, objective awareness of human suffering and his lifelong burden of unrealized ideals. It traces the conflict of pride and affection between Kätusha, a prostitute charged with murder, and her first lover, Nekhludov, who now must judge her. Through his attempts to alter the course of her fate, Nekhludov discovers a similarity between the self-centered, legal values of Katusha's accusers and the nature of his own altruism. He discovers the hypocrisy of his own atonement - and begins the journey to resurrection. 'The Homeric, the timeless epic vein was strong in Tolstoy, as perhaps in no other artist in the world.' - Thomas Mann. AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY - Count Lev Nikolayevich Tolstoy (9 September 1828 - 20 November 1910), usually referred to in English as Leo Tolstoy, was a Russian writer who is regarded as one of the greatest authors of all time. He received multiple nominations for the Nobel Prize in Literature every year from 1902 to 1906 and nominations for the Nobel Peace Prize in 1901, 1902 and 1910 and the fact that he never won is a major Nobel prize controversy.

[ 0404 ] Tolstoy, Leo. War and Peace. New York. 1968. Signet/New American Library. 0451504046. Newly Translated From The Russian By Ann Dunnigan.Introduction By John Bayley. 1456 pages. paperback. CJ404. Cover: Milton Glaser. Signet Classic original. FROM THE PUBLISHER - WAR AND PEACE is quite probably the greatest novel ever written. It stands alone in its vast scope and minute detail, its immense diversity and final unity. Set in the years leading up to and culminating in Napoleon's disastrous Russian invasion, the novel focuses upon an entire society torn by conflict and change. Pierre Bezukhov, an alienated intellectual trying to find his place in his native land; Prince Andrei, a gallant aristocrat tortured by self - doubt; and Natasha Rostov, a bewitching, romantic girl growing into womanhood, play leading roles in a gallery of characters ranging from Napoleon himself to the most humble Russian peasant. Here is humanity in all its innocence and corruption, wisdom and folly, painful defeats and enduring triumphs. Here is the seemingly effortless artistry of a master capable of portraying with equal power the clash of armies and the solitary anguish of the heart. Here, finally, is a view of history and personal destiny that is - as John Bayley writes in his Introduction to Ann Dunnigan's brilliant new translation - 'perpetually modern. WAR AND PEACE combines the serenity of the past with the second - by - second process of living at the latest moment in our own lives.' AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY - Count Lev Nikolayevich Tolstoy (9 September 1828 - 20 November 1910), usually referred to in English as Leo Tolstoy, was a Russian writer who is regarded as one of the greatest authors of all time. He received multiple nominations for the Nobel Prize in Literature every year from 1902 to 1906 and nominations for the Nobel Peace Prize in 1901, 1902 and 1910 and the fact that he never won is a major Nobel prize controversy.

[ 0405 ] Hardy, Thomas. Tess of the D'Urbervilles. New York. 1964. Signet/New American Library. 0451504054. Afterword By Donald Hall. 432 pages. paperback. CT405. Cover: Lambert. Signet Classic reprint. FROM THE PUBLISHER - She dances on the green with the maidens. She is raped in the wood at sixteen. She buries her child in secret. She milks a cow named Dumpling. She hacks turnips on a barren farm. She stabs a man. She hides in an old house with her lover. She wakes to a circle of police, to a noose in the morning.' Thus Donald Hall writes of the figure who dominates this classic novel of tragic destiny. In Tess, victimized by lust, poverty, and hypocrisy, Thomas Hardy created no standard Victorian heroine, but a woman whose intense vitality flares unforgettably against the bleak background of a dying rural society. Shaped by an acute sense of social injustice and by a vision of human fate cosmic in scope, her story is a singular blending of harsh realism and indelibly poignant beauty. The novel shocked its Victorian audience with its honesty; it remains a triumph of literary art and a timeless commentary on the human condition. In the words of Virginia Woolf ‘If we are to place Hardy among his fellows, we must call him the greatest tragic writer in the English language.' AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY - Thomas Hardy (June 2, 1840 - January 11, 1928) was an English novelist and poet. A Victorian realist in the tradition of George Eliot, he focused on a declining rural society.

[ 0406 ] Harte, Bret. The Outcasts of Poker Flat and Other Tales. New York. Signet/New American Library. 0451504062. paperback. CT406. Signet Classic reprint. FROM THE PUBLISHER - The glorious fringe - inhabitants of Gold Rush California - the slick gamblers, the impetuous but soft - hearted dance - hall girls, the mining camp eccentrics - are immortal - ized in these classic chronicles of the Far West of the nineteenth century. Includes - The Right Eye of the Commander, M'liss: an Idyl of Red Mountain, The Luck of Roaring Camp, The Outcasts of Poker Flat, Tennessee's Partner, The Idyl of Red Gulch, Brown of Calaveras, Miggles, How Santa Claus Came to Simpson's Bar, Mrs. Skaggs's Husbands, Wan Lee the Pagan, A Passage In the Life of Mr. John Oakhurst, An Ingenue of the Sierras, & A ProtEgEe of Jack Hamlin's. AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY - Francis Bret Harte (August 25, 1836 - May 5, 1902) was an American author and poet, best remembered for his short fiction featuring miners, gamblers, and other romantic figures of the California Gold Rush.

[ 0407 ] O'Flaherty, Liam. The Informer. New York. 1961. Signet/New American Library. 0451504070. With an afterword by Donagh MacDonagh. 189 pages. paperback. CQ407. Signet Classic reprint. FROM THE PUBLISHER - This is Liam O'Flaherty's great novel of a troubled Ireland divided by the chaos of Civil War in the 1920's. It is the story of an informer, damned with the curse of his country's unforgivable sin, hunted by the shadowy executioners of an outlawed revolutionary organization. Two characters dominate this tragedy of betrayal and retribution: Gypo Nolan, the hulking oaf of a giant who, under stress of poverty, discloses the whereabouts of the wanted Frankie McPhillip for the paltry twenty - pound reward; and Dan Gallagher, the egotistical commandant of the militant organization that has sworn to hunt down and kill the unknown informer. Through the fogbound Dublin slum streets they re - enact the eternal drama of man pitted against man. A classic of modern literature, The Informer treats a recurrent theme in Irish folklore, ballad, and story . the abhorrent outcast who betrays a cause or a people to the enemy. The violence of O'Flaherty's own youth is reflected in his harshly realistic image of an Irish Republic at war with itself, suffering the birth pangs of newly gained independence, beset by the self - destructive forces of misguided idealism and anarchy. AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY - Liam O'Flaherty (28 August 1896 - 7 September 1984) was a significant Irish novelist and short story writer and a major figure in the Irish literary renaissance.

[ 0408 ] Gogol, Nicolai. The Diary of a Madman and Other Stories. New York. Signet/New American Library. 0451504089. paperback. CQ408. Signet Classic reprint. FROM THE PUBLISHER - NIKOLAI GOGOL is universally regarded as the father of Russian realism. His stories are rooted in commonplace events; his characters are the underdog and the insignificant. A romantic at heart, he used a startling blend of broad comedy and weird fantasy to expose the stupidity, coarseness, and meanness of life. This Signet Classic includes five of Gogol's most famous stories: THE DIARY OF A MADMAN, THE NOSE, THE CARRIAGE, THE OVERCOAT, and a full - length historical romance: TARAS BULBA. AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY - Nikolay Vasilyevich Gogol (1809-52), Russian writer, whose plays, short stories, and novels rank among the great masterpieces of 19th-century Russian realist literature.

[ 0409 ] Roosevelt, Theodore. The Rough Riders. New York. Signet/New American Library. 0451504097. paperback. CT409. Signet Classic reprint. FROM THE PUBLISHER - We Are Coming! There was a war to be fought with Spain in 1898,. and so they volunteered. Choctaws, Creeks, Cherokees from the newly tamed Indian Territory. Cowpunchers, stage drivers, government scouts from the Great Plains states. Riflemen, trappers, miners from the Rocky Mountain West. As Teddy Roosevelt's Rough Riders they rode and fought to fame and glory at Las Guasimas, Santiago. and San Juan Hill. More than a chronicle of a war and men in battle, The Rough Riders endures as a living record of a time, a personality, and a legend. Reading it, we become witnesses to a young America emerging as a great power. a dynamic Roosevelt rushing to fulfill his destined place in her future. , and the cowboy hero's last glorious fling in tribute to her colorful past. AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY - Theodore 'T.R.' Roosevelt Jr. (October 27, 1858 - January 6, 1919) was an American politician, author, naturalist, soldier, explorer, and historian who served as the 26th President of the United States. He was a leader of the Republican Party and founder of the Progressive Party insurgency of 1912.

[ 0410 ] Dickens, Charles. Bleak House. New York. 1964. Signet/New American Library. 0451504100. Afterword By Geoffrey Tillotson. 896 pages. paperback. CY410. Cover: Thomas R. Allen. Signet Classic reprint. FROM THE PUBLISHER - BLEAK HOUSE opens in a London shrouded by an all - pervading fog - a fog that swirls about the Court of Chancery, where the case of Jarndyce and Jarndyce lies lost in endless litigation. This drawn - out lawsuit over an inheritance stands at the center of a scathing portrayal of a moribund legal system and of a society permeated with greed, deception, delusion, and guilt. In no other work are the many facets of Dickens' genius - his powers of characterization, dramatic construction, social satire, and poetic evocation - so memorably combined. Peopled by an immense gallery of vivid characters, major and minor, comic and tragic, in settings which range from the mansion of a fear - haunted noblewoman to the squalor of the London slums, this superb example of narrative art has been ranked by Edmund Wilson as 'The masterpiece of [Dickens'] middle period.' Geoffrey Tillotson writes: 'BLEAK HOUSE. is, all told, the finest literary work the nineteenth century produced in England. Dickens was the supreme literary genius of his time. AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY - Charles John Huffam Dickens (7 February 1812 - 9 June 1870) was an English writer and social critic. He created some of the world's most memorable fictional characters and is generally regarded as the greatest novelist of the Victorian period. During his life, his works enjoyed unprecedented fame, and by the twentieth century his literary genius was broadly acknowledged by critics and scholars. His novels and short stories continue to be widely popular.

[ 0411 ] Faulkner, William. Soldier's Pay. New York. 1968. Signet/New American Library. 0451504119. Afterword By Robie Macauley. 238 pages. paperback. CQ411. Cover: Lambert. Signet Classic original. FROM THE PUBLISHER - Soldiers' Pay was William Faulkner's first novel. With such notable works of the period as Dos Passos' Three Soldiers and Hemingway's A Farewell to Arms, this tale of a wounded airman returning to his home in the South is a product of bitter post - World War I disillusionment. An atmosphere of fevered sexuality against the background of approaching death permeates the book as its doomed protagonist, Donald Mahon, seeks his place in a world that has remained unchanged while his life was being shattered. His attempt to win back his faithless former love, his final acceptance of the love of a woman who lost her husband in the war, convey a sense of human anguish and tragic destiny that lies at the heart of the Faulknerian vision. In turn deeply moving and sharply satiric, superbly accomplished and awkwardly groping, Soldiers' Pay is not only a novel distinctly memorable in its own right, but it also offers unique fascination - as Robie Macauley declares - 'for readers who enjoy the excitement of first trials, early promises, omens and portents.' AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY - William Cuthbert Faulkner (born Falkner, September 25, 1897 - July 6, 1962), also known as Will Faulkner, was an American writer and Nobel Prize laureate from Oxford, Mississippi. Faulkner is one of the most important writers in both American literature generally and Southern literature specifically.

[ 0412 ] Faulkner, William. A Fable. New York. 1968. Signet/New American Library. 0451504127. Introduction By Michael Novak. 384 pages. paperback. CY412. Cover: Lambert. Signet Classic original. FROM THE PUBLISHER - A FABLE is set far from Faulkner's famous Yoknapatawpha County: the novel opens in France during the most bitter days of World War I. A young corporal, aided by twelve followers, has persuaded his unit not to join in an ordered attack, Thus is set in motion a tragically inexorable chain of events as organized society acts to crush this threat to its status quo.' A host of varied characters are drawn into a passionate drama of conscience, conflict and final confrontation between a fervent young idealist and a supremely pragmatic general who must face each other over an agonizing gulf of age, rank and philosophy of life. Winner of the National Book Award and the Pulitzer Prize, A FABLE stands among William Faulkner's most ambitious achievements, a work of beautifully controlled power and prophetic relevance. As Michael Novak writes, 'Faulkner's fable of resistance to war reads more eloquently now, during the period of the War in Vietnam. Now, perhaps, A FABLE will, be read with passion by a newer generation of Americans, alert to the issues Faulkner wrestles with and driven by poignant experience into battles he long fought on their behalf.' AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY - William Cuthbert Faulkner (born Falkner, September 25, 1897 - July 6, 1962), also known as Will Faulkner, was an American writer and Nobel Prize laureate from Oxford, Mississippi. Faulkner is one of the most important writers in both American literature generally and Southern literature specifically.

[ 0413 ] Faulkner, William. Sanctuary. New York. 1968. Signet/New American Library. 0451504135. Introduction By Allen Tate. 224 pages. paperback. CQ413. Cover: Lambert. Signet Classic original. FROM THE PUBLISHER - The most horrific tale I could imagine' - thus William Faulkner described the genesis of his most violent and brutal novel. Certainly Sanctuary contains much that verges on the lurid: murder, rape, abduction, sexual depravity, lynching, in settings ranging from a decayed plantation to a Memphis brothel to a tense courtroom. But there is something else in this novel as well: the extraordinary genius of its author. Temple Drake, young, beautiful and corrupt; Popeye, the psychopathic criminal' who is both her violator and her victim; Horace Benbow, the honest lawyer and man of good will who cannot cope with either the viciousness of society or with his own darker urges; these and the other brilliantly imagined characters arc illumined by a verbal artistry and a moral vision without equal. Begun as a 'shocker,' Sanctuary was transformed into a masterpiece of fiction. As Allen Tate writes in his penetrating Introduction, 'William Faulkner was a master, the greatest of our time, of authentic observation and of. inner conflict.' As he goes on to declare, Sanctuary stands as 'a triumph of virtuosity.' AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY - William Cuthbert Faulkner (born Falkner, September 25, 1897 - July 6, 1962), also known as Will Faulkner, was an American writer and Nobel Prize laureate from Oxford, Mississippi. Faulkner is one of the most important writers in both American literature generally and Southern literature specifically.

[ 0414 ] Faulkner, William. The Wild Palms. New York. 1968. Signet/New American Library. 0451504143. Introduction By R.V. Cassill. 240 pages. paperback. CQ414. Cover: Lambert. Signet Classic original. FROM THE PUBLISHER - The Wild Palms is composed of two vividly contrasting short novels. The first, giving its title to the volume, is one of Faulkner's most unforgettable creations, the story of two lovers who defy society's conventions in an intensely passionate, ultimately disastrous affair. The second, The Old Man, tells of a convict accidentally freed during a Mississippi flood, struggling to save both himself and a pregnant woman whose fate has been thrust into his hands. Each of these works is brilliant in itself; and each gives added dimension to the other. Dramatically juxtaposed are the themes of proud rebellion and calm acceptance, fierce pursuit of individual destiny and deep - rooted harmony with the tidal forces of nature. In praising The Wild Palms, critic and novelist R. V Cassill speaks of its 'smoky, keening rhetoric and furiously paced action . the utterly reckless pitch and pace,' while he pays tribute to the 'marvelous floods of Faulknerian prose. the ripeness of Faulkner's art' in The Old Man. As he goes on to say, 'the novels belong together. The greater work kindles the lesser, and the lesser supports . the jagged intensities of the greater.' AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY - William Cuthbert Faulkner (born Falkner, September 25, 1897 - July 6, 1962), also known as Will Faulkner, was an American writer and Nobel Prize laureate from Oxford, Mississippi. Faulkner is one of the most important writers in both American literature generally and Southern literature specifically.

[ 0415 ] Faulkner, William. Pylon. New York. 1968. Signet/New American Library. 0451504151. Introduction By Reynolds Price. 224 pages. paperback. CQ415. Cover: Lambert. Signet Classic original. FROM THE PUBLISHER - On the surface, Pylon is about the world of barnstorming airplane pilots of the 1930's. On a deeper level, however, its theme is far more universal. Its nameless central character, the reporter, has been assigned to cover a series of air races and exhibitions marking the opening of an airport in the South. At the beginning, he is the model of a detached journalist. But before the end of this strange and gripping novel, he has become inextricably and fatally involved with a group of three people - a pilot, a parachutist, and the woman they share - and with their way of life. Written with the breathtaking physical vividness that. Faulkner at his best projects, the novel is an intensely dramatic portrayal of the relationship between society and 'outsiders,' and of the fascination the life of action and of the senses holds for the intellectual. Brilliantly mirroring the author's own complicated feelings, Pylon is a novel which, as Reynolds Price declares, 'does yield curious and - for Faulkner - unique answers. a more interesting book than it promises to be, and finally a surprising one. ' AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY - William Cuthbert Faulkner (born Falkner, September 25, 1897 - July 6, 1962), also known as Will Faulkner, was an American writer and Nobel Prize laureate from Oxford, Mississippi. Faulkner is one of the most important writers in both American literature generally and Southern literature specifically.

[ 0416 ] Dickens, Charles. A Tale of Two Cities. New York. Signet/New American Library. 045150416x. Afterword by Edgar Johnson. paperback. CP416. Signet Classic reprint. FROM THE PUBLISHER - When the starving French masses rise in hate to overthrow a corrupt and decadent government, both the guilty and innocent become victims of their frenzied anger. Soon nothing stands in the way of the chilling figure they enlist for their cause--La Guillotine--the new invention for efficiently chopping off heads. Charles Dickens' compelling portrait of the results of terror and treason, love and supreme sacrifice continues to captivate readers around the world. With Frank Muller's brilliant performance, unforgettable characters--the ever-knitting Madame Defarge, the lovely Lucie Manette, her broken father, the honorable Charles Darnay, and the sometimes scurrilous Sydney Carton--burst from the pages, full of life and passion. This novel provides a highly-charged examination of human suffering and human sacrifice. Private experience and public history, during the French Revolution. AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY - Charles John Huffam Dickens (7 February 1812 - 9 June 1870) was an English writer and social critic. He created some of the world's most memorable fictional characters and is generally regarded as the greatest novelist of the Victorian period. During his life, his works enjoyed unprecedented fame, and by the twentieth century his literary genius was broadly acknowledged by critics and scholars. His novels and short stories continue to be widely popular.

[ 0417 ] Grahame, Kenneth. The Wind in the Willows. New York. 1969. Signet/New American Library. 0451504178. Introduction By Mary Ellmann.Illustrated By Alex Tsao. 221 pages. paperback. CT417. Cover: Alex Tsao. Signet Classic original. FROM THE PUBLISHER - Since its triumphant initial publication, THE WIND IN THE WILLOWS has established itself as one of the most enduringly popular works of this century, a classic of magical fancy and enchanting wit. Depicted in a prose of almost musical purity, the adventures and misadventures of the book's intrepid quartet of heroes - Mole, Water Rat, Badger, and, of course, the incorrigible Toad - raise fantasy to the level of myth, a myth that reflects the freshness of childhood faith in the promise and wonder of life. Created is a world that embodies both the author's extraordinary sensitivity to the beauties of nature, and his wry, whimsical and unfailingly inventive imagination. It is a world which succeeding generations of adult as well as youthful readers have found irresistable. But why say more? To use the words of the estimable Mr. Toad himself: 'Travel, change, interest, excitement! . Come inside . ' AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY - Kenneth Grahame (March 8, 1859 - 6 July 1932) was a Scottish writer, most famous for The Wind in the Willows (1908), one of the classics of children's literature.

[ 0418 ] Ibsen, Henrik. Ibsen Four Major Plays: Volume 1 . New York. Signet/New American Library. 0451504186. paperback. CT418. Signet Classic reprint. FROM THE PUBLISHER - 'Before I write down one word, I have to have the character in mind through and through. I must penetrate to the last wrinkle of his soul. Then I do not let him go until his fate is fulfilled.' Thus Henrik Ibsen described the process of visual creation by which he shaped the major works of his maturity. Brilliant in design, multi- leveled in meaning, these four plays project Ibsen's revealing criticism of society and his almost uncanny perception of the intricacies of human motivations and relationships. Exposed are the demonic forces of greed, fear, sexual hostility, and willful destructiveness, rising to shatter the prosaic surface of middle-class life. Here, presented in memorable new translations, are dramas of universal significance, the crowning achievements of the artist who stands as the father of the modern theater. As Rolf Fjelde writes, it was Ibsen's purpose 'not to lull-nor merely shock-the bourgeoisie, not to lecture the proletariat, but to instigate human beings into existence, to dare each individual to think, to feel, to question, to live. ' Includes - A Doll House, The Wild Duck, Hedda Gabler, The Master Builder. AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY - Henrik Johan Ibsen (20 March 1828 - 23 May 1906) was a major 19th-century Norwegian playwright, theatre director, and poet. He is often referred to as 'the father of realism' and is one of the founders of Modernism in theatre. His major works include Brand, Peer Gynt, An Enemy of the People, Emperor and Galilean, A Doll's House, Hedda Gabler, Ghosts, The Wild Duck, Rosmersholm, and The Master Builder.

[ 0419 ] Conrad, Joseph. Nostromo. New York. Signet/New American Library. 0451504194. paperback. CQ419. Signet Classic reprint. FROM THE PUBLISHER - Nostromo: A Tale of the Seaboard is a novel of great political and psychological importance in modern literature. Set in the fictional South American nation of Costaguana-a land wracked by war and revolution-Conrad paints a mesmerizing portrait of man's vulnerability to greed and corruption. Through a unique narrative style and vivid characterization, Conrad delves into an account of human frailty with an ironic twist; it is a story without heroes. Conrad's dazzling array of viewpoints and chronology ensure that the reader is embroiled in the stress and passion of each moment of his characters' lives. AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY - Joseph Conrad (born Jozef Teodor Konrad Korzeniowski; Berdichev, Imperial Russia, 3 December 1857 - 3 August 1924, Bishopsbourne, Kent, England) was a Polish author who wrote in English after settling in England. Conrad is regarded as one of the greatest novelists in English, though he did not speak the language fluently until he was in his twenties (and always with a marked accent). He wrote stories and novels, often with a nautical setting, that depict trials of the human spirit in the midst of an indifferent universe.

[ 0420 ] Voltaire. Candide, Zadig and Selected Stories. New York. Signet/New American Library. 0451504208. paperback. CP420. Signet Classic reprint. FROM THE PUBLISHER - The savage contempt with which Voltaire derided the bureaucracies of his day and his gift for creating exotic panoramas find their perfect merger in these satirical stories. With ruthless wit the master of social commentary dissects science and spiritual faith, ethics and legal systems, love and human vanity. Includes: CANDIDE, ZADIG, MICROMEGAS, THE WORLD AS IT IS, MEMNON, BABABEC AND THE FAKIRS, HISTORY OF SCARMENTADO'S TRAVELS, PLATO'S DREAM, ACCOUNT OF THE SICKNESS, CONFESSION, DEATH, AND APPARITION OF THE JESUIT BERTHIER, STORY OF A GOOD BRAHMAN, JEANNOT AND COHN, AN INDIAN ADVENTURE, INGENUOUS, THE ONE - EYED PORTER, MEMORY'S ADVENTURE, COUNT CHESTERFIELD'S EARS AND CHAPLAIN GOUDMAN. AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY - Francois-Marie Arouet (21 November 1694 - 30 May 1778), known by his nom de plume Voltaire, was a French Enlightenment writer, historian, and philosopher famous for his wit, his attacks on the established Catholic Church, and his advocacy of freedom of religion, freedom of expression, and separation of church and state.

[ 0421 ] Wharton, Edith. The Age of Innocence. New York. 1962. Signet/New American Library. 0451504216. Foreword By Louis Auchincloss. paperback. CQ421. Cover: Lambert. Signet Classic reprint. FROM THE PUBLISHER - In this Pulitzer Prize - winning novel, Edith Wharton has written the story of an affable conformist whose marriage of convenience cannot extinguish his passion for another woman . and whose moral limitations make both women seem unreal to him. Handsome, affluent, with great promise as a lawyer, Newland Archer's interest in his cold, beautiful, and conventional wife gradually flags. His attraction to Countess Ellen Olenska - bizarre and challenging, separated from her husband - becomes the single threat to his secure position in high society, and, at the same time, leads him to question the values of that society. The Age of Innocence is a highly sophisticated inquiry into the totems and taboos of nineteenth - century New York elite circles and their crippling effect on natural inclinations. Of the author, whose lifelong preoccupation lay with this facet of society, Edmund Wilson wrote: 'Her tragic heroines and heroes are. passionate or imaginative spirits, hungry for emotional and intellectual experience, who find themselves locked into a small closed system, and either destroy themselves by beating their heads against their prison or suffer a living death in resigning themselves to it. Out of these themes she got a sharp pathos all her own.' Louis Auchincloss calls The Age of Innocence 'The finest of her novels. , painted with a richness of color and detail that delights the imagination. AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY - Edith Wharton (born Edith Newbold Jones, January 24, 1862 - August 11, 1937) was a Pulitzer Prize-winning American novelist, short story writer, and designer. The upper stratum of New York society into which Edith Wharton was born in 1862 provided her with an abundance of material as a novelist but did not encourage her growth as an artist. In Europe, she met Henry James, who became her good friend, traveling companion, and the sternest but most careful critic of her fiction. In all, she wrote some 30 books, including an autobiography, A Backward Glance (1934). She died at her villa near Paris in 1937.

[ 0422 ] Hughes, Richard. A High Wind in Jamaica or the Innocent Voyage. New York. Signet/New American Library. 0451504224. Foreword By Vernon Watkins. paperback. CT422. Cover: Lambert. Signet Classic reprint. FROM THE PUBLISHER - The eternally fascinating theme of children captured by pirates gains a new psychological dimension in the nightmarish, sometimes weirdly amusing, novel A High Wind in Jamaica. What do the young prisoners think and feel, how do they react when one of their group is coerced by the pirate captain? When one falls to his death by accident? When another murders a hostage from a plundered vessel? Who are the victors and who the victims? The values dividing the world of children and adults are cast in an ever more eerie light as Richard Hughes charts the amorality inherent among the innocent on this macabre and desperate voyage. Rebecca West called A High Wind in Jamaica 'a hot draught of mad, primal fantasy and poetry.' Ford Madox Ford considered it 'the best thing that has come out of Wales or the British Empire since the [first] war.' AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY - Richard Arthur Warren Hughes (19 April 1900 - 28 April 1976) was a British writer of poems, short stories, novels and plays. He wrote only four novels, the most famous of which is The Innocent Voyage (1929), or A High Wind in Jamaica, as Hughes renamed it soon after its initial publication.

[ 0423 ] Hawthorne, Nathaniel. The Marble Faun. New York. Signet/New American Library. 0451504232. paperback. CT423. Signet Classic reprint. FROM THE PUBLISHER - Henry James wrote of The Marble Faun: 'Hawthorne has done few things more beautiful than the picture of the unequal complicity of guilt between his immature and dimly - puzzled hero, with his clinging, unquestioning, unexacting devotion, and the dark, powerful, more widely - seeing feminine nature of Miriam. If the book contained nothing else noteworthy but. the murder committed by Donatello under Miriam's eyes and the ecstatic wandering, afterward, of the guilty couple through the 'bloodstained streets of Rome,' it would still deserve to rank high among the imaginative productions of our day.' The cosmopolitanism of this novel foreshadows one of the most important themes in our literature - the 'international theme' which was 40 later dominate the work of Henry James. Of all Hawthorne's fiction, The Marble Faun clearly dispels the myth of Hawthorne's unwavering Puritan morality. It projects the author's fascination with the eternal struggle between, in Murray Krieger's words, 'the unfeeling virtue of moral severity and the yielding grace of faulty humanity . the profound conflict between the limited claims of American moralism and of European aestheticism.' AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY - Nathaniel Hawthorne (born Nathaniel Hathorne; July 4, 1804 - May 19, 1864) was an American novelist and short story writer. Much of Hawthorne's writing centers on New England, many works featuring moral allegories with a Puritan inspiration.

[ 0424 ] Woolf, Virginia. A Writer's Diary. New York. 1968. Signet/New American Library. 0451504240. Afterword By Louise Bogan & Josephine Schaefer. 351 pages. paperback. CY424. Signet Classic original. FROM THE PUBLISHER - In 1915 Virginia Woolf began regularly to write a diary, and continued to do so until a few days before her tragic death. From this massive manuscript, her husband, Leonard Woolf, has selected those passages of most enduring interest and value: passages with deal with day - to - day life in England and on the Continent; with an illustrious circle of friends that included Thomas Hardy, Katherine Mansfield, E. M. Forster and T. S. Eliot; and above all, with the pleasure and pain Involved in writing a succession of brilliant novels. These selections display Virginia Woolf's receptivity to the world around her, and offer the reader entry into the workshop of a major literary artist. Combining vivid impressionism, sharply etched portraiture, and unsparing analysis, A Writer's Diary is as fascinating and unique as the woman it so clearly reflects. AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY - Adeline Virginia Woolf (nEe Stephen; 25 January 1882 - 28 March 1941) was an English writer and one of the foremost modernists of the twentieth century. During the interwar period, Woolf was a significant figure in London literary society and a central figure in the influential Bloomsbury Group of intellectuals. Her most famous works include the novels Mrs Dalloway (1925), To the Lighthouse (1927) and Orlando (1928), and the book-length essay A Room of One's Own (1929).

[ 0425 ] France, Anatole. Penguin Island. New York. 1968. Signet/New American Library. 0451504259. Translated From The French By Belle Notkin Burke. Introduction By David Caute. 256 pages. paperback. CY425. Cover: Lambert. Signet Classic original. FROM THE PUBLISHER - A near - sighted holy man, cast upon an island somewhere off the Breton coast, proceeds to baptize the population. Unfortunately, this population consists entirely of penguins. However, when through Divine Grace all are granted the dubious privilege of becoming human; their history begins - and one of the most devastating satiric allegories ever conceived is set in motion. Written with the singular combination of elegant style and uncompromising irony of which Anatole France was a master, Penguin Island is a scalpel - like dissection of human stupidity, hypocrisy, sham and fraud. Sex, war, religion, business and, politics, all are delineated by a pen dipped in acid. Though events in this extraordinary work correspond to the course of French history, the reader will have no difficulty in relating the author's concerns - whether they be reforming politicians who turn conservative at the first taste of power, or generals who climb to glory upon the corpses of soldiers - with contemporary realities. For, as David Caute writes in his keenly observed Introduction, 'the target of Anatole France's sharp and destructive wit is in reality the whole of Western civilization.' AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY - Anatole France (born Francois-Anatole Thibault, 16 April 1844 - 12 October 1924) was a French poet, journalist, and novelist. He was born in Paris, and died in Saint-Cyr-sur-Loire. He was a successful novelist, with several best-sellers. Ironic and skeptical, he was considered in his day the ideal French man of letters.

[ 0426 ] Taylor, Robert Lewis. The Travels of Jaimie McPheeters. New York. 1969. Signet/New American Library. 0451504267. Afterword By Lawrence Edward Watkin. 456 pages. paperback. CQ426. Signet Classic original. FROM THE PUBLISHER - Brilliantly comic, harrowing, moving, richly authentic and superbly imaginative, The Travels of Jaimie McPheeters has attained classic status since its publication in 1958. Told in the voice of fourteen - year - old Jaimie as he accompanies his eternally optimistic, perpetually unsuccessful father in the gold rush of '49, it is a saga of a time when the West was truly wild. The nonstop action ranges from Kentucky to the Great Plains to the Great Salt Lake to the Rockies to the mining camps and Barbary Coast of California. Among the characters are brave men, gallant women, rogues, fools, cold - blooded killers, and Indians both good and bad. In this Pulitzer Prize - winning novel, the author has succeeded in magnificently recreating the gusto and adventure of an era that has set its stamp forever on the dream that is America. 'As authentic as any story any man could have told after making the trip. a tremendously exciting novel, and it has the added zest of being in sharp focus historically,' said The New York Times. To which critic John K. Hutchens added: 'A most remarkably vivid, panoramic, living novel - the best, I suspect, that anyone has ever written of the crossing of the plains in 1849.' AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY - Robert Lewis Taylor (September 24, 1912 - September 30, 1998) was an American author and winner of the 1959 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction.

[ 0427 ] James, Henry. The American. New York. Signet/New American Library. 0451504275. Afterword by Leon Edel. paperback. CT427. Signet Classic reprint. FROM THE PUBLISHER - Leon Edel writes of this novel: 'The American is a novel rich in the way in which it draws archetypal myths and mimetic modes. Behind its melodrama and its simple romance is the history of man's dream of better worlds, travel to strange lands, and marriage to high and noble ladies. At the same time the book reveals a deep affection for American innocence and a deep awareness that such innocence carries with it a fund of ignorance. Its novelty lay in its 'international' character. It has been spoken of as tile first truly 'international' novel. For the first time, with high humor, James here addresses himself to his major theme it was his great discovery for the American novel. '. [It is] a masterpiece of American romanticism in which James shows us his profound grasp of what he was ultimately to call 'time Americano - European legend.' AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY - Henry James (15 April 1843 - 28 February 1916) was an Anglo-American writer who spent most of his writing career in Britain. He is regarded as one of the key figures of 19th-century literary realism.

[ 0428 ] Goldsmith, Oliver. The Vicar of Wakefield. New York. Signet/New American Library. 0451504283. Foreword by J. H. Plumb. paperback. CP428. Signet Classic reprint. FROM THE PUBLISHER - Rich with wisdom and gentle irony, Oliver Goldsmith's only novel is a charming comedy that tells of an unworldly and generous vicar who lives contentedly with his large family until disaster strikes. When his idyllic life is brutally interrupted by bankruptcy and his daughter's abduction, he lands in prison. Yet these misfortunes fail to dampen the vicar's spirit or cause him to lose sight of Christian morality. A delightful lampoon of such literary conventions of the day as pastoral scenes, artificial romance, and the hero's stoic bravery, The Vicar of Wakefield has remained a classic since it was first published in 1766. AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY - Oliver Goldsmith (10 November 1728 - 4 April 1774) was an Anglo-Irish novelist, playwright and poet, who is best known for his novel The Vicar of Wakefield (1766), his pastoral poem The Deserted Village (1770), and his plays The Good-Natur'd Man (1768) and She Stoops to Conquer (1771, first performed in 1773). He also wrote An History of the Earth and Animated Nature.

[ 0429 ] Silone, Ignazio. Bread and Wine. New York. 1963. Signet/New American Library. 0451504291. Afterword by Marc Slonim. Newly Translated from the Italian by Harvey Fergusson II. 287 pages. paperback. CQ429. FROM THE PUBLISHER - Set and written in Fascist Italy, this book exposes that regime's use of brute force for the body and lies for the mind. Through the story of the once-exiled Pietro Spina, Italy comes alive with priests and peasants, students and revolutionaries, all on the brink of war. AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY - Ignazio Silone (1 May 1900 - 22 August 1978) was the pseudonym of Secondino Tranquilli, an Italian author and politician. He was born in the town of Pescina in the Abruzzo region and lost many family members, including his mother, in the 1915 Avezzano earthquake. Silone joined the Young Socialists group of the Italian Socialist Party (PSI), rising to be their leader. He was a founding member of the breakaway Communist Party of Italy (PCd'I) in 1921, and became one of its covert leaders during the Fascist regime. Ignazio's brother Romolo Tranquilli was arrested in 1928 for being a member of the PCI, and he died in prison in 1931 as a result of the severe beatings he received. Silone left Italy in 1927 on a mission to the Soviet Union, and settled in Switzerland in 1930. While there, he declared his opposition to Joseph Stalin, and the leadership of Comintern; consequently, he was expelled from the PCI. Silone's first novel, Fontamara, was published in in an English edition by Penguin Books in September 1934. Italian historians Dario Biocca and Mauro Canali found documents which, they claimed, 'proved' that Silone acted as an informant for the Fascist police from 1919 until 1930. In spite of bitter controversy in the Italian press, Biocca's and Canali's work proved to be substantiated. A 2005 biography by Biocca also includes documents showing Silone's involvement with the American intelligence (the OSS) during and after the World War, ultimately suggesting that Silone's political stands (as well as extensive literary work) should be reconsidered in light of a more complex personality and political engagements.

[ 0430 ] Dickens, Charles. The Mystery of Edwin Drood. New York. Signet/New American Library. 0451504305. paperback. CP430. Signet Classic reprint. FROM THE PUBLISHER - THE MYSTERY OF EDWIN DROOD is even more of a mystery than Dickens himself intended, for he died before completing it. The main issue in the novel is the disappearance of Edwin Drood and the suspicion that he has been murdered. But as intriguing as this central plot are the startling innovations in Dickens's work and the troubled elements lurking within the novel: a dark opium underworld, the uneasy and violent fantasies of its inhabitants, the disquieting presence of old ‘Princess Puffer', his portrait of the quiet cathedral town of Cloisterham from which people have to escape in order to save themselves - and, at the centre, the menacing figure of jasper. In his introduction Angus Wilson discusses what is known about Dickens's intentions and suggests that, as well as a crime novel, Edwin Drood is a work in which Dickens develops his lifelong preoccupation with the forces of good and evil. AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY - Charles John Huffam Dickens (7 February 1812 - 9 June 1870) was an English writer and social critic. He created some of the world's most memorable fictional characters and is generally regarded as the greatest novelist of the Victorian period. During his life, his works enjoyed unprecedented fame, and by the twentieth century his literary genius was broadly acknowledged by critics and scholars. His novels and short stories continue to be widely popular.

[ 0431 ] no information. Signet Classic title - no information. New York. Signet/New American Library. 0451504313. paperback. 431. FROM THE PUBLISHER - No information available. AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY -

[ 0432 ] Bunyan, John. The Pilgrim's Progress. New York. Signet/New American Library. 0451504321. paperback. CP432. Signet Classic reprint. FROM THE PUBLISHER - Bunyan wrote the first part of his allegory while in prison for his faith, and this experience adds extra urgency and depth to his story of Christian pursuing his pilgrimage through Vanity Fair, the Slough of Despond and Delectable Mountains towards the Celestial City. The influence of The Pilgrim's Progress, both indirectly on the English consciousness and directly on the literature that followed, has been immeasurable. Rich, inventive, profoundly challenging, it is a work of imaginative intensity that has rarely been matched. The pilgrim Christian undertakes the dangerous journey to the Celestial City, experiencing physical and spiritual obstacles along the way. AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY - John Bunyan (baptised 28 November 1628 - 31 August 1688) was an English writer and preacher best remembered as the author of the religious allegory The Pilgrim's Progress.

[ 0433 ] Defoe, Daniel. A Journal of the Plague Year. New York. Signet/New American Library. 045150433x. Foreword by J. H. Plumb. paperback. CT433. Signet Classic reprint. FROM THE PUBLISHER - Bring out your dead! The ceaseless chant of doom echoed through a city of emptied streets and filled grave pits. For this was London in the year 1665, the Year of the Great Plague. In 1721, when the Black Death again threatened the European Continent, Daniel Defoe wrote A Journal of the Plague rear to alert an indifferent populace to the horror that was almost upon them. Through the eyes of a saddler who had chosen to remain while multitudes fled, the master realist vividly depicted a plague - stricken city. He re - enacted the terror of a helpless people caught in a tragedy they could not comprehend: the weak preying on the dying, the strong administering to the sick, the sinful orgies of the cynical, the quiet faith of the pious With dramatic insight he captured for all time the death throes of a great city. AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY - Daniel Defoe (ca. 1660 to 24 April 1731), born Daniel Foe, was an English trader, writer, journalist, pamphleteer and spy, who gained fame for his novel Robinson Crusoe. Defoe is notable for being one of the earliest proponents of the novel, as he helped to popularise the form in Britain.

[ 0434 ] Moliére, Jean-Baptiste. The Misanthrope and Other Plays. New York. 1968. Signet/New American Library. 0451504348. Translated From The French & With An Introduction By Donald M. Frame. 512 pages. paperback. CW434. Signet Classic original. FROM THE PUBLISHER - 'His greatest and most complex play' - this is the assessment of Moliere's The Misanthrope made by noted French scholar Professor Donald M. Frame, who has selected and given memorable new translations to the seven plays in this volume. Written during the triumphant final years of Moliere's career, these works represent the mature flowering of his artistry, and the most profound development of his vision of humanity. They are essential to appreciating the full genius of the playwright who remains 'the greatest and best - loved French author, and comic author, who ever lived. To the reader as well as the spectator, today as well as three centuries ago, the appeal of his plays is immediate and durable; they are both instantly accessible and inexhaustible.' Henri Peyre of Yale University comments on Donald M. Frame's translation: 'His Moliere will be the English Moliere for a long time. His language is tactfully colloquial, his style is flowing and varied. He has fully succeeded in giving us a true, accurate and poetical Moliere.' Includes: THE MISANTHROPE, THE DOCTOR IN SPITE OF HIMSELF, THE MISER, THE WOULD - BE GENTLEMAN, THE MISCHIEVOUS MACHINATIONS OF SCAPIN, THE LEARNED WOMEN, & THE IMAGINARY INVALID. AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY - Jean-Baptiste Poquelin, known by his stage name Molière (1622–1673), was a French playwright and actor who is considered to be one of the greatest masters of comedy in Western literature. Among Molière's best-known works are The Misanthrope, The School for Wives, Tartuffe, The Miser, The Imaginary Invalid, and The Bourgeois Gentleman.

[ 0435 ] Wolfe, Thomas. The Hills Beyond. New York. 1968. Signet/New American Library. 0451504356. Afterword By Edward C. Aswell. 304 pages. paperback. CQ435. Cover: Lambert. Signet Classic original. FROM THE PUBLISHER - The Hills Beyond represents the last great literary testament of Thomas Wolfe. Extracted by Wolfe's editor, Edward C. Aswell, from the mass of unpublished writing left behind by the author at his death at the age of thirty - seven, this rich narrative spans over three centuries in tracing the complex destinies of a vital Southern family. Here the reader will find a somewhat different Thomas Wolfe from the author of the early novels: his prose is leaner, sharper; his tone more objective; his vision of humanity fully matured. Every page of this remarkable short novel, however, and of the memorable stories that complete the volume, is unmistakably stamped with Wolfe's eloquent genius. Thomas Wolfe, Mr. Edward C. Aswell observes in his definitive Afterword, 'believed with all his soul that the most that could be expected of a writer, or any artist for that matter, was that he observe life closely and see it as it really is - not just the surface, but the inner realities as well - and then that he depict it in all its lights and shadows just as he sees it, and do it so faithfully, in such exact colors, that even those of us who go from cradle to grave half - blind (which means most of us) cannot fail to see it also.' AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY - Thomas Clayton Wolfe (October 3, 1900 - September 15, 1938) was an American novelist of the early twentieth century. Wolfe wrote four lengthy novels, plus many short stories, dramatic works, and novellas. He is known for mixing highly original, poetic, rhapsodic, and impressionistic prose with autobiographical writing.

[ 0436 ] Twain, Mark. Life On the Mississippi. New York. Signet/New American Library. 0451504364. paperback. CP436. Signet Classic reprint. FROM THE PUBLISHER - Life on the Mississippi is at once a romantic history of a mighty river; an autobiographical account of Twain's early steamboat days; a storehouse of humorous anecdotes and sketches. It is the raw material from which Mark Twain wrote his finest novel - Huckleberry Finn. It is an epochal record of America's growth, a stirring remembrance of her vanished past. And it earned for its author his first recognition as a serious writer. '[This is] a book to be ranked with Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn as one of the indisputably great works in the Twain canon . a book that measures the American future by the boundaries of the American past, a bridge between the world of Thomas Jefferson and the world of John D. Rockefeller.' - Leonard Kriegel. AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY - Samuel Langhorne Clemens (November 30, 1835 - April 21, 1910), better known by his pen name Mark Twain, was an American author and humorist. He wrote The Adventures of Tom Sawyer (1876) and its sequel, Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (1885), the latter often called 'the Great American Novel'.

[ 0437 ] Moffett, James and McElheny, Kenneth P. (editors). Points of View: An Anthology of Short Stories. New York. Signet/New American Library. 0451504372. paperback. CY437. Signet Classic reprint. FROM THE PUBLISHER - The scope of this Signet Classic anthology is immense: its forty - one authors range from such figures as Dostoevski, Joyce, Conrad, Gogol, Chekhov, James, De Maupassant, Katherine Mansfield, and Stephen Crane to such modern writers as John Updike, Saul Bellow, Katherine Anne Porter, Truman Capote, Bernard Malamud, Dylan Thomas, Eudora Welty, and Alan Sillitoe. The stories presented here are not the familiar anthology pieces; they offer the reader fresh contact with masters of the short story form. Equally important is the anthology's unique arrangement: editors Moffett and McElheny have grouped the stories according to narrative method, thereby providing a total spectrum of the diverse fictional techniques inherent in the use of point of view. As they detail in their incisive commentary, the tale cannot be separated from the teller; subject and meaning alter as the form alters. 'Just imagine Vanity Fair told by one of its characters instead of by its godlike author, or The Great Gatsby narrated by Gatsby instead of Nick. Intuitively or not, an author chooses his techniques according to his meaning. Good art, as we all know, weds form to content, either through the dissonance of irony or the consonance of harmony. What makes such fusions possible is that our ways of apprehending and sharing experience are themselves a crucial part of what we call experience.' AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY - James Moffett is an author and educator. His works include Points of Departure, Points of View, Teaching the Universe of Discourse, and Storm in the Mountains, among many others. The recipient of the California Association of Teachers of English's Distinguished Author Award and the Carnegie Corporation Grant, Moffett has taught at Harvard; San Diego State University; University of California, Berkeley; and Middlebury College.

[ 0438 ] Eliot, George. The Mill On the Floss. New York. Signet/New American Library. 0451504380. paperback. CQ438. Signet Classic reprint. FROM THE PUBLISHER - George Eliot's Masterpiece . the controversial author's most autobiographical novel. This novel's unsentimental evocation of childhood in the English countryside stands as an enduring triumph; but equally memorable are its portrayal of a narrow, tradition - bound society, its striking, superbly drawn heroine, Maggie Tulliver, and its dramatic unfolding of tragic human destiny. AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY - Mary Anne (alternatively Mary Ann or Marian) Evans (22 November 1819 - 22 December 1880), better known by her pen name George Eliot, was an English novelist, journalist and translator, and one of the leading writers of the Victorian era. She is the author of seven novels, including Adam Bede (1859), The Mill on the Floss (1860), Silas Marner (1861), Middlemarch (1871–72), and Daniel Deronda (1876), most of them set in provincial England and known for their realism and psychological insight.

[ 0439 ] Hardy, Thomas. The Return of the Native. New York. Signet/New American Library. 0451504399. paperback. CP439. Signet Classic reprint. FROM THE PUBLISHER - The rural tranquillity of the heather - covered English countryside is the setting for this moving novel of conflicting aspirations and tragic destiny. Clym Yeobright returns from Paris to the village of his birth, idealistically inspired to improve the life of the men and women of Egdon Heath. But his plans are upset when he falls in love 'with a passionately beautiful, darkly discontented girl, Eustacia Vye, who longs to escape from her provincial surroundings. Their stormy marriage explodes in a violent tragedy which eventually frees Yeobright to pursue his dream of service. A book of classic dimension and heroic design, THE RETURN OF THE NATIVE is the forerunner of the twentieth - century psychological novel - poetic, compassionate, vivid in its associations, universal in its meanings. AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY - Thomas Hardy (June 2, 1840 - January 11, 1928) was an English novelist and poet. A Victorian realist in the tradition of George Eliot, he focused on a declining rural society.

[ 0440 ] Shakespeare, William. Measure For Measure. New York. Signet/New American Library. 0451504402. paperback. CP440. Cover: Milton Glaser. Signet Classic reprint. FROM THE PUBLISHER - Although performed before King James I in 1604, the text of Measure, For Measure was not published until 1623, seven years after Shakespeare's death. This First Folio text, printed from a transcript by King's Mens scrivener Ralph Crane of Shakespeare's own foul papers, preserves Shakespeare's authorial process, including his changes in plot, character, theme and structure. As such it offers a unique view of the author's writing and rewriting of his own play. Once dismissed as an 'assembled' text or as a 'darkened' text, adapted or botched by later revisers, the Folio text instead presents a superbly written play about intensely complex issues, including the uses of morality and sexuality. The original and genuine text of Measure, For Measure offers Shakespeare at his most brilliant and intricate. AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY - William Shakespeare (26 April 1564 (baptised) - 23 April 1616) was an English poet, playwright, and actor, widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's national poet and the 'Bard of Avon'. His extant works, including some collaborations, consist of about 38 plays, 154 sonnets, two long narrative poems.

[ 0441 ] Twain, Mark. Roughing It. New York. Signet/New American Library. 0451504417. paperback. CQ441. Signet Classic reprint. FROM THE PUBLISHER - In his youth Mark Twain found himself adrift as a tenderfoot in the Wild West - working as a civil servant, gold prospector, reporter, and traveling lecturer. Roughing It is the inimitable record - fact and impression - of those early years. Twain tried his luck at anything and everything. He writes hilariously of his encounters with vigilantes; with Slade the Terrible, whose wife toted guns that blazed from under her petticoats; Brigham Young, the ambitious Morman leader; Hank Erickson, who wrote for advice on turnips to Horace Greeley and vowed revenge because he could not decipher the latter's answer. 'So we see Mark Twain, the playboy, the pioneer in letters, the strayed reveller, the leader of the herd, giving and taking with a hearty liberality, all inside the folk - feeling of his time, holding the American nation in the hollow of his hand . ' - Van Wyck Brooks. With a Foreword by Leonard Kriegel. AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY - Samuel Langhorne Clemens (November 30, 1835 - April 21, 1910), better known by his pen name Mark Twain, was an American author and humorist. He wrote The Adventures of Tom Sawyer (1876) and its sequel, Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (1885), the latter often called 'the Great American Novel'.

[ 0442 ] Dostoyevsky, Fyodor. The Idiot. New York. 1969. Signet/New American Library. 0451504429. Translated From The Russian By Henry & Olga Carlisle. Introduction By Harold Rosenberg. 639 pages. paperback. CQ442. Cover: James Hill. Signet Classic original. FROM THE PUBLISHER - 'The chief thing is that they alI need him' - thus Dostoyevsky described Prince Myshkin, the hero of perhaps his most remarkable novel. As the still, radiant center of a plot whose turbulent action is extraordinary even for Dostoyevsky, Myshkin succeeds in dominating through sheer force of personality a cast of characters who vividly and violently embody the passions and conflicts of 19th - century Russia. The author's concern with sin and redemption is here in full measure; but there is another, more powerful motive as well: a desire to offer man a new alternative in facing the painful dilemmas of the human condition. As Harold Rosenberg writes in his Introduction to this notable new translation: 'Myshkin has passed from literature into social history. He is a rival of those potent fictions - the Dandy, the Superman, The Proletariat. He, too, is 'a specter haunting Europe. He is the original of those who seek to persuade through self - renunciation, from the lover who 'understands' his mistress' infidelities to 'Flower Children of the 1960s convinced of the perfidiousness of the adult mind.' AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY - Fyodor Mikhailovich Dostoyevsky 11 November 1821 - 9 February 1881), sometimes transliterated Dostoevsky, was a Russian novelist, short story writer, essayist and philosopher. Dostoyevsky's literary works explore human psychology in the context of the troubled political, social, and spiritual atmosphere of 19th-century Russia.

[ 0443 ] Dickens, Charles. The Pickwick Papers. New York. Signet/New American Library. 0451504437. 888 pages. paperback. CY443. Signet Classic reprint. FROM THE PUBLISHER - The adventures of the immortal Pickwick Club, headed by the good Mr. Pickwick himself, abetted by his faithful manservant, Sam Weller, form the basis of this, Dickens' first great literary achievement. In no other work does Dickens' richness of comic invention display itself so lavishly. Following the intrepidly bumbling Pickwickians along the highways and byways of old England, he creates a vivid world of highwaymen, duels, lawsuits, jails, hilarious romantic imbroglios - but a world, too, of deeply affecting human warmth and generosity. Superbly vigorous, filled with a host of indelible character creations, Pickwick Papers has never ceased to enjoy the popularity it won with its initial publication - when it rocketed its author to sudden fame and launched a career without equal in the history of the English novel. Steven Marcus writes: 'Pickwick Papers is the one novel in which Dickens achieved the thing we tend to think is the exclusive property of only the greatest, most mature, most fully consummated artists . a representation of life that fulfills the vision that men have never relinquished of the ideal possibilities of human relations . ' AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY - Charles John Huffam Dickens (7 February 1812 - 9 June 1870) was an English writer and social critic. He created some of the world's most memorable fictional characters and is generally regarded as the greatest novelist of the Victorian period. During his life, his works enjoyed unprecedented fame, and by the twentieth century his literary genius was broadly acknowledged by critics and scholars. His novels and short stories continue to be widely popular.

[ 0444 ] Dos Passos, John. The 42nd Parallel. New York. 1969. Signet/New American Library. 0451504445. Introduction By Alfred Kazin.Original Illustrations By Reginald Marsh. 415 pages. paperback. CQ444. Signet Classic original. FROM THE PUBLISHER - The first novel of the monumental U.S.A. trilogy, THE 42ND PARALLEL, opens amid the bright hopes and ominous foreshadowings of the dawn of the twentieth century in America. The novel's subject is America, as represented by her great men, by her popular culture, by the autobiographical evocations of an unseen author, and by the lives of vividly created fictional characters. These protagonists - a young man on the make, a frigid career woman, a defiant radical, a 'nice girl' gone wrong, a footloose drifter - live to the pulsebeat of their times, their personal destinies transformed into the substance of history. Through dazzling narrative juxtapositions and a prose that attains an electric poetry, we see relentlessly unroll the savage, sorrowful panorama of a nation's loss of innocence. As Alfred Kazin writes, 'What Dos Passos created with The 42nd Parallel was in fact another American invention. the greatest possible homage to art as a new kind of 'practicality' in getting down the facts of human existence in our century.' NINETEEN NINETEEN and THE BIG MONEY, the second and third novels of U.S.A., are also available in Signet Classic editions. Each can be read as a separate novel. Together they form a landmark achievement in modern American fiction. With the original illustrations by Reginald Marsh. AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY - John Roderigo Dos Passos (January 14, 1896 - September 28, 1970) was a radical American novelist and artist active in the first half of the twentieth century.

[ 0445 ] Dos Passos, John. Nineteen Nineteen. New York. 1969. Signet/New American Library. 0451504453. Introduction By Alfred Kazin.Original Illustrations By Reginald Marsh. 469 pages. paperback. CQ445. Signet Classic original. FROM THE PUBLISHER - The obscenity of the war, 'Mr. Wilson's War,' is Dos Passos' theme, and since this war is the most important political event of the century, he rises to his theme with a brilliance that does not conceal the fury behind it.' Thus Alfred Kazin describes NINETEEN NINETEEN, the central novel of the U.S.A. trilogy. With the devices of the Camera Eye, the biographies, and the newsreels, and with the stories of the novel's characters, Dos Passos creates an unequalled portrayal of a war - crazed America and a war - ravaged Europe. The spreading contagion of violence means profit for some, sexual adventure for others, and for still others it is a time of testing, with a choice between the sell - out of youthful idealism and a trip to the penitentiary. Brilliantly depicting a swarm of varied lives, synthesizing on every level a nation's brutal and brutalizing orgy of repression, cant and corruption, NINETEEN NINETEEN speaks with timeless art - and timely relevance. As Jean - Paul Sartre has written, 'I regard Dos Passos as the greatest writer of our time.' THE 42ND PARALLEL and THE BIG MONEY, the first and third novels of U.S.A., are also available in Signet Classic editions. Each can be read as a separate novel. Together they form a landmark achievement in modern American fiction. With the original illustrations by Reginald Marsh. AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY - John Roderigo Dos Passos (January 14, 1896 - September 28, 1970) was a radical American novelist and artist active in the first half of the twentieth century.

[ 0446 ] Dos Passos, John. The Big Money. New York. 1969. Signet/New American Library. 0451504461. Introduction By Alfred Kazin.Original Illustrations By Reginald Marsh. 557 pages. paperback. CQ446. Signet Classic original. FROM THE PUBLISHER - America in the boom years of the twenties is the setting of THE BIG MONEY. Hog - wild material prosperity rules the land and cripples the national life. Amid a vivid, fevered atmosphere of big business and bootleg booze, tinsel glamour and grinding injustice, Dos Passos guides his characters - a young mid - Westerner destroyed by his own success, an amoral trollop - turned - Hollywood star, an advertising boy - wonder on a careening treadmill of corruption, an idealistic girl discovering the facts of life - toward destinies that make a mockery of the American dream. The author's wonderful multiplicity of narrative techniques, his swift cross - cutting of points of view, never were used with greater effect than in this novel that Malcolm Cowley termed 'a furious and sombre poem, written in a mood of revulsion even more powerful than that which T. S. Eliot expressed in 'The Waste Land.' It stands as the climactic novel of a trilogy Alfred Kazin calls 'an epic of democracy' charged with 'the energy of disenchantment.' THE 42ND PARALLEL and NINETEEN NINETEEN, the first and second novels of U.S.A., are also available in Signet Classic editions. Each can be read as a separate novel. Together they form a landmark achievement in American fiction. AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY - John Roderigo Dos Passos (January 14, 1896 - September 28, 1970) was a radical American novelist and artist active in the first half of the twentieth century.

[ 0447 ] Twain, Mark. The Prince and the Pauper. New York. Signet/New American Library. 045150447x. paperback. CP447. Signet Classic reprint. FROM THE PUBLISHER - They are the same age. They look alike. In fact, there is but one difference between them: Tom Canty is a child of the London slums; Edward Tudor is heir to the throne of England. Just how insubstantial this difference is becomes all too clear when a chance encounter leads to an exchange of clothing - and of roles . with the pauper caught up in the pomp and folly of the royal court, and the prince wandering horror-stricken through the lower depths of sixteenth-century English society. Out of the theme of switched identities Mark Twain fashioned both a scathing attack upon social hypocrisy and injustice, and an irresistible comedy imbued with the sense of high-spirited play that belongs to his happiest creative period. THE PRINCE AND THE PAUPER is, in the worlds of Kenneth S. Lynn, ‘ . expressive of its author's genius. Indeed, nothing he ever wrote, not even HUCKLEBERRY FINN, introduces us to more of the themes that preoccupied - and finally obsessed - Mark Twain's imagination.' AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY - Samuel Langhorne Clemens (November 30, 1835 - April 21, 1910), better known by his pen name Mark Twain, was an American author and humorist. He wrote The Adventures of Tom Sawyer (1876) and its sequel, Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (1885), the latter often called 'the Great American Novel'.

[ 0448 ] Fielding, Henry. Joseph Andrews. New York. Signet/New American Library. 0451504488. Afterword By Irvin Ehrenpreis. paperback. CP448. Cover: Milton Glaser. Signet Classic reprint. FROM THE PUBLISHER - An innocent's odyssey among the status- seekers, Joseph Andrews is the hilarious tale of a poverty-stricken, flagrantly handsome footman adrift in a world of blustering, powdered wigs and robbers, amorous dowagers and rough-and-tumble innkeepers. Joseph is squired by Parson Adams - a Sancho Panza with a passion for brawls - through a maze of bedroom farces and mistaken identities to find himself suddenly and irrevocably acceptable. The cornerstone of our realistic fiction, historically precise about eighteenth-century country manners, Henry Fielding's novel is an extravaganza of mortal affectations and vanities. AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY - Henry Fielding (22 April 1707 - 8 October 1754) was an English novelist and dramatist known for his rich earthy humour and satirical prowess, and as the author of the novel Tom Jones. Aside from his literary achievements, he has a significant place in the history of law-enforcement, having founded (with his half-brother John) what some have called London's first police force, the Bow Street Runners, using his authority as a magistrate.

[ 0449 ] Bronte, Charlotte. Jane Eyre. New York. Signet/New American Library. 0451504496. paperback. CP449. Signet Classic reprint. FROM THE PUBLISHER - A novel of intense power and intrigue, JANE EYRE has dazzled generations of readers with its depiction of a woman's quest for freedom. Having grown up an orphan in the home of her cruel aunt and at a harsh charity school, Jane Eyre becomes an independent and spirited survivor-qualities that serve her well as governess at Thornfield Hall. But when she finds love with her sardonic employer, Rochester, the discovery of his terrible secret forces her to make a choice. Should she stay with him whatever the consequences or follow her convictions, even if it means leaving her beloved? AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY - Charlotte Brontë (21 April 1816 - 31 March 1855) was an English novelist and poet, the eldest of the three Brontë sisters who survived into adulthood, whose novels are English literature standards. She wrote Jane Eyre under the pen name Currer Bell.

[ 0450 ] Tolstoy, Leo. The Cossacks and the Raid. New York. 1961. Signet/New American Library. 045150450x. Newly Translated From The Russian By Andrew R. MacAndrew. Afterword By F.R. Reeve. 224 pages. paperback. CQ450. Cover: Dillon. Signet Classic reprint. FROM THE PUBLISHER - To read Tolstoy's early sketch, The Raid, and his first novel, The Cossacks, is to enter the workshop of a great writer and thinker. In The Raid Tolstoy explores the nature of courage itself, a theme central to War and Peace. In The Cossacks he sets forth all the motifs of his whole future life and his work. The hero is a young man - about - town who has squandered half his fortune - and his life - and retires to the desultory existence of a regiment stationed in mountainous Cossack country, where he takes part in the daily life of a Cossack village. But his love for the beautiful Maryanka precipitates a conflict between the belief that 'Happiness lies in living for others' and a passion that sweeps self - abnegation aside. As Romain Rolland says,' The full force of Tolstoy's descriptive powers is already expressed in this splendid [novel] and Tolstoy's realism shows itself with equal force in depicting human character.' AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY - Count Lev Nikolayevich Tolstoy (9 September 1828 - 20 November 1910), usually referred to in English as Leo Tolstoy, was a Russian writer who is regarded as one of the greatest authors of all time. He received multiple nominations for the Nobel Prize in Literature every year from 1902 to 1906 and nominations for the Nobel Peace Prize in 1901, 1902 and 1910 and the fact that he never won is a major Nobel prize controversy.

[ 0451 ] Hawthorne, Nathaniel / Twain, Mark / Crane, Stephen / Melville, Herman. Four Classic American Novels: The Scarlet Letter / The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn / The Red Badge of Courage / Billy Budd. New York. 1969. Signet/New American Library. 0451504518. Introduction by Willard Thorp. paperback. CQ451. Signet Classic original. FROM THE PUBLISHER - Sweeping readers from the New England colonies to the banks of the Mississippi, to the battle fields of the Civil War to the storm tossed waters of the Atlantic, this extraordinary collection is ideal-and most economical-for classrooms, libraries, and homes. AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY - Nathaniel Hawthorne (born Nathaniel Hathorne; July 4, 1804 - May 19, 1864) was an American novelist and short story writer. Samuel Langhorne Clemens (November 30, 1835 - April 21, 1910), better known by his pen name Mark Twain, was an American author and humorist. Stephen Crane (November 1, 1871 - June 5, 1900) was an American author. Prolific throughout his short life, he wrote notable works in the Realist tradition as well as early examples of American Naturalism and Impressionism. Herman Melville (August 1, 1819 - September 28, 1891) was an American novelist, poet, and writer of short stories. His contributions to the Western canon are the whaling novel Moby-Dick (1851); the short work Bartleby, the Scrivener (1853) about a clerk in a Wall Street office; the slave ship narrative Benito Cereno (1855); and Billy Budd, Sailor (1924).

[ 0452 ] Marlowe, Christopher. Doctor Faustus. New York. 1969. Signet/New American Library. 0451504526. Edited By Sylvan Barnet. 207 pages. paperback. CQ452. Cover: Milton Glaser. Signet Classic original. FROM THE PUBLISHER - Unique Features of the Signet Classic DOCTOR FAUSTUS - Introduction to the play by the editor, Sylvan Barnet, Professor of English, Tufts University. The full text, with detailed footnotes at the bottom of each page keyed to the numbered lines. Textual Note. The Source of DOCTOR FAUSTUS from THE HISTORY OF THE DAMNABLE LIFE AND DESERVED DEATH OF DOCTOR JOHN FAUSTUS. Commentaries by: Richard B. Sewall, The Tragic Form; C. K. Hunter, Five Act Structure in 'Doctor Faustus'; John Russell Brown, 'Doctor Faustus' at Stratford - on - Avon, 1968. Short biography of Christopher Marlowe. Extensive Bibliography. AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY - Christopher Marlowe (baptised 26 February 1564 - 30 May 1593) was an English playwright, poet and translator of the Elizabethan era. Marlowe was the foremost Elizabethan tragedian of his day. He greatly influenced William Shakespeare, who was born in the same year as Marlowe and who rose to become the pre-eminent Elizabethan playwright after Marlowe's mysterious early death.

[ 0453 ] Eliot, George. Middlemarch. New York. Signet/New American Library. 0451504534. paperback. 453. Signet Classic reprint. FROM THE PUBLISHER - ‘People are almost always better than their neighbours think they are.' George Eliot's most ambitious novel is a masterly evocation of diverse lives and changing fortunes in a provincial community. Peopling its landscape are Dorothea Brooke, a young idealist whose search for intellectual fulfillment leads her into a disastrous marriage to the pedantic scholar Casaubon; the charming but tactless Dr Lydgate, whose pioneering medical methods, combined with an imprudent marriage to the spendthrift beauty Rosamond, threaten to undermine his career; and the religious hypocrite Bulstrode, hiding scandalous crimes from his past. As their stories entwine, George Eliot creates a richly nuanced and moving drama, hailed by Virginia Woolf as ‘one of the few English novels written for grown-up people.' AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY - Mary Anne (alternatively Mary Ann or Marian) Evans (22 November 1819 - 22 December 1880), better known by her pen name George Eliot, was an English novelist, journalist and translator, and one of the leading writers of the Victorian era. She is the author of seven novels, including Adam Bede (1859), The Mill on the Floss (1860), Silas Marner (1861), Middlemarch (1871–72), and Daniel Deronda (1876), most of them set in provincial England and known for their realism and psychological insight.

[ 0454 ] Farrell, James T. Studs Lonigan. New York. Signet/New American Library. 0451504542. paperback. CY454. Signet Classic reprint. FROM THE PUBLISHER - In the three decades since its original publication, Studs Lonigan has established itself as a classic of the American social novel, Its setting is the South Side of Chicago during the moral chaos of the Prohibition era. Its protagonist, Studs Lonigan, is a young man seeking a destiny he cannot find, leaving behind him only lost ideals and unanswered questions to mark his swift passage from youth to early death. In his frustrated ambitions, his gradual brutalization, and his final failure, Studs emerges as a prototype of the lost and self - alienated American, both product and victim of urban society.The trilogy is, in the words of Philip Allan Friedman, 'a monumental work in the tradition of American literary naturalism. Alfred kazin has called Studs Lonigan 'one of the most honest and important works of our time.' AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY - James Thomas Farrell (February 27, 1904 - August 22, 1979) was an American novelist, short-story writer, and poet. He is most remembered for the Studs Lonigan trilogy, which was made into a film in 1960 and a television series in 1979.

[ 0455 ] Austen, Jane. Persuasion. New York. Signet/New American Library. 0451504550. Afterword By Marvin Mudrick. paperback. CP455. Signet Classic reprint. FROM THE PUBLISHER - In this, Jane Austen's last novel, appears her most memorable heroine - Anne Elliot, a young woman of perfect breeding, profound depth of emotion, and unswerving integrity. These virtues, however, exist in a world—the world of country gentry in Regency England—in which shallowness and hypocrisy thrive and ever threaten to win dominion. It is Anne's poised confrontation with these forces, as she vies for the affections of the man she loves, which gives shape to a work which displays Jane Austen's rich maturity of vision and her new-found sense of human potential. Blending sharp wit and warm sympathy, stylistic brilliance and tender insight, Persuasion represents the crowning achievement of Jane Austen's career, the final unfolding of her matchless art. As Marvin Mudrick writes: ‘The proper parochial society that for a quarter of a century Jane Austen had been laughing at and amusing, despising and defending, at all events copiously memorializing, comes to its late flower in the unassuming grace, the finely balanced feelings, the secret strength and charm of character, of Anne Elliot.' an Afterword by Marvin Mudrick. AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY - Jane Austen (16 December 1775 - 18 July 1817) was an English novelist whose works of romantic fiction, set among the landed gentry, earned her a place as one of the most widely read writers in English literature. Her realism and biting social commentary have gained her historical importance among scholars and critics.

[ 0456 ] Whitman, Walt. Leaves of Grass. New York. Signet/New American Library. 0451504569. paperback. CQ456. Signet Classic reprint. FROM THE PUBLISHER - These are the incomparable poems of one of America's greatest poets - an exuberant, passionate man who loved his country and wrote of it as no other has ever done. Singer, thinker, visionary and citizen extraordinary, this was Walt Whitman. Thoreau called Whitman 'probably the greatest democrat that ever lived' and Emerson judged Leaves of Grass as 'the most extraordinary piece of wit and wisdom America has yet contributed.' The text of this Signet Classic edition of Leaves of Grass is that of the 'Death - Bed' or ninth edition, which was published in 1892. The content and grouping of poems is that authorized by the poet for the final and complete edition of his masterpiece. AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY - Walter ‘Walt' Whitman (May 31, 1819 - March 26, 1892) was an American poet, essayist and journalist. A humanist, he was a part of the transition between transcendentalism and realism, incorporating both views in his works. Whitman is among the most influential poets in the American canon, often called the father of free verse.

[ 0457 ] Gogol, Nicolai. Dead Souls. New York. [1961]. Signet/New American Library. 0451504577. Newly Translated From The Russian By Andrew R, MacAndrew.Foreword By Frank O'Connor. 279 pages. paperback. CT457. Signet Classic reprint. FROM THE PUBLISHER - DEAD SOULS describes the gambits of a quixotic opportunist in provincial Russia who sets out to buy deceased serfs at a low cost from their owners. Chichikov requires evidence of 'property,' since he wishes to marry an heiress, and is able to amass the 'souls' because their owners must pay taxes on them until they are officially declared dead in the rolls of the next census. An affable and personable business man, he is wined and dined in luxurious mansions and humble crofts, proclaimed a man of standing, and thought to be odd and delightful. Gogol's panorama of fraudulence is lasting allegory and aligns him with Swift, Voltaire, Balzac, and Dickens as one of the world's arch - satirists. 'Dead Souls provides an attentive reader with . that Gogolian gusto and wealth of weird detail which lift the whole thing to the level of a tremendous epic poem. ' - Vladimir Nabokov AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY - Nikolay Vasilyevich Gogol (1809-52), Russian writer, whose plays, short stories, and novels rank among the great masterpieces of 19th-century Russian realist literature.

[ 0458 ] Du Bois, W. E. B. The Souls of Black Folk. New York. 1969. Signet/New American Library. 0451504585. Introductions By Dr. Nathan Hare & Alvin F. Poussaint, M.D. 280 pages. paperback. CQ458. Signet Classic original. FROM THE PUBLISHER - 'Herein lie buried many things which if read with patience and interest may show the strange meaning of being black. The meaning is not without interest to you, Gentle Reader; for the problem of the Twentieth Century is the problem of the color line.' Thus the keynote is struck for an extraordinary work which is even more pertinent today than it was when it was first published in 1903. W. E. B. Du Bois was a black - power advocate in an age of absolute white supremacy, and in THE SOULS OF BLACK FOLK he previewed the racial strife and conflicts which are exploding today. Over sixty years ago Du Bois urged the establishment of an 'all - black party' and preached the need for black 'conscious self - realization' and for the separate autonomy of the black community. At the same time he stressed the White man's responsibility for correcting racial inequality and pleaded for mutual under - standing, for a nonviolent solution to a centuries - old dilemma. As Alvin F. Poussaint declares in one of the two notable introductions to this volume, THE SOULS OF BLACK FOLK is 'a monument to the black man's struggle in this country.' AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY - W. E. B. Du Bois (1868-1963) was internationally renowned as a writer, scholar, and activist. Among his published works are THE SOULS OF BLACK FOLKS, JOHN BROWN, and BLACK RECONSTRUCTION: AN ESSAY TOWARD A HISTORY OF THE PART WHICH BLACK FOLK PLAYED IN THE ATTEMPT TO RECONSTRUCT DEMOCRACY IN AMERICA, 1860-1880. He also wrote other major fiction, including DARK PRINCESS.

[ 0459 ] Twain, Mark and Charles Dudley Warner. The Gilded Age: A Tale of Today. New York. 1969. Signet/New American Library. 0451504593. Introduction By Marvin Felheim. 455 pages. paperback. CW459. Signet Classic original. FROM THE PUBLISHER - 'Beautiful credit! The foundation of modern society. Who shall say that this is not the golden age of mutual trust, of unlimited reliance upon human promises. That is the peculiar condition of society which enables a whole nation to instantly recognize point and meaning in. [the remark of]. a distinguished speculator in lands and mines: 'I wasn't worth a cent two years ago, and now I owe two millions of dollars.' ' With this key passage, the tone is set for what is both a biting satire and a revealing portrait of post - Civil War America - an age of expansion and of corruption, of national optimism and of crooked land speculators, ruthless bankers and dishonest politicians voraciously taking advantage of that new optimism. With wit and perception, Mark Twain and his collaborator, Charles Dudley Warner, attack the greed, lust and naïvetE of their own time in a work which remains today not only a valuable social document but also, in the words of Marvin Felheim, '. certainly one of America's most important satirical novels.' AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY - Samuel Langhorne Clemens (November 30, 1835 - April 21, 1910), better known by his pen name Mark Twain, was an American author and humorist. He wrote The Adventures of Tom Sawyer (1876) and its sequel, Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (1885), the latter often called 'the Great American Novel'.

[ 0460 ] Hugo, Victor. The Hunchback of Notre Dame. New York. [1965]. Signet/New American Library. 0451504607. Complete and unabridged. Translated from the French by Walter J. Cobb. Afterword by Andre Maurois. 512 pages. paperback. CQ460. Signet Classic reprint. FROM THE PUBLISHER - The setting of this extraordinary historical novel is medieval Paris: a city of vividly intermingled beauty and grotesquerie, surging with violent life under the twin towers of its greatest structure and supreme symbol, the cathedral of Notre - Dame. Against this background Victor Hugo unfolds the haunting drama of Quasimodo, the monstrous hunch back; Esmera Ida, the gypsy dancer; and Claude Frollo, the priest tortured by the specter of his own damnation. Shaped by a profound sense of tragic irony, it is a work which gives full play to the author's brilliant historical imagination, his remarkable powers of description. Whether depicting the frenzy of a brutish mob or the agony of a solitary soul, whether capturing the drunken blaze of sunlight or dungeon darkness, Victor Hugo's art never fails in its quest for the immediacy of felt experience. Immensely popular from its original publication to the present day, The Hunchback of Notre - Dame stands as an unsurpassed and enduring literary triumph. As AndrE Maurois writes: 'Hugo's characters were to live in the minds of men of all countries and all races. They are unforgettable because they possess the elemental grandeur of myths and epics.' AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY - Victor Marie Hugo (26 February 1802 - 22 May 1885) was a French poet, novelist, and dramatist of the Romantic movement. He is considered one of the greatest and best known French writers. In France, Hugo's literary fame comes first from his poetry but also rests upon his novels and his dramatic achievements.

[ 0461 ] Melville, Herman. The Confidence Man. New York. Signet/New American Library. 0451504615. paperback. 461. Signet Classic reprint. FROM THE PUBLISHER - Like Moby - Dick, The Confidence Man takes place aboard a ship - but one far different from the whaler Pequod. Its setting is a Mississippi steamboat, the Fidèle; and its protagonist, the mysterious Confidence Man, is on a voyage after human prey. He is a man of many guises, but a single role: in a complex series of impostures, this ever - ambiguous figure relentlessly strips away, one by one, the hypocritical pretenses of his fellow passengers. Charged with savage irony and black humor, the novel is merciless as a depiction of greed and selfishness, of a dark and wolfish world. It represents one of Melville's great later achievements, a roman noir that gives final expression to an intense and tortured vision of the human condition. 'It is,' as R. W. B: Lewis declares, 'the recognizable and awe - inspiring ancestor of . Nathaniel WEST'S THE DAY OF THE LOCUST, Faulkner's THE HAMLET, Ralph Ellison's INVISIBLE MAN and William Gaddis' RECOGNITIONS. Melville bequeathed . the vision of an apocalypse that is no less terrible for being enormously comic, the self - extinction of a world characterized by deceit and thronging with imposters. ' AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY - Herman Melville (August 1, 1819 - September 28, 1891) was an American novelist, poet, and writer of short stories. His works includes the whaling novel Moby-Dick (1851), Bartleby, the Scrivener (1853), Benito Cereno (1855), and Billy Budd, Sailor (1924).

[ 0462 ] Chekhov, Anton. Selected Stories. New York. Signet/New American Library. 0451504623. paperback. CT462. Signet Classic reprint. FROM THE PUBLISHER - One of the world's great masters of the short story, Anton Chekhov wrote about everyday life as he saw it - with humor, insight, and honesty. In this lies his genius: He portrayed the Russian people as they really were, not as he wanted them to be. This Signet Classic presents twenty Chekhov stories, including twelve of his early tales which make their first appearance in English in Thus paperback collection. The Confession * He Understood * At Sea * Surgery * Ninochka * A Cure for Drinking * The Jailer Jailed * The Dance Pianist * The Milksop * The Nincompoop * Marriage in Ten or Fifteen Years * In Spring * Agafya * The Kiss * The Father * In Exile * Three Years * The House with the Mansard * Peasants * The Darling AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY - Anton Pavlovich Chekhov (29 January 1860 - 15 July 1904) was a Russian physician, dramatist and author who is considered to be among the greatest writers of short stories in history. His career as a dramatist produced four classics and his best short stories are held in high esteem by writers and critics. Chekhov practised as a doctor throughout most of his literary career.

[ 0463 ] Fielding, Henry. Jonathan Wild. New York. Signet/New American Library. 0451504631. Foreword by J. H. Plumb. paperback. CT463. Signet Classic reprint. FROM THE PUBLISHER - The outrages that Jonathan Wild commits against the simple, virtuous Heartfree epitomize one of the most villainous but memorably comic figures in literature. Wild is methodically evil: his thefts and vices, violence and grand deceptions, are merely steppingstones in his progress toward 'greatness.' In writing about this sublime blackguard, Henry Fielding drew on his knowledge of London's Gin Lane, where he served as magistrate, on legends surrounding an actual archcriminal, and on the figure of the King's minister, Sir Robert Walpole, that nemesis whom Pope, Swift, and Gay lampooned in their greatest works. Jonathan Wild is perhaps the Enlightenment's most ironic pageant of corruption - the book in which Fielding's dormant theme that 'greatness' and 'goodness' have no part in each other gleams with polished bitterness and gallows humor. AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY - Henry Fielding (22 April 1707 - 8 October 1754) was an English novelist and dramatist known for his rich earthy humour and satirical prowess, and as the author of the novel Tom Jones. Aside from his literary achievements, he has a significant place in the history of law-enforcement, having founded (with his half-brother John) what some have called London's first police force, the Bow Street Runners, using his authority as a magistrate.

[ 0464 ] Hasek, Jaroslav. The Good Soldier Schweik. New York. Signet/New American Library. 045150464x. Translated From The Czech By Paul Selver. Illustrations By Josef Lada. Foreword By Leslie A. Fiedler. 429 pages. paperback. CQ464. Cover: James Hill. Signet Classic reprint. FROM THE PUBLISHER - Poor Schweik. How simpleminded he is. Possibly even a lunatic. For how else could he fail to recognize the matchless wisdom of his sergeant, his lieutenant, his colonel, and even his king, who all agree it is his noble duty to serve as a solid target for an enemy bullet. Can the author be so bold as to suggest that this miserable nobody, this disgraceful malingerer, this grain of sand in the great military machine, is the true hero of our times? In all of the literature of war there is no more deadly weapon than Schweik's blank gaze as he listens to a vital order, then marches resolutely away in the wrong direction. For in Schweik's vision of the world - a world in which it is good to live and bad to die - lies a force that can topple empires and reduce the inspiring spectacle of war to bloody absurdity. The brilliant satire of this masterpiece does more than delight the reader; it casts the healing light of sanity upon the festering wounds of this war - torn century. 'The reader is reminded of Swift, Gogol, Dickens. Hasek makes our present - day beatniks, bohemians, and would - be satirists seem very small beer by comparison.' - LONDON TIMES LITERARY SUPPLEMENT. AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY - Jaroslav Hašek (April 30, 1883 - January 3, 1923) was a Czech humorist, satirist, writer and anarchist best known for his novel The Good Soldier Švejk, an unfinished collection of farcical incidents about a soldier in World War I and a satire on the ineptitude of authority figures, which has been translated into sixty languages.

[ 0465 ] Chekhov, Anton. Chekhov: The Major Plays. New York. Signet/New American Library. 0451504658. paperback. CT465. Signet Classic reprint. FROM THE PUBLISHER - 'Let the things that happen on stage be just as complex and yet just as simple as they are in life. For instance, people are having a meal, just having a meal, but at the same time their happiness is being created, or their lives are being smashed up.' Thus Chekhov summed up the credo that finds expression in the subtle construction and electrically charged atmosphere of his plays. In these portrayals of human beings trapped in a stultifying environment, victimized as much by their own weakness as by the greed of others, the most casual words and everyday actions assume the import of acts of destiny. Tragedy is mingled with farce, protest wars with resignation, in a world that yields from its darkest despair a singular moral affirmation - an affirmation that stands as the final mark and measure of Chekhov's art. As Robert Brustein declares: '. in the modern theater . there are none who bring the drama to a higher realization of its human role.' AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY - Anton Pavlovich Chekhov (29 January 1860 - 15 July 1904) was a Russian physician, dramatist and author who is considered to be among the greatest writers of short stories in history. His career as a dramatist produced four classics and his best short stories are held in high esteem by writers and critics. Chekhov practised as a doctor throughout most of his literary career.

[ 0466 ] Woolf, Virginia. Orlando. New York. Signet/New American Library. 0451504666. paperback. CQ466. Signet Classic reprint. FROM THE PUBLISHER - Spanning three and a half centuries of boisterous, exuberant adventure in England, in Constantinople, with aristocrats and gypsies-first as a man and then as a woman-Orlando's story is a wild farce, a humorous history, a gay romance filled with the delightful experiences of one of the most fascinating and fantastic characters ever to rule the realm of fiction. David Daiches said: ‘Virginia Woolf can afford to rest her claims on her novels, which show her to be one of the half- dozen novelists of the present century whom the world will not easily let die.' Rebecca West called Orlando ‘a poetic masterpiece of the first rank' and Elizabeth Bowen found it ‘one of the most high spirited books I know . a book for those who are young in a big way.' AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY - Adeline Virginia Woolf (nEe Stephen; 25 January 1882 - 28 March 1941) was an English writer and one of the foremost modernists of the twentieth century. During the interwar period, Woolf was a significant figure in London literary society and a central figure in the influential Bloomsbury Group of intellectuals. Her most famous works include the novels Mrs Dalloway (1925), To the Lighthouse (1927) and Orlando (1928), and the book-length essay A Room of One's Own (1929).

[ 0467 ] Shakespeare, William. The Taming of the Shrew. New York. Signet/New American Library. 0451504674. paperback. CT467. Cover: Milton Glaser. Signet Classic reprint. FROM THE PUBLISHER - A rough-and-tumble farce centered around a lively battle of the sexes, The Taming of the Shrew brims with action and bawdy humor. The unconventional romance between a lusty fortune-hunter and a bitter shrew unfolds to the accompaniment of witty, fast-paced dialogue and physical humor. Unique features of the Signet Classic Shakespeare An extensive of Shakespeare's life, world, and theater by the general editor of the Signet Classic Shakespeare series, Sylvan Barnet A special introduction to the play by the editor, Robert B. Heilman, University of Washington Sources from which Shakespeare derived The Taming of the Shrew Dramatic criticism from the past and present: commentaries by Richard Hosley, Maynard Mack, Germaine Greer, Alexander Leggatt, Linda Bamber, Karen Newman, Camille Wells Sights A comprehensive stage and screen history of notable actors, directors, and productions of The Taming of the Shrew, then and now Text, notes, and commentaries printed in the clearest, most readable type Up-to-date list of recommended readings AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY - William Shakespeare (26 April 1564 (baptised) - 23 April 1616) was an English poet, playwright, and actor, widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's national poet and the 'Bard of Avon'. His extant works, including some collaborations, consist of about 38 plays, 154 sonnets, two long narrative poems.

[ 0468 ] Chaucer, Geoffrey. The Canterbury Tales: A Selection. New York. 1969. Signet/New American Library. 0451504682. Edited & With An Introduction by Donald Howard. 400 pages. paperback. CY468. Cover art: Lambert. Signet Classic original. FROM THE PUBLISHER - While Geoffrey Chaucer. composed several magnificent works of poetry, his reputation as ‘the father of English literature' rests mainly on The Canterbury Tales, a group of stories told by an oddly assorted band of pilgrims en route to the shrine of Thomas a Becket in Canterbury Cathedral. From the mirthful and bawdy to the profoundly moral, the tales, taken in their entirety, reflect not only the manners and mores of medieval England, but, indeed, the full comic and tragic dimensions of the human condition. Considered by most to be the greatest collection of narrative poems in English literature, The Canterbury Tales were composed in the Middle English of Chaucer's day, possibly to be read aloud at the court of Richard II. However, their grandeur, humor, and relevance are timeless, as readers of this authoritative edition will discover. UNIQUE FEATURES OF THE SIGNET CLASSIC CANTERBURY TALES - Full critical Introduction by editor Donald Howard, Professor of Medieval Literature, Johns Hopkins University New normalized spelling system for easier reading and pronunciation. Extensive footnotes. Special section ‘On Pronouncing Chaucer'. Complete listing of The Canterbury Tales recordings. Glossary of basic Middle English words. AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY - Geoffrey Chaucer (c. 1343 - 25 October 1400), known as the Father of English literature, is widely considered the greatest English poet of the Middle Ages and was the first poet to be buried in Poet's Corner of Westminster Abbey.

[ 0469 ] Conrad, Joseph. Typhoon and Other Tales. New York. 1963. Signet/New American Library. 0451504690. Foreword by Albert J. Guerard . 448 pages. paperback. CQ469. Cover: Kossin. Signet Classic reprint. FROM THE PUBLISHER - Includes - TYPHOON, The Nigger of the ‘Narcissus,' Karain, An Outpost of Progress, The Lagoon, Youth, Amy Foster, & The Shadow-Line. The short novels and stories that comprise this Signet Classic are an extraordinary blend of exciting adventure and high seriousness-they are, as Albert Guerard says, ‘an achievement unique in English fiction.' In his depiction of the narrow world of ship and jungle outpost the master storyteller explores the destiny of ‘men of action.' He probes their reaction to tests of moral and physical courage, their conceptions of honor and of loyalty to society and to the individual. He deals with the conscientious man's need for self-punishment, with his lifelong efforts to expiate an involuntary crime of betrayal. In these tales he treats the themes that were to preoccupy him in his major works. Whether writing satirically of Europeans invading the wilderness of the Congo, or compassionately of a man obsessed by the mystery and danger of the Eastern seas, Conrad takes the reader on a profound personal search of man's voyage-within himself. AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY - Joseph Conrad (born Jozef Teodor Konrad Korzeniowski; Berdichev, Imperial Russia, 3 December 1857 - 3 August 1924, Bishopsbourne, Kent, England) was a Polish author who wrote in English after settling in England. Conrad is regarded as one of the greatest novelists in English, though he did not speak the language fluently until he was in his twenties (and always with a marked accent). He wrote stories and novels, often with a nautical setting, that depict trials of the human spirit in the midst of an indifferent universe.

[ 0470 ] Solzhenitsyn, Alexander. One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich. New York. 1963. Signet/New American Library. 0451504704. Translated From The Russian By Ralph ParkerIntroduction By Marvin L. Kalb.Foreword By Alexander Tvardovsky. 158 pages. paperback. CQ470. Signet Classic original. FROM THE PUBLISHER - First published in the Soviet journal Novy Mir in 1962, One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich stands as a classic of contemporary literature. The story of labor-camp inmate Ivan Denisovich Shukhov, it graphically describes his struggle to maintain his dignity in the face of communist oppression. One of the most chilling novels ever written about the oppression of totalitarian regimes--and the first to open Western eyes to the terrors of Stalin's prison camps, this book allowed Solzhenitsyn, who later became Russia's conscience in exile, to challenge the brutal might of the Soviet Union. AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY - Aleksandr Isayevich[a] Solzhenitsyn (11 December 1918 - 3 August 2008) was a Russian novelist, historian, and critic of Soviet totalitarianism. He helped to raise global awareness of the gulag and the Soviet Union's forced labor camp system. While his writings were long suppressed in the USSR, he wrote many books, most notably The Gulag Archipelago, One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich, August 1914 and Cancer Ward. Solzhenitsyn was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1970.

[ 0471 ] Goethe, Johann Wolfgang von. Great Writings of Goethe. New York. 1958. Signet/New American Library. 0451504712. Various Translators From The German.Edited & With An Introduction By Stephen Spender. 278 pages. paperback. CY471. Signet Classic original. FROM THE PUBLISHER - Selected by the renowned critic and poet Stephen Spender, this collection brings together in modern translation the many facets of one of the most extraordinary creative geniuses of all time, Included are the acclaimed Louis MacNeice rendering of the complete Faust, Part I, the Vernon Watkins and Michael; Hamburger translations of the great lyric poems, and Christopher Middleton's English version of Goethe's perhaps most perfectly achieved work of fiction, Nouvelle. Here, too, are Goethe's letters to famous contemporaries and important excerpts from his travel writings, his autobiography, his conversations, his reflections and aphorisms, and his remarkable scientific novel, Elective Attinitis. Vividly emerging on these pages is the figure of a man who recognized no fixed boundaries between the realms of science and art, and no division between the life of the mind and of the senses, as he sought to realize his potential as a total human being. As Stephen Spender declares, 'Goethe seems a modern writer, dealing with the particular problem of being a poet in modern times. more successful in his attempt to make a synthesis of contemporary knowledge and thought than anyone has been since. the first, and also the last, completely modern individual. ' AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY - Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (28 August 1749 - 22 March 1832) was a German writer, artist, and politician. His body of work includes epic and lyric poetry written in a variety of metres and styles; prose and verse dramas; memoirs; an autobiography; literary and aesthetic criticism; treatises on botany, anatomy, and colour; and four novels.

[ 0472 ] Howells, William Dean. A Hazard of New Fortunes. New York. Signet/New American Library. 0451504720. paperback. CQ472. Signet Classic reprint. FROM THE PUBLISHER - Set against a vividly depicted background of fin de siècle New York, this novel centers upon the conflict between a self - made millionaire and a fervent social revolutionary - a conflict in which a man of goodwill futilely attempts to act as mediator, only to be forced himself into a crisis of conscience. Evident throughout this multifaceted work is William Dean Howells' grasp of the realities of the American experience in an age of emerging social struggle; evident as well is his absolute determination to render justice to every point of view. Both a memorable portrait of an era and a profoundly moving study of human interrelatednness, A Hazard of New Fortunes fully justifies Alfred Kazin's ranking of Howells as 'the first great domestic novelist of American life.' Benjamin DeMott praises 'Howells' dream of bursting free from self, of entering with large imaginative understanding into the lives of others,' and goes on to declare: 'Howells' dream was. moral to the core.' AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY - William Dean Howells (March 1, 1837 - May 11, 1920) was an American realist author, literary critic, and playwright. Nicknamed 'The Dean of American Letters', he was particularly known for his tenure as editor of the Atlantic Monthly as well as his own prolific writings, including the Christmas story 'Christmas Every Day', and the novels The Rise of Silas Lapham and A Traveler from Altruria.

[ 0473 ] Dickens, Charles. Hard Times. New York. Signet/New American Library. 0451504739. paperback. CT473. Signet Classic reprint. FROM THE PUBLISHER - No other work of Charles Dickens presents such a scathing indictment against the relentless greed of the Victorian industrial society and its misapplied philosophy. With savage bitterness, Dickens unmasks the terrible industries that imprisoned the bodies of the helpless labor class and the equally diabolical institutions that shackled the development of their minds. AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY - Charles John Huffam Dickens (7 February 1812 - 9 June 1870) was an English writer and social critic. He created some of the world's most memorable fictional characters and is generally regarded as the greatest novelist of the Victorian period. During his life, his works enjoyed unprecedented fame, and by the twentieth century his literary genius was broadly acknowledged by critics and scholars. His novels and short stories continue to be widely popular.

[ 0474 ] Wells, H. G. Tono-Bungay. New York. Signet/New American Library. 0451504747. paperback. CQ474. Signet Classic reprint. FROM THE PUBLISHER - Mischievous, stimulating, aromatic, attractive, Tono - Bungay is a patent medicine. It brings a quick fortune to a conscience - ridden scientist and his uncle, a lovable Satan of early mass production. Anti it launches them on a series of semicomic, sometimes grotesque adventures in gray, anonymous, turn - of - the - century London - adventures which culminate in the downfall of their product empire and a flight from creditors by night in a strange and experimental airship. Alternating between vaudevillian gusto and the economic incisiveness of high satire, Tono - Bungay merges the traditional character chronicle with the modern novel of social invective. Henry James described its author's style as one of 'robust pitch' and lauded Wells for possessing an eye and ear comparable to Dickens'. AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY - Herbert George ‘H. G.' Wells (21 September 1866 - 13 August 1946) was an English writer, now best known for his work in the science fiction genre. He was also a prolific writer in many other genres, including contemporary novels, history, politics and social commentary, even writing textbooks and rules for war games.

[ 0475 ] Shaw, George Bernard. Plays. New York. Signet/New American Library. 0451504755. paperback. CQ475. Signet Classic reprint. FROM THE PUBLISHER - Includes: Mrs. Warren's Profession, Arms and the Man, Candida, & Man and Superman. George Bernard Shaw demanded truth and despised convention. He punctured hollow pretensions and smug prudishness - sugar - coating his criticism with ingenious and irreverent wit. In Mrs. Warren's Profession, Arms and the Man, Candida, and Man and Superman, the great playwright satirizes accepted attitudes toward: woman's place in society, military heroism, marriage, the pursuit of man by woman. From a social, literary, and theatrical standpoint, these four plays are among the foremost dramas of the ages - as, intellectually stimulating as they are thoroughly enjoyable. 'My way of joking is to tell the truth: it is the funniest joke in the world.' - G. B. Shaw. AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY - George Bernard Shaw (26 July 1856 - 2 November 1950) was an Irish playwright and a co-founder of the London School of Economics. Although his first profitable writing was music and literary criticism, in which capacity he wrote many highly articulate pieces of journalism, his main talent was for drama, and he wrote more than 60 plays.

[ 0476 ] Pater, Walter. Marius the Epicurean. New York. 1970. Signet/New American Library. 0451504763. Edited & With An Introduction By Harold Bloom. 287 pages. paperback. CY476. Signet Classic original. FROM THE PUBLISHER - Rome in the reign of Marcus Aurelius - a society at the height of power and on the brink of decay - forms the background for this chronicle of a man's search for meaning. In a world in which a bewildering host of philosophies and religions vie for supremacy, Marius seeks fulfillment in primitive paganism, Cynicism, Stoicism, Epicureanism and early Christianity, yet even in martyrdom cannot reject the rich sum of his experiences for a single closed system. The novel is outstanding for its brilliant historical detailing and exquisitely wrought style, but it is even more important as an expression of individual alienation and longing for expanded consciousness as relevant today as it was in the unsettled climate of the late Victorian era. Enjoying a prominent place in the company of such works of eccentric genius as Frederick Rolfe's Hadrian the Seventh, Marius the Epicurean is, as Harold Bloom declares, 'one of the more remarkable fictional experiments of the later nineteenth century,' while its author represents 'a kind of hinge upon which turns the single gate, one side of which is Romantic, and the other modern. ' AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY - Walter Horatio Pater (4 August 1839 - 30 July 1894) was an English essayist, literary and art critic, and writer of fiction.

[ 0477 ] Shakespeare, William. Troilus and Cressida. New York. Signet/New American Library. 0451504771. paperback. CP477. Cover: Milton Glaser. Signet Classic reprint. FROM THE PUBLISHER - THE SIGNET CLASSIC SHAKESPEARE SERIES. The work of the world's greatest dramatist in authoritative texts edited by outstanding scholars. Unique Features of The Signet Classic Shakespeare Troilus and Cressida: Special Introduction to the play by the editor, Daniel Seltzer, Harvard University; General discussion of Shakespeare's life, world, and theater by the general editor of the Signet Classic Shakespeare series, Sylvan Barnet, Tufts University; Substantial note on the voluminous sources from which Shakespeare derived Troilus and Cressida with specific references to the best editions of these long works; Dramatic criticism from the past and present: commentaries by W. W. Lawrence, S. L. Bethell, Derek Traversi, R. A. Foakes, I. A. Richards, Reuben A. Brower; Text and commentaries printed in the clearest, most readable type; Name of each speaker given in full; Detailed footnotes at the bottom of each page of the play keyed to the numbered lines of the text; Textual note Extensive bibliography. AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY - William Shakespeare (26 April 1564 (baptised) - 23 April 1616) was an English poet, playwright, and actor, widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's national poet and the 'Bard of Avon'. His extant works, including some collaborations, consist of about 38 plays, 154 sonnets, two long narrative poems.

[ 0478 ] Orwell, George. Burmese Days. New York. Signet/New American Library. 045150478x. paperback. CT478. Signet Classic reprint. FROM THE PUBLISHER - The product of intimate personal knowledge, Burmese Days, George Orwell's first novel, offers a scathing indictment of British Imperial rule. Against a brilliantly rendered exotic background, the author presents a bitter and satiric picture of the corruption spawned by absolute power, a corruption all - pervading and inescapable, infecting white man and native alike. His theme is given sharp focus in the struggle of. John Flory, the novel's English hero, to maintain some measure of integrity in a debilitating moral climate. As Flory is inexorably driven to final tragic defeat, the reader encounters a vividly delineated cross section of Anglo - Indian society and was an unsurpassed portrayal of an era of history whose effects still profoundly trouble the modern world. Burmese Days is a superb example of Orwell's literary skill and of the fierce and uncompromising vision that made him, in the words of V. S. Pritchett, 'the conscience of his generation.' AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY - Eric Arthur Blair (25 June 1903 - 21 January 1950), known by his pen name George Orwell, was an English novelist, essayist, journalist and critic. His work is characterised by lucid prose, biting social criticism, opposition to totalitarianism, and outspoken support of democratic socialism. He is best known for the allegorical novella Animal Farm (1945) and the dystopian novel Nineteen Eighty-Four (1949). His non-fiction works, including The Road to Wigan Pier (1937), documenting his experience of working-class life in the north of England, and Homage to Catalonia (1938), an account of his experiences soldiering for the Republican faction of the Spanish Civil War (1936–1939), are as critically respected as his essays on politics and literature, language and culture.

[ 0479 ] Norris, Frank. McTeague. New York. Signet/New American Library. 0451504798. Afterword By Kenneth Rexroth. paperback. CQ479. Signet Classic reprint. FROM THE PUBLISHER - Frank Norris' graphic portrayal of the seamy side of survival in turn-of-the-century urban America remains shocking and powerful today -and its conclusion just as harrowing. AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY - Benjamin Franklin Norris, Jr. (March 5, 1870 - October 25, 1902) was an American novelist during the Progressive Era, writing predominantly in the naturalist genre. His notable works include McTeague (1899), The Octopus: A Story of California (1901), and The Pit (1903).

[ 0480 ] Cooper, James Fenimore. The Pioneers. New York. Signet/New American Library. 0451504801. paperback. CT480. Signet Classic reprint. FROM THE PUBLISHER - The Pioneers is set in a time of transition. The forests still abound with deer, passenger pigeons darken the sky, fish teem in the lakes and streams - but over the wilderness falls the ever - lengthening shadow of civilization. Natty Bumppo, the Leatherstocking, now on the threshold of old age, finds his way of life challenged as the land he has roamed for so long becomes private property; and the laws of man supplant the laws of nature. His struggle to retain his fiercely cherished freedom helps shape a drama of conflicting human values, and an unsparing, often caustic, delineation of frontier society. The most realistically written of the Leatherstocking Tales, The Pioneers combines unrivaled descriptive power with an abiding concern for complex social and moral questions; it offers an enthralling re - creation of a colorful, exciting, and enduringly significant era of our history. As Robert E. Spiller writes:'. the reader moves back in time to an era in our history that only an imagination like Cooper's could recreate. Characters come to life in their responses to nature in both her savage and her grander moments. we can be grateful . for Cooper's total sense of the stuff of which the American people are made, as well as for his power of expression. that has preserved so much of our 'usable past' for our present enrichment.' AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY - James Fenimore Cooper (September 15, 1789 - September 14, 1851) was a prolific and popular American writer of the early 19th century. His historical romances of frontier and Indian life in the early American days created a unique form of American literature.

[ 0481 ] Bierce, Ambrose. In the Midst of Life and Other Stories. New York. Signet/New American Library. 045150481x. Afterword by Marcus Cuncliffe. paperback. CQ481. Signet Classic reprint. FROM THE PUBLISHER - DEATH! From a hangman's noose. , a sniper's bullet . a serpent's venom a dead man's touch. The critics called him 'Bitter Bierce,'described him as'a scoffer and scorner who wrote his tales of horror with a sort of fiendish delight.' In the Midst of Life is a collection of twenty.six of his unique tales of horror. Ambrose Bierce - praised and damned for over half a century as a cynic, a wit, a misanthrope and a demon - wrote of soldiers at war and civilians without peace. With biting humor he placed his characters in a setting of the real and natural, and then with a sardonic twist he confronted them with the terror of the unreal and supernatural. AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY - Ambrose Gwinnett Bierce (born June 24, 1842; assumed to have died sometime after December 26, 1913) was an American editorialist, journalist, short story writer, fabulist, and satirist. Today, he is probably best known for his short story ‘An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge‘ and his satirical lexicon The Devil's Dictionary. His vehemence as a critic, his motto ‘Nothing matters' and the sardonic view of human nature that informed his work all earned him the nickname ‘Bitter Bierce'.

[ 0482 ] Shakespeare, William. Coriolanus. New York. Signet/New American Library. 0451504828. paperback. CT482. Cover: Milton Glaser. Signet Classic reprint. FROM THE PUBLISHER - Coriolanus is a tragedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written between 1605 and 1608. The play is based on the life of the legendary Roman leader Caius Marcius Coriolanus. The tragedy is numbered as one of the last two tragedies written by Shakespeare, along with Antony and Cleopatra. Coriolanus is the name given to a Roman general after his more than adequate military success against various uprisings challenging the government of Rome. Following this success, Coriolanus becomes active in politics and seeks political leadership. His temperament is unsuited for popular leadership and he is quickly deposed, whereupon he aligns himself to set matters straight according to his own will. The alliances he forges along the way result in his ultimate downfall. AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY - William Shakespeare (26 April 1564 (baptised) - 23 April 1616) was an English poet, playwright, and actor, widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's national poet and the 'Bard of Avon'. His extant works, including some collaborations, consist of about 38 plays, 154 sonnets, two long narrative poems.

[ 0483 ] Eliot, George. Adam Bede. New York. Signet/New American Library. 0451504836. paperback. CQ483. Signet Classic reprint. FROM THE PUBLISHER - The English Midlands at the turn of the eighteenth century is the setting for George Eliot's moving novel of three unworldly people trapped by unwise love. Adam Bede, a simple carpenter, loves too blindly; Hetty Sorrel, a coquettish beauty, loves too recklessly; and Arthur Donnithorne, a dashing squire, loves too carelessly. Betrayed by their innocence, vanity, and imprudence, their foolish hearts lead them to a tragic triangle of seduction, murder, and retribution. With emotional sincerity and intellectual integrity, George Eliot probes deeply into the psychology of commonplace people caught in the act of uncommon heroics. Alexandre Dumas called this novel 'the masterpiece of the century.' A beautiful country girl is seduced by a local escort and the consequences are dire. AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY - Mary Anne (alternatively Mary Ann or Marian) Evans (22 November 1819 - 22 December 1880), better known by her pen name George Eliot, was an English novelist, journalist and translator, and one of the leading writers of the Victorian era. She is the author of seven novels, including Adam Bede (1859), The Mill on the Floss (1860), Silas Marner (1861), Middlemarch (1871–72), and Daniel Deronda (1876), most of them set in provincial England and known for their realism and psychological insight.

[ 0484 ] Porter, Katherine Anne. The Leaning Tower and Other Stories. New York. 1970. Signet/New American Library. 0451504844. 191 pages. paperback. CQ484. Cover: Lambert. Signet Classic original. FROM THE PUBLISHER - THE DEPTHS OF THE HUMAN HEART - The complicated, double - edged relationship between blacks and whites in the South. A child's first shattering experience with adult treachery. The hardy, enduing nature of long married love . The cruel ironies of a confrontation between American innocence and European experience . These are stories written with both passion and precision, engagement and objectivity. They combine in their variety and their consistent excellence to give vivid proof to the praise of V. S. Pritchett: Miss Porter's singularity as a writer is in her truthful explorations of a complete consciousness of life . her power to make a landscape, a room, a group of people come alive . She is an important writer because she solves the essential problem: how to satisfy exhaustively in writing briefly.' AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY - Katherine Anne Porter (May 15, 1890 - September 18, 1980) was a Pulitzer Prize-winning American journalist, essayist, short story writer, novelist, and political activist. She is known for her penetrating insight; her work deals with dark themes such as betrayal, death and the origin of human evil.

[ 0485 ] Porter, Katherine Anne. Flowering Judas and Other Stories. New York. 1970. Signet/New American Library. 0451504852. 191 pages. paperback. CQ485. Cover: Lambert. Signet Classic original. FROM THE PUBLISHER - A UNIVERSE OF CHARACTER, ACTION, AND EMOTION - An American girl caught up in the violent cross - currents of foreign politics, passion, and revolution . A dissolute expatriate journalist working out his plan of vengeance upon his puritanical wife. A young woman in Manhattan fighting for survival as a human being . The explosive tensions between a Russian film crew and an American entrepreneur on a feudal ranch in Mexico . A Mexican peasant woman who lives, loves, and kills with the terrible inexorability of a primeval force of nature. Here are twelve stories by a great writer - a collection that represents same of the most enduring fiction of the century. These stories, very simply told, leave behind them an impression of complexity and depth - and of beauty as well, although they are largely concerned with hard, cruel facts. ' - Saturday Review of Literature. AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY - Katherine Anne Porter (May 15, 1890 - September 18, 1980) was a Pulitzer Prize-winning American journalist, essayist, short story writer, novelist, and political activist. She is known for her penetrating insight; her work deals with dark themes such as betrayal, death and the origin of human evil.

[ 0486 ] Lawrence, D. H. Lady Chatterley's Lover. New York. 1959. Signet/New American Library. 0451504860. Afterword By Harry T. Moore. 299 pages. paperback. CQ486. Cover: Tupahur. Signet Classic original. FROM THE PUBLISHER - LADY CHATTERLEY'S LOVER is one of the most beautiful and tender love stories of modern fiction. The summation of D. H. Lawrence's artistic achievement, it is an incisive statement of the themes which occupied this great author's work: his belief that materialism robbed life of its vitality and purpose . that tenderness and passion were the only weapons which would save man from self - destruction. This Signet Modern Classic edition of LADY CHATTERLEY'S LOVER is D. H. Lawrence's masterpiece just as he wrote if. It is the complete unexpurgated text of the original Orioli edition first published in Italy in 1928, the last approved by Lawrence himself. ‘This Signet Modern Classic edition is the only complete unexpurgated version of LADY CHATTERLEY'S LOVER authorized by the estate of Frieda Lawrence for U.S. publication. No other edition is entitled to make this claim.' - Laurence Pollinger, Literary Executor to the Estate of the late Mrs. Frieda Lawrence. AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY - David Herbert Lawrence (11 September 1885 - 2 March 1930) was an English novelist, poet, playwright, essayist, literary critic and painter who published as D. H. Lawrence. His collected works, among other things, represent an extended reflection upon the dehumanising effects of modernity and industrialization.

[ 0487 ] Scott, Sir Walter. Ivanhoe. New York. Signet/New American Library. 0451504879. paperback. CT487. Signet Classic reprint. FROM THE PUBLISHER - Sir Walter Scott gathered a popular audience as no other writer had done before him; a great innovator, he virtually created one of the outstanding literary forms of the past hundred and fifty years - the historical novel. He infused this genre of fiction with color and spectacle, with romance, action, and suspense. In IVANHOE Sir Walter Scott gives reality to the life of twelfth - century England through his gallery of flesh - and - blood characters. The disinherited knight Ivanhoe and his fair lady Rowena, Richard the LionHearted and Robin Hood - these are people shaped by the forces of tradition, molded by their nation's history. Through them the past of England comes alive - a past of crusades, chivalry, and courtly love. AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY - Sir Walter Scott (15 August 1771 - 21 September 1832) was a Scottish historical novelist, playwright, and poet. Scott was the first English-language author to have a truly international career in his lifetime.

[ 0488 ] Porter, Katherine Anne. Pale Horse, Pale Rider. New York. Signet/New American Library. 0451504887. paperback. CQ488. Signet Classic reprint. FROM THE PUBLISHER - Katherine Anne Porter is regarded as one of the most distinguished writers in the world today. Her style is a rare combination of subtlety and insight; her concern is 'human nature, the fatalities of life and the perils of human relationships.' In the three beautiful short novels that comprise PALE HORSE, PALE RIDER she explores the chaotic individualism experienced by those who cope with—and today outlive—their greatest crises. Miranda, the heroine of the first and last stories, survives the ghosts of a poignant but unreal childhood, the Great War, and a flu epidemic that claims her lover—to spend her days with a heightened sense of jeopardy. In 'Noon Wine', Farmer Thompson, though legally acquitted of the murder he commits, can find no justification for his crime and seeks release in a final and tragic act. 'Miss Porter is one of the finest writers of prose in America.'—Granville Hicks . 'There is a kind of magic about everything Miss Porter writes.'—New York Times . 'Katherine Anne Porter moves in the illustrious company headed by Hawthorne, Flaubert, and Henry; James.'—Saturday Review. With an Afterword by Mark Schorer. AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY - Katherine Anne Porter (May 15, 1890 - September 18, 1980) was a Pulitzer Prize-winning American journalist, essayist, short story writer, novelist, and political activist. She is known for her penetrating insight; her work deals with dark themes such as betrayal, death and the origin of human evil.

[ 0489 ] Verne, Jules. 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea. New York. Signet/New American Library. 0451504895. Translated From The French & With A Foreword By Mendor T. Brunetti. paperback. CT489. Signet Classic original. FROM THE PUBLISHER - In an age that has seen the wildest speculations of science become reality, Jules Verne is regarded as both a technological prophet and as one of the most exciting masters of imagination the world has ever known. Of all his novels, none is more compelling and thrilling than 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea. This extraordinary voyage into the depths of the unknown aboard the legendary submarine Nautilus—commanded by the brilliant, tragic Captain Nemo—explores both the limitless possibilities of science and the twisted labyrinth of the human mind. The novel stands as science fiction raised to the level of literature, and remains a vivid expression of a new era of technological advancement, and humanity's place within that world. AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY - Jules Gabriel Verne (8 February 1828 - 24 March 1905) was a French novelist, poet, and playwright best known for his adventure novels and his profound influence on the literary genre of science fiction.

[ 0490 ] Dostoyevsky, Fyodor. The Brothers Karamazov. New York. Signet/New American Library. 0451504909. paperback. CQ490. Signet Classic reprint. FROM THE PUBLISHER - Dostoevsky's last and greatest novel, The Karamazov Brothers (1880), is both a brilliantly told crime story and a passionate philosophical debate. The dissolute landowner Fyodor Pavlovich Karamazov is murdered; his sons-the atheist intellectual Ivan, the hot-blooded Dmitry, and the saintly novice Alyosha-are all at some level involved. Bound up with this intense family drama is Dostoevsky's exploration of many deeply felt ideas about the existence of God, the question of human freedom, the collective nature of guilt, the disastrous consequences of rationalism. The novel is also richly comic: the Russian Orthodox Church, the legal system, and even the author's most cherished causes and beliefs are presented with a note of irreverence, so that orthodoxy and radicalism, sanity and madness, love and hatred, right and wrong are no longer mutually exclusive. Rebecca West considered it 'the allegory for the world's maturity', but with children to the fore. This new translation does full justice to Dostoevsky's genius, particularly in the use of the spoken word, which ranges over every mode of human expression. The story of the Karamazov brothers and their varying justifications, or lack thereof, for the world. AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY - Fyodor Mikhailovich Dostoyevsky 11 November 1821 - 9 February 1881), sometimes transliterated Dostoevsky, was a Russian novelist, short story writer, essayist and philosopher. Dostoyevsky's literary works explore human psychology in the context of the troubled political, social, and spiritual atmosphere of 19th-century Russia.

[ 0491 ] Defoe, Daniel. Moll Flanders. New York. Signet/New American Library. 0451504917. Afterword by Kenneth Rexroth. paperback. CP491. Signet Classic reprint. FROM THE PUBLISHER - Born to a petty thief in London's notorious Newgate prison and determined to make her way in a rapacious and materialistic society, Moll Flanders recounts the 'fortunes and misfortunes' of her turbulent life in this 1722 novel. Though Moll Flanders was shaped by the conventions of criminal biography, Defoe also drew on other literary traditions and his own rich background to create a remarkably original-and still controversial-work.' In addition to a critical introduction and substantial footnotes, this Broadview edition provides a wide range of writings by Defoe as well as contemporary responses to Moll Flanders. Other appendices include a selection of eighteenth-century writings on crime, prisons, and the Virginia colony. Moll Flanders is born in Newgate prison and abandoned six months later. Her drive to find a secure place in society propels her through incest, adultery, bigamy, prostitution, and a resourceful career as a thief, before she is returned to Newgate. AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY - Daniel Defoe (ca. 1660 to 24 April 1731), born Daniel Foe, was an English trader, writer, journalist, pamphleteer and spy, who gained fame for his novel Robinson Crusoe. Defoe is notable for being one of the earliest proponents of the novel, as he helped to popularise the form in Britain.

[ 0492 ] Stendahl. The Red and the Black. New York. 1970. Signet/New American Library. 0451504925. Newly Translated From The French By Lloyd C. Parks.Afterword By Donald M. Frame. 534 pages. paperback. CQ492. Cover: David McCall Johnston. Signet Classic original. FROM THE PUBLISHER - In December of 1827, Marie Henri Beyle read a newspaper account of the trial of a young man charged with the attempted murder of a married woman. With this as inspiration, Beyle - under the pen name Stendhal - set about writing what was to become one of the great psychological novels of all time, THE RED AND THE BLACK. Set in a small provincial French town, the book tells the story of Julien Sorel, a handsome and brilliant young tutor who is both hero and villain. Considered one of literature's most complex characters, Sorel is cold, opportunistic, and uncompromising with others - including his influential mistress - as he seeks to fulfill his lust for power and wealth; yet he is hopelessly victimized by his own romantic soul and by the military and religious forces - the 'Red' and the 'Black' - that prevail in all of France. THE RED AND THE BLACK is at once a brilliant portrait of French after the Revolution and a profound psychological study of a young man's determined struggle to cope with the opposing and often uncontrollable drives within himself. AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY - Marie-Henri Beyle (23 January 1783 - 23 March 1842), better known by his pen name Stendhal in English, was a 19th-century French writer. Known for his acute analysis of his characters' psychology, he is considered one of the earliest and foremost practitioners of realism, as is evident in the novels Le Rouge et le Noir (The Red and the Black, 1830) and La Chartreuse de Parme (The Charterhouse of Parma, 1839).

[ 0493 ] Dryden, John. The Selected Poetry of Dryden. New York. Signet/New American Library. 0451504933. Edited & With An Introduction By John Arthos. paperback. CW493. Signet Classic original. FROM THE PUBLISHER - In his lifetime, John Dryden gained fame at the cost first of gossip and scandal and then of suspicion and scorn. He wrote to order, currying favor with the Crown and repeatedly savaging its enemies. Yet the finest works of his political and spiritual imagination- "Absalom and Achitophel" and "The Hind and the Panther"-develop the themes of envy, ambition, and misdeed in ways that far transcend their era. During the Glorious Revolution, Dryden fell from patronage and favor: he then transformed himself into perhaps the greatest of English translators, a superb interpreter of Virgil and Horace, Juvenal and Persius, Boccaccio and Chaucer. AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY - John Dryden (19 August 1631 - 12 May 1700) was an English poet, literary critic, translator, and playwright who was made England's first Poet Laureate in 1668. He is seen as dominating the literary life of Restoration England to such a point that the period came to be known in literary circles as the Age of Dryden.

[ 0494 ] Bellamy, Edward. Looking Backward, 2000-1887. New York. Signet/New American Library. 0451504941. paperback. CQ494. Signet Classic reprint. FROM THE PUBLISHER - Edward Bellamy's classic look at the future has been translated into over twenty languages and is the most widely read novel of its time. A young Boston gentleman is mysteriously transported from the nineteenth to the twenty - first century - - from a world of war and want to one of peace and plenty. This brilliant vision became the blueprint of utopia that stimulated some of the greatest thinkers of our age. AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY - Edward Bellamy (March 26, 1850 - May 22, 1898) was an American author and socialist, most famous for his utopian novel, Looking Backward, a Rip Van Winkle-like tale set in the distant future of the year 2000. Bellamy's vision of a harmonious future world inspired the formation of over 160 ‘Nationalist Clubs‘ dedicated to the propagation of Bellamy's political ideas and working to make them a practical reality.

[ 0495 ] Pope, Alexander. The Selected Poetry of Pope. New York. 1970. Signet/New American Library. 045150495x. Edited by Martin Price. Signet Classic Poetry series, general editor: John Hollander. 301 pages. paperback. CY495. Signet Classic original. FROM THE PUBLISHER - As an uncompromising critic of social foibles, Alexander Pope had few peers: as an effective literary satirist, he had none. Yet it is not the content of his poetry that makes Pope viable today, but rather his graceful mastery of the English language and the moral alertness that conditions each of his works. Of Pope's consummate literary grace, Martin Price, the editor of this Signet edition, says. ‘He realized all the possibilities of the language he inherited. He made of the couplet a form more precisely controlled and therefore more subtly expressive than it had ever been before, and he used the couplet as the module with which to build a world.' Presented here in their entirety are several of Pope's principal works, including Windsor Forest, Essay on Man, The Rape of the Lock, Eloise to Abelard, Essay on Criticism and his masterpiece, The Dunciad. Each reveals a different aspect, whether contemptuous or compassionate, of the great poet's view of man and his relationship to nature and society. Edited with an Introduction by Martin Price of Yale University. Includes a chronology of Pope's life; Text printed in the clearest, most readable type; Footnotes at the bottom of page keyed to the text; Extensive bibliography. AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY - Alexander Pope (21 May 1688 - 30 May 1744) was an 18th-century English poet. He is best known for his satirical verse, as well as for his translation of Homer. Famous for his use of the heroic couplet, he is the third-most frequently quoted writer in The Oxford Dictionary of Quotations, after Shakespeare and Tennyson.

[ 0496 ] Clark, Walter Van Tilburg. The Ox-Bow Incident. New York. Signet/New American Library. 0451504968. Afterword by Walter Prescott Webb. paperback. CQ496. Signet Classic reprint. FROM THE PUBLISHER - This is a searing study of mob justice. The story takes place in the Old West, but it could happen anywhere, anytime that men of action let their anger goad them into taking the law into their own hands. Published in 1940, this powerful narrative was immediately hailed as a work of art. 'The Ox - Bow Incident is a triumph of restraint and workmanship. The tenseness that builds and eddies and comes back stronger is beautifully geared to the temper of each central character and the shifting emotions of the mob, as doubt, anger, stubbornness, physical cold, pity and revulsion hold them in turn,' said Max Gissen in the New Republic. Ben Ray Redman described it in The Saturday Review as 'A sinewy, masculine tale that progressively tightens its grip on the reader.' And Clifton Fadiman summed up the verdict of all the critics when he called this modern classic 'a masterpiece.' AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY - Walter Van Tilburg Clark (August 3, 1909 — November 10, 1971) was an American novelist, short story writer, and educator. He ranks as one of Nevada's most distinguished literary figures of the 20th century and is known primarily for his novels and short stories. As a writer, he taught himself to use the familiar materials of the western saga to explore the human psyche and to raise deep philosophical issues.

[ 0497 ] Hawthorne, Nathaniel / Twain, Mark / Crane, Stephen / Melville, Herman. Four Classic American Novels: The Scarlet Letter / The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn / The Red Badge of Courage / Billy Budd. New York. Signet/New American Library. 0451504976. Introduction by Willard Thorp. paperback. CY497. Signet Classic reprint. FROM THE PUBLISHER - Sweeping readers from the New England colonies to the banks of the Mississippi, to the battle fields of the Civil War to the storm tossed waters of the Atlantic, this extraordinary collection is ideal-and most economical-for classrooms, libraries, and homes. AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY - Nathaniel Hawthorne (born Nathaniel Hathorne; July 4, 1804 - May 19, 1864) was an American novelist and short story writer. Samuel Langhorne Clemens (November 30, 1835 - April 21, 1910), better known by his pen name Mark Twain, was an American author and humorist. Stephen Crane (November 1, 1871 - June 5, 1900) was an American author. Prolific throughout his short life, he wrote notable works in the Realist tradition as well as early examples of American Naturalism and Impressionism. Herman Melville (August 1, 1819 - September 28, 1891) was an American novelist, poet, and writer of short stories. His contributions to the Western canon are the whaling novel Moby-Dick (1851); the short work Bartleby, the Scrivener (1853) about a clerk in a Wall Street office; the slave ship narrative Benito Cereno (1855); and Billy Budd, Sailor (1924).

[ 0498 ] Sidney, Sir Philip. The Selected Poetry and Prose of Sidney. New York. 1970. Signet/New American Library. 0451504984. Edited & With An Introduction By David Kalstone. 270 pages. paperback. CY498. Signet Classic original. FROM THE PUBLISHER - Nobleman, diplomat, soldier, member of Parliament, scholar, critic and poet, Sir Philip Sidney was one of the most extraordinary men of the sixteenth century. His poetry combined a vivid sensuousness with a technical virtuosity that introduced a new dimension to English prosody. His critical writings stand among the great literary statements in the language. Included in this volume are Sidney's selected sonnets; the pastoral romance, Arcadia; the love sonnet sequence, Astrophel and Stella; and the prose works, The Lady of May and An Apology for Poetry. Edited and with an Introduction by David Kalstone of Rutgers University, this edition presents the key achievements of a 'poet's poet,' a seminal figure in English letters. Chronology of Sidney's life Text printed in the clearest, most readable type. Footnotes at the bottom of page keyed to the text. Extensive bibliography. AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY - Sir Philip Sidney (30 November 1554 - 17 October 1586) was an English poet, courtier, Scholar, and soldier, who is remembered as one of the most prominent figures of the Elizabethan age. His works include Astrophel and Stella, The Defence of Poesy (also known as The Defence of Poetry or An Apology for Poetry), and The Countess of Pembroke's Arcadia.

[ 0499 ] Zola, Emile. Germinal. New York. 1970. Signet/New American Library. 0451504992. Translated From The French By Stanely & Eleanor Hochman.Afterword By Irving Howe. 448 pages. paperback. CW499. Cover: Lambert. Signet Classic original. FROM THE PUBLISHER - Of the several great nineteenth - century French novelists, Emile Zola was by far the most uncompromising in his portrayal of the human condition. In his novels - particularly in the epic twenty - volume Rougon - Macquart' series - Zola relentlessly exposed the violent, perverse, animalistic side of man and society. His unwaveringly truthful, almost cruelly detailed accounts of the interaction of human passions and social problems eventually earned him praise as an important social reformer as well as a founder of literary naturalism. In his own day, however, his pessimistic sagas were often misguidedly condemned as being themselves vice - ridden - at times, even pornographic. GERMINAL, written in 1885 as one of the 'Rougon - Macquart' novels, is perhaps Zola's most representative work. Based on an actual French mining disaster, it tells the story of a young miner, Etienne Lantier, and his rise from humble, inconsequential laborer to impassioned, articulate revolutionary at war with the exploitive capitalistic system. While by no means a Marxist tract, GERMINAL is an epic of class struggle, an account of an individual's awakened social awareness within a world conditioned by lust, greed and betrayal. AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY - Emile Francois Zola (2 April 1840 - 29 September 1902) was a French writer, the most important exemplar of the literary school of naturalism and an important contributor to the development of theatrical naturalism. He was a major figure in the political liberalization of France and in the exoneration of the falsely accused and convicted army officer Alfred Dreyfus, which is encapsulated in the renowned newspaper headline J'Accuse.

[ 0500 ] Lewis, Sinclair. Main Street. New York. Signet/New American Library. 045150500x. paperback. CY500. Signet Classic reprint. FROM THE PUBLISHER - The lonely predicament of Carol Kennicott, caught between her desires for social reform and individual happiness, reflects the position in which America's turn - of - the - century, 'emancipated woman' found herself. Carol's dilemma is intensified by the fact that lives in the small, self - satisfied, Midwestern town of Gopher Prairie. An allegory of exile and return, Main Street attacks the drab complacency and ingrown mores of those who resist change, who are under the illusion that they have chosen their tradition. Carol's ostracism, however, results more from her own guilt at 'crusading' than from her rejection by those whom she would have changed. Maxwell Geismar lauded this work as 'a remarkable diary of the middle- class mind in America.' Its author was hailed by John Galsworthy for having written 'a most searching and excellent piece of work; a feather in the cap of literature AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY - Harry Sinclair Lewis (February 7, 1885 - January 10, 1951) was an American novelist, short-story writer, and playwright. In 1930, he became the first writer from the United States to receive the Nobel Prize in Literature, which was awarded ‘for his vigorous and graphic art of description and his ability to create, with wit and humor, new types of characters.' His works are known for their insightful and critical views of American capitalism and materialism between the wars.

[ 0501 ] Gogol, Nicolai. The Diary of a Madman and Other Stories. New York. Signet/New American Library. 0451505018. paperback. CY501. Signet Classic reprint. FROM THE PUBLISHER - NIKOLAI GOGOL is universally regarded as the father of Russian realism. His stories are rooted in commonplace events; his characters are the underdog and the insignificant. A romantic at heart, he used a startling blend of broad comedy and weird fantasy to expose the stupidity, coarseness, and meanness of life. This Signet Classic includes five of Gogol's most famous stories: THE DIARY OF A MADMAN, THE NOSE, THE CARRIAGE, THE OVERCOAT, and a full - length historical romance: TARAS BULBA. AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY - Nikolay Vasilyevich Gogol (1809-52), Russian writer, whose plays, short stories, and novels rank among the great masterpieces of 19th-century Russian realist literature.

[ 0502 ] Ibsen, Henrik. Ibsen Four Major Plays: Volume 2. New York. 1970. Signet/New American Library. 0451505026. Newly Translated From The Norwegian & With A Foreword By Rolf Fjelde. 408 pages. paperback. CQ502. Signet Classic original. FROM THE PUBLISHER - ‘People want only special revolutions, in externals, in politics, and so on. But that's just tinkering. What really is called for is a revolution of the human mind.' Thus Henrik Ibsen described the motive force of his greatest plays. Each of the dramas in this volume centers upon personal awakening and inner transformation through confrontations with family guilt, social hypocrisy, conventional sexual morality, and the materialistic bourgeois ethic. All are charged with Ibsen's dramatic sense of dynamic human relationships; all reflect his fascination with the frontiers of human development. Today these plays speak with extraordinary relevance to an age searching for new modes of thought and new states of consciousness with which to discover and to change the world. As Rolf Fjelde writes, 'Full, multidimensional life—of the mind, of the emotions, of the eros of the flesh and the evolution of the spirit—pulses still in the lines of his dramas, waiting always for new artists to seize it, liberate it, and make it their own.' Includes the plays - GHOSTS, AN ENEMY OF THE PEOPLE, THE LADY FROM THE SEA, and JOHN GABRIEL BORKMAN. In New Translations with a Foreword by Rolf Fjelde. AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY - Henrik Johan Ibsen (20 March 1828 - 23 May 1906) was a major 19th-century Norwegian playwright, theatre director, and poet. He is often referred to as 'the father of realism' and is one of the founders of Modernism in theatre. His major works include Brand, Peer Gynt, An Enemy of the People, Emperor and Galilean, A Doll's House, Hedda Gabler, Ghosts, The Wild Duck, Rosmersholm, and The Master Builder.

[ 0503 ] Fielding, Henry. Tom Jones. New York. Signet/New American Library. 0451505034. Afterword by Frank Kermode. paperback. CY503. Cover: Milton Glaser. Signet Classic reprint. FROM THE PUBLISHER - Young Tom Jones, pure - hearted and warm - blooded, parentage unknown and future uncertain, stands at the center of this masterpiece of the English language. Yet he is but one of the book's expertly drawn characters his adventures on the highway of life entangle him with a variety of men and women who vividly cover the full spectrum of human virtue and vice. His high - minded love for sweet Sophia cannot restrain the demands of his flesh for the pretty and bawdy Molly or the seductive Mrs. Waters; nor can the benevolence of Squire Allworthy protect him from the wretched Bilfil. Before he recognizes his destiny, he must suffer all the outrages of comic misfortune. The richly textured pattern of Tom Jones is one of the marvels of literature and in its parody and pathos, its wit and constant surprise, the reader views the pure joy of life itself. Coleridge wrote of this work, 'Upon my word, I think the Oedipus Tyrannus, the Alchemist, and Tom Jones, the three most perfect plots ever planned.' Frank Kermode comments there are 'few works of art so perfectly made, so perfectly of their period, yet possessing the energy and high spirits and good humor to transcend it.' AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY - Henry Fielding (22 April 1707 - 8 October 1754) was an English novelist and dramatist known for his rich earthy humour and satirical prowess, and as the author of the novel Tom Jones. Aside from his literary achievements, he has a significant place in the history of law-enforcement, having founded (with his half-brother John) what some have called London's first police force, the Bow Street Runners, using his authority as a magistrate.

[ 0504 ] Meredith, George. The Ordeal of Richard Feverel. New York. 1961. Signet/New American Library. 0451505042. Afterword By Norman Kelvin. paperback. CQ504. Signet Classic reprint. FROM THE PUBLISHER - This novel tackles with vigor and wit one of the greatest Victorian - and Modern - themes: the struggle of intelligence to work out a harmony between man and nature, and between man and woman. The ground for the struggle is the disastrous attempt of a father to play the role of Providence. Sir Austin Feverel, who has been disappointed in love, tries to protect his son from the same fate, training him to be a nearly perfect human being and even planning to arrange his ideal marriage. But Richard's love for Lucy, a beautiful, devoted girl whom his father rejects, helps him find the freedom to elope with her and to see the proud and cynical world of Sir Austin for what it is. More than a century ago Thee' London Times called this novel '. a powerful book . penetrative in its depth of insight and rich in its variety of experience This Signet edition of The Ordeal of Richard Feverel follows Meredith's own revision of 1878. AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY - George Meredith (12 February 1828 - 18 May 1909) was an English novelist and poet of the Victorian era.

[ 0505 ] Daniels, Guy (editor and translator). Russian Comic Fiction. New York. 1970. Signet/New American Library. 0451505050. Translated From The Russian, Edited & With An Introduction By Guy Daniels.Includes Work By - Ivan Krylov,Nikolai Gogol,Fyodor Dostoyevsky,Mikhail Saltykov,Anton Chekhov,& Leo Tolstoy. 204 pages. paperback. CY505. Signet Classic original. FROM THE PUBLISHER - Of Nikolai Gogol's achievement in his short comic masterpiece, How the Two Ivans Quarreled, a nineteenth - century critic said, 'To make us laugh to the point of tears at the stupidities, worthlessness and imbecility of these living lampoons of mankind is amazing, but then to make us pity those idiots with all our hearts - that is the divine art that is called creativity.' This exquisite collection Of wildly funny tales, including Gogol's, should once and for all dispel the too commonly held view that great Russian literature is relentlessly gloomy. On the contrary, among the works by Gogol, Dostoyevsky, Tolstoy, Chekhov, Krylov, and Saltykov may be found examples of comic fiction that rank with the very greatest of that genre: Krylov's hilarious acount, for instance, of an absurdly vulgar landowner who values horses above humans; Dostoyevsky's political satire in which 'a gentleman of a certain age and a certain appearance' is swallowed alive by a crocodile; Tolstoy's anarchic voyage into a world of crazy make - believe. A dozen great pieces of comic fiction are presented here in brilliant, spirited translations by Guy Daniels, who has also provided an illuminating introduction dealing with this fascinating side of Russian literature. AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY - Guy Daniels was born in Gilmore City, Iowa and graduated from the University of Iowa. His poems have been published in The Nation, The National Review and The Kenyon Review. Mr. Daniels had published more than 40 translations, from Russian and French into English, including ''The Complete Plays of Vladimir Mayakovsky'' and ''Racine and Shakespeare'' by Stendahl. He specialized in Soviet literature of dissent and translated ''My Country and the World,'' by Andrei D. Sakharov

[ 0506 ] Wordsworth, William. The Selected Poetry and Prose of Wordsworth. New York. 1970. Signet/New American Library. 0451505069. Edited & With An Introduction By Geoffrey H. Hartman. 448 pages. paperback. CW506. Signet Classic original. FROM THE PUBLISHER - William Wordsworth made his major contribution to English poetry early in his career, when - radical in his politics, revolutionary in his poetic innovations, intense in his worship of Nature - this great English Romantic rejected outworn formal diction in favor of living language and created verse of studied simplicity, rare music, and enduring beauty. Edited and with an Introduction by Geoffrey H. Hartman, Yale University, this volume includes Wordsworth's immortal lyrics, ballads, sonnets, and autobiographical poems, as well as a generous selection of his prose - including his Preface to Lyrical Ballads, one of the landmark critical statements in our literature. Chronology of Wordsworth's life. Text printed in the clearest, most readable type Footnotes at the bottom of page keyed to the text. Extensive bibliography AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY - William Wordsworth (7 April 1770 - 23 April 1850) was an English Romantic poet who, with Samuel Taylor Coleridge, helped to launch the Romantic Age in English literature with their joint publication Lyrical Ballads (1798). Wordsworth's magnum opus is generally considered to be The Prelude, a semi-autobiographical poem of his early years that he revised and expanded a number of times.

[ 0507 ] Tolstoy, Leo. The Death of Ivan Ilych and Other Stories. New York. Signet/New American Library. 045105077. paperback. CQ507. Signet Classic reprint. FROM THE PUBLISHER - Leo Tolstoy combined detailed physical description with perceptive psychological insight to sweep aside the sham of surface appearances and lay bare man's intimate gestures, acts, and thoughts. Murder and sacrifice. greed and devotion. lust and affection. vanity and love -- one by one, in this volume of great stories, Tolstoy dissects the basic drives, emotions, and motives of ordinary people searching for self-knowledge and spiritual perfection. Chekhov said, 'Of authors my favorite is Tolstoy.' And Turgenev 'marveled at the strength of his huge talent. It sends a cold shudder even down my back. He is a master, a master.' AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY - Count Lev Nikolayevich Tolstoy (9 September 1828 - 20 November 1910), usually referred to in English as Leo Tolstoy, was a Russian writer who is regarded as one of the greatest authors of all time. He received multiple nominations for the Nobel Prize in Literature every year from 1902 to 1906 and nominations for the Nobel Peace Prize in 1901, 1902 and 1910 and the fact that he never won is a major Nobel prize controversy.

[ 0508 ] Adams, Henry. Democracy. New York. Signet/New American Library. 0451505085. 2nd printing. 192 pages. paperback. CT508. Cover: Milton Glaser. Signet Classic reprint. FROM THE PUBLISHER - Vote - buying and fixed elections, slanderous competition, preposterous graft. this is the Washington of the l87O's which Henry Adams reveals in his famous novel. Democracy is the story of two people who aspire to power. Mrs. Lightfoot Lee, a wealthy society widow, wants to align herself with the great lawmakers whom she idealizes. Instead, she becomes involved with Silas Ratcliffe, the most powerful man in the Senate, a leader whose political maneuvers are surpassed only by his courtship tactics. Here is an incisive exposE of corruption - in individuals and in government, an entertaining caricature of government life which may be seen to have its application even today. AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY - Henry Brooks Adams (February 16, 1838 - March 27, 1918; normally called Henry Adams) was an American journalist, historian, academic and novelist. He was the grandson and great-grandson of John Quincy Adams and John Adams, respectively. He is best known for his autobiography, The Education of Henry Adams, and his History of the United States During the Administration of Thomas Jefferson. He was a member of the Adams political family.

[ 0509 ] Lewis, Sinclair. Elmer Gantry. New York. 1970. Signet/New American Library. 0451505093. Afterword by Mark Schorer. 431 pages. paperback. CY509. Cover art by Lambert. Signet Classic original. FROM THE PUBLISHER - Today universally recognized as a landmark in American literature, Elmer Gantry scandalized the generation in which it was written, causing Sinclair Lewis to be ‘invited' to a jail cell in New Hampshire and to his own lynching in Virginia. His portrait of a golden-tongued evangelist who rises to power within his church-a saver of souls who lives a life of hypocrisy, sensuality, and ruthless self-indulgence - is also the record of a period, a reign of grotesque vulgarity, which but for Lewis would have left no record of itself. Elmer Gantry has been called the greatest, most vital, and most penetrating study of hypocrisy that has been written since Voltaire. AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY - Harry Sinclair Lewis (February 7, 1885 - January 10, 1951) was an American novelist, short-story writer, and playwright. In 1930, he became the first writer from the United States to receive the Nobel Prize in Literature, which was awarded ‘for his vigorous and graphic art of description and his ability to create, with wit and humor, new types of characters.' His works are known for their insightful and critical views of American capitalism and materialism between the wars. He is also respected for his strong characterizations of modern working women. H.L. Mencken wrote of him, ‘[If] there was ever a novelist among us with an authentic call to the trade . it is this red-haired tornado from the Minnesota wilds.'

[ 0510 ] Cervantes, Miguel de. Don Quixote. New York. Signet/New American Library. 0451505107. paperback. CE510. Signet Classic reprint. FROM THE PUBLISHER - Don Quixote, originally published in two parts in 1605 and 1615, stands as Cervantes' belated but colossal literary success. A work which has achieved mythic status, it is considered to have pioneered the modern novel. Don Quixote, a poor gentleman from La Mancha, Spain, entranced by the code of chivalry, seeks romantic honor through absurd and fantastic adventures. His fevered imagination turns everyday objects into heroic opponents and stepping stones to greater glory; each exploit serves as a comic, yet disturbing commentary on the psychological struggle between reality and illusion, fact and fiction. This celebrated translation by Charles Jarvis offers a new introduction and notes which provide essential background information. Retells the adventures of an eccentric Spanish country gentleman and his companion who set out as a knight and squire of old to right wrongs and punish evil. AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY - Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra (29 September 1547 (assumed) - 22 April 1616) was a Spanish novelist, poet, and playwright. His magnum opus, Don Quixote, considered to be the first modern European novel, is a classic of Western literature, and is regarded amongst the best works of fiction ever written.

[ 0511 ] Flaubert, Gustave. Madame Bovary. New York. Signet/New American Library. 0451505115. paperback. CP511. Signet Classic reprint. FROM THE PUBLISHER - 'She is a very ordinary middle - class woman, with banal expectations of life and an urge to dominate her surroundings. Her character is remarkable only for an unusual deficiency of natural feeling.' Thus Mary McCarthy, in her memorable Foreword to this Signet Classic edition, describes Emma Bovary, whose ill - starred pursuit of tawdry romantic dreams shapes Flaubert's great novel. Set amid the stifling atmosphere of nineteenth - century bourgeois France, MADAME BOVARY is at once an unsparing depiction of a woman's gradual corruption and a savagely ironic study of human shallowness and stupidity. Neither Emma, nor her lovers, nor Homais, the 'man of science,' escapes the author's searing castigation; and it is the book's final profound irony that only Charles, Emma's oxlike, eternally deceived husband, emerges with a measure of human grace through his stubborn and selfless love. With its rare formal perfection, MADAME BOVARY represents, as Frank O'Connor has declared, 'possibly the most beautifully written book ever composed; undoubtedly the most beautifully written novel . a book that invites superlatives . the most important novel of the century.' AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY - Gustave Flaubert (December 12, 1821 - May 8, 1880) was an influential French writer who is counted among the greatest novelists in Western literature. He is known especially for his first published novel, Madame Bovary (1857), for his Correspondence, and for his scrupulous devotion to his art and style.

[ 0512 ] Dickens, Charles. Oliver Twist. New York. Signet/New American Library. 0451505123. Afterword by Edward La Comte. paperback. CT512. Signet Classic reprint. FROM THE PUBLISHER - One of the great novelist's most popular works, Oliver Twist is also the purest distillation of Dickens' genius. This tale of the orphan who is reared in a workhouse, runs away to London where he is captured by thieves and finally escapes, is a novel of social protest, a morality tale, and a detective story. Oliver Twist presents sonic of the most sinister characters in Dickens: the master thief, Fagin; the leering Artful Dodger; the murderer, Bill Sikes . along with some of his most sentimental and comical characters. Only Dickens could mix terror with farce with pathos with piety in one unified work. Only Dickens could give us nightmare and daydream together. '. Oliver Twist, amidst all the accouterments of a novel, has the primitive appeal of a fairy tale; it forms one of those basic stories that are not forgotten because they were partly familiar before they were read, being the stuff of young dreams and fears.' Edward Le Comte. AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY - Charles John Huffam Dickens (7 February 1812 - 9 June 1870) was an English writer and social critic. He created some of the world's most memorable fictional characters and is generally regarded as the greatest novelist of the Victorian period. During his life, his works enjoyed unprecedented fame, and by the twentieth century his literary genius was broadly acknowledged by critics and scholars. His novels and short stories continue to be widely popular.

[ 0513 ] Butler, Samuel. Erewhon. New York. Signet/New American Library. 0451505131. paperback. CT513. Signet Classic reprint. FROM THE PUBLISHER - Disease is a crime punishable by imprisonment. Machines are considered dangerous; they have been destroyed and banished from the land. This is the way of the world in Erewhon, the imaginary country of simple, straightforward people that was created by Samuel Butler to serve as a foil for his attack on ‘modern' life and thought. With wit and imagination the master satirist lashed out at evolution, medicine, education, justice. And paradoxically he presented several sides of each issue in a many- sided tale of adventure, ideas, escape. As Kingsley Amis points out in his Afterword to this Signet Classic, EREWHON is the first modern Utopian romance, a novel which directly anticipates Huxley's BRAVE NEW WORLD and Orwell's 1984. AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY - Samuel Butler (4 or 5 December 1835 - 18 June 1902) was an iconoclastic Victorian-era English author who published a variety of works. Two of his most famous pieces are the Utopian satire Erewhon and a semi-autobiographical novel published posthumously, The Way of All Flesh. He is also known for examining Christian orthodoxy, substantive studies of evolutionary thought, studies of Italian art, and works of literary history and criticism. Butler also made prose translations of the Iliad and Odyssey which remain in use to this day.

[ 0514 ] Dickens, Charles. Hard Times. New York. Signet/New American Library. 045150514x. paperback. CQ514. Signet Classic reprint. FROM THE PUBLISHER - No other work of Charles Dickens presents such a scathing indictment against the relentless greed of the Victorian industrial society and its misapplied philosophy. With savage bitterness, Dickens unmasks the terrible industries that imprisoned the bodies of the helpless labor class and the equally diabolical institutions that shackled the development of their minds. AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY - Charles John Huffam Dickens (7 February 1812 - 9 June 1870) was an English writer and social critic. He created some of the world's most memorable fictional characters and is generally regarded as the greatest novelist of the Victorian period. During his life, his works enjoyed unprecedented fame, and by the twentieth century his literary genius was broadly acknowledged by critics and scholars. His novels and short stories continue to be widely popular.

[ 0515 ] Garland, Hamlin. Main-Travelled Roads. New York. Signet/New American Library. 0451505158. paperback. CT515. Signet Classic reprint. FROM THE PUBLISHER - This book challenges the concept of the American dream. It reveals the stubborn courage and pessimistic wit of midwest farmers who are scarcely conscious that they are somewhat to blame for their own misfortunes. Inspired by a visit to the Dakota farm country of his youth, Hamlin Garland's MAIN - TRAVELLED ROADS depicts the half - resigned, half - rebellious men and women who work the arid soil for the profit of shrewd landowners. These characters share a sense of deprivation, losing their farms, loved ones, and faith in people - with such recurrence that they feel guilt at even their own occasional, belated successes. 'If anyone is still at a loss to account for that uprising of the farmers in the West which is the translation of the Peasants' War into modern and republican terms, let him read MAIN - TRAVELLED ROADS. ' - W. D. Howells. AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY - Hannibal Hamlin Garland (September 14, 1860 - March 4, 1940) was an American novelist, poet, psychical researcher essayist, and short story writer. He is best known for his fiction involving hard-working Midwestern farmers.

[ 0516 ] Thomas, Dylan. Adventures in the Skin Trade. New York. Signet/New American Library. 0451505166. paperback. CQ516. Signet Classic reprint. FROM THE PUBLISHER - One of the twentieth century's most gifted writers, Dylan Thomas created a vital, lusty, antic world of truly memorable characters. This Signet Classic offers a distinguished selection of his work - twenty stories plus all of his famous unfinished novel, ADVENTURES IN THE SKIN TRADE. The title piece relates the adventures of Samuel Bennet, a young innocent embarked on a wild pilgrimage through modern London. The stories range in theme from life and love to nature and madness, but all are written with the extravagant humor, the brilliant imagery, the magic awareness of the true poet. The New York Times wrote of ADVENTURES IN THE SKIN TRADE: 'The human warmth keeps bubbling up through the satire. Thomas' last work of fiction, in addition to its intrinsic interest, has a meaningfulness comparable to that of Keats' letters and Yeats' memoirs.' The New York Herald Tribune found it a 'vein of pure gold.' And The Saturday Review called Dylan Thomas 'a genius.' AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY - Dylan Marlais Thomas (27 October 1914 - 9 November 1953) was a Welsh poet and writer whose works include the poems 'Do not go gentle into that good night' and 'And death shall have no dominion', the 'Play for Voices', Under Milk Wood, and stories and radio broadcasts such as A Child's Christmas in Wales and Portrait of the Artist as a Young Dog.

[ 0517 ] Clark, Walter Van Tilburg. The Track of the Cat. New York. 1950. Signet/New American Library. 0451505174. 344 pages. paperback. CY517. Cover: Lambert. Signet Classic original. FROM THE PUBLISHER - A NOVEL THAT PROBES THE DEPTHS OF THE UNDISCOVERED SELF It was a remote Nevada ranch, housing one isolated family. As snow lashed across the storm - wracked valley, a fierce cry echoed through the howling winds - a sound to freeze the blood. Each year, with the coming of the snow, a fleet and deadly mountain lion appeared, ravaging the countryside, leaving behind a trail of senseless devastation. This is the story of four men who feared the cat yet swore to conquer it. On a wild and desperate hunt, each discovers that the power to destroy the stalking killer comes not from bullets but from deep within himself. 'The real beauty of Walter Clark's masterful prose. is its wonderful capacity to evoke from the homeliest circumstances the quality of grief and loneliness that exists deep in or under every human effort.' - Mark Schorer, New York Times. 'The reason why The Track of the Cat will last, the reason why it is, finally, a novel of the first rank, is that its author says something of universal significance.' - San Francisco Chronicle. AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY - Walter Van Tilburg Clark (August 3, 1909 — November 10, 1971) was an American novelist, short story writer, and educator. He ranks as one of Nevada's most distinguished literary figures of the 20th century and is known primarily for his novels and short stories. As a writer, he taught himself to use the familiar materials of the western saga to explore the human psyche and to raise deep philosophical issues.

[ 0518 ] Shakespeare, William. A Midsummer Night's Dream. New York. 1963. Signet/New American Library. 0451505182. Edited By Wolfgang Clemen. 186 pages. paperback. CT518. Cover: Milton Glaser. Signet Classic reprint. FROM THE PUBLISHER - Unique features of the Signet Classic Shakespeare An extensive of Shakespeare's life, world, and theater by the general editor of the Signet Classic Shakespeare series, Sylvan Barnet A special introduction to the play by the editor, Wolfgang Clemen, University of Munich A note on the sources from which Shakespeare derived A Midsummer Night's Dream Dramatic criticism from the past and present: commentaries by William Hazlitt, John Russell Brown, Frank Kermode, Linda Bamber, Camille Wells Slights A comprehensive stage and screen history of notable actors, directors, and productions of A Midsummer Night's Dream, then and now Text, notes, and commentaries printed in the clearest, most readable type Up-to-date list of recommended readings AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY - William Shakespeare (26 April 1564 (baptised) - 23 April 1616) was an English poet, playwright, and actor, widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's national poet and the 'Bard of Avon'. His extant works, including some collaborations, consist of about 38 plays, 154 sonnets, two long narrative poems.

[ 0519 ] Cooper, James Fenimore. The Prairie. New York. Signet/New American Library. 0451505197. paperback. CT519. Signet Classic reprint. FROM THE PUBLISHER - The Prairie marks the closing chapter in James Fenimore Cooper's great American saga, of the frontiersman Natty Bumppo. In flight from the ever - encroaching forces of civilization, the aging hero of the Leatherstocking Tales has journeyed westward seeking to end his days in the still - virgin wilderness of the Great Plains. But once more he is drawn into an involvement with society in the form of an emigrant party led by the embittered outcast, Ishmael Bush. Once again this man of nature finds himself in dramatic confrontation with civilization - called upon to exhibit his courage, his resourcefulness, his singular brand of moral rectitude. Written with the narrative vigor and descriptive power that shape the entire Leatherstocking series, The Prairie is, in the words of John William Ward, 'a threnody over the passing of something fine and heroic in American life. the passing of an ideal natural order before the inevitable advance of society. We still read Cooper today because he was the first of our authors to seize upon the dramatic possibilities of that unfallen western world that stands at the beginning of our national life.' AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY - James Fenimore Cooper (September 15, 1789 - September 14, 1851) was a prolific and popular American writer of the early 19th century. His historical romances of frontier and Indian life in the early American days created a unique form of American literature.

[ 0520 ] Shakespeare, William. As You Like It. New York. Signet/New American Library. 0451505204. paperback. CT520. Cover: Milton Glaser. Signet Classic reprint. FROM THE PUBLISHER - Unique features of the Signet Classic Shakespeare An extensive of Shakespeare's life, world, and theater by the general editor of the Signet Classic Shakespeare series, Sylvan Barnet A special introduction to the pl