Tag Archives: book covers

First Edition ‘The Age of Innocence’ by Edith Wharton #oldbooks #bookcovers

Leave a reply

Published in 1920, The Age of Innocence was Edith Wharton’s twelfth novel and the one which would win her the Pulitzer Prize in 1921; the first woman to do so. This [below left] is the American first edition, published by D Appleton.

It is said the first choice of the Pulitzer judges was Main Street by Sinclair Lewis, which was rejected on ‘political grounds’. Wharton’s story first appeared in 1920 in the magazine Pictorial Review, serialised in four parts, then published in book form in the USA by D Appleton.

Edith Wharton

The Age of Innocence – character study by Joshua Reynolds

It is believed the title of the novel was taken from the painting by Joshua Reynolds [above] which was much reproduced in the late 18th century and came to represent the commercial face of childhood.

Edith Wharton

Wordsworth Classics current ed 1994

The current edition by Wordsworth Classics [above] dates from 1994.
BUY THE BOOK

The story
Set in 1870s upper class New York society, The Age of Innocence was set around the time of Wharton’s own birth. She wrote the book had allowed her to find “a momentary escape in going back to my childish memories of a long-vanished America… it was growing more and more evident that the world I had grown up in and been formed by had been destroyed in 1914.”
Gentleman lawyer Newland Archer is due to marry the shy and beautiful May Welland until he encounters May’s cousin. The exotic Countess Ellen Olenska pays no court to society’s fastidious rules and, scandalously, is separated from her husband, a Polish count. To avoid scandal, Ellen is advised to live separately from her husband rather than pursue divorce. Newland tries to forget Ella and marries May but their marriage is loveless. Newland and Ellen meet again and as Newland falls in love with Ellen his behaviour breaks the rules of accepted behaviour. When he finally decides to follow Ellen to Europe, May announces she is pregnant.

Other editions

Films

Edith Wharton

film poster 1993

The 1993 film [above] starring Daniel Day-Lewis as Newland Archer, Michelle Pfeiffer as the Countess Olenska and Winona Ryder as May Welland, was directed by Martin Scorsese. Watch the trailer.
BUY THE DVD

Edith Wharton

film poster 1934

A 1934 film [above] with the same title took inspiration from the Wharton novel but set the action two generations later. Dallas Archer has fallen in love with a married woman, to the displeasure of all his family except his grandfather Newland Archer. And in 1924, a black and white film of The Age of Innocence [below] starred Elliott Dexter as Newland.

Edith Wharton

film poster 1924

If you like old books, check out these:-
‘It’ by Stephen King 
‘Ulysses’ by James Joyce
‘Five on a Treasure Island’ by Enid Blyton

And if you’d like to tweet a link to THIS post, here’s my suggested tweet:
First Edition THE AGE OF INNOCENCE by Edith Wharton #oldbooks #bookcovers https://wp.me/p5gEM4-4aX via @SandraDanby

First Edition ‘Robinson Crusoe’ by Daniel Defoe #oldbooks #bookcovers

Leave a reply

I first read Robinson Crusoe by Daniel Defoe when I was at university and I admit to not having picked up the book since, except to move it from house to house over the years. Perhaps I should re-read it though; Robinson Crusoe is said to be second only to the Bible in the number of translations. Published on April 25, 1719, it has inspired many spin-off novels, television programmes and films. A copy of the first edition is held by the British Library in London.

Before the end of the first year of publication, the first volume had been published in four editions and by the end of the 19th century, no other book in Western literature had more editions, spin-offs and translations. Defoe wrote a sequel, The Farther Adventures of Robinson Crusoe.

Robinson Crusoe

Robinson Crusoe by Daniel Defoe – Penguin Classics current

The current edition by Penguin Classics.
BUY THE BOOK

The story
Why is this story so popular? It is often described as the ‘first English novel’ and is a combination of adventure story, in which the shipwrecked Crusoe encounters pirates and cannibals. It is also an examination of the human condition when completely isolated. This is the first-hand story of a castaway who spends 28 years on a remote desert island in the Caribbean. Crusoe is the sole survivor of the shipwreck and in his journal his chronicles his daily attempt to stay alive. He finds food, constructs shelter and faces isolation. He enlists the help of a native islander, Crusoe calls him Friday, and slowly transforms himself from shipwreck victim to self-sufficient survivor.

Other editions

 

Films & Television

Robinson Crusoe

Cast Away film poster

The book inspired the 2000 film Cast Away, starring Tom Hanks as a systems analyst whose plane crashes in the Pacific Ocean. Washed up with him on his deserted island are a number of Fed Ex parcels, some of which he opens and finds useful articles.
BUY THE ‘CAST AWAY’ DVD

Less likely is the casting of Pierce Brosnan in the 1997 film Robinson Crusoe [below].

The novel has inspired many adaptations, including Robinson Crusoe on Mars [above] in which astronaut Kit Draper, stranded on Mars, must figure out how to find oxygen, food and water.
BUY THE ‘ROBINSON CRUSOE ON MARS’ DVD

Robinson Crusoe

The Adventures of Robinson Crusoe 1964 – TV series

As a child of the Sixties and Seventies, I am most familiar with the Robert Hoffman television series. If you are the same age, you will instantly remember the music. It was broadcast between 1965 and 1977.
BUY THE ‘THE ADVENTURES OF ROBINSON CRUSOE’ DVD

If you like old books, check out these:-
‘It’ by Stephen King 
‘Five on a Treasure Island’ by Enid Blyton
‘An Ice Cream War’ by William Boyd

And if you’d like to tweet a link to THIS post, here’s my suggested tweet:
First Edition ROBINSON CRUSOE by Daniel Defoe #oldbooks #bookcovers https://wp.me/p5gEM4-4vU via @SandraDanby