Barnes and Noble Collectors Library

Out Christmas Shopping, I just came across the coolest thing, the Barnes and Noble Collectors Library. Here is how the back of my copy of Wuthering Heights describes the series:

The handsome volumes in The Collectors Library present great works of world literature in a handy hardback format. Printed on high-quality paper and bound in real cloth, each complete and unabridged volume has a specially commissioned afterword, brief biography of the author and a further-reading list. This easy accessible series offers readers the perfect opportunity to discover, or rediscover, some of the world’s most endearing literary works.

I am a sucker for small well packaged books anyway, but totally portable, yet elegant and durable, volumes of literary classics are to good to pass up. These are great for anyone who wants, or needs, to read some classics. Whether you are a student, a commuter, or a lunchtime reader, these classy volumes can easily be taken anywhere.

Needless to say, they would make great gifts for your book-loving friends and relatives. Five volumes are available online: Dracula, Jane Eyre, Edgar Allan Poe, Sense and Sensibility, and Madame Bovary. But at your local store they have quite a few additional volumes including The Picture of Dorian Gray, Great Expectations, Emma, and others that I can’t recall. This will make my goal of reading more classics in 2004 just a little easier.