Essential Classics Series

The Scarlet Letter is generally considered to be Nathaniel Hawthorne’s masterpiece. Set in 17th century Boston, it follows the plight of Hester Prynne, a young woman who bears a child out of wedlock, refuses to name the father, and is condemned to wear a scarlet ‘A’ for the rest of her life. With The Scarlet Letter, Hawthorne reaches back to America’s Puritan roots to probe themes of lust, sin, guilt and redemption. This Essential Classics edition includes a new introduction by Professor Vivian Heller, Ph.D. in literature and modern studies from Yale University. Born in 1804, Nathaniel Hawthorne wrote at the forefront of dark romanticism. His renderings of colonial America reflect the strictures of New England Puritanism and give voice to characters who try to extricate themselves from social conventions. Vivian Heller received her Ph.D. in English Literature and Modern Studies from Yale University. She is author of Joyce, Decadence, and Emancipation(University of Illinois Press) and of The City Beneath Us (W.W. Norton & Company), a history of the building of the New York City subway system. She is an associate at Columbia’s School of Professional Studies and is the writing tutor for the Center for Curatorial Studies at Bard College. She is also a long-standing member of the non-fiction committee of the PEN Prison-Writing Committee, which awards prizes to inmates from across the country. Essential Classics publishes the most crucial literary works throughout history, with a unique introduction to each, making them the perfect treasure for any reader’s shelf.

A Study in Scarlet was the career-starting, first Sherlock Holmes story published by Arthur Conan Doyle. Set in 19th-century London, it follows Dr. John Watson, a war veteran, and the enigmatic young Sherlock Holmes, a uniquely gifted detective. Two murders in London have Scotland Yard confounded, and the solution Holmes illuminates transports the reader to America’s Wild West of the 1850's, and beyond. A Study in Scarlet is a seminal work, and one that has transformed the mystery and crime genres. This Essential Classics edition includes a new introduction by Professor Vivian Heller, Ph.D. in literature and modern studies from Yale University. Arthur Conan Doyle was a writer and physician born in Edinburgh. Doyle is best known for his detective fiction featuring Sherlock Holmes. Vivian Heller received her Ph.D. in English Literature and Modern Studies from Yale University. She is author of Joyce, Decadence, and Emancipation(University of Illinois Press) and of The City Beneath Us (W.W. Norton & Company), a history of the building of the New York City subway system. She is an associate at Columbia’s School of Professional Studies and is the writing tutor for the Center for Curatorial Studies at Bard College. She is also a long-standing member of the non-fiction committee of the PEN Prison-Writing Committee, which awards prizes to inmates from across the country. Essential Classics publishes the most crucial literary works throughout history, with a unique introduction to each, making them the perfect treasure for any reader’s shelf.

Dracula is a Gothic horror novel by Bram Stoker, considered to be one of the most enduring and skillful examples of the modern vampire genre. It tells the story of Count Dracula, and of Professor Abraham Van Helsing, who attempts to thwart the vampire in his attempt to move from Transylvania to London, in order to find new blood and spread the undead curse. This Essential Classics edition includes a new introduction by Professor Vivian Heller, Ph.D. in literature and modern studies from Yale University. Bram Stoker was a 19th-century Irish writer best known for Dracula. During his lifetime, Stoker was also the business manager of the Lyceum Theater in London. In order to write Dracula, Stoker spent years researching European folklore and vampire mythology, and the product was the book that would become a classic of horror fiction. Vivian Heller received her Ph.D. in English Literature and Modern Studies from Yale University. She is author of Joyce, Decadence, and Emancipation(University of Illinois Press) and of The City Beneath Us (W.W. Norton & Company), a history of the building of the New York City subway system. She is an associate at Columbia’s School of Professional Studies and is the writing tutor for the Center for Curatorial Studies at Bard College. She is also a long-standing member of the non-fiction committee of the PEN Prison-Writing Committee, which awards prizes to inmates from across the country. Essential Classics publishes the most crucial literary works throughout history, with a unique introduction to each, making them the perfect treasure for any reader’s shelf.

The Time Machine cemented author H.G. Wells as the father of modern science fiction. In it, the Time Traveller embarks on a staggering journey 800,000 years into the future, where he is propelled to the age of a slowly dying Earth. There he encounters the highly evolved Eloi, as well as the brutish Morlocks who lurk beneath in tunnels. The Time Machine offers a harrowing and penetrating look into a proposed future for mankind, and illuminates its roots in the present. This Essential Classics edition includes a new introduction by Professor Vivian Heller, Ph.D. in literature and modern studies from Yale University. H.G. Wells was an English writer who pioneered the science fiction genre and wrote more than 100 books during his career. The Time Machine, his first novel, brought him instant fame. Wells is known also as a futurist, his works foretelling the advent of aircraft, tanks, space travel, and nuclear weapons. Vivian Heller received her Ph.D. in English Literature and Modern Studies from Yale University. She is author of Joyce, Decadence, and Emancipation(University of Illinois Press) and of The City Beneath Us (W.W. Norton & Company), a history of the building of the New York City subway system. She is an associate at Columbia’s School of Professional Studies and is the writing tutor for the Center for Curatorial Studies at Bard College. She is also a long-standing member of the non-fiction committee of the PEN Prison-Writing Committee, which awards prizes to inmates from across the country. Essential Classics publishes the most crucial literary works throughout history, with a unique introduction to each, making them the perfect treasure for any reader’s shelf.

Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is an American classic, a book that has inspired troves of writers in its wake, and that has sparked generations of discussion and debate. It is a novel by Mark Twain noted for its depiction of people and locations along the Mississippi River. One of the first major American novels to employ vernacular English, Adventure of Huckleberry Finn offers a satire on Southern Antebelleum society, particularly regarding attitudes of racism. Told in the first person by protagonist Huckleberry Finn, the book is a direct sequel to The Adventures of Tom Sawyer. This Essential Classics edition includes a new introduction by Professor Vivian Heller, Ph.D. in literature and modern studies from Yale University. Mark Twain was born Samuel Langhorne Clemens in 1835. Raised in Missouri, Twain gained prominence for The Adventures of Tom Sawyer and Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, the latter known as a Great American Novel. Vivian Heller received her Ph.D. in English Literature and Modern Studies from Yale University. She is author of Joyce, Decadence, and Emancipation(University of Illinois Press) and of The City Beneath Us (W.W. Norton & Company), a history of the building of the New York City subway system. She is an associate at Columbia’s School of Professional Studies and is the writing tutor for the Center for Curatorial Studies at Bard College. She is also a long-standing member of the non-fiction committee of the PEN Prison-Writing Committee, which awards prizes to inmates from across the country.