This was very helpful and very pleasing to watch! I'll take any of the softback editions, honestly. Penguin and Oxford are my faves because of the notes. I recently read a black spine Penguin of Hawthorne's The Marble Faun, and it was such an enjoyable experience in part because of the pleasing font and the detailed notes, which are a necessity for that book. 😅
So glad you enjoyed it😀 One can never go wrong with a Penguin. (That's an odd sentence, what?) I do enjoy Oxford classics, though they are not quite as stylish.
It has been my experience that Penguin books are printed on very acidic and the pages yellow, deteriorate, and fall apart rather quickly compared to editions from other publishers. 😢
I go for the Penguin black spine classics b/c they’re the ones that my local indie bookstore sells. Once I had a few, I didn’t want my classics in any other edition. 😁
I am the same. I've been collecting the black spine classics for what seems like forever. I actually do not mind when the spines crack. It serves to remind me I've read the book and that brings back wonderful memories.
Gosh I hate that the Wordsmith Classics title it "The Karamazov Brothers" instead of "The Brothers Karamazov". It's subtle but it makes all the difference.
The only Wordsworth edition I have is Friedrich Nietzsche's Human, All Too Human and Beyond Good and Evil - the edition is combined and contains both books - nearly 700 pages total, and it cost about $8. With Penguin Classics (Penguin blacks, as you call them), the only one I have is Nietzsche's Ecce Homo - a super slim book, only 100 pages - and it cost $12. WTF?
I have a book buying problem and my obsession recently moved to classics. I decided to go in on Everyman's Library for their sheer beauty and their great intros. They also have an amazing PG Wodehouse collection.
Wordsworth books are Penguin’s uglier cousins. The cheaper Penguins have awful paper quality though, something where the Wordsworths are a better option. It’s a crime how cheap both Wordsworths and Collins despite are despite their drawbacks. But when it comes to cover arts Oxford World Classics are the clear champions, plus they have the best translations of the French and Russian classics.
It's so expensive but I think Folio Society is the best in the business and it's something I'm always saving money for. I love their approach is that each classic is like a work of art and so books are given individual thought into how it's put together. A Jane Austen novel should not look like an Agatha Christie novel. I just nerd out whenever there a new Folio Society release and it doesn't matter to me that my classics don't match.
Same here. When I first got my own flat, I joined The Folio Society, about 30 years ago, but life got in the way! Now I had for Everyman first. Both have acid-free paper, which is important to me, as someone who has had to replace a lot of my 1970s paperbacks because they discoloured so badly!
I have several hundred, Folio Society books; Hardy, Trollope, Oxford history, Jane Austen, Dickens etc. the books used to be under £50, but since they started doing limited editions, I stopped. I don't like the prices nor the current books, especially not the overpriced SF books. They are a bargain second hand as many never get read.
I recently collected some Penguin Classics Editions, the black backs. I enjoy reading them. I prefer to read paperbacks over hardcovers, just because they are smaller and lighter. Reading hardcovers makes me feel like I’m working out after a while, as opposed to relaxing and reading.
I love the Wordsworth classics but the font is a little too small for me, my eyes start to hurt after reading them for a long time and I'm not that old. Vintage red spine classics and Penguin english library editions are the best for reading imo.
Heck yeah. And those really thin pages that feel like rice paper; ready to dissolve between your fingertips, if you linger a little too long before flipping on to the next page. Books for people who like to have attractive looking times decorating their shelves, but never actually read them.
Thanks for doing such a thorough comparison of the different editions. My favorites are the Penguin Modern Classics. Not one for matchy-matchy books, I love how individual the Alma Classics look on the shelf. I don’t know if you have it, but AC’s Anna Karenina is beautiful.
thank you for this! i watch a lot of book content but i rarely see anyone talking about the quality of the books. I find the size, paper quality and typesetting really important, and more people should talk about this :) Floppy paperbacks with a nice readable font are my favorites!
I am a little disappinted that you did not mention Macmillan Collector's Edition. I love these little cloth hardback books, the gorgious book covers of gold and light blue green, gold edging, and blue ribbon. I have quite a large collection, many of them are "trophies' from reading another edition, but I am more inclined to put one of these little gems in my purse (in a zip lock) of short story collections or poetry. The user experience is quite delightful.
This is quite funny, because I (literally just prior to this video!) just watched CarolynMarieReads do a video detailing her MacMillan collection, and discuss it in detail. I don't own any of that collection, but they do look beautiful and seem quite hardy little books 🙂
I have several of the Macmillan Collectors Classics, and I love them. In fact I’m actually on Amazon right now looking for more as I’m watching this video, and wondering why they didn’t make his list.
I absolutely adore them. I’m a little annoyed that they have rewritten a chapter of one “problematic” book (not sure which one) and that some are abridged (Count of Monte Cristo), but they are always my first choice.
I like books to be floppy and have a decent sized font, they’re the main things I look for so I collect mainly Penguin editions. The vintage red spines, the black Penguins, the modern classics and another that you didn’t mention; the English library. The latter has to be the best for flop! And they also look good on the shelf. I also really like the Oxford World Classics and have quite a lot of them. Just found your channel a few days ago but really enjoying your videos. You have such genuine enthusiasm for the books you talk about which is more than can be said for a lot of other booktubers.
I love the Everyman's Library books. I just bought Charles Dickens "A Tale of Two Cities" because I love the series, and because of the beautiful dust jacket. Also, the "A Tale of Two Cities" cloth cover is a wonderful maroon/burgundy. The cream colored paper is fantastic, I like the highly readable font, and the bookmark is a nice detail.
Canongate Classics is great for Scottish literature. They have some really rare stuff like John Barbour's The Bruce, and Conan Doyle's Brigadier Gerard, John Buchan's Witch Wood, and a superb collection of the Scottish Short Story. Really solid.
Very true. But I imagine that in the styling of the period, the whale image could possibly have just been depicted in black on a poster to make it stand out more. Good spotting that though!
I store my all paperbacks in a small closet, I stack them. I dont have a lot of space for books. My experience with hardback books is that they fall apart, after 20 years, while paperback do it after 10 years I have a few hardback books printed 1920-1960 they look fabulous. If you want classics that last then you should try to find vintage books, instead of new prints
I have three favorites for my classics: - Paperback -- Oxford World's Classics, particularly the newer format. They are floppy, they usually have good notes, and the paper is quite white, which I quite like. This is the edition that, when I do choose to annotate, I annotate. I'm addicted to these. - Hardback -- Macmillan Collector's Library -- love these little pocket sized books, very white paper, great for always having a classic. I keep one in my work bag and one in my everyday personal computer bag. Ribbon page marker. - Hardback - Everyman's Library. Particularly the larger page count books are a joy to read. No notes, but they are beautifully bound and lay flat. It took me a long time to collect the entire Dickens collection and I am really enjoying reading these. Ribbon page marker. Unlike most people, I love the look of them on the shelf with the jacket on, although I read them without the jacket. I have a few Penguin Classics, mostly for titles that Oxford does not publish. By the way, I hate the newest editions which changed from the orange highlights to white in the cover and spine. And many of them don't quite line up on the shelf. My experience with Wordsworth in the United States (and this may just be the ones I've happened to pick up in the book shop) are very tightly bound, seem to have a stiffer paper, and are rather unpleasant to read.
The everyman editions do look good lined up with their jackets on. As for Macmillan, they are beautiful. My only issue is that many are abridged editions.
I have about 120 of the Macmillans and very few are abridged: The Dumas novels are, one Dostoevsky, Les Mis, and Anna Karenina. However, a few of the re-released editions are coming out unabridged - the newer Anna K is now unabridged.
I'm assuming that you have the Everyman's Library Dickens illustrated cover editions instead of the white covers? I've been collecting them as well...at the least, used in very good or like new condition...and have returned them to the seller when they've been advertised as the illustrated covers but they ship the white covers. Because of that, there's no way that I would remove the covers on the bookshelves, although I also remove the covers while reading them.
Totally agree on the new Penguin black editions! They have ugly (IMHO) black & white drawings (like Tristan's Little Dorrit); I'll take the oil painting covers any day. I'd rather buy a used old black Penguin in good condition than an ugly brand new one.
Yes, on the illustrated covers. I have a few of the non illustrated covers for some of the non Dickens but all of my Dickens have the illustrations. The hardest one for me to get - which took a lot of searching - was The Old Curiosity Shop.
Saving this for later reference, thank you! It also makes me happy your back is doing well enough to allow you to hold all those books. It looks so simple. Until it isn't. I don't know how long you've had your editions, but if more than 10 years, how are the insides physically holding up? I never gave this much thought because I treat all my books like my babies. But I've learned the hard way that even just sitting on a shelf, paperbacks degrade. The pages get yellow and/or brittle, highlighting fades, etc. One example, I bought a used book and the cover was already bent in one corner. What barbarian does that?! I did my best to straighten it out and keep it that way. After reading it, I put it on the shelf and there it stood for years. I went to read it again recently. When I simply opened it, that portion cracked right off. It was sad. I suddenly realized that will likely happen to all my paperbacks. I'm trying to buy more hardcovers these days. But only used. I am barely working part time, so my funds are limited. No exaggeration, I sometimes buy books over food! I mean, food, you eat it and that's it. Books last years... just apparently not decades.
I have all of Jane Austen's books in the Alma edition and love the covers. I think it gives it a fun updated look that I hope encourages new readers to try them. And just as you mentioned, they are super cheap so I was able to buy the whole set! I think I'll always prefer the black Penguin paperbacks, though, for annotating. The pages aren't high quality, but for some reason, I enjoy the grit that catches when I write in them. I love the Reader's Digest hardcovers best of all, but sadly, they're more expensive and I must hunt them down secondhand. It feels like a true storybook and gives the reading an entirely different experience,
Ah, translations...that's another discussion entirely! If anyone is venturing forth, do your homework on the flavor of each translator (for those authors who have multiple translators). Translation can make or break the reading experience. 😉 Excellent video Tristan thank you. Oh, i love the Penguin Black books.
Translation is something that I'm trying to understand better. Once I do, I'll make a video on it. Perhaps I should try and track down a translator to interview.
This has been a problem for me of late. I don't know why it never occurred to me that there could be different, even multiple, translations for some books, and that not all are equally good. I was all set to read some Dostoevsky for the first time and then learned this fact. Sure enough, the translation I had was one that isn't considered as good as a different one. How was I to know that? Worse, I then learned there are even MORE translations that I'd never even heard of. How are you supposed to know what's an accurate translation or not when you only know the translated language, not the original one? All you can do in that case is trust the opinions of other people who do know both languages. Argh! The only other language I know besides English is Spanish. I don't have much experience reading it, but I can muddle through, depending on the difficulty. I could probably compare a few paragraphs of something (again, depending on the type of book and the difficulty) with the English translation and make a fairly correct determination on how accurate it is and even how well it flows. But that's the only language where I could do that. Can you see how much this is bothering me? If I wasn't already in my mid-50s I'd seriously consider learning Russian just so I could read these classics as they were first written. But I don't know if that would be worth the time commitment/difficulty. Just my luck, I'd get fluent and then drop dead before getting to actually read any of the works. :)
@@Yesica1993I’ve had this issue too and have seen other channels talk about how to choose which translation to go for. Some suggest it’s not always about literal word for word accuracy but often about choosing which style you personally prefer, and pick the one you think you’ll enjoy most. If possible I try and compare a few extracts before deciding or try more than one. Likely anyone reading for study or academic purposes may have to be more careful which translation to read and which to avoid but reading for pleasure I don’t worry too much.
@@Saraneyd Yes, it does seem it requires more research than I first realized. I don't mind doing that. I guess it's just a bit intimidating, first starting out. It caught me by surprise that there could be multiple translations in a single language. I don't know why it never occurred to me. Duh!
I love the extra material in Oxford and Penguin editions. Unfortunately, the books in the new Penguin edition have a smaller font that I find unreadable. The covers are also different. And in the last few books I got in the Oxford edition, the font wasn’t clear. So now I only buy these two editions as Ebooks and read them on my Kindle. I own The Picture of Dorian Gray in the Alma Classics edition. I wish the font was a little bit darker, but I like that it also has some explanatory notes in the back. I also own a book in Everyman’s Children’s Classics edition and I definitely want to own more of their books. They’re really well made.
I now prefer the Oxford World Classics over the Penguin Editions. Their editions of Shakespeare are brilliant because they're sewn into proper registers and are much more durable than those where the pages are simply glued in.
I took your advice on the Wordsworth classics. Maybe I live near a bad Amazon distribution center, as every one of the books I've ordered arrived badly damaged.
I hardly ever order from Amazon for books anymore, but I've noticed the same problem with books in the last few years. They arrive damaged. If you order from anywhere else, they clearly take the time to carefully pack and protect the book, just another reason to not use Amazon for book orders.
Just come across your channel. I was starting to collect Penguin blacks, then I discovered Oxford. I agree. They are great. Got a copy of Wuthering Heights and there is so much extra material-including a selection of Emily Bronte’s poetry. Oh dear- am I going to have to start again!
Brilliant video Tristan! The crash test dummies make me laugh every time. 😂I do love black penguin classics , penguin English library (which are floppy) and I like the clothbounds for collectibles 📖📖📖📚
You have inspired me to Google Everyman classics as I have several of their old editions with the lovely Arts and Crafts inspired end papers and the quotation from the play Everyman. What an interesting story I found there about Mr Dent who founded these editions. Maybe you could show us some of these old secondhand editions and speak about him some time?
Great video! Classic Tristan! :) The wordsworth classics are certain great for the price, floppiness factor and font. I have quite a few . My only grip is that i don't have a lot of room for notes in the margins . Well, one more small gripe- I am not always the best fan of the translations. Overall though a win. I tend to go for those on classics I've not yet read and not sure If i'll like. I LOVE the Vintage red spines. I only own a few , but no complaints from me. Everyman's library - to be honest, if i could afford it, i'd have a full library of these. I prefer reading from paperback but i love the naked hardbacks of the Everyman's For me, Penguin black spines are a favorite. I adore the cover art they choose, love the feel and the font . I also adore the penguin modern classics, but they can be a bit pricey here in the US .
I have been in Wales visiting historical sites and book hunting this week. I naturally visited the bookshops. I added quite a few Penguin Classics and a couple of Everyman. If I buy S/H Everyman, I'm prepared to annotate them too.
I agree. The introduction can offer so much insight into the book. I often go back and read it again after finishing. I had to laugh when the introduction to Vanity Fair said not to read it if you haven’t already read it!
great video, man. currently halfway through 'great expectations' (collins classic), an amazing book. mostly collins on the book shelf, look nice and neat
All I want right now is a decent hardcover of Jane Eyre. I can't believe it's been so hard to find. My beloved paperback got caught in a totally unexpected rainstorm within a few days of buying it. I wanted to cry! Then I ordered what I thought was a hardcover from ebay. I was thrilled with the price. Then I realized when I got it that it was in two volumes. WHO DOES THAT?! Plus, the font was tiny. It's not a long book! I was not happy. I ended up selling it back to a used bookstore for a pittance. I wasn't happy about that either. But I knew I'd never read them so why keep them?
i just received my everyman’s library edition copy of jane eyre today! you might want to consider it-worth the price for a hardcover ⭐️ tho in the end, it still depends on one’s preference 🙇🏻♀️ i’m simply a fan of the art for their dust jackets and the binding quality :D the font seems decent but the saturation of the text itself is not consistent since it tends to get ‘lighter’ making it look dark gray instead of jet black (idk if it’s just my copy)
Sorry for the late response. Stupid TH-cam is hit or miss with notifications. Thanks for the heads up! My birthday is coming up in a few weeks so maybe I will treat myself. It's the only time I don't feel (too) guilty about buying something for myself. And congratulations to you for getting it!@@thedustdevil
Really glad to see detailed discussion regarding font and page layout and page quality. Truly what matters is the inside and not the outside, when most of the time you'll spend reading and not looking at the book
Oxford World's Classics is my choice when I'm looking for notes. If I'm judging the book solely by its cover, then I'm probably picking up an Alma. I don't arrange by publisher, so I don't worry about how the spines match, except for the Everyman spines that seem to be missing foil. Just looked up Alma and I'm seeing titles I don't recognize. That's interesting.... I guess some are short story collections. Might have to pick up some Kindle versions.
Just a quick question sir, I'm thinking of buying my first Thomas Hardy novel. Which book should I start with? 1. Far from the madding crowd 2. Tess of the d'urbervilles 3. The mayor of casterbridge Sorry for my bad english, sir. English is not my first language.
As you can see from the other replies, any of those three would be good choices. I would probably go with Far From The Madding Crowd, personally. Tess is a favourite of mine, though.
I'm collecting the Penguin Clothbound (and Little Clothbound), Macmillan's Collector, Everyman's, Alma, Penguin (Modern) Classics, and I have a handful of Wordsworths and Vintage Classics. Having been born and raised in a family of bibliophiles (to illustrate: my parent's gift to my 40th birthday was a custom designed Ex Libris set), I prefer clothbound hardcovers. If the prose has been written in English, my priority would be one of the large hardback clothbound editions for the books I love and rate the highest, or Macmillan (if not available in the other two). If it's been written in a language I don't speak, my #1 priority is to get the best translation, and I do research this extensively. I prefer adherence to the original over "readability" 11 times out of 10. I'm interested in what the author wrote, if I wanted a reader's digest, I'd buy that. If it's a paperback, I prefer Penguin (great fonts, easy to open the books) or Alma (some of those books have beautiful covers) over any other edition. Of the paperback, I'd rate Wordsworth the lowest, it's clearly discount and when they've cheaped out on proof reading, it destroys the experience to me.
What a fab video - thank you! My favourite collections are Penguin cloth bound for my comfort reads (lots of Austen and Brontes here), Oxford World Classics, and I do love the Everyman collection. I seem to enjoy reading the Russians in the Everyman - psychologically weightier perhaps?! I will definitely check out Alma though, they look gorgeous on your shelf 😊
@Tristanandtheclassics, I read "The Woman in White" and now want to read "The Moonstone" but I want the print don't to be better than TWiW..... ..larger and clearer. So, please advise me which one will cause less eye strain,please ? Thank you in advance.
Oxford is my preferred edition, whether current or the older ones. Not only do they have the best notes and the best flop, the spines rarely crack. Another great edition is The Modern Library Classics (paperback)--good notes, great flop, not too heavy and easy to read font & spacing. (Probably more available in the U.S.) My Modern Library Classics edition of Stevenson's "Kidnapped" has a full glossary of all the Scots words and phrases, in addition to explanatory notes. I would have been lost without it.
Current (early 2024) MSRP of Wordsworth Karamazov Bothers, U.K. £3.99, US $6.99. Surprisingly, Real cost is 40% more in US (though Amazon discounts the US price $1).
My favorites: 1. Everyman's Library. In general, these are my favorite for the combination of great quality and great price (relative to quality). 2. Modern Library. Similar to Everyman's Library in terms of the combination of quality and price. I tend to prefer Everyman's slightly more, but honestly it could be more or less a toss-up between Everyman and Modern Library depending on the particular book in question (e.g. Moby Dick in the Modern Library has Rockwell Kent's absolutely beautiful artwork). 3. MacMillan Collector's Library. These are great little books as long as one doesn't mind the fits-in-the-palm-of-your-hand size. They're super affordable too, at least in the USA. Currently around $15 or less. 4. Library of America. As far as I know, it only has American literature (e.g. Melville, Twain, Faulkner). Also, the paper is a bit thin, with associated issues (e.g. bleed-through), whereas I tend to like heavier gsm which tends to be more opaque like in Everyman and Modern Library. Still, the Library of America produces high quality volumes that are worth owning. 5. Folio Society. This the highest quality, but also the highest price. I'd love to own one of these someday, but I won't be able to afford it any time soon!
My absolute favourites for reading are penguin English library editions They are the floppiest and really easy to read and annotate. But also immensely drool over the Everyman's editions I don't usually read in the I just buy them as a treat to myself.
I think I am an obsessive book-buyer and collector, but I do not collect books because they may increase in value or only because they are easy to look at. I collect them to read them, to go to them, to feel and peruse them. I believe you and I see books in a very similar way. Here's my take, Tristan. Penguin Classics: Good, but far too many of them come with no notes at all. I got rid of all my Penguins that lacked notes, except the ones that cover a book unpublished by another house (a rare occurrence). I have about 500 Penguin Classics, black covers. However, I dislike the more modern ones (bold white letters on the cover and terrible art, especially the Dickens ones). Foreign language note: Penguin has a Spanish edition section, but none of their works, either Spanish originals or translations into Spanish, have end notes. Thus, The Count of Montecristo in English has plenty of end notes; Penguin's Spanish version does not. Oxford Classics: Better than Penguin overall, but there are many titles that Oxford does not carry and Penguin does, so I have collected both of them down the years (Plotinus's "Enneads" comes to mind). I may have more Oxfords by now, maybe 600, but my favorite ones are the yellow ones, with a yellow spine; they stopped being printed in 1995, I think. They open very well, the paper quality was better, even on the cover: glossy and easy to clean. Their only problem was that Oxford used to be strange with its fonts, sometimes using some hard-to-read fonts, like that in an Old Western newspaper, forcing me to keep the Penguin for the better font and the Oxford for everything else. Far less Oxfords than Penguins lack end notes. And the Oxford Shakespeare comes in better quality white, non-acid paper, superior to Penguin's Shakespeare editions for about the same price. Still, many Oxfords are found only there, like Theodore Fontane's "Before the Storm," only available in an old Oxford edition prior to the yellow-cover ones, from the early 1980s. Wordsworth: I don't have many, perhaps twelve books in total. I read half of Crime and Punishment in my Wordsworth, then switched to Norton Critical Edition's New translation. As a funny note, I think I have about ten editions of Crime and Punishment because I hunted the introductions and the notes, so now I have my C&M in a dedicated box with photocopies of the introductions and notes belonging to the few editions I could not buy. Everyman's Library: one of my favorites, although many of them tend not to have notes. In my view, all works of literature from about 80 years ago and back need notes, and plenty of modern ones do, too. You are right about Everyman's covers: they can be very beautiful. Many of them, though, are just a picture of the author; and many more can be just a plain off-white cover with the author's name and the book's title. When buying online you may get one of these boring ones instead of the gorgeous-looking one you thought you were buying. Vintage Classics. I really don't care for them. I must own a few, less than five. Very worthy, in my opinion, are the following. I collect all of them, but selectively: Norton Critical Editions: popular in the US and Canada (don't know if in the UK), designed for college students, all of them have footnotes (some a lot -good! Some sparse -not good), criticism down the decades or centuries, backgrounds, maps if necessary, and glossaries. What they all lack is a good introduction, and uniformity of quality and numbers: some Nortons are in their 6th or so edition of a work; other works/authors get one edition if they are lucky. As the cannon changes, so does Norton, but I'd like all their titles to be available. Sadly, both Norton editions of Crime and Punishment, the old one and the recent one, were terrible disappointments for me. Broadview Editions: I believe this one is from Canada. Footnotes, introduction, commentaries after the text. Broadviews are very good, particularly because they focused (and maybe they still do) in lesser known works. Although heavily tilted towards English-language titles, and then mostly English ones, Broadview published gems such as The Ring and the Book, A Youth in Germany, East Lynne (recently also published by Oxford Classics), Mathilda, An imperative Duty, Obi, The Red Laugh and The Abyss, etc. Unlike Norton (and Oxford, and Penguin), Broadview built a strong foundation of neglected, out-of-print, or just forgotten works that are very worth our time. It does publish known classics (Shakespeare, Hardy, Dickens, etc) but, even then, Broadview can give us some obscure work by a renowned author: Harrington, by Maria Edgeworth, for example. Highly recommended. Library of America, hardcovers with black dust jacket, high-quality white, acid-free paper. Some people don't care for the thin paper, but I like it. I try not to get the slipcase editions, but you might like those because they do not have a dj. I like the overall quality of the product, but it's US-centered, only. The notes are mute, so you have to guess where there might be a note and check at the end of the volume, which I hate. I also dislike the criteria for being part of the LOA: all of Philip Roth's works were published by LOA while he lived (great); none of Joyce Carol Oates have, so far. New York Review Books. This one is a walk on the wild/lesser known/unknown side: most of the titles are less than famous (Kaputt, Riders in the Chariot, Going to the Dogs, The Foundation Pit, The Long Ships, The Return of Munchausen [sic], All for Nothing, The Peregrine, The Moon and the Bonfires, The Flanders Road, Pitch Dark, Abigail, The N'Gustro Affair, etc). All are paperbacks that do not remain open easily, with no notes, meagre intro when there is one. The cover art varies from original, to photos, to what-was-that? The spine colors are a rainbow. Some newer editions are rather boring-looking, but I haven't seen many of those, fortunately. I highly recommend this one. As always, for Spanish speakers/readers, I recommend Cátedra and Castalia, but now more Cátedra because they have retained their original look and high quality, acid-free paper, whereas Castalia has gone the cheap way, with pages that look like Penguin's. Still, both offer copious footnotes and, generally, an excellent, long introduction to the authors and their works. Cátedra has two Classics sections: Letras Hispánicas (Spanish language authors from all over the world), and Letras Universales (world literature translated into Spanish). Neither one is cheap for US buyers. Maybe it's better for UK people, since they are closer to Spain, and both publishing houses are from that country. Sorry. My comment was very long. i hope I didn't bore you. Your videos are great and they push me to opine. Until next time.
If I'm in a used bookstore with a choice of editions, I will probably choose the 1960s-style Signet Classic. That's nostalgia, though, isn't it? I also like the brittle old yellowed Penguins. Neither of which feel good in the hand; for that I'd go with Modern Library, Everyman's Library, or Library of America if they've gotten to it yet. I've never seen an Alma here in the U.S.
I smiled when you gave Oxford World Classics a shout out! I had an Oxford Classic sitting next to me as I watched the video and was wondering if they would make an appearance The only Oxford classic I own is Trilby by George Du Maurier, I wonder if you’ve read it? I’d love to hear your thoughts on the novel, as it seems to be a fairly forgotten classic
Been focusing on building my classic library and have been going for Wordsworth a lot when I’m getting them online because I can’t find them at thrift stores. I’m definitely a fan.
Some of the Everyman's Library books are not good at all, particularly Bleak House and David Copperfield - The pages are very thin, font is small and type not attractive and the spacing is terrible, not a comfortable read at all
My favorites are Oxford World Classics and the Penguin Black Spine. I also have some Vintage Red Spine. I learned from my experience, trying to read Don Quixote in the Penguin Black Spine, that I shouldn't read all the notes. I got derailed and didn't get very far! I got another copy with larger font with a wonderful translation (I believe it's the same translator). The font is also larger! I read The Count of Monte Cristo in the Black Spine Edition and rarely looked at the notes. I loved it! Thanks for your illuminating videos!
Re Alma Classics, I'll add on that, to at least my taste, they have great translations of works into English. A lot more readable IMO than translations offered by other publishers.
While they are on the higher price side, I think all penguin classic editions (classics, modern classics, English library) are just amazing with their font size, presentation, and just everything. I read everything from a Christmas carol to Ulysses in these editions and they are just so nice
I have also discovered the Alma Classics and I really like them. But my favorites are without a doubt Oxford World Classics. I'll pick them over most other editions (I'll go Penguin Deluxe if I can, but so few books are in those editions, and they are very expensive). If I can't get Oxford I'll go Penguin. I'm not a big fan of Vintage, though I have a lot of them. When buying classics in Norwegian bookshops it's usually either Vintage or Penguin you'll find, mostly Vintage.
I’ve recently finished the Vintage The Painted Veil and was surprised to find three (that I noticed) proofreading mistakes. ‘Covert’ for ‘convert’ for example. I’d checked with an old Penguin copy. I read the Vintage edition because it was more attractive overall. Just a bit of a shame they didn’t do a better job of editing.
I love Folio but they have become too expensive😢. When they used to have the monthly selection the price was better. I also have a small set of Chiltern classics which are lovely but smaller. And also Penguin Classics (cloth bound) are also nice.
OH! I did not know those Everyman editions came in different colors! I don't think I have ever seen them in person. Just on Booktube. Oh, they are glorious! That is exactly my style - simple, elegant, not too flashy / "busy" visually. I'm glad to hear about the font. Do you know if they are uniform? Or are they different size depending on the book? I wish I could see these in person. My eyesight has had a marked decline lately. It's starting to worry me. The thought of not being able to read sends me into a panic.
I was disappointed in my Wordsworth copy of Ben Hur. It was abridged, but nowhere in the listing for it, or on the cover nor very noticeable on the back was it indicated. I didn't realize it was abridged until I left it cover side down and saw the word "abridged" in a tiny font in the bottom corner.
Since I detest James Joyce (had "The Dubliners" as one of the many 'A' Level Eng.Lit) ,I recently bought "Ulysses" . ...don't ask me why 😂 Oxford Edition.....gosh, eyestrain ! Anyway, unlikely to read all of it again ! Yes,Wordsworth Classics are the best but no longer £2.50 ! What I do is: if I enjoyed the book, or books of a special author,I buy an expensive hardback. The Wordsworth has one good point: annotation does not make me cry ! One bad thing: never read the introduction if you have not read the book before ....spoilers 😂
I love Penguin Classics but not sure why they changed some elements. For example instead of orange pengiun symbol, you now have white penguin. The authors’ names are also now in white instead of red…
One could also collect books according to the illustrator; and get books created by some of the really great illustrators, like Gustave Dore', or N.C.Wyeth.
another thing I love about the alma classics is that every author has a similar style for all their covers which makes them even more of a joy to look at
That was a very enjoyable video! Thank you for presenting these various editions. I'm committed to Penguin Classics (and Modern Classics). I just love them - great covers, love the introductions, very much appreciate the notes and comments, plus wide enough margins to annotate. And I'm quite satisfied with the used look, the dinged corners and edges and spines, when I've read them. Vintage is alright as well though I'm not particular fond of the red spine. It stands out so much! I order my books alphabetically by title so the odd red (or blue or yellow or green) spine among all the white ones (dtv, atb and Diogenes -- German) and black ones (Penguin Classics) is jarring.
I use to have a lot of those mass market sizes, because they were cheap and I didn't have a permanent job until 2017, and I could afford to buy multiples. Now, I prefer a regular size. I have to be selective about my editions, because I don't have the space to have more than one copy of a book. Even with my clothbound, writing in them or the cover fading doesn't bother me as long as they're not falling apart I'm content. I have a lot of the Penguins, and a few of the Oxfords and clothbounds. As well as, a couple random editions.
@@tristanandtheclassics6538 Yes, back then they were perfect, but not being a student and being in the workforce I can buy the regular size paperbacks.
I've only just found your channel and I am planning a binge-watch session later! You introduced me to "the flop" something I never actually considered before. With the exception of the Alma editions, I already own several of the collections you talked about. After watching this I went and studied them with the observations you made! You've made me a bit wiser about my own library! Keep up the excellent work, it is very much appreciated!
A decent-sized, clear font is really important to me nowdays, with my eyesight. I had to swap out some Collins books because the font was teeny-weeny 😞 So now, I like Penguins - Vintage red spines, black spines, English modern classics in particular. Nice font, floppy, pretty hardy, look lovely on the shelf, cheaper too. Everyman's look gorgeous (& MacMillans) but Everyman's are quite expensive.
I don’t know about the penguin black spines, there just doesn’t seem to be any consistency. You’ll get one with white pages, the other with yellow clothy paper. One font is decent the next is tiny. And recently I went to the bookstore and the spines were a different font and style
i just bought a bunch of collins classic to start my journey to classic lit, i want to get hold of wordsworth or penguin black but my country has limited accessibility to those! collins are easily everywhere here
I have a soft spot for the Barnes and Noble paperback editions. Their designs combine the benefits of the wonderful art of the Oxford Classics with the distinctive colors of something like the Alma Classics.
I did not realise how different content could be. If you are getting Machiavelli's The Prince I would recommend the Penguin Classics edition. If you are getting Sun Tzu's Art of War then the Wordsworth Classics edition. Both these are beautifully translated, almost poetic. Other translations seem clunky in comparison. Just my opinion. Best wishes.
This was very helpful and very pleasing to watch! I'll take any of the softback editions, honestly. Penguin and Oxford are my faves because of the notes. I recently read a black spine Penguin of Hawthorne's The Marble Faun, and it was such an enjoyable experience in part because of the pleasing font and the detailed notes, which are a necessity for that book. 😅
So glad you enjoyed it😀 One can never go wrong with a Penguin. (That's an odd sentence, what?) I do enjoy Oxford classics, though they are not quite as stylish.
@tristanandtheclassics6538 well, not Penguin with a capital P. 😆
@@Dinadoesyoga 😂😂😂
It has been my experience that Penguin books are printed on very acidic and the pages yellow, deteriorate, and fall apart rather quickly compared to editions from other publishers. 😢
I go for the Penguin black spine classics b/c they’re the ones that my local indie bookstore sells. Once I had a few, I didn’t want my classics in any other edition. 😁
I am the same. I've been collecting the black spine classics for what seems like forever. I actually do not mind when the spines crack. It serves to remind me I've read the book and that brings back wonderful memories.
Gosh I hate that the Wordsmith Classics title it "The Karamazov Brothers" instead of "The Brothers Karamazov". It's subtle but it makes all the difference.
The only Wordsworth edition I have is Friedrich Nietzsche's Human, All Too Human and Beyond Good and Evil - the edition is combined and contains both books - nearly 700 pages total, and it cost about $8. With Penguin Classics (Penguin blacks, as you call them), the only one I have is Nietzsche's Ecce Homo - a super slim book, only 100 pages - and it cost $12. WTF?
Hullo Tristan i have just finished the idiot. I'll read demons. i eventually want to do a classical literature course.
I have a book buying problem and my obsession recently moved to classics. I decided to go in on Everyman's Library for their sheer beauty and their great intros. They also have an amazing PG Wodehouse collection.
Wordsworth books are Penguin’s uglier cousins. The cheaper Penguins have awful paper quality though, something where the Wordsworths are a better option. It’s a crime how cheap both Wordsworths and Collins despite are despite their drawbacks. But when it comes to cover arts Oxford World Classics are the clear champions, plus they have the best translations of the French and Russian classics.
It's so expensive but I think Folio Society is the best in the business and it's something I'm always saving money for. I love their approach is that each classic is like a work of art and so books are given individual thought into how it's put together. A Jane Austen novel should not look like an Agatha Christie novel. I just nerd out whenever there a new Folio Society release and it doesn't matter to me that my classics don't match.
I don't even want to look through the website. Coveting is a sin!
Oh yes, Folio Society makes some stunning editions!
Same here. When I first got my own flat, I joined The Folio Society, about 30 years ago, but life got in the way! Now I had for Everyman first. Both have acid-free paper, which is important to me, as someone who has had to replace a lot of my 1970s paperbacks because they discoloured so badly!
I have several hundred, Folio Society books; Hardy, Trollope, Oxford history, Jane Austen, Dickens etc. the books used to be under £50, but since they started doing limited editions, I stopped. I don't like the prices nor the current books, especially not the overpriced SF books. They are a bargain second hand as many never get read.
I recently collected some Penguin Classics Editions, the black backs. I enjoy reading them. I prefer to read paperbacks over hardcovers, just because they are smaller and lighter. Reading hardcovers makes me feel like I’m working out after a while, as opposed to relaxing and reading.
I love the Wordsworth classics but the font is a little too small for me, my eyes start to hurt after reading them for a long time and I'm not that old. Vintage red spine classics and Penguin english library editions are the best for reading imo.
I agree about the font size. Vintage are great for readability
No love for Penguin Clothbound Editions? You must not be a fan of cover art peeling off of your books lol.
Heck yeah. And those really thin pages that feel like rice paper; ready to dissolve between your fingertips, if you linger a little too long before flipping on to the next page.
Books for people who like to have attractive looking times decorating their shelves, but never actually read them.
I have the like 3 little cloth bounds and their really really sturdy and the paper is quite thick
All my other classics are oxford worlds classics and my favourite editions
Thanks for doing such a thorough comparison of the different editions. My favorites are the Penguin Modern Classics. Not one for matchy-matchy books, I love how individual the Alma Classics look on the shelf. I don’t know if you have it, but AC’s Anna Karenina is beautiful.
@@QuirkyGirl10 I do not
thank you for this! i watch a lot of book content but i rarely see anyone talking about the quality of the books. I find the size, paper quality and typesetting really important, and more people should talk about this :) Floppy paperbacks with a nice readable font are my favorites!
I am a little disappinted that you did not mention Macmillan Collector's Edition. I love these little cloth hardback books, the gorgious book covers of gold and light blue green, gold edging, and blue ribbon. I have quite a large collection, many of them are "trophies' from reading another edition, but I am more inclined to put one of these little gems in my purse (in a zip lock) of short story collections or poetry. The user experience is quite delightful.
This is quite funny, because I (literally just prior to this video!) just watched CarolynMarieReads do a video detailing her MacMillan collection, and discuss it in detail. I don't own any of that collection, but they do look beautiful and seem quite hardy little books 🙂
I have several of the Macmillan Collectors Classics, and I love them. In fact I’m actually on Amazon right now looking for more as I’m watching this video, and wondering why they didn’t make his list.
I absolutely adore them. I’m a little annoyed that they have rewritten a chapter of one “problematic” book (not sure which one) and that some are abridged (Count of Monte Cristo), but they are always my first choice.
I like books to be floppy and have a decent sized font, they’re the main things I look for so I collect mainly Penguin editions. The vintage red spines, the black Penguins, the modern classics and another that you didn’t mention; the English library. The latter has to be the best for flop! And they also look good on the shelf. I also really like the Oxford World Classics and have quite a lot of them.
Just found your channel a few days ago but really enjoying your videos. You have such genuine enthusiasm for the books you talk about which is more than can be said for a lot of other booktubers.
I love the Everyman's Library books. I just bought Charles Dickens "A Tale of Two Cities" because I love the series, and because of the beautiful dust jacket. Also, the "A Tale of Two Cities" cloth cover is a wonderful maroon/burgundy. The cream colored paper is fantastic, I like the highly readable font, and the bookmark is a nice detail.
Canongate Classics is great for Scottish literature. They have some really rare stuff like John Barbour's The Bruce, and Conan Doyle's Brigadier Gerard, John Buchan's Witch Wood, and a superb collection of the Scottish Short Story. Really solid.
Scandalous that the Alma classics has Moby Dick's tail showing in black, when we all know that he was a white wale!
Very true. But I imagine that in the styling of the period, the whale image could possibly have just been depicted in black on a poster to make it stand out more. Good spotting that though!
I store my all paperbacks in a small closet, I stack them. I dont have a lot of space for books.
My experience with hardback books is that they fall apart, after 20 years, while paperback do it after 10 years
I have a few hardback books printed 1920-1960 they look fabulous.
If you want classics that last then you should try to find vintage books, instead of new prints
The Oxford world classics are my favourite among paperbacks. I love the matte feel of the cover and the white color ❤
Not sure why I don't see them as much anymore, but the Modern Library Classics are some of the best and handsomest out there.
I have three favorites for my classics:
- Paperback -- Oxford World's Classics, particularly the newer format. They are floppy, they usually have good notes, and the paper is quite white, which I quite like. This is the edition that, when I do choose to annotate, I annotate. I'm addicted to these.
- Hardback -- Macmillan Collector's Library -- love these little pocket sized books, very white paper, great for always having a classic. I keep one in my work bag and one in my everyday personal computer bag. Ribbon page marker.
- Hardback - Everyman's Library. Particularly the larger page count books are a joy to read. No notes, but they are beautifully bound and lay flat. It took me a long time to collect the entire Dickens collection and I am really enjoying reading these. Ribbon page marker. Unlike most people, I love the look of them on the shelf with the jacket on, although I read them without the jacket.
I have a few Penguin Classics, mostly for titles that Oxford does not publish. By the way, I hate the newest editions which changed from the orange highlights to white in the cover and spine. And many of them don't quite line up on the shelf.
My experience with Wordsworth in the United States (and this may just be the ones I've happened to pick up in the book shop) are very tightly bound, seem to have a stiffer paper, and are rather unpleasant to read.
The everyman editions do look good lined up with their jackets on. As for Macmillan, they are beautiful. My only issue is that many are abridged editions.
I have about 120 of the Macmillans and very few are abridged: The Dumas novels are, one Dostoevsky, Les Mis, and Anna Karenina. However, a few of the re-released editions are coming out unabridged - the newer Anna K is now unabridged.
I'm assuming that you have the Everyman's Library Dickens illustrated cover editions instead of the white covers? I've been collecting them as well...at the least, used in very good or like new condition...and have returned them to the seller when they've been advertised as the illustrated covers but they ship the white covers. Because of that, there's no way that I would remove the covers on the bookshelves, although I also remove the covers while reading them.
Totally agree on the new Penguin black editions! They have ugly (IMHO) black & white drawings (like Tristan's Little Dorrit); I'll take the oil painting covers any day. I'd rather buy a used old black Penguin in good condition than an ugly brand new one.
Yes, on the illustrated covers. I have a few of the non illustrated covers for some of the non Dickens but all of my Dickens have the illustrations. The hardest one for me to get - which took a lot of searching - was The Old Curiosity Shop.
I like a nice flop
Saving this for later reference, thank you! It also makes me happy your back is doing well enough to allow you to hold all those books. It looks so simple. Until it isn't.
I don't know how long you've had your editions, but if more than 10 years, how are the insides physically holding up? I never gave this much thought because I treat all my books like my babies. But I've learned the hard way that even just sitting on a shelf, paperbacks degrade. The pages get yellow and/or brittle, highlighting fades, etc. One example, I bought a used book and the cover was already bent in one corner. What barbarian does that?! I did my best to straighten it out and keep it that way. After reading it, I put it on the shelf and there it stood for years. I went to read it again recently. When I simply opened it, that portion cracked right off. It was sad. I suddenly realized that will likely happen to all my paperbacks. I'm trying to buy more hardcovers these days. But only used. I am barely working part time, so my funds are limited. No exaggeration, I sometimes buy books over food! I mean, food, you eat it and that's it. Books last years... just apparently not decades.
With the Oxford classics you dont see cracked lines like you do with the Black Penguin.
Never ever heard of "the flop" before...everydays a school day
😂 I'm not sure if it's the bona fide term for it, but it certainly captures the essence of the thing.
@@tristanandtheclassics6538 well there's a name for everything and it's as good as any.😄
@@tristanandtheclassics6538 Oh, it's the term, all right! You should see the Bible reviewers!
The flop definitely helps me decide on buying a book lol
Do you have a shelf of first editions?
Penguins are actually usually the chosen books for required readings at my German Uni
I have all of Jane Austen's books in the Alma edition and love the covers. I think it gives it a fun updated look that I hope encourages new readers to try them. And just as you mentioned, they are super cheap so I was able to buy the whole set!
I think I'll always prefer the black Penguin paperbacks, though, for annotating. The pages aren't high quality, but for some reason, I enjoy the grit that catches when I write in them. I love the Reader's Digest hardcovers best of all, but sadly, they're more expensive and I must hunt them down secondhand. It feels like a true storybook and gives the reading an entirely different experience,
That's amazing. I'm so pleased to know another booktuber who has found Alma Classics.
I love cheap, crappy editions of books. Makes me feel like I will go to any length to read the work. So long as its not a bad translation or abridged
Ah, translations...that's another discussion entirely! If anyone is venturing forth, do your homework on the flavor of each translator (for those authors who have multiple translators). Translation can make or break the reading experience. 😉 Excellent video Tristan thank you. Oh, i love the Penguin Black books.
Translation is something that I'm trying to understand better. Once I do, I'll make a video on it. Perhaps I should try and track down a translator to interview.
This has been a problem for me of late. I don't know why it never occurred to me that there could be different, even multiple, translations for some books, and that not all are equally good. I was all set to read some Dostoevsky for the first time and then learned this fact. Sure enough, the translation I had was one that isn't considered as good as a different one. How was I to know that? Worse, I then learned there are even MORE translations that I'd never even heard of. How are you supposed to know what's an accurate translation or not when you only know the translated language, not the original one? All you can do in that case is trust the opinions of other people who do know both languages. Argh! The only other language I know besides English is Spanish. I don't have much experience reading it, but I can muddle through, depending on the difficulty. I could probably compare a few paragraphs of something (again, depending on the type of book and the difficulty) with the English translation and make a fairly correct determination on how accurate it is and even how well it flows. But that's the only language where I could do that. Can you see how much this is bothering me? If I wasn't already in my mid-50s I'd seriously consider learning Russian just so I could read these classics as they were first written. But I don't know if that would be worth the time commitment/difficulty. Just my luck, I'd get fluent and then drop dead before getting to actually read any of the works. :)
@@Yesica1993I’ve had this issue too and have seen other channels talk about how to choose which translation to go for. Some suggest it’s not always about literal word for word accuracy but often about choosing which style you personally prefer, and pick the one you think you’ll enjoy most. If possible I try and compare a few extracts before deciding or try more than one. Likely anyone reading for study or academic purposes may have to be more careful which translation to read and which to avoid but reading for pleasure I don’t worry too much.
@@Saraneyd Yes, it does seem it requires more research than I first realized. I don't mind doing that. I guess it's just a bit intimidating, first starting out. It caught me by surprise that there could be multiple translations in a single language. I don't know why it never occurred to me. Duh!
I love the extra material in Oxford and Penguin editions. Unfortunately, the books in the new Penguin edition have a smaller font that I find unreadable. The covers are also different. And in the last few books I got in the Oxford edition, the font wasn’t clear. So now I only buy these two editions as Ebooks and read them on my Kindle.
I own The Picture of Dorian Gray in the Alma Classics edition. I wish the font was a little bit darker, but I like that it also has some explanatory notes in the back.
I also own a book in Everyman’s Children’s Classics edition and I definitely want to own more of their books. They’re really well made.
I enjoyed this review. My two faves are the Oxfords and the Penguin Moderns.
I now prefer the Oxford World Classics over the Penguin Editions. Their editions of Shakespeare are brilliant because they're sewn into proper registers and are much more durable than those where the pages are simply glued in.
I took your advice on the Wordsworth classics. Maybe I live near a bad Amazon distribution center, as every one of the books I've ordered arrived badly damaged.
I hardly ever order from Amazon for books anymore, but I've noticed the same problem with books in the last few years. They arrive damaged. If you order from anywhere else, they clearly take the time to carefully pack and protect the book, just another reason to not use Amazon for book orders.
Just come across your channel. I was starting to collect Penguin blacks, then I discovered Oxford. I agree. They are great. Got a copy of Wuthering Heights and there is so much extra material-including a selection of Emily Bronte’s poetry. Oh dear- am I going to have to start again!
I love a good book flop. Draws me right in.
There's nothing quite like it. 😀
Brilliant video Tristan! The crash test dummies make me laugh every time. 😂I do love black penguin classics , penguin English library (which are floppy) and I like the clothbounds for collectibles 📖📖📖📚
Tee hee, I do like teasing Wordsworth about their covers. But I buy their editions frequently. Such good value for money.
You have inspired me to Google Everyman classics as I have several of their old editions with the lovely Arts and Crafts inspired end papers and the quotation from the play Everyman. What an interesting story I found there about Mr Dent who founded these editions. Maybe you could show us some of these old secondhand editions and speak about him some time?
“Quite a nice flop.” 😅 I did not know that I should be counting this as an attribute. Will definitely be looking for that going forward. :)
Great video! Classic Tristan! :) The wordsworth classics are certain great for the price, floppiness factor and font. I have quite a few . My only grip is that i don't have a lot of room for notes in the margins . Well, one more small gripe- I am not always the best fan of the translations. Overall though a win. I tend to go for those on classics I've not yet read and not sure If i'll like.
I LOVE the Vintage red spines. I only own a few , but no complaints from me.
Everyman's library - to be honest, if i could afford it, i'd have a full library of these. I prefer reading from paperback but i love the naked hardbacks of the Everyman's
For me, Penguin black spines are a favorite. I adore the cover art they choose, love the feel and the font . I also adore the penguin modern classics, but they can be a bit pricey here in the US .
A floppy book that looks well loved when read repeatedly that I can also write in? Perfection. :)
Perfect!
Perfect!
I have been in Wales visiting historical sites and book hunting this week. I naturally visited the bookshops. I added quite a few Penguin Classics and a couple of Everyman. If I buy S/H Everyman, I'm prepared to annotate them too.
I annotate all of my books! I love the feeling of engagement it gives me while I’m reading.
When it comes to classics, I like a thorough, well-written introduction.
I agree. The introduction can offer so much insight into the book. I often go back and read it again after finishing. I had to laugh when the introduction to Vanity Fair said not to read it if you haven’t already read it!
I am interested to know which editions have the best translations. Love your videos by the way!
Yes excellent suggestion
I personally like signet classic especially for Shakespeare as it has the notes on the page so you don’t have to turn to the back
great video, man.
currently halfway through 'great expectations' (collins classic), an amazing book. mostly collins on the book shelf, look nice and neat
All I want right now is a decent hardcover of Jane Eyre. I can't believe it's been so hard to find. My beloved paperback got caught in a totally unexpected rainstorm within a few days of buying it. I wanted to cry! Then I ordered what I thought was a hardcover from ebay. I was thrilled with the price. Then I realized when I got it that it was in two volumes. WHO DOES THAT?! Plus, the font was tiny. It's not a long book! I was not happy. I ended up selling it back to a used bookstore for a pittance. I wasn't happy about that either. But I knew I'd never read them so why keep them?
i just received my everyman’s library edition copy of jane eyre today! you might want to consider it-worth the price for a hardcover ⭐️ tho in the end, it still depends on one’s preference 🙇🏻♀️ i’m simply a fan of the art for their dust jackets and the binding quality :D the font seems decent but the saturation of the text itself is not consistent since it tends to get ‘lighter’ making it look dark gray instead of jet black (idk if it’s just my copy)
Sorry for the late response. Stupid TH-cam is hit or miss with notifications. Thanks for the heads up! My birthday is coming up in a few weeks so maybe I will treat myself. It's the only time I don't feel (too) guilty about buying something for myself. And congratulations to you for getting it!@@thedustdevil
Really glad to see detailed discussion regarding font and page layout and page quality. Truly what matters is the inside and not the outside, when most of the time you'll spend reading and not looking at the book
Oxford World's Classics is my choice when I'm looking for notes. If I'm judging the book solely by its cover, then I'm probably picking up an Alma. I don't arrange by publisher, so I don't worry about how the spines match, except for the Everyman spines that seem to be missing foil. Just looked up Alma and I'm seeing titles I don't recognize. That's interesting.... I guess some are short story collections. Might have to pick up some Kindle versions.
Well, ended up getting Four Alma Classics. 📖
Nice review. In the USA we have a very popular Barnes and Noble Classics . Most like the Oxford Classics and very affordable in the US.
Just a quick question sir, I'm thinking of buying my first Thomas Hardy novel. Which book should I start with?
1. Far from the madding crowd
2. Tess of the d'urbervilles
3. The mayor of casterbridge
Sorry for my bad english, sir. English is not my first language.
I would recommend Far from the Madding Crowd. A great read.
I like 'The Mayor of Casterbridge' personally.
As you can see from the other replies, any of those three would be good choices. I would probably go with Far From The Madding Crowd, personally. Tess is a favourite of mine, though.
I'm collecting the Penguin Clothbound (and Little Clothbound), Macmillan's Collector, Everyman's, Alma, Penguin (Modern) Classics, and I have a handful of Wordsworths and Vintage Classics.
Having been born and raised in a family of bibliophiles (to illustrate: my parent's gift to my 40th birthday was a custom designed Ex Libris set), I prefer clothbound hardcovers.
If the prose has been written in English, my priority would be one of the large hardback clothbound editions for the books I love and rate the highest, or Macmillan (if not available in the other two).
If it's been written in a language I don't speak, my #1 priority is to get the best translation, and I do research this extensively. I prefer adherence to the original over "readability" 11 times out of 10. I'm interested in what the author wrote, if I wanted a reader's digest, I'd buy that.
If it's a paperback, I prefer Penguin (great fonts, easy to open the books) or Alma (some of those books have beautiful covers) over any other edition. Of the paperback, I'd rate Wordsworth the lowest, it's clearly discount and when they've cheaped out on proof reading, it destroys the experience to me.
What a fab video - thank you! My favourite collections are Penguin cloth bound for my comfort reads (lots of Austen and Brontes here), Oxford World Classics, and I do love the Everyman collection. I seem to enjoy reading the Russians in the Everyman - psychologically weightier perhaps?! I will definitely check out Alma though, they look gorgeous on your shelf 😊
@Tristanandtheclassics,
I read "The Woman in White" and now want to read "The Moonstone" but I want the print don't to be better than TWiW..... ..larger and clearer.
So, please advise me which one will cause less eye strain,please ?
Thank you in advance.
Penguin Classics make me happy. ❤
Nice summary, I'm an Oxford World Classics enthusiast
Oxford is my preferred edition, whether current or the older ones. Not only do they have the best notes and the best flop, the spines rarely crack. Another great edition is The Modern Library Classics (paperback)--good notes, great flop, not too heavy and easy to read font & spacing. (Probably more available in the U.S.) My Modern Library Classics edition of Stevenson's "Kidnapped" has a full glossary of all the Scots words and phrases, in addition to explanatory notes. I would have been lost without it.
Current (early 2024) MSRP of Wordsworth Karamazov Bothers, U.K. £3.99, US $6.99. Surprisingly, Real cost is 40% more in US (though Amazon discounts the US price $1).
My favorites:
1. Everyman's Library. In general, these are my favorite for the combination of great quality and great price (relative to quality).
2. Modern Library. Similar to Everyman's Library in terms of the combination of quality and price. I tend to prefer Everyman's slightly more, but honestly it could be more or less a toss-up between Everyman and Modern Library depending on the particular book in question (e.g. Moby Dick in the Modern Library has Rockwell Kent's absolutely beautiful artwork).
3. MacMillan Collector's Library. These are great little books as long as one doesn't mind the fits-in-the-palm-of-your-hand size. They're super affordable too, at least in the USA. Currently around $15 or less.
4. Library of America. As far as I know, it only has American literature (e.g. Melville, Twain, Faulkner). Also, the paper is a bit thin, with associated issues (e.g. bleed-through), whereas I tend to like heavier gsm which tends to be more opaque like in Everyman and Modern Library. Still, the Library of America produces high quality volumes that are worth owning.
5. Folio Society. This the highest quality, but also the highest price. I'd love to own one of these someday, but I won't be able to afford it any time soon!
I treat myself to an Everyman copy of my faves and LOVE their anthology volumes 👍🏼
My absolute favourites for reading are penguin English library editions They are the floppiest and really easy to read and annotate. But also immensely drool over the Everyman's editions I don't usually read in the I just buy them as a treat to myself.
I can't stand to look at any of them other than Penguin Black Spine, Oxford World's Classics, then Wordsworth's.
I think I am an obsessive book-buyer and collector, but I do not collect books because they may increase in value or only because they are easy to look at. I collect them to read them, to go to them, to feel and peruse them. I believe you and I see books in a very similar way. Here's my take, Tristan.
Penguin Classics: Good, but far too many of them come with no notes at all. I got rid of all my Penguins that lacked notes, except the ones that cover a book unpublished by another house (a rare occurrence). I have about 500 Penguin Classics, black covers. However, I dislike the more modern ones (bold white letters on the cover and terrible art, especially the Dickens ones). Foreign language note: Penguin has a Spanish edition section, but none of their works, either Spanish originals or translations into Spanish, have end notes. Thus, The Count of Montecristo in English has plenty of end notes; Penguin's Spanish version does not.
Oxford Classics: Better than Penguin overall, but there are many titles that Oxford does not carry and Penguin does, so I have collected both of them down the years (Plotinus's "Enneads" comes to mind). I may have more Oxfords by now, maybe 600, but my favorite ones are the yellow ones, with a yellow spine; they stopped being printed in 1995, I think. They open very well, the paper quality was better, even on the cover: glossy and easy to clean. Their only problem was that Oxford used to be strange with its fonts, sometimes using some hard-to-read fonts, like that in an Old Western newspaper, forcing me to keep the Penguin for the better font and the Oxford for everything else. Far less Oxfords than Penguins lack end notes. And the Oxford Shakespeare comes in better quality white, non-acid paper, superior to Penguin's Shakespeare editions for about the same price. Still, many Oxfords are found only there, like Theodore Fontane's "Before the Storm," only available in an old Oxford edition prior to the yellow-cover ones, from the early 1980s.
Wordsworth: I don't have many, perhaps twelve books in total. I read half of Crime and Punishment in my Wordsworth, then switched to Norton Critical Edition's New translation. As a funny note, I think I have about ten editions of Crime and Punishment because I hunted the introductions and the notes, so now I have my C&M in a dedicated box with photocopies of the introductions and notes belonging to the few editions I could not buy.
Everyman's Library: one of my favorites, although many of them tend not to have notes. In my view, all works of literature from about 80 years ago and back need notes, and plenty of modern ones do, too. You are right about Everyman's covers: they can be very beautiful. Many of them, though, are just a picture of the author; and many more can be just a plain off-white cover with the author's name and the book's title. When buying online you may get one of these boring ones instead of the gorgeous-looking one you thought you were buying.
Vintage Classics. I really don't care for them. I must own a few, less than five.
Very worthy, in my opinion, are the following. I collect all of them, but selectively:
Norton Critical Editions: popular in the US and Canada (don't know if in the UK), designed for college students, all of them have footnotes (some a lot -good! Some sparse -not good), criticism down the decades or centuries, backgrounds, maps if necessary, and glossaries. What they all lack is a good introduction, and uniformity of quality and numbers: some Nortons are in their 6th or so edition of a work; other works/authors get one edition if they are lucky. As the cannon changes, so does Norton, but I'd like all their titles to be available. Sadly, both Norton editions of Crime and Punishment, the old one and the recent one, were terrible disappointments for me.
Broadview Editions: I believe this one is from Canada. Footnotes, introduction, commentaries after the text. Broadviews are very good, particularly because they focused (and maybe they still do) in lesser known works. Although heavily tilted towards English-language titles, and then mostly English ones, Broadview published gems such as The Ring and the Book, A Youth in Germany, East Lynne (recently also published by Oxford Classics), Mathilda, An imperative Duty, Obi, The Red Laugh and The Abyss, etc. Unlike Norton (and Oxford, and Penguin), Broadview built a strong foundation of neglected, out-of-print, or just forgotten works that are very worth our time. It does publish known classics (Shakespeare, Hardy, Dickens, etc) but, even then, Broadview can give us some obscure work by a renowned author: Harrington, by Maria Edgeworth, for example. Highly recommended.
Library of America, hardcovers with black dust jacket, high-quality white, acid-free paper. Some people don't care for the thin paper, but I like it. I try not to get the slipcase editions, but you might like those because they do not have a dj. I like the overall quality of the product, but it's US-centered, only. The notes are mute, so you have to guess where there might be a note and check at the end of the volume, which I hate. I also dislike the criteria for being part of the LOA: all of Philip Roth's works were published by LOA while he lived (great); none of Joyce Carol Oates have, so far.
New York Review Books. This one is a walk on the wild/lesser known/unknown side: most of the titles are less than famous (Kaputt, Riders in the Chariot, Going to the Dogs, The Foundation Pit, The Long Ships, The Return of Munchausen [sic], All for Nothing, The Peregrine, The Moon and the Bonfires, The Flanders Road, Pitch Dark, Abigail, The N'Gustro Affair, etc). All are paperbacks that do not remain open easily, with no notes, meagre intro when there is one. The cover art varies from original, to photos, to what-was-that? The spine colors are a rainbow. Some newer editions are rather boring-looking, but I haven't seen many of those, fortunately. I highly recommend this one.
As always, for Spanish speakers/readers, I recommend Cátedra and Castalia, but now more Cátedra because they have retained their original look and high quality, acid-free paper, whereas Castalia has gone the cheap way, with pages that look like Penguin's. Still, both offer copious footnotes and, generally, an excellent, long introduction to the authors and their works. Cátedra has two Classics sections: Letras Hispánicas (Spanish language authors from all over the world), and Letras Universales (world literature translated into Spanish). Neither one is cheap for US buyers. Maybe it's better for UK people, since they are closer to Spain, and both publishing houses are from that country.
Sorry. My comment was very long. i hope I didn't bore you. Your videos are great and they push me to opine. Until next time.
If I'm in a used bookstore with a choice of editions, I will probably choose the 1960s-style Signet Classic. That's nostalgia, though, isn't it? I also like the brittle old yellowed Penguins. Neither of which feel good in the hand; for that I'd go with Modern Library, Everyman's Library, or Library of America if they've gotten to it yet. I've never seen an Alma here in the U.S.
I smiled when you gave Oxford World Classics a shout out! I had an Oxford Classic sitting next to me as I watched the video and was wondering if they would make an appearance
The only Oxford classic I own is Trilby by George Du Maurier, I wonder if you’ve read it?
I’d love to hear your thoughts on the novel, as it seems to be a fairly forgotten classic
Been focusing on building my classic library and have been going for Wordsworth a lot when I’m getting them online because I can’t find them at thrift stores. I’m definitely a fan.
Right.Artwork is nice but boy does it fade fairly Quickly.
Some of the Everyman's Library books are not good at all, particularly Bleak House and David Copperfield - The pages are very thin, font is small and type not attractive and the spacing is terrible, not a comfortable read at all
I wonder why Penguin has dropped the orange-font author on the spine. It looked so elegant against the black. The white looks cheaper (maybe it is).
My favorites are Oxford World Classics and the Penguin Black Spine. I also have some Vintage Red Spine. I learned from my experience, trying to read Don Quixote in the Penguin Black Spine, that I shouldn't read all the notes. I got derailed and didn't get very far! I got another copy with larger font with a wonderful translation (I believe it's the same translator). The font is also larger! I read The Count of Monte Cristo in the Black Spine Edition and rarely looked at the notes. I loved it! Thanks for your illuminating videos!
Re Alma Classics, I'll add on that, to at least my taste, they have great translations of works into English. A lot more readable IMO than translations offered by other publishers.
While they are on the higher price side, I think all penguin classic editions (classics, modern classics, English library) are just amazing with their font size, presentation, and just everything. I read everything from a Christmas carol to Ulysses in these editions and they are just so nice
I have also discovered the Alma Classics and I really like them. But my favorites are without a doubt Oxford World Classics. I'll pick them over most other editions (I'll go Penguin Deluxe if I can, but so few books are in those editions, and they are very expensive). If I can't get Oxford I'll go Penguin. I'm not a big fan of Vintage, though I have a lot of them. When buying classics in Norwegian bookshops it's usually either Vintage or Penguin you'll find, mostly Vintage.
I’ve recently finished the Vintage The Painted Veil and was surprised to find three (that I noticed) proofreading mistakes. ‘Covert’ for ‘convert’ for example. I’d checked with an old Penguin copy. I read the Vintage edition because it was more attractive overall. Just a bit of a shame they didn’t do a better job of editing.
I love Folio but they have become too expensive😢. When they used to have the monthly selection the price was better. I also have a small set of Chiltern classics which are lovely but smaller. And also Penguin Classics (cloth bound) are also nice.
OH! I did not know those Everyman editions came in different colors! I don't think I have ever seen them in person. Just on Booktube. Oh, they are glorious! That is exactly my style - simple, elegant, not too flashy / "busy" visually. I'm glad to hear about the font. Do you know if they are uniform? Or are they different size depending on the book? I wish I could see these in person. My eyesight has had a marked decline lately. It's starting to worry me. The thought of not being able to read sends me into a panic.
I was disappointed in my Wordsworth copy of Ben Hur. It was abridged, but nowhere in the listing for it, or on the cover nor very noticeable on the back was it indicated. I didn't realize it was abridged until I left it cover side down and saw the word "abridged" in a tiny font in the bottom corner.
Hey what about the Loeb Classical Library?! It even has ‘classic’ in its name!
Since I detest James Joyce (had "The Dubliners" as one of the many 'A' Level Eng.Lit) ,I recently bought "Ulysses" . ...don't ask me why 😂 Oxford Edition.....gosh, eyestrain ! Anyway, unlikely to read all of it again !
Yes,Wordsworth Classics are the best but no longer £2.50 !
What I do is: if I enjoyed the book, or books of a special author,I buy an expensive hardback. The Wordsworth has one good point: annotation does not make me cry ! One bad thing: never read the introduction if you have not read the book before ....spoilers 😂
Tristan, hello mate! Have you checked Chiltern?
I love Penguin Classics but not sure why they changed some elements. For example instead of orange pengiun symbol, you now have white penguin. The authors’ names are also now in white instead of red…
One could also collect books according to the illustrator; and get books created by some of the really great illustrators, like Gustave Dore', or N.C.Wyeth.
I do really like the Alma classics, but one of my favorites is actually the Penguin deluxe classics
another thing I love about the alma classics is that every author has a similar style for all their covers which makes them even more of a joy to look at
Everyman’s Library Éditions are my favorite……..well worth the money!
That was a very enjoyable video! Thank you for presenting these various editions. I'm committed to Penguin Classics (and Modern Classics). I just love them - great covers, love the introductions, very much appreciate the notes and comments, plus wide enough margins to annotate. And I'm quite satisfied with the used look, the dinged corners and edges and spines, when I've read them. Vintage is alright as well though I'm not particular fond of the red spine. It stands out so much! I order my books alphabetically by title so the odd red (or blue or yellow or green) spine among all the white ones (dtv, atb and Diogenes -- German) and black ones (Penguin Classics) is jarring.
Thank you so much for this breakdown! I am very picky about my book feel and print size. This is a very useful guide.
i was being too careful reading books, now i rip the pages after reading them
I use to have a lot of those mass market sizes, because they were cheap and I didn't have a permanent job until 2017, and I could afford to buy multiples. Now, I prefer a regular size. I have to be selective about my editions, because I don't have the space to have more than one copy of a book. Even with my clothbound, writing in them or the cover fading doesn't bother me as long as they're not falling apart I'm content. I have a lot of the Penguins, and a few of the Oxfords and clothbounds. As well as, a couple random editions.
The mass market editions are a godsend. Imagine how expensive book reading would get otherwise! Love that you prioritise annotation over clean pages
@@tristanandtheclassics6538 Yes, back then they were perfect, but not being a student and being in the workforce I can buy the regular size paperbacks.
I've only just found your channel and I am planning a binge-watch session later! You introduced me to "the flop" something I never actually considered before. With the exception of the Alma editions, I already own several of the collections you talked about. After watching this I went and studied them with the observations you made! You've made me a bit wiser about my own library! Keep up the excellent work, it is very much appreciated!
I definitely learned something! Thanx.
Everyman is the best.
They are lovely 😍
A decent-sized, clear font is really important to me nowdays, with my eyesight. I had to swap out some Collins books because the font was teeny-weeny 😞
So now, I like Penguins - Vintage red spines, black spines, English modern classics in particular. Nice font, floppy, pretty hardy, look lovely on the shelf, cheaper too. Everyman's look gorgeous (& MacMillans) but Everyman's are quite expensive.
I don’t know about the penguin black spines, there just doesn’t seem to be any consistency. You’ll get one with white pages, the other with yellow clothy paper. One font is decent the next is tiny. And recently I went to the bookstore and the spines were a different font and style
They don’t match up as a set so well but for flip and notes, Norton critical editions are quite good.
Too many selections to pick just one ? It would be my first buy.
i just bought a bunch of collins classic to start my journey to classic lit, i want to get hold of wordsworth or penguin black but my country has limited accessibility to those! collins are easily everywhere here
I have a soft spot for the Barnes and Noble paperback editions. Their designs combine the benefits of the wonderful art of the Oxford Classics with the distinctive colors of something like the Alma Classics.
I also cultivated my love for classics with those editions taken from my high school library!
I did not realise how different content could be. If you are getting Machiavelli's The Prince I would recommend the Penguin Classics edition. If you are getting Sun Tzu's Art of War then the Wordsworth Classics edition. Both these are beautifully translated, almost poetic. Other translations seem clunky in comparison. Just my opinion. Best wishes.
Please I can't afford to buy them all >_