Five Beautiful Editions of Classic Novels

It is a truth universally acknowledged that even if you already own a copy of a book, you can still be tempted by a different edition when you see it in a bookstore. Below are some of the hardback editions currently widely available in print that we loved the look of:

Penguin Clothbound Editions

First up are the Penguin Clothbound Editions, which are available in a huge range of titles:

Note: If you’ve caught the Austen bug, all six of her completed novels are also available as a boxset in Penguin Clothbound editions (plus one volume of her teenage writings, Love and Friendship—spelled ‘freindship’ by the young Jane):

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Harper Muse Classics Painted Editions

Another beautiful set of editions of classic novels are the Harper Muse Classics Painted Editions, with art by Laci Fowler:

Also available in a Harper Muse painted edition and very pretty is the classic children’s book, The Secret Garden.

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Oxford World’s Classics (OWC) Hardback Collection

Another favourite set of editions are the hardback classics published by Oxford University Press. Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy is one of the most important novels ever written, and the translation is a recent one (2014) by Tolstoy biographer Rosamund Bartlett:

Also very nice in the OWC hardback edition is A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens, essential annual reading:

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Union Square & Co Deluxe Illustrated Classics

This Deluxe Illustrated Classic edition of Dracula is lovely, with bats on the spine and illustrations by Edward Gorey (1925-2000). If you haven’t read it, Dracula is a lot of fun, a truly scary horror book:

Also available in this series is a black-and-red tinted version of Frankenstein:

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Vintage Classics 

This is a 150th-anniversary gift edition of Middlemarch (1871) by George Eliot, with an introduction by Zadie Smith.

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