Books published by publisher Royal Classics

Middlemarch is set in the fictitious Midlands town of Middlemarch during 1829-32, and it comprises several distinct and intersecting stories and a large cast of characters. The narrative is variably considered to consist of three or four plots of unequal emphasis: the life of Dorothea Brooke; the career of Tertius Lydgate; the courtship of Mary Garth by Fred Vincy; and the disgrace of Bulstrode. Significant themes include the status of women, the nature of marriage, idealism, self-interest, religion, hypocrisy, political reform, and education.Although containing comical elements, Middlemarch is a work of realism that refers to many historical events: the 1832 Reform Act, the beginnings of the railways, the death of King George iv, and the succession of his brother, King William iv. In addition, the work incorporates contemporary medical science and examines the deeply reactionary mindset found within a settled community facing the prospect of unwelcome change.This cloth-bound book includes a Victorian inspired dust-jacket, and is limited to 100 copies.

A Study in Scarlet is the first story to feature Sherlock Holmes, and the first work of fiction to incorporate the magnifying glass as a detective tool. The story opens with Holmes and Watson meeting each other for the first time, and their decision to become flat-mates at 221b Baker Street. Soon they are involved in a murder-mystery involving kidnapping, enslavement and revenge that will test the limits of Holmes' skills and establish a life-long relationship with Watson.Sherlock Holmes is famous for his intellectual prowess and is renowned for his skilful use of deductive reasoning, astute observation, and forensic skills to solve difficult cases. Deductive reasoning allows Holmes to impressively reveal a stranger's occupation. Similarly, by studying inanimate objects, he is able to make astonishingly detailed deductions about their owners. This mindset was a major innovation in the field of crime fiction, inspiring authors like Robert J. Sawyer, Neil Gaiman and Stephen King.This cloth-bound book includes a Victorian inspired dust-jacket, and is limited to 100 copies.

Testing his time machine for the first time, a Victorian scientist finds himself in the year 802,701 AD. Encountering a childlike people called the Eloi, who live in futuristic buildings and have no need of work, the Time Traveller speculates that the human race has evolved to live in a peaceful utopian society. But when his time machine is stolen by a brutish subterranean people called the Morlock, the Time Traveller must enter their realm in order to continue his journey through time.H. G. Wells is credited with the popularisation of time travel, and introduced the idea of time being the "fourth dimension" a decade before the publication of Einstein's first Relativity papers. The Time Machine also reflects on Wells' views on the antagonism between social classes resulting from different economic and social interests, and the evolution of the human condition. Included is The Grey Man, which was originally written as chapter 11 to The Time Machine, but was removed before publication, and later published as a short story.This cloth-bound book includes a Victorian inspired dust-jacket, and is limited to 100 copies.

With the arrival of spring and fine weather outside, the good-natured Mole loses patience with spring cleaning. He flees his underground home, and encounters Rat who teaches Mole how to use a row boat. The two friends team up with Badger and Toad, and go on many adventures together. The friends soon learn that Toad lives a reckless life, having crashed seven cars, been hospitalised three times, and spent a fortune on fines. Mole, Rat, and Badger follow Toad on his adventures, and try to help him realize what good friends he has, while doing their best to turn his life around.Alternately slow moving and fast paced, The Wind in the Willows focuses on four anthropomorphised animals in a pastoral version of England. The novel is notable for its mixture of mysticism, adventure, morality, and camaraderie and celebrated for its evocation of the nature of the Thames valley. In 2002, Mr. Toad was voted Number 38 among the 100 Best Characters in Fiction Since 1900 by Book magazine.This cloth-bound book includes a Victorian inspired dust-jacket, and is limited to 100 copies.

In the 17th century Hugo Baskerville is killed by a vicious hellhound. Generations later, Sir Henry Baskerville is found dead at the family estate, and the hound of legend is to blame. Can Holmes and Watson save the next Baskerville heir from an ancient curse before it's too late?Sherlock Holmes is famous for his intellectual prowess and is renowned for his skilful use of deductive reasoning, astute observation, and forensic skills to solve difficult cases. Deductive reasoning allows Holmes to impressively reveal a stranger's occupation. Similarly, by studying inanimate objects, he is able to make astonishingly detailed deductions about their owners. This mindset was a major innovation in the field of crime fiction, inspiring authors like Robert J. Sawyer, Neil Gaiman and Stephen King.This cloth-bound book includes a Victorian inspired dust-jacket, and is limited to 100 copies.

At the outset of the novel, Sherlock Holmes receives a mysterious cipher message from an agent of Professor Moriarty. Together Holmes and Watson decipher Moriarty's message which relates that a man named John Douglas, residing at Birlstone, is in danger. When they arrive at Brimstone, John Douglas is already dead, leaving Sherlock to use his detective skills to solve his biggest mystery yet.Sherlock Holmes is famous for his intellectual prowess and is renowned for his skilful use of deductive reasoning, astute observation, and forensic skills to solve difficult cases. Deductive reasoning allows Holmes to impressively reveal a stranger's occupation. Similarly, by studying inanimate objects, he is able to make astonishingly detailed deductions about their owners. This mindset was a major innovation in the field of crime fiction, inspiring authors like Robert J. Sawyer, Neil Gaiman and Stephen King.This cloth-bound book includes a Victorian inspired dust-jacket, and is limited to 100 copies.

This Side of Paradise centres on Amory Blaine, a young Midwesterner who, convinced that he has an exceptionally promising future, attends boarding school and later Princeton University. Amory has an unsuccessful attempt at love, and is shipped overseas to serve in World War I. When Amory returns home, he struggles to find love among the status driven women of New York City.This Side of Paradise is F. Scott Fitzgerald's debut novel. Published in 1920 and taking its title from a line of Rupert Brooke's poem Tiare Tahiti, the book examines the lives and morality of post-World War I youth. Its protagonist, Amory Blaine, is clearly based on Fitzgerald. Both are from the Midwest, attended Princeton, served in the army, and had a failed romance with a debutante. The novel explores the theme of love warped by greed and status seeking.This cloth-bound book includes a Victorian inspired dust-jacket, and is limited to 100 copies.

The Great War is over, and jobs are scarce. Childhood friends Tommy Beresford and Prudence "Tuppence" Cowley meet and agree to start their own business as The Young Adventurers. They are hired for a job that take them to many dangerous situations, including the wreck of the Lusitania, encounters with international spies, and an arch-criminal who's identity remains a secret to the very end.The Secret Adversary introduces the popular characters of Tommy and Tuppence. Tommy, a young redheaded Englishman who fought in the Great War, was wounded twice. He is considered slow but steady and clear-headed in his thinking, and is at his best in a tight situation. Tuppence, a young woman with black bobbed hair, is one of several children of a conservative archdeacon. She served in the Voluntary Aid Detachment during the Great War. She is modern and stylish, quick and intuitive in her thinking, and acts rapidly on her ideas.This cloth-bound book includes a Victorian inspired dust-jacket, and is limited to 100 copies.

My Bondage and My Freedom is an autobiographical slave narrative published in 1855. It is an expansion of Douglass’ first autobiography, Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, that discusses in greater detail his transition from bondage to liberty. Following this liberation, Douglass went on to become a prominent abolitionist, speaker, author, and publisher.Douglass was a firm believer in the equality of all peoples, whether white, black, female, Native American, or Chinese immigrants. He was also a believer in dialogue and in making alliances across racial and ideological divides, and in the liberal values of the U.S. Constitution. When radical abolitionists, under the motto “No Union with Slaveholders”, criticized Douglass’ willingness to engage in dialogue with slave owners, he replied: “I would unite with anybody to do right and with nobody to do wrong.” This cloth-bound book includes a Victorian inspired dust-jacket, and is limited to 100 copies.

The Blue Fairy Book assembles a wide range of tales, including seven from the Brothers Grimm, five from Madame d’Aulnoy, three from the Arabian Nights, and four Norwegian fairytales. The Fairy Books are some of Andrew Lang’s most notable works. Lang was fighting against the critics of his day who judged fairy tales as being harmful for young readers. Over a generation, Lang’s books worked a revolution in this public perception.These collections have been immensely influential, as their publication was the first time many of these stories had been written in English. The series was immediately popular due to Lang’s reputation as a folklorist and the packaging of the uniform books. The series proved of great influence in children’s literature, increasing the popularity of fairy tales over tales of real life.This cloth-bound book includes a Victorian inspired dust-jacket, and is limited to 100 copies.

Phileas Fogg is a rich English gentleman living in solitude. Despite his wealth, Fogg lives a modest life with habits carried out with mathematical precision. Very little can be said about his social life other than that he is a member of the Reform Club. Having dismissed his former valet, James Forster, for bringing him shaving water at 84 °F (29 °c) instead of 86 °f (30 °c), Fogg hires a Frenchman by the name of Jean Passepartout as a replacement.At the Reform Club, Fogg gets involved in an argument over an article in The Daily Telegraph stating that with the opening of a new railway section in India, it is now possible to travel around the world in 80 days. He accepts a wager for £20,000 (equal to about £1.6 million today) from his fellow club members, which he will receive if he makes it around the world in 80 days. Accompanied by Passepartout, he leaves London by train at 8:45 pm on Wednesday, October 2, 1872, and is due back at the Reform Club at the same time 80 days later, Saturday, December 21, 1872.This cloth-bound book includes a Victorian inspired dust-jacket, and is limited to 100 copies.