Shakespeare’s "Hamlet" is not a wholly original story, but is the greatest retelling of the legend of Amleth, recorded by the Danish historian Saxo Grammaticus four centuries before Shakespeare. Saxo’s tale is a highly entertaining adventure in its own right and provides insights into the creative processes by which the old, pagan legend evolved to strike fire in the Christian age of Elizabethan theater. This accurate new translation of "The Revenge of Amleth" by Søren Filipski gives a complete selection of the Amleth legend, including Amleth’s often-omitted adventures in Britain. Filipski also provides an historical introduction that traces Saxo's influence on Shakespeare's contemporaries, with exhaustive citations of every Elizabethan reference to earlier versions of "Hamlet." Also included is the full text of François de Belleforest's "Hystorie of Hamblet," an influential pre-Shakespearean adaptation of the same story.

The Norse Hamlet (Sources of Shakespeare)

Literature & Fiction

Grammaticus, Saxo

De Belleforest, Francois

History & Criticism

Hythloday Press

Dickens is widely known for his masterpiece "A Christmas Carol." Yet it was only the first in a series of five short novels set in the Christmas season, composed by Dickens over six years. Each is a unique classic, and a profound celebration of Christmas, in its own right. The entire series of Christmas Books is here collected in a single volume, including: "A Christmas Carol": Ebeneezer Scrooge’s contempt for Christmas is confronted by four spirits who reveal the value of Christmas and the nature of a good life. "The Chimes": A pitiless man who has lost his belief in human goodness and nay higher calling for humanity is gifted with a Christmas vision of his loved ones’ lives after his death. "The Cricket on the Hearth": A magical cricket plays the role of guardian angel to a small family through many trials, tribulations, and joys. "The Battle of Life": A young woman’s suspicious disappearance leaves her family in doubt of her good character. "The Haunted Man": A man tormented by brooding upon wrongs done to him accepts a spirit’s offer to lose his memory of past harms, only to find that a deeper conversion is needed to relieve his feelings of anger.

Five Tales of Christmas: A Christmas Carol, The Chimes, The Cricket on the Hearth, The Battle of Life, The Haunted Man

DICKENS., CHARLES

Classics

When a boy is cursed with an inability to perceive goodness, a young girl must go on a lonely quest to restore his heart and vision and free him from captivity in the palace of the Snow Queen.
Few works of children’s literature have had as deep and lasting an impact as Hans Christian Andersen’s The Snow Queen, which has won the hearts of young readers for almost two centuries, and inspired works as diverse as Disney’s Frozen and C.S. Lewis’s The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe. This version combines the classic English translation of H.B. Paull with the dramatic and beautiful engravings of Vilhelm Pedersen from the original, Danish edition.

The Snow Queen (With Original Illustrations)

Andersen, Hans-Christian

Genre Fiction

In an effort to save her family from poverty, a young woman takes employment as a governess and discovers the great difficulties, instability, and even abuse that accompany her new position in Victorian society. 
 Based on Brontë’s own experiences as a governess, Agnes Grey is a poignant tale that explores the repression of women as well as the coming of age of a young and memorable heroine. Deeply personal and socially critical, Agnes Grey has been described by the Irish novelist George Moore as “the most perfect prose narrative in the English language.”

Agnes Grey

Bronte. Anne.

After saving a prince from drowning, a mermaid princess embraces a life of extreme self-sacrifice to win his love and gain an immortal soul.
 Over a century after its first publication, Hans Christian Andersen’s The Little Mermaid persists as one of the world’s most enduring works of fantasy for children. 
 This edition combines the world-famous translation of H.B. Paull with two sets of classic illustrations, the engravings of Vilhelm Pedersen from the original Danish edition and Helen Stratton’s illustrations from the first English edition of The Fairy Tales of Hans Christian Andersen. Both sets provide a beautiful and dramatic visual compliment to this haunting and inexpressibly moving tale of love.
 Also included are notes with pronunciations and definitions of some words that may be unfamiliar to grade school readers.

The Little Mermaid (With Original Illustrations)

Literary

A sailor dooms his ship’s crew by murdering an albatross and is lost at sea, alone with the burden of his guilt, until a meeting with divine messengers brings him the opportunity to do penance. 
 Samuel Taylor Coleridge’s (1772-1834) haunting parable of sin and absolution, The Rime of the Ancient Mariner, is widely recognized as one of the greatest narrative poems in the English language and was a defining achievement in the establishment of the Romantic Movement. 
 Coleridge’s text is presented here alongside the classic illustrations of Gustave Doré (1832-1883), the great French engraver famous for his illustrations of Dante’s Inferno, Milton’s Paradise Lost, and the Bible. His imaginative and detailed illustrations are a beautiful and evocative visual compliment to this unique masterpiece of English literature.

The Rime of the Ancient Mariner (Illustrated by Gustave Dore)

COLERIDGE, SAMUEL TAYLOR

Poetry

A prince seeking a true princess, an emperor in love with his wardrobe, a romantic tin soldier standing firmly at attention, and a bird whose song is so lovely even death cannot resist it: these are a characters whose stories have made Hans Christian Andersen one of the world’s most enduring storytellers for children. 
 This collection of Andersen’s best short stories combines the world-famous translation of H.B. Paull with two sets of classic illustrations, the engravings of Vilhelm Pedersen from the original Danish edition and Helen Stratton’s illustrations from The Fairy Tales of Hans Christian Andersen. Both sets provide a beautiful and dramatic visual compliment to these charming and memorable tales.
 Also included are notes with pronunciations and definitions of some words that may be unfamiliar to grade school readers.

The Princess and the Pea and Other Favorite Tales (With Original Illustrations)

Mythology & Folk Tales

The Communist Manifesto

ENGELS, FRIEDRICH

Marx,Karl

Business & Money

Both an exciting adventure story and a wise morality tale, this “story for boys” by the great Victorian novelist Thomas Hardy tells of how two young men exploring a cave discover the dangers of taking the well-being of others into their own hands.\nWhen the boys reroute a local river as part of their explorations, they create a conflict between two towns that each need the water, and find that the problem has no easy resolution. As the conflict escalates, the boys are led into further adventures that are as thrilling and humorous as they are morally revealing and provocative.

Our Exploits at West Poley: A Story for Boys

HARDY, THOMAS

Veiled in a thick and thorny wood, an enchanted princess lies sleeping for a century, awaiting a prince, whose time has come to break the spell.
 The original tale of The Sleeping Beauty in the Wood was written by Charles Perrault, inventor of the modern fairy tale and creator of such timeless characters as Little Red Riding Hood and Puss in Boots. It is among the most beautiful and enduring of all stories, and has inspired hundreds of adaptations, including Disney’s Sleeping Beauty and Maleficent.
 This edition combines Søren Filipski’s lively modern translation with two famous sets of vintage illustrations: E. Monnin’s lavish engravings from the great 1843 Curmer edition and those of the French master Gustave Doré, from Tales from Mother Goose. Both sets provide a rich, dramatic visual compliment to this haunting tale of love and the passage of time.
 Also included in the translation is the continuing story of the Princess’s life in the years after she awakes, omitted from nearly all modern editions.

Sleeping Beauty (Original Text with Classic Illustrations)

Children's Books

PERRAULT, CHARLES

Fairy Tales, Folk Tales & Myths

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