Books published by publisher Macmillan Collector's Library

Fairy tales are written both to entertain and to educate. Published in the shadow of the First World War, F. A. Steel's retellings of forty-one English fairy tales form a classic collection of stories, ranging from the familiar - 'Jack and the Beanstalk', 'Little Red Riding-Hood' and 'The Three Little Pigs' - to the perhaps less well known - 'The Black Bull of Norroway', 'Nix Nought Nothing' and 'The Red Ettin'. Originally published in 1918, it reflects the nationalistic concerns of the period. Steel takes the reader on a journey, from Cornwall to Bamburgh Castle via a palace by the sea, as well as high into the sky, where a giant lives. The magical tales in English Fairy Tales are brought to life by one of the best-known illustrators of the time, Arthur Rackham.Designed to appeal to the book lover, the Macmillan Collector's Library is a series of beautiful gift editions of much loved classic titles. Macmillan Collector's Library are books to love and treasure.

A beautiful gift edition of the much-loved classic, now a major PBS television series starring Dominic West and Oscar winning actress, Olivia Coleman.Les Misérables is a magnificent, sweeping story of revolution, love and the will to survive set amidst the poverty stricken streets of nineteeth-century Paris.Part of the Macmillan Collector’s Library; a series of stunning, clothbound, pocket sized classics with gold foiled edges and ribbon markers. These beautiful books make perfect gifts or a treat for any book lover. This edition has features an introduction by Paul Bailey.Escaped convict Jean Valjean turns his back on his criminal past to build his fortunes as an honest man. He takes in abandoned orphan Cosette and raises her as his own daughter. But Jean Valjean is unable to free himself from his previous life and is pursued to the end by ruthless policeman Javert. As Cosette grows up, young idealist Marius catches a glimpse of her and falls desperately in love. The fates of all the characters await them during the violent turmoil of the June Rebellion in 1832.This abridged version of Victor Hugo's masterpiece was published in 1915 with the aim to provide 'a unified story of the life and soul-struggles of Jean Valjean'.

Designed to appeal to the book lover, the Macmillan Collector's Library is a series of beautifully bound pocket-sized gift editions of much loved classic titles. Bound in real cloth, printed on high quality paper, and featuring ribbon markers and gilt edges, Macmillan Collector's Library are books to love and treasure. When her beloved father dies, Pollyanna is sent to live with her strict Aunt Polly in the dour town of Beldingsville, Vermont. Luckily, Pollyanna has the Glad Game - a joyous, warm-hearted exercise where she finds the best in every situation. Whether delighting in the view from her bare attic room, or interpreting her punishment of a meagre supper as a wonderful treat, Pollyanna cannot help but see the best in the world, and inadvertently changes it for the better as she goes. With its wonderfully infectious good cheer, Pollyanna spawned a real-life ‘Glad’ movement and endures today as a true classic of children’s literature. This elegant Macmillan Collector’s Library edition features an afterword by children’s book critic Imogen Russell Williams.

Designed to appeal to the book lover, the Macmillan Collector's Library is a series of beautifully bound pocket-sized gift editions of much loved classic titles. Bound in real cloth, printed on high quality paper, and featuring ribbon markers and gilt edges, Macmillan Collector's Library are books to love and treasure. On a moonlit London night, art teacher Walter Hartwright meets a young woman – beautiful, terrified and dressed entirely white – alone on the street. Compelled to help this piteous creature, he finds himself caught up in a world of secrets, murder and madness, with an impossible mystery to solve. The odds seem stacked against him, but a sleuthing partnership with the brilliantly clever Marian Halcombe may be just enough to outwit their formidable nemesis – the menacing Count Fosco. One of the great mystery thrillers of the nineteenth century and beyond, The Woman in White is a wonderful combination of rich characterisation and cunning melodrama that ensnares the reader from the very first page. This beautiful Macmillan Collector’s Library edition of The Woman in White features an afterword by writer, editor and playwright David Stuart Davies.

Designed to appeal to the book lover, the Macmillan Collector's Library is a series of beautifully bound pocket-sized gift editions of much loved classic titles. Bound in real cloth, printed on high quality paper, and featuring ribbon markers and gilt edges, Macmillan Collector's Library are books to love and treasure. Lilly Bart is twenty-nine, beautiful and charming. She has expensive tastes, loves to gamble and socialises with the immensely wealthy upper-class families of New York. But her meagre finances are dwindling. Given the restrictions imposed by society, her only hope of financial security is to find a suitable husband. However, Lilly has an independence of spirit which stands in the way of her committing to the suitors available to her. As her options diminish, her friends become her enemies and her situation grows increasing perilous. Through the prism of Lilly’s life, Edith Wharton has written a witty and piercingly insightful dark satire about the over privileged and morally dubious society of early twentieth-century New York.This Macmillan Collector's Library edition has a new introduction by author Danuta Reah.

In Shakespeare’s thrilling and hugely influential tragedy, ageing King Lear makes a capricious decision to divide his realm between his three daughters according to the love they express for him. Part of the Macmillan Collector’s Library; a series of stunning, clothbound, pocket sized classics with gold foiled edges and ribbon markers. These beautiful books make perfect gifts or a treat for any book lover. This edition is illustrated throughout by Sir John Gilbert, and includes an introduction by Dr Robert Mighall.When the youngest daughter refuses to take part in this charade, she is banished, leaving the king dependent on her manipulative and untrustworthy sisters. In the scheming and recriminations that follow, not only does the king's own sanity crumble, but the stability of the realm itself is also threatened.

Two sisters of opposing temperament but who share the pangs of tragic love provide the subjects for Jane Austen's Sense and Sensibility.Part of the Macmillan Collector’s Library; a series of stunning, clothbound, pocket sized classics with gold foiled edges and ribbon markers. These beautiful books make perfect gifts or a treat for any book lover. Gorgeously illustrated by the celebrated Hugh Thomson, this Macmillan Collector's Library edition also includes an afterword by author and critic Henry Hitchings.Elinor, practical and conventional, the epitome of sense, desires a man who is promised to another woman. Marianne, emotional and sentimental, the epitome of sensibility, loses her heart to a scoundrel who jilts her. A powerful drama of family life and growing up, Sense and Sensibility is at once a subtle comedy of manners and a striking critique of early nineteenth-century society.

Designed to appeal to the book lover, the Macmillan Collector's Library is a series of beautifully bound pocket-sized gift editions of much loved classic titles. Bound in real cloth, printed on high quality paper, and featuring ribbon markers and gilt edges, Macmillan Collector's Library are books to love and treasure. For the past two centuries, these delightful stories, gathered together and written down by brothers Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm, have entertained and frightened children and adults alike. The lives of Tom Thumb, Cinderella, Rumplestiltskin and the Frog Prince form part of our common heritage: they stimulate the imagination and the heart, and linger at the back of our minds for a lifetime. They are funny, disturbing, wise and compassionate. They speak of joy and terror, happiness and revenge, love and violence.Arthur Rackham’s masterly illustrations have all been hand-coloured by Barbara Frith, one of Britain’s leading colourists.

Designed to appeal to the book lover, the Macmillan Collector's Library is a series of beautifully bound pocket-sized gift editions of much loved classic titles. Bound in real cloth, printed on high quality paper, and featuring ribbon markers and gilt edges, Macmillan Collector's Library are books to love and treasure. In The Rime of the Ancient Mariner, one of the best-known and best-loved poems in the English language, a grizzled old sailor stops a man on his way to a wedding and tells a terrifying story. He speaks of how he doomed the crew of his ship by shooting dead an albatross, awakened the wrath of ocean spirits, met Death himself, and must now walk the earth forever and share his tragic tale of sin, guilt and – ultimately – redemption.This Macmillan Collector's Library edition of Coleridge’s longest major poem features illustrations by Gustave Doré, the most remarkable wood engraver of the 19th century, and an introduction by Ned Halley.

Explosive and unforgiving, Confessions of an English Opium-Eater describes in searing detail the pleasure, pain and mind-expanding powers of opium. Part of the Macmillan Collector’s Library; a series of stunning, clothbound, pocket sized classics with gold foiled edges and ribbon markers. These beautiful books make perfect gifts or a treat for any book lover. This edition is introduced by biographer, critic and academic Frances Wilson.Thomas De Quincey takes us on a journey from his grammar school childhood to his homeless adolescence in Wales, from befriending prostitutes during his nocturnal wanderings in London to enrolling at Oxford University only to drop out when his drug use overcomes him. Thrust into a disorientating world of extreme euphoria and vivid nightmares, De Quincey’s life story is both unpredictable and deeply personal. Confessions of an English Opium-Eater is considered to be the first published autobiography to explore the lure and effects of addiction.

Designed to appeal to the book lover, the Macmillan Collector's Library is a series of beautifully bound pocket-sized gift editions of much loved classic titles. Bound in real cloth, printed on high quality paper, and featuring ribbon markers and gilt edges, Macmillan Collector's Library are books to love and treasure. Mary Lennox is sent from an India as an orphan to live at Misselthwaite Manor. She arrives as a sour-faced, sickly and ill-tempered little madam but becomes friends with local lad Dickon and her poorly cousin Colin. In their restoration of a secret garden all their lives are changed for the better.With an Afterword by Anna South.

Jane Austen's most mature and wickedly satirical final novel with gorgeous illustrations.Part of the Macmillan Collector’s Library; a series of stunning, clothbound, pocket sized classics with gold foiled edges and ribbon markers. These beautiful books make perfect gifts or a treat for any book lover. This edition features gorgeous illustrations by Hugh Thomson and an afterword by author and critic Henry Hitchings.Persuasion follows the story of Anne Elliott, who as a teenager was engaged to a seemingly ideal man, Frederick Wentworth. But after being persuaded by her friend Lady Russell that he is too poor to be a suitable match, Anne ends their engagement. When they are reacquainted eight years later, their circumstances are transformed: Frederick is returning triumphantly from the Napoleonic War, while Anne's fortunes are floundering. Will their past regrets prevent them from finding future happiness?