To help you find the best gifts this Christmas, our gifting list for bookworms is full of beautiful, classic titles, any book lover would be thrilled to open on Christmas day. Featuring vintage stories like Wind in The Willows to iconic Russian novels like Anna Karenina, beautiful non-fiction books with stunning interiors, and not to mention biographies and essay collections from the likes of Virginia Woolf, Oscar Wilde, and H. P. Lovecraft.
Inspire Nostalgia With These Vintage Tales
The Psammead Collection – Books 1 – 3 – by E. Nesbit
Featuring: Five Children and It, The Phoenix and the Carpet, and The Story of the Amulet. The stories revolve around five children called Anthea, Cyril, Robert, Jane and the “Lamb”, whose lives are changed after the discovery a wish-granting sand fairy with whom they embark on many magical adventures.
Anne of Green Gables – by L. M. Montgomery
The first book in the Anne of Green Gables Series, it tells the tale of a little red-headed orphaned girl, mistakenly sent to the Cutherbert’s farm on Prince Edward Island. Anne’s strong character and vivid imagination both help and hinder her as she makes her way through childhood in the pretty little town of Avonlea.
The Secret Garden – by Frances Hodgson Burnett
“The Secret Garden” is considered a classic of children’s fiction and remains one of Frances Hodgson Burnett’s most popular works. A heart-warming, beautifully-told story of a lonely orphan girl who goes to live with her uncle in an intimidating British manor house. “The Secret Garden” has been enjoyed for over a century and continues to be popular to this day.
The Call of The Wild – by Jack London
In this tale, the central character is a dog named Buck. It is a story of Buck’s survival, heroism, communality and rebirth, and uses symbolism and anthropomorphism to convey human themes.
Beautiful Classic Fiction Books
Anna Karenina – by Leo Tolstoy
Widely considered to be one of the greatest literary works ever produced. This fantastically intricate novel in eight parts chronicles the lives and relationships of over a dozen characters and deals with such themes as marriage, faith, fidelity, betrayal, Russian society, and desire. The story revolves around Anna and Count Alexei Kirillovich Vronsky, whose illicit love affair creates a scandal in Saint Petersburg which necessitates the couple’s flight to Italy in search of happiness.
The Picture of Dorian Gray – by Oscar Wilde
Perhaps Wilde’s most famous and celebrated of works, the story follows a young man’s hedonistic journey through high society and the depths of depravity. Seduced by the spoils of greed, narcissism and lust, he pays a ghoulish price for his actions.
Middlemarch – by George Eliot
Set in the fictitious Midlands town of Middlemarch, the story revolves around the lives of its inhabitants in the years leading up to the Reform Act in 1832, particularly those of Dorothea Brooke, Tertius Lydgate, Nicholas Bulstrode, and Mary Garth. The novel deals with a variety of themes and issues including marriage, religion, hypocrisy, education, political reform, and the status of women.
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn – by Mark Twain
Huckleberry Finn escapes the civilized society of the strict Widow Douglas, who’s aim it is to care and educate the young boy, only to find himself at the hands of his drunken and abusive father. After giving his ‘Pap’ the slip in a mischievous and clever hoax, Huck sets out on his adventures down the Mississippi River on a raft, accompanied by his friend Jim, an escaped slave from the town. In their quest for freedom, these two characters form a strong bond whilst they encounter thieves, murderers, family feuds, con-artists, and tricksters along their trip downriver. Eventually, Huck and Jim’s friendship is put to the ultimate test when Jim is re-captured.
Pride and Prejudice – by Jane Austen
The story revolves around Elizabeth Bennet, a 20-year-old English woman who, as she matures, must learn the difference between the superficial and the necessary. Elizabeth, her five sisters, and their father live on Longbourn estate, a large property that will not be inherited by any of his daughters when their father dies. Because of this, it is vital that at least one of the daughters marries well as to support her sisters in later life.
The Age of Innocence – by Edith Wharton
The story is set in upper-class New York City in the 1870s, during the Gilded Age, and centres around an impending marriage and arrival of a scandalous relative that threatens to disrupt the couple’s happiness. In 1921, Wharton became the first woman to win Pulitzer Prize for Fiction after the book’s successful nomination.
Wuthering Heights – by Emily Brontë
The story of Catherine Earnshaw and Heathcliff, a young man adopted into Catherine’s family when he was just a boy. After Catherine’s father dies, her brother Hindley bullies and torments Heathcliff incessantly. Due to this and wrongly thinking that his love for Catherine is unrequited, Heathcliff leaves Wuthering Heights, returning a year later a wealthy man with revenge on this mind
Crime and Punishment – by Fyodor Dostoevsky
The narrative concerns the inner anguish of Rodion Raskolnikov, a poor ex-student in Saint Petersburg who conceives a murderous plan to steal from a notorious pawnbroker. However, after the deed is done he deteriorates into a feverish state and begins to fret obsessively. In his delirium, Rodion wanders the streets of the city unknowingly drawing attention to himself and his connection to the crime. A masterpiece that places you into the confused mind of a misguided murderer.
Beautiful Books with Even Better Interiors
The Early History of Ballooning – The Age of The Aeronaut
Beginning with the weird and wonderful early attempts at flight, such as the Benedictine monk who launched himself off Malmesbury Abbey, this book illustrates the history of the earliest and most majestic of aviation technologies, the balloon. Containing a generous helping of beautiful colour illustrations and contextual notes.
Star Lore of All Ages – by William Tyler Olcott
A Collection of Myths, Legends, and Facts Concerning the Constellations of the Northern Hemisphere. This wonderful, illustrated book is full of interesting and entreating information related to the constellations. Written in simple, plain language and profusely illustrated, this vintage book will appeal to young or amateur astronomers, and it would make for a charming addition to any collection.
Werner’s Nomenclature of Colours – by Patrick Syme
First published in 1814, this small volume comprises a collection of 110 swatches displaying nature’s colour palette together with their poetical descriptions. In the 18th Century, German geologist Abraham Gottlob Werner set out to establish a standard reference guide to colour for use in the general sciences. Scottish flower painter Patrick Syme later enhanced and extended Werner’s work to include all of the most common colours or tints that appear in nature, with each colour swatch accompanied by examples from the Animal, Vegetable and Mineral Kingdoms.
China – by Mortimer Menpes
First published in 1909, ‘China’ is written by Sir Henry Arthur Black and illustrated by Mortimer Menpes. Featuring 16 colour prints of Mortimer Menpes’s beautiful watercolour paintings it provides a charming illustrated history of China and Chinese culture.
Biographies, Memoirs & Essay Collections
Louisa May Alcott: Her Life, Letters, and Journals – by Edna D. Cheney
This early work is a collection of Louisa May Alcott‘s letters, journals, and notes. Published a year after Alcott’s death this is a truly unparalleled collection of her personal correspondence and a fascinating insight into the character and thoughts of this much-loved author.
De Profundis – by Oscar Wilde
This book contains a letter written by Oscar Wilde to British poet and journalist Lord Alfred Douglas, first published in 1905. Composed whilst Wilde was imprisoned in Reading Goal, the letter talks about his romantic relationship with Douglas and their time spent together, as well as Wilde’s spiritual development and identification with Jesus Christ. A fascinating and uniquely insightful letter that constitutes a must-read for those with an interest in the life and mind of this world-renowned writer.
A Room of One’s Own – by Virginia Woolf
An extended essay which was based on a series of lectures that Woolf delivered at two women’s colleges which are part of Cambridge University. The essay explores women both as writers and characters in fiction.
In the Mind of H. P. Lovecraft – A Collection of Essays
“In the Mind of H. P. Lovecraft” is a fantastic collection of essays and articles by H. P. Lovecraft published in newspapers during his lifetime. A unique collection not to be missed by lovers of the macabre and those with an interest in the mind of this seminal author. Howard Phillips Lovecraft (1890–1937) was an American writer of supernatural horror fiction.
A Woman Young and Passionate
A collection of essays, excerpts and assorted writing on the subject of Emily Brontë by various notable writers. Emily Jane Brontë (1818 – 1848), also known under the pseudonym Ellis Bell, was an English poet and novelist best known for her only novel and classic of English literature, “Wuthering Heights”.
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