This anthology is a thorough introduction to classic literature for those who have not yet experienced these literary masterworks. For those who have known and loved these works in the past, this is an invitation to reunite with old friends in a fresh new format. From Shakespeare’s finesse to Oscar Wilde’s wit, this unique collection brings together works as diverse and influential as The Pilgrim’s Progress and Othello. As an anthology that invites readers to immerse themselves in the masterpieces of the literary giants, it is must-have addition to any library.

Product Description: After his father's remarriage, young and naive Arthur Mervyn is forced to leave his father's farm and make his own living in the city (Philadelphia). Once there, he runs into alot of bad luck, mainly having to do with the con man Thomas Welbeck...read more

Product Description: Charles Brockden Brown is insane. This book is so violent and scary. CBB treats his main character like this voo doo doll, it's awesome. Let's throw him into a cave! Now let's throw him down a cliff! Now let's make it so that he has to tumble down this mountain and swim across a freezing river! Now let's hit him in the face with a tom-a-hawk! It's kind of fun...read more

Product Description: Wieland, or, The Transformation, An American Tale is a remarkable book for a number of reasons. American literature scarcely existed in the late 18th century when Charles Brockden Brown made the bold decision to pursue a literary career...read more

Charles Brockden Brown is widely considered one of early America's foremost writers, despite dying before the age of 40. His works were hailed as the predecessor of works such as James Fenimore Cooper's. Here's an excerpt from the beginning: "The following Work is delivered to the world as the first of a series of performances, which the favorable reception of this will induce the Writer to publish. His purpose is neither selfish nor temporary, but aims at the illustration of some important branches of the moral constitution of man. Whether this tale will be classed with the ordinary or frivolous sources of amusement, or be ranked with the few productions whose usefulness secures to them a lasting reputation, the reader must be permitted to decide. The incidents related are extraordinary and rare. Some of them, perhaps, approach as nearly to the nature of miracles as can be done by that which is not truly miraculous. It is hoped that intelligent readers will not disapprove of the manner in which appearances are solved, but that the solution will be found to correspond with the known principles of human nature. The power which the principal person is said to possess can scarcely be denied to be real. It must be acknowledged to be extremely rare; but no fact, equally uncommon, is supported by the same strength of historical evidence. Some readers may think the conduct of the younger Wieland impossible. In support of its possibility the Writer must appeal to Physicians and to men conversant with the latent springs and occasional perversions of the human mind. It will not be objected that the instances of similar delusion are rare, because it is the business of moral painters to exhibit their subject in its most instructive and memorable forms. If history furnishes one parallel fact, it is a sufficient vindication of the Writer; but most readers will probably recollect an authentic case, remarkably similar to that of Wieland. It will be necessary to add, that this narrative is addressed, in an epistolary form, by the Lady whose story it contains, to a small number of friends, whose curiosity, with regard to it, had been greatly awakened. It may likewise be mentioned, that these events took place between the conclusion of the French and the beginning of the revolutionary war. The memoirs of Carwin, alluded to at the conclusion of the work, will be published or suppressed according to the reception which is given to the present attempt."

Charles Brockden Brown's best-known novel was Wireland of the Transformation. Wireland of the Transformation was published in 1798 and is considered to be the first American gothic novel. Memoires of Carwin the Biloquist is the sequel to Wireland of the Transformation. The story traces Carwin's career as a disciple of Ludloe. Power and manipulation come to play is this short work.

In this classic and timeless novel, we are immersed in a world that goes from sanity to insanity. In Wieland, we explore the realities of life on the eve of the American Revolution through religious delusions, fanaticism, and horrific violence. A family living on an estate outside Philadelphia is visited by mysterious voices, seemingly coming out of thin air. Soon thereafter, an itinerant character named Carwin will visit the family. Carwin is a mysterious stranger as well as a ventriloquist. Violence erupts when the family’s young patriarch believes that he hears God’s voice demanding a human sacrifice as a sign of faith. In the midst of all the insanity, the family will undergo a transformation involving horror, spontaneous combustion, false faith, psychological perversion, ventriloquism, and murder. Testing the limits of religious and literary authority in the new America, Brown’s novel has for more than two centuries kept readers debating questions of agency, accountability, and revolutionary politics as the story’s moral chaos unfolds. >> Visit ladyvalkyrie.com for more Classics as well as for other titles Categories/Series of books! >> Search for "lady valkyrie in books" for our latest titles right here at Amazon!

Product Description: I was the second son of a farmer, whose place of residence was a western district of Pennsylvania. My eldest brother seemed fitted by nature for the employment to which he was destined. His wishes never led him astray from the hay-stack and the furrow...read more

This scarce antiquarian book is a facsimile reprint of the original. Due to its age, it may contain imperfections such as marks, notations, marginalia and flawed pages. Because we believe this work is culturally important, we have made it available as part of our commitment for protecting, preserving, and promoting the world's literature in affordable, high quality, modern editions that are true to the original work.

First published in 1798, Wieland distinguishes the true beginning of Brockden's career as a writer. Wieland is the first – and most famous – American Gothic novel. "A light proceeding from the edifice made every part of the scene visible. A gleam diffused itself over the intermediate space, and instantly a loud report, like the explosion of a mine, followed. She uttered an involuntary shriek, but the new sounds that greeted her ear, quickly conquered her surprise. They were piercing shrieks, and uttered without intermission. The gleams which had diffused themselves far and wide were in a moment withdrawn, but the interior of the edifice was filled with rays." -- From Weiland, by Charles Brockden Brown -- a seminal work both of American literature and the literature of the weird.

When Dr. Stevens finds a young man sitting alone in Phildelphia, he takes pity on him and invites him into his home. The young man's name is Arthur Mervyn and he is suffering from yellow fever, an illness that has swept through the city. In Dr. Stevens' care, Arthur becomes well again. Arthur is a pleasant man and they spend many hours discussing the future. However, when Mr. Whortley visits Dr. Stevens and recognizes Arthur, the serene life that was so hoped for by Arthur is brought into turmoil. For Arthur's past is not one of innocence, but one involving swindlers and lost monies. And Dr. Stevens must decide if Arthur deserves another chance at improving a wretched life. Charles Brockden Brown is considered the man who brought Gothic literature to America. Before him, Gothic novels were set in European ruined castles and moors. Brown brought them to the towns and villages of America, but retained the Gothic feel that people of the time enjoyed so much. Arthur Mervyn was one of his most popular novels.

Edgar Huntly, Or, Memoirs of a Sleepwalker is a 1799 novel by the American author Charles Brockden Brown. Edgar Huntly, a young man who lives with his uncle and sisters (his only remaining family) on a farm outside Philadelphia, is determined to learn who murdered his friend Waldegrave. Walking near the elm tree under which Waldegrave was killed late one night, Huntly sees Clithero, a servant from a neighboring farm, half-dressed, digging in the ground and weeping loudly. Huntly concludes that Clithero may be the murderer. He also concludes that Clithero is sleepwalking. Huntly decides to follow Clithero when he sleep walks. Clithero leads Huntly through rough countryside, but all this following doesn't lead to Huntly learning much about the murder. Eventually, Huntly confronts Clithero when they are both awake and demands that he confess. Clithero does confess, but not to Waldegrave's murder. Instead he tells a complicated story about his life in Ireland, where he believes he was responsible for the death of a woman who was his patron, after which he fled to Pennsylvania. Clithero claims to know nothing about Waldegrave's murder. One night, soon after Huntly goes to sleep in his own bed, he wakes up in a completely dark place made of rock, which he eventually determines is a cave. He is hungry, thirsty, and feels as though he's been beaten. He is attacked by a panther, which he manages to kill and then drinks some of its blood and eats some of its flesh. Looking for his way out of the cave, he finds that some Lenni Lenape, an Indian tribe, are holding a white girl prisoner at the mouth of the cave. Edgar kills the guard and rescues the girl. In their flight, he kills more Indians, who seem to have begun a war. By the end of the novel, Edgar learns (among other things) that he himself has been sleepwalking, that Clithero was indeed not involved in Waldegrave's murder, that Waldegrave was murdered by a Lenni Lenape Indian, perhaps one he himself had killed, and that he and his fiancee are both destined to inherit nothing.

These two novels tell the story of the arrival and affect of the mysterious Carwin on a small Pennsylvanian community prior to the American Revolution

Product Description: In the bleak night, beneath the stretching limbs of the shadowy elm, a shot rings out -- and the hurrying Edgar Huntly arrives to find his friend Waldegrave insensate and bleeding on the ground. Who could have murdered such an honest, blameless man? Walking to his uncle's house on another gloomy night, Huntly succumbs to the impulse to revisit that fatal elm -- only to have the mystery around the murder deepen: for Huntly spies beneath the shadowed tree a robust, half-clad man digging in the earth -- and then falling to his knees and weeping! Charles Brockden Brown (1771-1810), author of Wieland, writes of madness, sleepwalking, and the Indian threat in the brilliant novel Edgar Huntly...read more

Product Description: Brown has combined historical facts with fictional aspects to lend a unique touch to this work. The resultant action-thriller with intense drama is a page-turner that monopolizes the readers attention. Exhilarating!