My Classics Special Editions Book Collection

hi everyone so today i wanted to talk to you about some beautiful book editions so if you read classics if you read books sort of popular from like the 18 early 1900s i feel as though the publishing industry is constantly coming out with new editions of these books i mean partly this is because they're out of copyright so they're quite cheap to print um and then that way you can sort of put more budget into hiring designers and coming up with interesting concepts and a lot of people collect classics so it's a fun one to sort of like introduce new additions to and i do know people who like to collect say lots of different editions of pride and prejudice or lots of different editions of alice in wonderland and it's a fun thing when publishers are constantly coming out with new designs that potentially have like new illustrations or things to offer i myself do love to collect sherlock holmes books although i don't necessarily have a ton of different editions of the same stories a few but not a ton i'm more of a kind of book collector that likes to have one edition of each classic which means that i have a range of different beautiful editions but rarely have doubles of books there's a couple live doubles of and i'll talk about why in this video but mainly i like to have one edition of a book um but there are some sets that i think are so beautiful that i love owning the whole set and i wanted to talk to you in this video about different classics editions that i own so none of these are actually classical ancient literature i did a whole video dedicated to my classical literature collection which is every single piece of classical literature i own from antiquity whereas these are all more modern recent editions in terms of like um comparison to antiquity we have a lot of like 19th century literature like i mentioned a little bit earlier as well a little bit later that i own in in gorgeous editions and sort of my collection of beautiful editions of classics i feel like this video is um um i feel like the best way to express that is to start by showing you some books and you'll get an idea of what i'm talking about it'll be fun to talk about different editions so for example i own four books in the vintage classics edition jane austen series and this is one of the few series um collections that i own that i really want to complete that i haven't already completed so i do own the two jane austen books that i don't own in these editions in different editions and i'll show you what auditions i own them in however i love these editions so much that i would like to eventually have all six it feels like it's less of a priority because i do own the book so if i want to read them like i do have them in different editions and for one reason or another i don't want to get rid of those editions but i would love to have this complete sex it is one of my favorite classics collections out there first of all i love the size and shape of these books they are um shorter than a regular paperback so this is like your standard paperback height and but they're not as small as like say a mass market paperback and they're no less wide in fact they are slightly they could be like a millimeter wider than a normal paperback not substantially so i am but it gives them this lovely sort of like i am almost square loop they're not exactly squares but like i just think they look lovely in terms of the size and shape they have french flaps which is when a paperback has little flaps like these on and the paperback and then inside each there is a different print and this print will align with one of the prints on the other book so this is a mansfield part by jane austen and it has this print on the inside which is the same print that's on the front of i am a persuasion and then on the inside of persuasion we have the same one as mansfield park and i would then have emma which has this lovely print and then on the inside it has this print which is the same print that is on the front cover of north anchor abbey which on the inside has the emma print and then if i were to have pride and prejudice and sensibility they would do the same thing and this collection was designed by leanne shapton like i said these are my favorite ost editions out there there's something about them that's just so aesthetically pleasing to me but even more importantly they're an absolute pleasure to read classics in particular you can get a whole range of layouts whereas i feel like this is just so smooth to read it's an absolute pleasure and i've had a lovely time with each of these in editions in the past when i have read them and like i said i really would like to complete the collection even though i don't necessarily need the other two books because i do own them i do think these are beautiful and um i would love to complete it so that's something like i do intend on doing because they are just stunning right like these are just beautiful and you can tell i love these editions um and vintage classics sort of short form ranges of um specific authors because i own some others i've actually stacked over here my virginia wolves which are in the same sort of shape and design as the jane austen's so i do know that vintage do a few more collections in a similar vein and some which aren't specific authors but are um sort of countries literature so there's like a russian literature collection and but this is the only other one i own and it's the virginia wolf collection which i do think i have the complete set of correct me if i'm wrong i'll show you what i have if you know there's something else but i think i've got them all and they're the same sort of shape and design with the french flaps as the jane austen editions and obviously these are all virginia woolf books and they are slightly different in that the inside flaps don't like correspond to a different pattern but they do have beautiful inside flaps as well so for example this is to the lighthouse which looks like this inside and these are designed by i know major mitsuola we then have the years which looks like this on the front i just think they're beautiful they've got such like a watercolor esque vibe to them and they i don't know what it is but i'm so drawn to these and i also think the art style kind of mirrors um these sort of era that these books were written we have um the waves by virginia woolf which sort of has some waves on the inside there we have our lando which looks like this on the outside and looks like this on the inside we have mrs dalloway this has to be one of my favorites all those bulls colors love it which looks like this on the inside and then lastly we have the only non-fiction book in this range which is a room of one's own and which looks like this and then this on the outside i just think they're absolutely stunning and like i can't really hold them up to show you in this respect but like all next to each other beautiful and then all stacked as i showed you before also beautiful and i do think virginia woolf um is a really interesting writer so i love that i own this complete set now similar but not exactly the same as this range which is the puffin sisterhood collection so these are the same sort of shape and size as the books i've already shown you um we have like the sort of like dumpy format which i really really like but these are published by puffing which is an imprint of penguin random house and if you're familiar with um different sort of like um imprints and publishing houses you'll probably know that vintage is also owned by penguin random house which is probably why um they have this similar design but these are stunning if you look at the spines you'll see that they all line up with a print at the bottom and then a woman's face or a girl's face with the hair extending up the spine and i just think these are so gorgeous together like i could never get rid of one of these books because it would just i feel ruin the aesthetic of what is an absolutely beautiful work of art in itself and this is the edition in which i own pride and prejudice so um let me show you pride and prejudice this is what the prime prejudices in this editions look like and like i said i wouldn't want to get rid of this because then it would interfere with the beauty of this collection but i would still like to own it in the other edition which isn't something i usually do but in in this instance i would like to and these are just so bright and bold and colorful and they have a focus on more sort of like teen young adult children's literature written by women with female protagonists which are considered classics although i think pride and prejudice is maybe a little bit older i guess they've included it because you could certainly read it at a younger age so it sort of fits in with the theme of these books that you might sort of pass them along to younger readers and we have here pride and prejudice which i just think is stunning like absolutely look at that and this as well as all the other books here are illustrated by helia ozdimer who is a turkish illustrator and honestly like completely blown away by the work that they have done on these books we then have the railway children by inez bit which certainly falls more into what i would think of this traditional children's literature and they all have again these french flaps with the beautiful prince inside i don't think i showed you the pride and prejudice one but beautiful inside absolutely stunning and that corresponds to the print that's on the front of the book um in these instances so we have anne of green gables by ellen montgomery they all have these beautiful spines i feel like this one is particularly unique because it's the only one um with like a bright bold red hair color they're all otherwise quite dark browns and and blacks for um the female protagonists and then we have anne here with her beautiful red hair and the corresponding print on the inside we then have heidi by joanna speedy which was one of my favorites when i was a child i absolutely loved the design of this as well and i've been meaning to reread it as an adult little women by louisa may alcott which looks like this this is the only one with two women here on the front which kind of makes sense given that it's women not women in the title there and that's the inside and then lastly i have to say this might be my favorite one because it's just so beautiful and that's a little princess by francis hodgson burnett and oh my goodness is this not stunning i just love these these are absolutely beautiful and i don't think i could ever part with these i love them i will confess that most of the books you are going to see in this video are from one imprint or another of penguin randomized um they do just constantly bring out beautiful classics and the next one i have is another author in full although i'm missing a couple and that is the john windham collection so this is published by penguin um and these are all in matching editions with very like similar illustrations by the same illustrator and very similar color palette so these covers are illustrated by brian cronin and i'm pretty sure you can get most of john wyndham's uh published work in these editions even some of his like lesser known works that went out of print for quite a long time that they added to this collection as they built up and although some of those aren't quite as good as his more popular books like sometimes there's a reason that sound big stain print and other books don't seem print but at the same time i'm a big fan of john wyndham's sci-fi writing so i do want to have read and collected all of his books over time so i do need to add a couple more this is plan for chaos which for example was unfinished this was one of john wyndham's unfinished novels um so it's not necessarily quite as impressive as something like the day of the triffids um but like i said i am just i'm aiming to collect all of his books because i'm a big fan he wrote sci-fi in the mid-20th century so this is plan for chaos we then have dave the trifords which is probably my all-time favorite book by him and probably one of his most famous works because it is so incredible so atmospheric love this book we then have trouble with liking and i just think these illustrations are stunning these are genuinely the reason i first picked up a john wyndham book so i saw these editions in waterstones back when i was like 19 or 20 and was immediately drawn to them and just thought these are gorgeous and read the backs and thought these sounded really interesting read more into john wind and discovered these sort of this classic sci-fi author and started picking them up and to only discover a new favorite author so this is the chrysalids we then have consider her weight and others so this one's actually a short story collection um i believe i have another short story collection no i don't think i do but there are other short story collections available um in these editions so i clearly need to pick them up we have chalky by john wyndham which is maybe my second favorite i love love love this book we then have the secret people which is this edition here the midwitch cuckoos which is the first one i ever read by john wyndham and stowaway to mars off the top of my head i know i'm missing cracking weeks um so i do need to pick that up at some point which is not one of his novels and there are some short story collections that i'm missing um but i'll have to check because when i first started collecting these editions there was less available than there are now so i always need to like keep an eye and see what else they've brought out in them but i think they look beautiful all together i think that color palette is stunning these sort of like muted but quite bold like bold but muted colors again a little bit like water coloring so maybe like i have a thing for that and then these lovely illustrations so really love that collection we then have a range which i have a lot less in some of these other collections but they're my absolute favorites and i'm devastated to say that i'm pretty sure they're out of print which are these shakespeare editions so i don't think these are still currently being released um you might occasionally see one in a book shop because it hasn't been sold in the past or pick them up second hand and that is something i'm constantly looking for so like if i see these in a secondhand bookshop for example i'm pretty sure i picked up much ado about nothing in a secondhand um bookshop when i saw it because i just think these are beautiful and i would love more of them although they're obviously a collection that i would struggle to collect all of shakespearean at this point and these are published by penguin again these are in a mass market paperback and size and format so again this is sort of your standard paperback size and whereas this is like a little mass market which is like slightly shorter and um slightly less white i own in these editions as you can probably see already much ado about nothing the winter's tale and midsummer night stream i haven't actually read this one yet um but need to and they just have the most beautiful illustrations like i just love these illustrations i think they're so gorgeous um and so in fitting i like the size the shape and although they're mass markets i feel like the print isn't tiny they're very readable um and i just i just love them i wish i owned more and i really do need to like look out for more and when i i have the opportunity in the future but for now i'm quite happy with my little three and shakespeare's something that's very easy to find one edition or another of i've read a few of them on my kindle because they're free since they're out in the public domain um and i'm never not gonna have access to shakespeare so i'm not too worried about that but i do like these editions if i'm going to collect them myself and these are illustrated by claire malinsky allow me to show you the final penguin collection that i have here which you've already seen one book of as i've been using as a prop and that is the penguin english library editions so i know that these are massive fan favorites and this is a selection of books i have no intention of ever trying to own all of because penguin i am offer like a huge range i don't know the exact number but it's probably in the hundreds in these editions this is like one of their largest collections aside from their like traditional black classics collections i believe um but they are absolutely stunning and like i said i know like a huge fan favorite for good reason so i would honestly quite happily continue to collect these i know more because of the way they look on my bookshelves and also just the way that they are and printed and designed the designer is actually quite a well-known designer who's done some of her own like picture books and that's carly bickford smith and in these editions i own the invisible man by h.g wells i own the tenant of wildfell hall by anne bronte and as you got a glimpse there from the spines at the side they all sort of take that traditional element of the penguin sort of classic that little bit of orange but then with a color um palette from the front as well so they all have that little orange line and but then their own individual coloring as well melmoth the wonder by charles maturin which has little um candle candlesticks here on the front dracula by bram stucker some sort of plant on the front to be honest i'm not 100 sure what that is intended to be the sign of four by sir arthur conan doyle the hound of the baskervilles by arthur conan doyle sanderton by jane austen which is not available in in these editions it's only her like i am six main novels or of course i would desire to own that too um and then lastly the island of dr monroe by h.g wells so those are my penguin english library editions and i'll just give you another little look at the spines because i do feel like that is one of like the main draws to them and they used to um have this um oh there's a name for this like matte lamination finish i believe on them but they now come in a more traditional just sort of like matte finish um than they used to different opinions on uh which one was better i kind of liked myself the matte lamination but i know others prefer um these sort of more traditional matte finish so you know each to their own um we then have a collection of books which i only own two in so this is my smallest collection and these are published by michael o'mara books so this is the edition in which i have sense and sensibility so my mum and dad bought me this copy i went there on holiday once and brought it back to me which is the other reason i don't want to ever part with it because it was a present i am and i do want to keep a hold of it but again like i said would still like to own sense and sensibility in the other editions um but these are naked hardbacks with um a slightly like it's not really floral this is more like a tree branch design here in the front it looks a bit like a blossom tree but obviously with yellow coloring and the same sort of idea goes in to jane eyre which has the blue coloring and these are really gorgeous i love naked hardbacks um and i know there are other books available in these editions they're not ones i come across very often but i've certainly seen um more in this collection and i'm not sure how big the range is but i do i do like these and i do want to keep a hold of both of them the spines look like this with the titles of the books on the site they're in this nice gray color and they mirror that tree floral blossom pattern on the um inside um end papers as well and these are designed by anna bjazanthik i hope i'm pronouncing that right as well as a little ribbon bookmarks which are always a nice added touch lastly we continue with the gray theme and on to some lesser-known classics because they are the persephone book editions so persephone our publishing house that publish almost all of their books in this same design there are a few in which they have um color design covers but most of their books are quite well known for this very simple gray aesthetic and they publish books predominantly by women that have perhaps gone out of print that are lesser known classics from like the 18 1900s and i own four of those books this is the hopkins manuscript by rc sheriff we also have torrey heaven or thunder on the right by marganita lasky this one actually has a tiny little dust jacket almost just round part of it we then have the blank wall by elizabeth sanxi holding and no surrender by constance mod which was a novel written by a suffragette and these books each come with a matching bookmark and what i mean by matching is because although the front covers are very very plain and underneath the dust jackets they're interesting because they're like paper bags with dust jackets which is quite rare um but underneath the dust jacket and underneath the cover and we have really bold beautiful prints a bit like those vintage classics editions and each one does come with a matching bookmark i'm not sure i have the matching bookmark for each of mine um but obviously i have that one i may have lost or just like never had the matching bookmarks for some of the other ones i'm pretty sure i do have the matching bookmark for this and i've used it i just don't know where it is um this is the blank wall which looks like this inside and i believe the designs on the inside are all from like um vintage carpets or like fabric prints they've been sort of converted to this this uh design inside yes end paper is taken from a late 1940s furnishing fabric manufactured and sold in the united states in a private collection so they're all different so this one which i just showed you um is taken from mctill the block printed linen furnished fabric designed for the omega workshops in 1913 so they're all taken from like textile designs and but from different eras so for example this one again um i love the inside of this one like look at that is so beautiful um and this one was taken um from transport a 1945 dress fabric in printed rayon crepe designed by felix tapolsky i just think that's so beautiful and then lastly um this one i do have the bookmark for we have the matching bookmark here um which matches the inside print which is just stunning um this god i could imagine a piece of furniture or clothing with that it would look beautiful and paper is taken from wangel 1932 a dyed cotton three color print oh how stunning i absolutely love those did i have a bookmark to go with this one i don't think i did so i don't have a bookmark for this one um as you can tell i'm probably not like that precious about my book so i would have paid attention to where the bookmarks um went but these are just absolutely stunning and i would certainly like to own more in these editions um but obviously i also want to pick up books that i'm interested in from persephone as opposed to just picking them up willy-nilly so these are the four in the past i've been drawn to um if you have more recommendations of persephone classics that you've enjoyed let me know i would love to hear about them but for now i'm quite content with my little four so those are all of my sort of special edition classics collections that i own so you've kind of seen i guess my complete collection of special edition classics i didn't include in this video for example my oxford world classics or my penguin black classics or my penguin modern classics and if you would like to see those which are more of these standard classics um designs and sort of classics editions and they're probably most widely available from some publishing houses let me know i can do a separate video although all of my penguin and oxford world classics editions of classical literature were in that other video that i mentioned and i'll link it down below but if you'd like to see for example my modern penguin classics collection i would be happy to film that video too so let me know but this was fun to just sort of talk about some beautiful books for a little while i would love to know what your favorite from this video is but also just like what your favorite classics collection is do you collect specific editions of classic literature do you gravitate towards one design over another when you're picking out your classics and what are some that you would like to collect for example um do let me know in the comments down below but until next time happy reading and i'll see you again soon bye everyone

Channel: Jean Bookishthoughts

Views: 13,167

Rating: 4.964654 out of 5

Keywords: booktube

Id: gzDbWu-L5Kg

Length: 22min 53sec (1373 seconds)

Published: Wed Oct 28 2020