A Collection of W.T. Stead's Penny Popular Novels - The Masterpiece Library / Review of Reviews, 1897-1898.

London, The Masterpiece Library / Review of Reviews, 1897-1898? An incomplete set. 95 of 139(?) volumes. The Penny Popular series, edited by famed journalist W.T. Stead, abridged longer books for the mass market bringing them down to 30k-40k words / 60 pages. The first volume (absent) was published in 1897. Most of the titles represent the first editions thus, i.e. the first appearance of these particular abridgements. Of particular interest to the speculative canon are the two Verne abridgements. Many popular titles in there including Jane Eyre, Pride and Prejudice, Noemi, Five Weeks in a Balloon, Robert Falconer, Ivanhoe, Little Women, Old Saint Paul's, Last of the Mohicans, Stories of Sevastopol, Sorrows of Satan, Round the World in Eighty Days, Stead's own History of the Mystery, Shirley, Sense and Sensibility, Fathers and Sons, Innocents Abroad, New Pilgrim's Progress, Gascoigne's Ghost, Villette. In absentia: 1,4,5,7,10,12,15,18,19,21,23,27,33,34,37,45,49,50,51,55,67,71,78,85,91,95,97,99,100,105,107,108,109,116,118,123,126,127,129,130,131,132,134,136,137. The final volume is numbered 139. I can find no information of any subsequent volumes. Some abridgements were carried out over multiple volumes (try getting Les Mis down to 60 pages), so if there are particular titles in this batch of interest, make sure all volumes are present - let us know if you need a run down. Condition: Varies. Some have their wraps missing, others are pretty much near fine. Some have an upper or lower wrap missing, most are toned, most wrappers have some chips and tearing. The majority are better than expected. [Baylen, p710] [8029, Hyraxia Books].