Books in Quirk Classics series

Amelia Edith Huddleston Barr (March 29, 1831 – March 10, 1919) was a British novelist She was born on March 29, 1831 in Ulverston, Lancashire, England as Amelia Edith Huddleston to Reverend William Huddleston. In 1850 she married William Barr, and four years later they migrated to the United States and settled in Galveston, Texas where her husband and three of their six children died a sad death from yellow fever in 1867. With her three remaining daughters, Mrs. Barr moved to Ridgewood, New Jersey in 1868. She came there to tutor the three sons of a prominent citizen, William Libby, and opened a school in a small house. This structure still stands at the southwest corner of Van Dien and Linwood Avenues. Amelia Barr did not like Ridgewood and did not remain there for very long. She left shortly after selling a story to a magazine. In 1869, she moved to New York City where she began to write for religious periodicals and to publish a series of semi-historical tales and novels

“There was an Old Derry down Derry,Who loved to see little folks merry;So he made them a Book,And with laughter they shookAt the fun of that Derry down Derry.”First published in 1846 under the pseudonym “Old Derry down Derry”, A Book of Nonsense is a collection adapted from the limericks and illustrations Edward Lear created to amuse the grandchildren of Lord Stanley, 13th Earl of Derby, while he was staying with the family at Knowsley Hall. Embodying Lear's passion for nonsense, the limericks, each accompanied by one of Lear's beguiling original illustrations, are fun, lyrical, lively and hilarious, and have enchanted children and adults since their first appearance in the middle of the nineteenth century.

Christie Johnstone is an 1853 romantic drama novel by the British writer Charles Reade. It follows the adventures of the young and wealthy aristocrat Viscount Ipsden who falls for a woman named Christie Johnstone. It is set in Newhaven near Edinburgh and may have been based on the real life experiences of Reade. It followed up his first major literary success Peg Woffington, released earlier the same year.