I first stumbled across the beautiful fabric-covered, hardback Penguin Clothbound Classics in Waterstone’s Bath where a table at the front of the store had all different editions of Jane Austen’s novels a few years back. I’m pretty sure it was during the Jane Austen celebrations that take place all over the city every September.
I ended up buying my Mum the
clothbound copy of Persuasion, her
first Austen novel, and now mine too, as her cheap 70s paperback was falling to
pieces. When she passed away, I took on the beautiful edition and my collection
began. I went on to buy the rest of Austen’s novels one at a time – I only
allow myself to buy one a month (they’re fairly pricey!). I now have the full
collection and it ended up tying into my 2014 reading goal to read the three
Austen novels that I hadn’t yet – Northanger
Abbey, Emma and Mansfield Park. I’m
currently reading my final Austen, Mansfield
Park, so the challenge will be complete!
But I couldn’t stop with the
Jane Austen. Next came my favourite non-Austen classic, Frankenstein, and the beloved classics that I plan to read over the
coming months – Jane Eyre, Wuthering
Heights, Dracula.
I still have loads more on my
list to collect – Great Expectations,
Metamorphoses, Anna Karenina, Cranford, Alice’s Adventure in Wonderland, The
Picture of Dorian Gray, Vanity fair, Little Women, Tess of the D’Urbervilles...yeah,
I have a problem.
And this isn’t taking into
account the newly discovered Penguin English Library for the smaller, more
modern classics like HG Wells, EM Forster, Nathaniel Hawthorne and Edith
Wharton. They’re beautiful, well-priced paperbacks that I’m betting are going
to make another gorgeous collection.
You really can smell an English
Lit grad from miles away can’t you...
(P.S. Apologies for the terrible photos, both my phone and iPod are dead and my iPad was the only option...)
Do you collect any special
editions?
Sophie
These are really nice editions, Sophie. I've seen quite a few but don't actually own any. I love the Barnes and Noble leatherbound series the most!
ReplyDeleteBeing an English major, I have begun to collect works of literature that may be deemed as "classics." While I do not own anything from Jane Austen, I have read "Frankenstein" and "Dracula" and enjoyed both. I bought "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland" with "Through the Looking Glass" at Barnes & Noble for a discount and it is one of my all-time favorites.
ReplyDeleteI tend to concentrate my purchases based off of author instead of version, but either way I do collect. Kudos for having some will power as well. If that were me and I had the opportunity, I would probably by most (if not all) of the collection in one swoop.