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First published in German in 1816, “The Nutcracker and the Mouse-King” is the children’s fairy tale by Prussian composer and romantic author E. T. A. Hoffman that inspired Tchaikovsky’s famous ballet. Popularized by a French retelling by Alexandre Dumas in 1844 and immortalized in 1892 in the ballet that has become a part of the Christmas season tradition, Hoffman’s original tale is a magical story of imagination and love. It begins on Christmas Eve as the young Marie and her brother Fritz receive their Christmas gifts, including a beautiful nutcracker that immediately catches Marie’s interest. She begins to have fantastical dreams of her brave nutcracker leading all of her dolls in battle against the cruel and greedy Mouse-King and his army of mice. Her parents do not believe her dreams are real, but Marie is certain that the nutcracker is indeed her magical hero. She continues to dream of dramatic battles, the nutcracker’s eventual victory over the wicked Mouse-King, and a trip to the beautiful Land of Toys. Hoffman’s fairy tale of magic and devotion continues to captivate audiences and inspire adaptations around the world.

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Thornton W. Burgess was an important and influential American conservationist and a prolific author of charming children’s stories. For over 50 years, Burgess published numerous popular books on the flora and fauna of the natural world and wrote a regular newspaper column called “Bedtime Stories”. Often affectionately referred to as the “Bedtime Story-Man”, Burgess celebrated his love for the natural world through humorous and educational stories for children in both his books and in his popular column. Published in 1910, “Old Mother West Wind” is his first book to appear in print and introduces readers to many of his most enduring and beloved characters. Children will enjoy meeting Peter Rabbit, Jimmy Skunk, Bobby Raccoon, Little Joe Otter, Jerry Muskrat, and more funny animals for the first time and joining in their entertaining adventures. Burgess had a special ability to combine an educational story about the behaviors, habitats, and characteristics of the creatures of the natural world while also captivating audiences both young and old. This edition includes a biographical afterword and the original illustrations by George F. Kerr.

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First published in 1666, “The Blazing World”, is both one of the first novels written in English and one of the earliest works of science fiction. This utopian classic, by Margaret Cavendish, the Duchess of Newcastle, is also one of the earliest works by an English woman. Cavendish was an outspoken feminist, at a time when such ideas were virtually unheard of, and a pioneering advocate for a more modern view of gender roles and equality. “The Blazing World” is a surreal and experimental work that describes a fanciful and utopian society that may be reached through the North Pole. A young lady enters this new world and discovers a society full of various kinds of talking animals. She plans an invasion of her old world with the help of fish men, bird men, submarines, and weapons of flaming stone. Part travel memoir and part romance, “The Blazing World” is a wildly creative novel that imagines a world with entirely new ideas of gender, race, and class that were a radical departure from the norms of the seventeenth-century. Also included in this volume are two other works by Cavendish, “The Contract” and “Assaulted and Pursued Chastity”.

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First published as part of “The Book of Romance” in 1902, “King Arthur: Tales from the Round Table” is a compilation of classic Arthurian legend by the Scottish poet, novelist, and anthropologist Andrew Lang. Well-known for his volumes collecting the world’s fairy and folk tales, Lang also compiled and edited other famous and immortal stories from many genres, including romance and adventure. Like his fairy tale collections, Lang’s “King Arthur: Tales from the Round Table” is one of the most comprehensive and complete retellings of these well-loved stories. Lang drew upon the “Historia Britonum” and Thomas Malory’s “Morte d’Arthur” to assemble all the elements of King Arthur’s story. The legend’s most important details are masterfully retold, including the finding of Excalibur, Arthur’s encounter with the Lady of the Lake, the adventures of Arthur’s knights, Merlin’s story, the search for the Holy Grail, the tragic love story of Arthur, Guinevere, and Lancelot, and finally the end of King Arthur’s life. Lang’s collection is widely considered to be one of the most influential versions of the King Arthur legend and remains one of the most accessible and entertaining retellings of this timeless tale. This edition includes a biographical afterword and is illustrated by H. J. Ford.

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Scottish poet, novelist, and anthropologist Andrew Lang is well-known for his volumes collecting the world’s legends, fairy, and folk tales. Lang compiled and edited famous and immortal stories from many genres, including those of romance and adventure. Collected together here in “The Book of Romance” are Andrew Lang’s retellings of some of the most important English, Irish, French, German, and Icelandic legends. Chief among this volume are Lang’s depictions of Arthurian Legend. Drawing upon the “Historia Britonum” and Thomas Malory’s “Morte d’Arthur” Lang depicts the legend’s most important details including the finding of Excalibur, Arthur’s encounter with the Lady of the Lake, the adventures of Arthur’s knights, Merlin’s story, the search for the Holy Grail, the tragic love story of Arthur, Guinevere, and Lancelot, and finally the end of King Arthur’s life. Also included in this volume are classic retellings of “The Song of Roland”, the story of Robin Hood and his Merry Men, the Icelandic saga of Grettir the Strong, and several other German and Irish legends. This edition includes the original illustrations by H. J. Ford. This edition includes a biographical afterword.

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First published in 1919, “Within a Budding Grove” is the second novel in the “In Search of Lost Time” series by famed French author Marcel Proust. Originally intended to be published in 1914, but delayed by the onset of World War I, “Within a Budding Grove” was awarded the Prix Goncourt in 1919 and instantly catapulted Proust to international fame. The novel follows the narrator from the first volume, “Swann’s Way”, from childhood to adolescence. He grows bored with Swann’s daughter, Gilberte, and becomes infatuated with a new girl he meets while visiting the seaside town of Balbec with his grandmother. Albertine is a captivating beauty and the narrator enjoys spending time with her and her young and artistic friends. “Within a Budding Grove” explores the theme of involuntary memory, where common everyday occurrences trigger recollections of the past, which is a central concern of Proust’s “In Search of Lost Time”. Proust explores how childhood memories and impressions continue to affect a person for years, even as many of the specifics of the memories are lost to time and become meaningless. Proust’s novel is a timeless study of adolescent love. This edition follows the translation of C. K. Scott Moncrieff.

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Lee Smith says that Blue Marlin is one of the best things she has ever written. She brought it to Blair because she felt the novella, originally tucked into her story collection News of the Spirit under the inauspicious title “Live Bottomless,” never got the attention it deserved. Indeed, this novella—though set miles away from the Appalachia that is Smith’s home ground—is this iconic writer at her very best: sharp characterizations, wry humor, perfect pitch, and a quietly profound understanding of human nature.
Fans will clamor for this book, much as they did for her novella Christmas Letters, which was packaged with a small trim size, as Blue Marlin will be. Smith is hugely popular in the South but several of her books (notably, The Last Girls) did well nationwide. The Key West setting and the movie theme should broaden the geographic appeal.

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