Books published by Cosimo Classics

In this compelling compilation of evidence, researcher Mark Hall presents the case for terrifying, monstrous bird that has roamed our continents since the days of the ancient legends of the Thunderbird.Some very large birds are being sighted in the skies over North America. Described as an enormous black bird with a white ring around its long neck and a wingspan of up to 20 feet and more, this giant bird of prey has been sighted from Alaska, Canada, and the Pacific Northwest, and into the Midwest, Appalachia, and Pennsylvania.The accounts are puzzling and hard to believe yet eyewitnesses swear by what they saw. Evidence from around the world indicates that our ancestors knew and feared the bird, which can carry away small children and animals.

Sir Walter Scott esteemed her "the first poetess of romantic fiction." Jane Austen borrowed prodigiously from her-and sent up the steamy overwroughtness of her writing-in Northanger Abbey. British author ANN RADCLIFFE (1764-1823) pioneered the Gothic romance as popular fiction with her 1789 debut novel, The Castles of Athlin and Dunbayne, and went on to wild success with further works of demure heroines lost in the perils of supernatural melodrama.In this 1794 thriller, perhaps the quintessential example of the genre and Radcliffe's most popular work, the young and beautiful orphan Emily St. Aubert is imprisoned at sinister Castle Udolpho, and suffers frustrated romance and the hauntings of ghosts. A vital example of early horror and later a profound influence on pulp fiction, this is essential reading for both fans of the genre and those interested in its psychological and thematic development.

It would be enough to recommend this astonishing, 45-volume set, first published in 1896, if it were merely a wonderfully massive compilation of the world's best writings from the world's best authors up until the advent of the 20th century. But A Library of the World's Best Literature is so much more than that. For this marvelous collection represents the evolution of human thought-the evolution of human civilization, even-as seen through the mind of one of the most important, if sadly almost forgotten, literary figures of the 19th century.Popular American essayist, novelist, and journalist CHARLES DUDLEY WARNER (1829-1900) was renowned for the warmth and intimacy of his writing, which encompassed travelogue, biography and autobiography, fiction, and more, and influenced entire generations of his fellow writers. Here, the prolific writer turned editor for his final grand work, a splendid survey of global literature, classic and modern, and it's not too much to suggest that if his friend and colleague Mark Twain-who stole Warner's quip about how "everybody complains about the weather, but nobody does anything about it"-had assembled this set, it would still be hailed today as one of the great achievements of the book world.And so it still deserves to be. Arranged not chronologically but alphabetically, mostly under the names of authors but in some cases of literatures or special subjects-such as Icelandic literature or Arthurian legend-this set is no dry reference work. These eminently browsable volumes-available through Cosimo for the first time in decades in both paperback and hardcover editions-are meant to be read and enjoyed by anyone who loves the written word.Volume 45 features more synopses of notable works-from Adam Bede by George Eliot to Zury; The Meanest Man in Spring County by Joseph Kirkland-including many not previously referenced in the set but highlighted as well worth a serious reader's time and attention.This volume also includes a General Index to the 45-volume set.