Links if you need 'em ↓↓↓ 🌟Complete list of current and upcoming titles: bit.ly/chilternbooks 🌟 • Great Expectations by Charles Dickens, amzn.to/3hsAC34 • The Art of War by Sun Tzu, amzn.to/3dYCGxt • The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupury, amzn.to/2W3iiEv • Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson, amzn.to/2MS6ekf • Frankenstein by Mary Shelley, amzn.to/2C3S3Xm • The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes by Arthur Conan Doyle, amzn.to/2MUwTNw • Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte, amzn.to/3cYQAhV • Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte, amzn.to/2XVseBi • The Great Gatsby by F Scott Fitzgerald, amzn.to/2UGjCwj • Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen, amzn.to/2YtYBG9 • Mansfield Park by Jane Austen, amzn.to/2XVs8ts • Northanger Abbey by Jane Austen, amzn.to/3e01hC7 • Persuasion by Jane Austen, amzn.to/3dYZo8t • Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen, amzn.to/2MWnwwG • Emma by Jane Austen, amzn.to/2UHNrfQ • Little Women by Louisa May Alcott (***important note: American readers, for you this is 'part one' of the story, as the part two was published separately in the UK as "Good Wives"), amzn.to/2ZXgG01 • The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde, amzn.to/3gN6YnN • The Hound of the Baskervilles by Arthur Conan Doyle, amzn.to/30XVARq • Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll, amzn.to/2V3oifY • Moby Dick by Herman Melville, amzn.to/2YQ2gyg • Dracula by Bram Stoker, amzn.to/2Yi1ACH • Madame Bovary by Gustave Flaubert, amzn.to/2YgppL6 • Tess of the D’Urbervilles by Thomas Hardy, amzn.to/3emxDHa • A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens, amzn.to/2CqGERC
Just got Wuthering Heights! To anyone considering purchasing: - They are perfectly sized for portability while having a bit of weight to them (which I love). - The gilded edges are so beautiful in person and clearly high quality - The pages inside feel a bit thicker than normal and have a bit of gloss that doesn't interfere with reading (You can also get a matching journal)
This is an amazing publisher with original and very well crafted products. The size and the weight of the books are just perfect and they resemble those of the past. I’ve been in contact with a few of these in the last months and they truly are very tempting. I think I will get all of the Jane Austens because the flower motives are beautiful. However, the one thing that doesn’t quite appeal to me is the gloss of the paper. Some intermediate material between regular paper and glossy would be ideal, but then again you can’t please everyone. Well done, Chiltern!
I'm so glad you posted this, I've been wanting to get my hands on a few of these but wasn't completely sure. I am now ! Thanks for a wonderful video xx
Just found this, very well done video. And just for once I love the background music. I have started a l collection of Chiltern classics but I have never seen anyone mention is that many of the titles also have a matching notebook.
Aw thanks, that’s lovely of you to say 💕 (and yes, I tried to figure out which were my favourites and the answer was all of them, I love all of them, 😂)
Thanks for your videos which are really enjoyable. I wanted to add to this one that I met the publisher at a trade fair in London and he was an exceptionally nice chap. Passionate about the titles and designs, but also the book trade in general. I think his enthusiasm shines through in the end result. It's great to see these featured on your channel.
Gorgeous! Thank you. I definitely prefer the florals... they are lush. I’m reading Natalie Jenner’s The Jane Austen Society at the moment and the combination of that and this has made me want to buy more editions of her books!
Hey how are you? I took your advice and bought a copy. What a wonderful book! The glossy paper is just amazing to hold and the cover design is an absolute delight! Definitely worth collecting! Thank you for the informative video!
Thank you so much for posting this! I'm from Argentina and there's no books like these. I was hoping to buy them but I wasn't sure. Now I need them so much. They're beautiful 😍
Hola! Argentino en España. Aca se consiguen y si tenes a alguien que viaje se lo podes encargar. Cuestan alrededor de 25 euros y te conviene comprarlos por Amazon.
These are lovely editions (particularly the covers for Jane Eyre and Mansfield Park). Thank you for also including links. I do wish however we'd get more editions of The Tenant of Wildfell Hall as opposed to the usual books that already get so many re-issues.
Yes, the covers are lovely (and the texture is great too!). I agree there are a LOT of beautiful editions to choose from for some titles and hardly any for others - Chiltern seem to be expanding each year though, so hopefully Tenant is on their planned list!
These are nice and compact and remarkably good value! Have picked up three today based on this video from QBD for the low low price of $45 total :) ps. Love your channel, it's pure joy.
Absolutely stunning! (The floral designs are especially my favorite!) Are these all unabridged? Thank you for thoroughly showing each book. So happy to have found your RU-vid channel today, and can’t wait to watch more :)
Aw, thank you! Yes, they are all abridged. However, it is the British version of Little Women rather than the American version (in the UK, Little Women typically follows the original publication order which has Little Women and Good Wives published as two separate books, while in the US these two volumes are usually published together in a single book called Little Women - it’s a little confusing...).
@@BeautifulBooks so if they’re abridged does that mean that these editions do not contain the original texts of the classics? that‘s very disappointing…
@@vickyengler21 In a comment further down the channel owner has said the opposite - that they're unabridged. I think in this sub-thread she must just have been referring to Little Women being abridged (or maybe not abridged but just one book rather than two if in the UK) but meant that the others are unabridged.
I adore this series and have to thank you for putting this out! I've long enjoyed buying / reading the odd book but only really 'hit my stride' in the last year or two. Never really got the appeal of the usual 'annoying paper sleeve over plain cardboardy hardback' type release. Your site - and this series in particular - really won me over on hardbacks. The Chilterns are SUCH a treat to get stuck into, and I'm starting to get a mini collection going. Just picked up The Picture of Dorian Grey today and it's stunning! Cheers :D
Oh, wonderful to hear! Yes, these are quite adorable, and hark back to the way books used to be released without dust jackets. They are releasing quite a range each year as well!
I am always sad when they only release some of the authors books in a set format. Like F.Scott Fiztgerald only have one of these for The Great Gatsby is a shame and having to fill the rest of his books with another collection.
I agree, I love to have sets by authors that match. However, Chiltern release new books in this series every year, and it took them about three years to cover the Austen books, so hopefully there will be more Fitzgerald coming soon. (Also have my fingers crossed for the rest of the Little Women series...)
Jane Eyre is so beautiful! Was excited for Alice but that cover is a bit of a let down, unfortunately. All my copies are reading copies, but with the classics I also go for beauty because there's so much available. I'd rather purchase a pretty paperback than a dull hardback. Glad with these you get both.
Yes, I love the floral designs they do so much, esp Jane Eyre 💕. I just got the Alice actually - the cover is much cooler in person than on screen (the texturing makes it catch the light) BUT I was really disappointed with the layout. One of the things I always check in an Alice book is how they treat the mouse tale poem, because it's a visual play on words so it can be a good indication of how the rest of the work is going to go. In the Chiltern edition the tail poem is broken over a page turn, which really ruins the effect of it being a shaped poem. Obviously they were trying to keep a reasonable font size and it's a small book, but I'd have loved a more creative solution...
Oh that is a shame they have done that to the Mouse's Tail in Alice. I have the Penguin Black Classics version and it is all on the same page. I have a Tattoo Sleeve of Alice in Wonderland. The White Rabbit, Alice, The Mad Hatter and The Cheshire Cat.
Yes, I can’t wait to see how they handle it 😀 while you wait though, have you seen the Folio Society edition of Phantom? It’s illustrated by Taylor Dolan and uses a nice recent translation (the David Coward one) - I have it and really like it.
@@BeautifulBooks I have, I like it but it can wait. On a different note: How do you feel about illustrated editions of famous books produced by a national fund that pretty much guarantees it's exclusivity since they will be extremely hard to find outside or even inside the country in which they were published? I mean like a true classic you'll never find out about unless I tell you because even I only found out about it because I just bumped into it sitting on a shelf?
@@BeautifulBooks I was planning on sending you an actual photo of the book once I had it in my hands, unfortunately that day seems to be slipping farther and farther away from me at this time so here's a link to a walk-through of the illustrations of said book m.facebook.com/watch/?v=243295726731237&_rdr The edition is very pretty and surprisingly heavy for a book of its size And a link to the actual book which unfortunately is not available from Bookdepository.com or any other big international retailers www.amazon.com.mx/dp/6073186037/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_1jHiFbYSV3RTV
Yes, they are beautiful. At the moment only Little Prince and Art of War have illustrations, but I agree a colour frontispiece from the period would have a been a lovely extra touch for the others.
Is the edition of Frankenstein the original 1818 text or the heavily revised 1831 edition? There is no information about this on their website. Great video and beautiful books
Very important to be sure, and yes they all have Smyth sewn bindings. They are really nicely made, and as a book collector I have pretty high standards for construction!
thank you so much for replying.. that's all i wanted to know because these books look amazing.. I hope to get my hands on them soon...thanks again for sharing these information...
They are lovely, and they do go on sale (e.g. I'm in Australia and they often go for $15 at QBD during their annual sales). Hope you find one for a reasonable price some day 💕
Hi, thanks for the all the great work you put in for the videos and the website. Could you please confirm if the Frankenstein edition has the 1818 or 1831 story?
No trouble at all - they are both excellent choices for reading and both are well-made. So it mostly comes down to a cover style preference really - Everyman are very uniform in design and they have a larger range, while these are ‘prettier’ designs and the covers are more tactile.
@@BeautifulBooks Thanks again! My absolute favorite are the Knickerbocker Classics with the slip case. I think the Chiltern patterns match much better with those.
The covers and designs are beautiful and I really love the smaller format they had chosen for their versions but those glossy pages inside are totally ruining the aesthetic and feeling for me. Even the font might be incredibly small in the barnes and noble leather bound classics I much prefer those over these shown in this video even I am more in love with the look you are getting when you have them in your shelves together.
i agree! i feel like I'm going to get a papercut and miss the smell of regular paper. so you would recommend the leather bound classics if you could just choose one?
They look gorgeous, indeed. They have gone the extra mile in the cover design. I sometimes wish all these publishers did different books, because they do the same ones over and over again. You hardly see Trollopes and Hardys here. In particular, I have never seen a publisher (other than Collectors' Library) do The Prisoner of Zenda in one of these editions
Yes, it can be frustrating to see so many beautiful designs of the same titles. I have a really nice (vintage) copy of The Prisoner of Zenda by the Limited Editions Club. Heritage Press did a cheaper copy of the same edition, and Easton Press reproduced it too, if you’re looking for a nice copy 😀
Beautiful Books yes! I have the Heritage Press one. It holds up very nicely for a 55 year old book. I’ll check the Easton one, as their public domain books tend to be less expensive in the aftermarket.
inlé's inlet Hm. I haven’t tried to write on them. It’s what I would call “satin” gloss - so not super shiny, but definitely not matte. I would guess you could write on them with a soft lead pencil?
Hi - Chiltern do put out some journals with cover designs that match several of their classic books (the blank ones have plain pages and are good for drawing, the rules ones have lines so they are easy to write on). However, the books in this video are the actual reading books, not the journals. Hope that helps!
Hiii, I wanted to buy the Little Woman edition but your note confused me a little. What do you mean only part one? Can you please explain (because I’ve never read Little Women!) Thank you :) if it’s not the full book I don’t wanna buy it!
When Little Women was originally published in 1868 it was very successful, so her publishers asked for a follow-up, and she wrote 'Good Wives' (which was set three years later) which was published in 1869. An omnibus edition of both books was released in 1880 (confusingly just called Little Women). UK editions typically follow the original naming convention (so the Chiltern edition is the original Little Women book). However, US editions typically publish the later omnibus edition under the Little Women title, which includes the book called Good Wives in the UK. I included the note because if you're in the UK, the book will be what you expect, but if you're in the US and you've read it before, you might feel like the 'second part' is missing since it's usually published as an omnibus in the States. So yes, it is a full book (and it was a stand-alone when first written). There are more volumes in the series as well (Little Men and Jo's Boys) - I'm hoping Chiltern will publish the rest too as it would be a gorgeous set. Hope that helps :)
Don’t know if this information is still of any use to you, but the good wives is being released by Chiltern in a few months time, I myself am waiting to get it with little women as they will make a beautiful two-volume set!
I just purchase the little prince in my country Mexico, but failed to notice that it said it has 18 pages???? but the price is the equivalent of 16 dollars which if I checked everywhere else that seems to be about right! but the little prince is usually 112 pages anyone might know what could be going on here?
Did you purchase the edition published by Chiltern Classics? If so, it does have 112 pages and presumably the website just has a typo on the page count. The only editions I know of with such a low page count are the pop-up book adaptations.
Many of the covers are certainly beautiful. The paper quality/style gives me great pause though... Does not seem like it would be too enjoyable to read. IMO matte cream colour pages are best. It also has been difficult to find the translators used (when applicable). I was looking at their Phantom of the Opera but couldn't dig up anything.
Thanks for commenting! I don’t mind the paper when reading, but it’s definitely a bit glossy if you want to annotate with a pencil, for example. I’m travelling right now, but can check the translator for you when I get back if you like, as I have the book at home?
@@BeautifulBooks that would be nice if you could :) I left a comment on one of their Social Media pages but who knows if I'll hear back. I fully expect it to be the original abridged translation to keep costs down, but it would be nice to know for sure :)
I have a lot of books on order from the UK that have been several months in transit. I spoke to the post office who said that there is such limited space on international flights that lots of orders are being shipped by sea, so a three month delay is expected :(
I doubt it - only a few Chiltern books have been illustrated so far, and usually when the illustrations have been an integral part of the story (e.g, The Little Prince). I can update when I confirm.
Yes, I have the same issue with Penguin clothbounds - they have really pretty covers, but basically are just paperbacks inside. These Chiltern classics are much higher quality - they are sewn bindings so yes, they stay open when you read them. I haven't had any issues with fading, but I only got my first books from them in late 2018 so I can't speak for longer than that.
Yes they are all unabridged 🙂 Just to note though that Little Women is the UK version, so it is shorter than the US version. (It’s not abridged - when Little Women was first published, it was quite popular so Alcott quickly published a sequel called Good Wives the following year. However, in the US, both books are usually bundled together in an omnibus edition confusingly also called Little Women, whereas in the UK they are still published as two separate volumes. Hopefully Chiltern will also bring out an in-series copy of Good Wives soon…)
Nice editions. But could we please make some beautiful editions of books that are NOT Alice in Wonderland and Pride & Prejudice? Like, say, The Woman in White by Wilkie Collins? Just beloved books that need this nice treatment but that aren’t Sherlock Holmes? I have nice copies of all these classics. Not to be negative-LOVE your gorgeous video AND these books. Just a general kind of statement
Yes, it's so true. Certain titles get so much more love than others which is pretty frustrating. Folio Society have a much more interesting range (alongside many classics as well) if you've had a chance to check them out? (In fact, I have their edition of Woman in White!)
Beautiful Books Absolutely! I am a Folio Society devotee. And I also understand the “book art object” point of view. I am a collector, so I understand that one can have many, many editions of the same wonderful book. But a little more diversity would be appreciated
@@bethflynn5342 Definitely agree! We'll just have to keep reminding the publishers that there is a huge audience outside their classics comfort zone with hungry shelves awaiting... 😃
Hi Rachel - apologies for the delay in reply (YT doesn't always let me know when there are comments). Price will depend where you are located - RRP on the Chiltern website is £15-20 (UK). I'm in Australia where QBD have them 2 for $30. Amazon is usually around $20 USD.
I hope you will have an update for the prospected August 6th and October 29th releases and the titles. I reach out to the company and beg to be on a list so I can pro-order and own every book and it's only through continually trying to see if they pop up that they are going to have releases. It's like pulling teeth to get this company to make sure I can own every book they put out for this series. Does anyone know how to get on a notification list. Or how can I keep up to date? Please and thank you to anyone who can help with this because because have begged the company for years and they don't seem to give a shit if anyone knows. Their FB is almost never updated and the only thing they post about is years old titles. Even their own store doesn't have thelre-order new releases and titles available. I'm just stuck fumbling around for it and have only found 19 titles available and have already paid for them.
Yes, it's so hard to track down their publication schedule! I do maintain a regularly updated list that includes the planned August and October releases (I like to make use of the preorder discounts - they started off really affordable, but prices have been steadily creeping up), you can see the list here: bit.ly/chilternbooks
I just bought Great Expectations. Whilst very beautiful, I’m really not a fan of the glossy pages. I find it a little hard to read and also I think the glossy pages actually cheapens the look. For this reason I decided not to buy any more in the collection. Which is a shame as they are very pretty.
Yes, the pages are rather glossy in all of the volumes. (I think their paper choice also adds to the weight - they are surprisingly heavy for such small volumes!) So sorry you found it hard to read - if I find a series with similar design and quality with matte pages I'll come back here and let you know. (Although, vintage/second-hand volumes are worth looking out for when buying these sorts of classic titles - older books usually have matte pages and some have quite pretty cover designs too.)
@@BeautifulBooks They are heavy! I was so surprised by the weight for their size. I tend to only like buying one copy per book and have a preference of hardcover. But I’m finding it so hard to get hardcovers that are as readable as paperbacks. I find so many editions incredibly beautiful, but just not very readable. Have you got any of the Wordsworth Collectors Editions? I haven’t seen them in person but I’m trying to figure out why they are so cheap for hardcovers. ($15-$20 per book here in Australia). I’m looking for an edition of The Great Gatsby, and thanks to your video have held of in hopes that one of the coming editions is what I’m after :)
@@cassdelioncourt The Wordsworth editions have very pretty covers, but are essentially paperbacks on the inside (e.g. glued, not stitched, pages), and the paper the covers are made from can be a little delicate and open to showing shelfwear - hence the lower price point. And yes, lots of wonderful Gatsby editions to choose from this year, so I hope one of them suits your tastes! I’ll come back and update here on the paper style when they come out :)
@@BeautifulBooks thank you! I really appreciate the information. It’s so hard to tell without seeing them in person. I find online book store don’t offer a lot of detail or even good photos.
@@dandelves For the most part they are unabridged. There are some caveats though, e.g, the translation used for Phantom of the Opera is the first English translation by de Mattos from 1911, so although the Chiltern edition is an unabridged version of this *translation*, the translation itself is an abridged version of the original French story. Also, if you originally read the US edition of Little Women, you will find Chiltern follows the UK convention of printing this story in two volumes, Little Women & Good Wives.