Mastering the Art: Selecting Your Paperback Classics Collection 

Regarding Penguin Classics vs. Oxford World's Classics (OWC). At least for me, the most important differences seem to be: 1. Translation. If the book wasn't originally written in English, or at least in an English that's understandable to contemporary English readers (unlike, say, Beowulf or The Canterbury Tales), and if one can't read another language, then a good English translation is a necessity and indeed it can be utterly crucial in comprehension and enjoyment of a book, for some translations are better or worse than others. Broadly speaking, a translation can err toward one of two extremes or sides. Either toward the side of being more formally faithful to the original text, which is often good for capturing the literality of the source language such as its literal metaphors, but often at the cost of wooden or stilted or simply strange or puzzling or incomprehensible language. Or toward the other side of being more functionally faithful to the original text, which is often good for capturing the original meaning and subtleties and nuances in an idiomatic and even literarily stylish fashion, but often at the cost of losing the structural or syntactical facts of the matter. For example, consider the English phrase "to have a frog in your throat". This phrase makes perfect sense to a native English speaker. And it would be accurate to the English in a literalistic way to translate "frog" as "frog" in another language like French. However, if it is translated as "frog" in French, it would not entirely make sense to a French only speaker. In French, one would say "chat" which is the French word for "cat" in your throat for the same meaning as frog in your throat in English. A translation would lose the literal English word "frog" by substituting it with "chat" or "cat" in French, but the translation would gain in meaning by making the phrase comprehensible to the French speaker. Of course, one can reverse languages too. In other words, if the English only speaker is puzzled why one has a cat in their throat, then the French only speaker would be just as puzzled as to why one has a frog in their throat! It cuts both ways. And it's almost always if not always a tug of war between which extreme a translation wishes to err toward - formal faithfulnesa or functional faithfulness. That is, accurate to the grammar and grammatical structures and so forth (form), but less idiomatic and comprehensible, and perhaps less clear and natural sounding and stylish as well; or idiomatic and comprehensible and readable and often even literarily stylish (function), but less accurate to the grammar and grammatical structures and so forth. It's almost always if not always impossible to capture both perfectly, for there's typically always something lost in translation; the translator is a traitor, as the Italians say ("traduttore, traditore"). Maybe somewhere out there there is such a perfect translation for a work, but if so I'm unaware of it. Getting back to Penguin vs. OWC translations. I think the choice here is more or less equivocal. Sometimes Penguin has better translations (e.g. The Count of Monte Cristo translated by Robin Buss is better than David Coward's translation in OWC), while other times OWC has better translations (e.g. Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea translated by William Butcher is better than Penguin's translation by David Coward). We have to evaluate a translation on a caese by case basis since it depends on the specific book in question. 2. Introductions. Both Penguin and OWC can have good or bad or average introductions. In general, an introduction can be done one of two ways. First, a more or less boilerplate kind of introduction or an introduction that follows a certain template that any literary scholar of the work can write (e.g. an introduction to a Sherlock Holmes book might start with a brief biography of the author Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, how he began to write, what made him famous as a writer, involve a history of Sherlock Holmes as a character in the context of detective or crime fiction, trace its influences as well as what it influenced in later novels, perhaps talk a bit about Sherlock pastiches, and so on, and end with a popular quote like "The game's afoot!"). These introductions are literally introductions which help introduce and situate a reader unfamiliar with the book to the book. It gives one a broad background to understand the book, but it's not deeply analytical. The second way to write an introduction is almost the opposite. An introduction that's a trailblazer. An introduction that breaks new ground and gives new insight into the book. If done well, the introduction itself can even become a work of literature that's widely known and widely cited. In this respect, the introduction doesn't provide much of a broad overview of the book, maybe just enough to move on, but it dives deep into literary criticism and analysis. 3. Notes. Typically it's either footnotes or endnotes. Both Penguin and OWC have done both footnotes and endnotes, I believe, but Penguin usually tends to favor footnotes, while OWC usually tends to favor endnotes. I prefer footnotes, but others may differ. Both Penguin and OWC can have good, bad, or average notes in terms of content. It just depends on the specific book in question. Also, it's worth noting (no pun intended) that different scholars sometimes write different notes for the same book, depending on US or UK versions of the same book, for example. Sometimes this is also true for other factors like cover art. I'm not sure why this is. Maybe there are copyright, royalties, and/or other legal and financial concerns that publishers need to consider across continents. 4. Supplementary material. I think this is where the differences between the two publishers really stand out. OWC usually seems to provide far more supplementary material than Penguin. Penguin might do so better than OWC in some of their books, but OWC is more consistent than Penguin in doing so for most of their books. I'm thinking of material like appendices and bibliographies and so forth. This is where OWC tends to shine brighter than Penguin. That said, sometimes I only want a minimalist edition. A bare bones book. Just give me the text and a few helpful notes and let me come to my conclusions via my own interpretations. In this case, the Penguin would be preferred. In fact, sometimes it may even be overwhelming to have additional material. Anyway, in the end, it depends on one's purposes in reading a book. What one wishes to get out of the book. 5. Book quality. Factors like cover quality, paper quality, binding quality. I think the quality of each of these for most Penguin and OWC paperbacks is going to be more or less equivalent or comparable to one another. Both Penguin and OWC editions are meant to be affordable paperbacks that can be read a few times at most, then discarded. It's not like the cover of either Penguin or OWC is matte paper made of dense card, neither has French flaps let alone dust jackets, I'm not sure if the paper is even acid free in either, and (like most paperbacks) the binding will be glue-bound in both Penguin and OWC. That said, if I had to choose, it seems to me based purely on anecdotal evidence from my own experiences and friends and others that OWC is slightly better in terms of overall quality than Penguin. OWC paper feels better to touch than Penguin paper. As far as I know, both are glue-bound, yet the OWC binding seems to hold up better than the Penguin binding when opened. Probably the OWC would better bear more wear and tear such as repeated readings than the Penguin. But again, the difference here doesn't seem huge to me. Hopefully others who are far more knowledgeable and informed about book quality issues than I am can and will give scientifically objective details and specifics. To me, it seems close, with the edge to OWC if push came to shove, but it's probably negligible overall. 6. Aesthetics. This can be an important factor, though I think a lot of it is also subjective. I'm thinking of things like cover art, typeface, font type and font size, page layout, as well as the general look and feel of a book. I think overall Penguin tends to do a better job here, except for the typeface where I tend to prefer the OWC typeface. I especially love Penguin's easily identifiable black spines. (Note that the orange colored Penguin editions are atrocious in terms of quality. I'm certainly not referring to these Penguins. Penguins aren't tigers or orangutans; they look better in black and a bit of white than orange!) But again I realize this is a bit subjective. It depends quite a lot on one's personal tastes. By the way, the Penguin Classics Deluxe series is next level. It's aesthetically far better than the regular Penguin Classics as well as any paperback OWC produces. But I'll leave the Deluxe series aside since the Deluxe is not directly comparable to the Penguin Classics or the OWC as paperbacks. 7. Conclusion. In general, I think both Penguin and OWC are good if one simply wants a book that's the combination of readable, affordable, portable, annotatable, and/or lendable to friends and family and others. It seems to me choosing between Penguin vs. OWC can't be completely generalizable where one is definitively better than the other; it depends more on the specific book we have in mind and our goals or aims in reading the book.

My vote goes to Oxford: silky paper, great supplementary material, and crucially, no matter how far you crack them open, the spine stays intact, whereas the penguin almost always flakes. The only drawback for me is that they use endnotes as opposed to footnotes and I preder the Penguin typeface

I like to mix up Penguine and Oxford. They are both have pros and cons but putting them together on a classics shelf means you get a cool black and white theme

I love the cover designs of penguin English library but can’t stand the orange in the spines. They make a bookshelf look too colourful for me haha. So far I love the black cover penguins and those Oxford world library editions look great I’m gonna give them a try next!

Usually i can only afford signet classics and they're pretty accessible here, so. This video made me realize now that i have a lot of signet classics books.

Always happy to see a new video from you!

So glad I found your channel. Excellent content and presentation. Savoring each video with gusto. Well done

So happy to see a video from you ❤️

Loved your selection of Tchaikovsky's 1812 Ouverture as soundtrack for your review. A Classic for Classics.

I love Oxford World's Classics, they usually have interesting notes and great paper (though one of the titles I own- Chronicle of the Abbey of Bury St. Edmunds- has Penguin-like paper, for some reason). And they open fine, one of my Vintage red spines is taking me forever to read because opening it is a struggle and it has almost no inner margin...

Classics for a reason. Best wishes with your reading choices this year. I hope you get some great reads.

Persephone Books just has such a classy, put together presentation. I want more titles from them. Hopefully someday I get to visit London again.

Thanks for this video. It's such a great resource! I love the Penguin Black Classics the best. I've recently tried some books from Penguin English Library, and while I love the cover design I hate that the covers are not glossy. I didn't realize I had some ink on my thumb and it transferred to the front cover of my Frankenstein 😭. They just feel kinda cheap. I'm going to try some of the Oxford Classics next. Thanks again!

I own about 20 classics from dover and yes they are cheap and the paper quality is poor. But I am always extremely careful with all of my books. Nice podcast lady. Thank you for showing the different companies of all your lovely books.

AH MEU DEUS! This video is just what I needed! I’m addicted to buying lots of different editions of my favorite classics, and this was SO helpful! E ainda que você é brasileira, me deu mais um quentinho no meu coração hahahaha Thanks a lot!!! ❤️

So excited!!

Great collection! They all look new, the spines are still pristine.

I just buy whatever I can find as book fairs, garage sales, and thrift shops. However, the 80s to 90s Vintage *International* editions have the best paper and type size. Most of my collection was .25-2$.

What a wonderful channel! More videos please.

For translated works, usually Penguin has the best translation in comparison with Oxford classics.

I love Persephone Books. Their binding is actually a dispersion binding, meaning they sit flat, and the spine will never 'crack'. You do end up with vertical wrinkles on the spine because the outer paper layer has to crinkle a bit when it sits flat, this is unavoidable. But the spine will always remain springy, it cannot 'crack' like cheaper glued binding will do.

Collins classics are like 2.80 euro in my country, the rest are maybe 5 times at least more :D It's just that the text is a little too small

As a high school teacher, I like the Dover Thrift books because they are a really cheap way to introduce my kids to classic literature, especially the poem anthologies.

Very useful for each bibliophile and reader

I love the Penguin Classics Deluxe Editions - I just read that version of The Iliad. However, I am with you, I do not care for deckled edges.

Bel Ami!!! I love this book. We need Lima Barreto translated into English.

I didn't realize I have mostly Signet Classics before this video, the small margins and stiff glue binding make them uncomfortable to read sometimes. The Penguin Classics seem to be the best medium ground between the options presented.

A great in-depth video. You won yourself a subscriber. :) I'd like to briefly touch on the floppiness vs. stiffness of the paperbacks. I think it depends on the individual printing run, rather than on a deliberate design decision on the part of the publisher. E.g. The Oxford World's Classics are all printed at Clays Ltd.: some are pretty floppy, others (of comparable length) are simply stiff and couldn't be comfortably read without cracking the spine. In the case of Wordsworth's Editions (also printed at Clays) I've even seen the exact same book both in a floppy and a stiff variant. Tbh I don't mind both. :) Btw. do you happen to own Moby Dick in the Penguin Classics edition, and if so, could you tell me how extensive the explanatory notes are? I've been struggling to find a good (and reasonably priced) edition: the Collector's Library one has no notes at all, and the Oxford World's Classics one has a measly 10 pages of endnotes... Have a nice day.

Thank you for the video I needed it 😄

I like both Oxford and Penguin but only if the Font is a good size. Penguin English Library is perfect font size but doesn't have an introduction and explanatory notes.

I like signet Classics best. Especially the older ones with the line drawing of the author on the first page.

Oxford is usually my top choice, then Penguin black spine. Penguin deluxe is for a book I've usually already love, but want to read over and over. Dover is the cheap version i get to test the book or author befofe I go all in. Another good cheap version that holds up like a Penguin is Wordsworth Classics. I've been buying a lot of those lately.

Ideally I would get Oxford books because of the annotations but lately I've noticed that many titles are available only in Dover editions, specifically the more obscure ones.

The print font in some paperbacks can !literally cause the reader eyestrain headaches and I speak as a medic.

Great job

I also don't like endnotes. But it's not a big deal: I use paper money as a bookmark. When I put down the book, I fold the paper money in half: one half is where I've left off reading, and the other half is at the endnotes that come next. So from the side (opposite the spine), you can see the paper money peeking out of the book. When I pick up the book to read it, I fold the money in half, and stick it in with the endnotes. That way, when I want to read some notes, it's easy to just flip the book. Not ideal, but liveable.

1. Deckled edges just catch dust

Hey, great video (as usual). BTW I think the affiliate links are broken

You can try out Wordsworth. They're super floppy, not stiff like Collin's.

Fine, you got me, I'll buy a copy of the Bartlett Anna Karenina since YOU say the Oxford editions are better than Penguin even though I've been avoiding it for almost a year and a half because everyone else says the quality could be better (I do have the Kindle version of the translation, I just don´t have a physical copy)

Dover has several editions, they have the cheap nasty "thrift", a "green", and the regular which I actually like. The margins and font and spacing are large and easy on my old eyes....

I too hate deckled edges. They’re so irritating! Completely deters me from buying those beautiful penguin ink editions unfortunately 😕

Where would Vintage Classics (red spines) fall? I would assume they’re similar to Penguin Classics in terms of paper and binding.

Which of them have the biggest fonts?

Never heard of Signet or Dover books. I find Persephone books a bit too expensive.

Also, would the oxford world's classics be hard to read for someone with bad eyesight but no way to get glasses due to covid? : c asking for a friend

00:37 How come your Penguin Classics’ spines are still great without cracks? I always spread my book’s spine before reading it, but for Penguin Classics, still show up a bit.

Do you know about finger print classic

How are vintage children classics editions of paperbacks?

How do the wordsworth classics fare against these?

Far from the madding crowd🎈

You are Brazilian?

Are Collins classics abridge?

If you're serious about books the answer is Penguin Black Spine.

The inside margins are not that important. The outside and top and bottom margins are the most important. If they are wide enough to write notes, that's good enough. There's never any need to break the spine of a book.

My money is always on penguin books, I just hate looking at their boring spines.