Artisan: 415 books

In the epic drama Prometheus Bound, Aeschylus, (c. 525-456 BC), recounts a mythical conflict: Prometheus, a Titan, and protector of mankind, steals fire from Mount Olympus and bestows it upon man. For this, Zeus inflicts a cruel punishment. He chains Prometheus to the summit of Mount Caucasus, where...

The only trilogy in Greek drama that survives from antiquity, Aeschylus' The Oresteia described the bloody chain of murder and revenge within the royal family of Argos. “At home there tarries like a lurking snake, Biding its time, a wrath unreconciled…” In Agamemnon,...

"There is only one happiness in life, to love and be loved…" GEORGE SAND (1804–1876) was the pseudonym of the French novelist and feminist Amantine-Lucile-Aurore Dupin, later Baroness Dudevant. Born Amantine Lucile Aurore, Sand was a prolific author of plays, short stories, and...

Justine tells the story of a beautiful and devout young woman, The Countess de Lorsange, who reveals her story, in a tavern, to a young woman named Therese. Her steadfast faith and naive trust have predestined her for sexual exploitation and martyrdom. Indeed, the unending catalog of disasters that...

  Marie tells the story of life and love on the Russian plains. Young Peter Grineff leaves the comfort of his home to face blizzards, hardship, and the barbarous cossacks. Presented as a memoir by Peter, the story follows his sometimes-harrowing quest to become husband to Marie....

Intentions The Picture of Dorian Gray Lady Windermere’s Fan The Birthday of the Infanta The Portrait of Mr. W.H. Teleny The Trials of Oscar Wilde De Profundis The Ballad of Reading Gaol Few writers have captured the texture of life as...

  War And Peace has become one of the most widely read and influential books ever written.  It reveals the astounding range, subtlety, artistry, and depth of a true original, Leo Tolstoy, author of Anna Karenina and countless other literary masterpieces. Published...

"If you are ever in Brooklyn, that borough of superb sunsets and magnificent vistas of husband-propelled baby-carriages, it is to be hoped you may chance upon a quiet by-street where there is a very remarkable bookshop...” Roger and Helen Mifflin own "Parnassus at Home," a...

    The Swiss Family Robinson recounts the courageous exploits of the Robinson family after they are shipwrecked on a deserted island. For six days and nights, a storm tosses the Robinson family's ship around on the sea. But the thundering waves have swept them off...

Molière's play, Tartuffe, repeatedly banned before its eventual public performance in 1669, is a comedy; but it is a comedy in which something serious is at stake. Condemned and banned for five years in Molière’s day, Tartuffe is a satire on religious hypocrisy. If...

John Keats, who died at the age of twenty-five, had perhaps the most remarkable career of any English poet. Regarded by many as one of the very greatest of the Romantic poets, John Keats was also among the most intriguing figures of his age. A sensualist who composed erotic and playful...

John Keats, who died at the age of twenty-five, had perhaps the most remarkable career of any English poet. Regarded by many as one of the very greatest of the Romantic poets, John Keats was also among the most intriguing figures of his age. A sensualist who composed erotic and playful...

Émile Zola’s The Dram-Shop is irresistible. Like the best of Dickens, it tells the story of an underclass with compassion and leaves its readers emotionally bereft. Considered one of Zola's masterpieces, The Dram-Shop—a study of alcoholism and poverty in the working-class districts...

Upon its publication in 1774, The Sorrows of Young Werther gained an instant following. European readers were captivated by the rapturous musings of Werther, Goethe's romantic protagonist whose extreme passion leads to self-destruction. Public fascination gave rise to a fanatical copycat culture,...