The Originals Classic (Set Of 4 Books) : The Republic | A Tale Of Two Cities | Tess Of The Durbervilles | Pride And Prejudice

Plato (428-348 BCE) was a philosopher and mathematician in ancient Greece. A student of Socrates and a teacher of Aristotle, his Academy was one of the first institutions of higher learning in the Western world. He is widely regarded as the father of modern philosophy.

Charles Dickens was born in 1812 near Portsmouth where his father was a clerk in the navy pay office. The family moved to London in 1823, but their fortunes were severely impaired. Dickens was sent to work in a blacking-warehouse when his father was imprisoned for debt. Both experiences deeply affected the future novelist. In 1833 he began contributing stories to newspapers and magazines, and in 1836 started the serial publication of Pickwick Papers. Thereafter, Dickens published his major novels over the course of the next twenty years, from Nicholas Nickleby to Little Dorrit. He also edited the journals Household Words and All the Year Round. Dickens died in June 1870.

Born on 2 June 1840, THOMAS HARDY was an English novelist, poet and dramatist from Higher Bockhampton, Dorset, England. He was known for his genial nature and the ability to sensitively portray human sufferings and injustices in his works. Some of his major novels are Far from the Madding Crowd (1874), The Mayor of Casterbridge (1886) and Tess of the d'Urbervilles (1891). Hardy was known for his regionalised plots that represented a rural way of life which was fast declining. He often challenged Victorian morality and was often sympathetic to the working classes in his novels. Today, he holds the unique distinction of being a renowned nineteenth century novelist and a twentieth century poet. He died aged 87.

Born on 16 December 1775 in Steventon, Hampshire, Jane Austen was one of eight children of George Austen, a clergyman, who assisted as the rector of the Anglican parishes. Jane began writing as a teenager. In 1783, along with her sister Cassandra, she was sent to Oxford where she was taught by Mrs Ann Cawley. When the sisters caught typhus, both were sent home and Jane attended boarding school in Reading from early 1785. Since the Austen family couldn’t afford the school fees, Jane returned home in 1786. In 1796, Jane began writing First Impressions and completed the first draft in August 1797, (later published as Pride and Prejudice). During this time, her father tried publishing one of his daughter’s novels. In her early years, Jane had unrestricted access to her father’s library and her father too would provide her expensive stationery to encourage her. In 1797, George Austen wrote to Thomas Cadell, a famous publisher in London, asking if First Impressions could be considered. Meanwhile, during mid-1798, Jane began working on Susan (later published as Northanger Abbey). Again, the manuscript was offered to a London publisher who paid 10 pounds for the copyright. The book remained unpublished for a long time and eventually, Jane had to repurchase the copyright from the publisher in 1816. Northanger Abbey was published posthumously in 1818. In 1816, Jane’s health deteriorated due to Addison’s disease, and she went to Winchester for treatment. She died there on 18 July 1817. As a writer, Jane achieved critical acclaim only after her death. Her body of works include Sense and Sensibility, Pride and Prejudice, Mansfield Park, Emma, Northanger Abbey and Persuasion. In 1833, her works were republished in Richard Bentley’s Standard Novels series, and illustrated by Ferdinand Pickering. These became immensely popular and almost 52 years after her death, in 1869, her nephew published A Memoir of Jane Austen, reintroducing the writer to her readers.