The Classic of British literature. Illustrated

• John Bunyan (auteur)

  Bunyan was born in 1628 in the heart of England, a mile south of Bedford a few years before the English Civil War. His family was so poor that when his father died, John was left only one shilling and his tinker's anvil. The boy had little formal education. However, he learned to read and feasted on medieval romances in which valiant knights underwent great trials and conquered villains and monsters. In youth he boasted a mouth so profane it shocked even wicked men. Additionally, he loved to dance, bell-ring and lead Sunday sports, all considered improper by Puritans. Although he attended church, he had little religious feeling.John turned sixteen in 1644 at the height of the Civil War. He joined the army. Since Bedford was a Parliamentarian stronghold, it is probable he served Cromwell. While on duty he was "drawn out" to take part in a siege. Another soldier asked to take his place. "[A]s he stood sentinel he was shot in the head with a musket bullet and died." John came to see this as proof God had spared his life for a great work.Returning home, John married. He was twenty. His wife was as poor as he; between them, they did not have a dish or spoon. Her godly father had furnished her with two Christian books--books which John read with an increasingly troubled conscience. One Sunday as he played, he heard a voice. "Will you leave your sins and go to Heaven, or have your sins and go to Hell?" His distress was acute. He felt that he had sinned so gravely he was beyond forgiveness. Nonetheless, he struggled to find peace with God by obeying scriptural commands. Outwardly, he reformed and put off swearing and improper sports. Inwardly, he still longed to participate. He read the Bible. Although without peace, he thought God must be pleased with him.One day he overheard four women speaking of their inner religious experience, and he realized he lacked something. Leaving the Church of England, he joined their fellowship. Still, he lacked peace. Only after reading Luther's commentary on Galatians did he realize he could be justified by faith alone. His inner struggles were not over, but he found relief. Bunyan felt compelled to tell others of faith in Christ. He became a field preacher. So effective were his words, people would arrive at dawn to hear him preach at noon.

• William Shakespeare (auteur)

  William Shakespeare is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He began his successful career in London as an actor, writer, and part-owner of a playing company called the Lord Chamberlain's Men. His early plays were comedies and histories, considered some of the best in these genres. In 1623, a more definitive collection of his works known as the First Folio was published. Shakespeare was born to a successful glover and educated at the King's New School in Stratford. He married Anne Hathaway and had three children. Shakespeare's plays were performed by the Lord Chamberlain's Men, making him a wealthy man. He continued to act in his own plays and collaborated with other playwrights. Shakespeare's last three plays were collaborations, and he retired to Stratford before his death. His work has had a lasting impact on theatre and literature, and he is considered a genius and a classic of the German Weimar era. There have been doubts about the authorship of his works, but they are considered fringe theories.

• Francis Bacon (auteur)

  Sur la couverture : "Portrait de Michel Leiris" de Francis Bacon, 1976Succession Francis Bacon / SODRAC (2012)

• John Milton (auteur)

  John Milton (1608–1674) was an English poet, polemicist, man of letters, and civil servant for the Commonwealth of England under its Council of State and later under Oliver Cromwell. He wrote at a time of religious flux and political upheaval, and is best known for his epic poem Paradise Lost (1667), written in blank verse. Milton's poetry and prose reflect deep personal convictions, a passion for freedom and self-determination, and the urgent issues and political turbulence of his day.

• Jonathan Swift (auteur)

  Jonathan Swift est né à Dublin en 1667. Orphelin de père, il fut élevé par ses oncles. Après des études de théologie, il fut nommé pasteur et commença à écrire sa première satire. Par la suite, il composera de nombreux pamphlets humoristiques, qui tous attestent d'un ton féroce et un style mordant, caractéristiques de son écriture. Il meurt à Dublin en 1745.

• Daniel Defoe (auteur)

  Auteur de récits, d'essais, de pamphlets, Daniel Defoe (1660-1731) s'inspire, pour écrire Robinson Crusoé (1719), d'un fait divers réel. Ce roman de commande, oeuvre « alimentaire » entreprise pour doter ses filles, devait pourtant assurer l'immortalité de son auteur.

• Jane Austen (auteur)

  English novelist known primarily for her six major novels, which interpret, critique and comment upon the British landed gentry at the end of the 18th century. Austen's plots often explore the dependence of women on marriage in the pursuit of favourable social standing and economic security. Her works critique the novels of sensibility of the second half of the 18th century and are part of the transition to 19th-century literary realism.

• Charles Dickens (auteur)

  Charles Dickens was an English novelist and social critic known for creating iconic fictional characters. He is considered one of the greatest Victorian-era novelists. His works, such as "A Christmas Carol," "Oliver Twist," and "Great Expectations," are frequently adapted and evoke images of early Victorian London. Dickens drew inspiration from his own experiences, including his father's imprisonment for debt. He began his career as a journalist and writer in his early twenties, and his unique style and humor quickly gained him fame. Dickens was also known for his philanthropy and advocacy for social issues. He made a trip to the United States and Canada in 1842 and expressed his condemnation of slavery. Dickens's novels often depicted the struggles of the poor and disadvantaged, challenging societal norms and advocating for change. Despite some criticism of his sentimentality, Dickens's popularity remained strong, and he is regarded as one of the greatest British novelists. He left a lasting legacy, with museums and festivals dedicated to his life and works.

• Walter Scott (auteur)

  Né en Ecosse, Walter Scott (1771-1832) est poète, romancier et historien. Il est considéré comme l'inventeur du roman historique. Il a exercé en France une influence considérable sur les auteurs romantiques.

• Charlotte Brontë (auteur)

  Troisième fille d'un pasteur anglican, Charlotte Brontë est née en 1816 à Haworth. À 10 ans, retirée de l'école religieuse où deux de ses sœurs ont contracté la tuberculose, qui leur sera fatale, elle commence à écrire, concevant avec son frère et ses sœurs un univers de fantaisie. À 19 ans, elle devient gouvernante et commence à rédiger Le professeur, qu'enrichira son séjour dans une pension de jeunes filles en Belgique, en 1842.
  Son projet de créer une école avec ses sœurs n'aboutira pas, mais en 1846, sous le pseudonyme de Bell, paraît leur premier recueil. Nourri de tant d'expériences, Jane Eyre trouve un éditeur en 1847 et connaît un vif succès. Trollope, George Eliot, Thackeray ne cachent pas leur admiration. Deux romans suivront, Shirley en 1849 et Villette en 1853.
  Mariée en 1854, elle meurt de maladie en 1855.

• Thomas Hardy (auteur)

  Écrivain britannique naturaliste né le 2 juin 1840 à Stinsford, Dorchester (Royaume-Uni), mort le 11 janvier 1928 dans la même ville.

• Joseph Conrad (auteur)

  Romancier anglais, Joseph Conrad – Téodor Jozef Konrad Korzeniowski de son vrai nom – est né à Terechowa (Pologne) le 3 décembre 1857. Il débute dans la carrière de marin à 17 ans, en 1874. À Marseille, il est successivement engagé sur divers navires de commerce. Il fréquente les gens de mer mais aussi les milieux légitimistes et aristocratiques de la ville. Après quatre ans de cette existence, il quitte la France pour l'Angleterre. Il continue sa vie de marin, prenant bientôt un brevet de capitaine de la marine marchande anglaise. Traversées au long cours s'enchaînent vers tous les ports du monde. Il est naturalisé sujet britannique en 1886. En 1889 il commence à écrire son premier livre, La Folie-Almayer mais, repris par la passion de l'aventure, il obtient le commandement d'un vapeur du Haut-Congo. L'expérience, très dure, le contraint à rentrer en Europe. Il continue son roman tout en se soignant. Le succès du livre, publié en 1895, qu'il avait eu tant de peine à écrire en anglais, décide de sa carrière d'écrivain. Il se consacre dès lors exclusivement à la littérature et donne en quatorze ans toute une série de chefs-d'oeuvre du roman d'aventure: Un paria des îles, Lord Jim, Jeunesse, Typhon, L'Agent secret, Sous les yeux d'Occident, La Flèche d'or, etc. Il meurt à Bishopsbourne (Kent) le 3 août 1924.

• Arthur Conan Doyle (auteur)

  Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, immense écrivain anglais, est notamment le père de Sherlock Holmes. Médecin, il s’engage dans la guerre entre l’Angleterre et les Boers, dont il est le premier à raconter dans le détail ce dur conflit colonial.

• Lewis Carroll (auteur)

  Né Charles Lutwidge Dogson, Lewis Carroll (1832-1898) est fils de pasteur. Il fait ses études à Oxford, où il devient professeur de mathématiques. Il étudie la médecine, mais s'intéresse aussi beaucoup au théâtre, au canotage et à la photographie. Il est l'auteur du célèbre récit Alice au pays des merveilles, suivi de À travers le miroir.

• Oscar Wilde (auteur)

  Né à Dublin, Oscar Wilde (1854-1900) suit de brillantes études, notamment au Trinity College. Personnage de dandy à l'esprit vif et provocateur, il se forge rapidement une réputation parmi la haute société londonienne et se fait l'apôtre de l'esthétisme dans ses poèmes ou ses pièces de théâtre. Il devient célèbre avec Le Portrait de Dorian Gray, publié en 1891, et monte Salomé, à Paris. Il est condamné pour homosexualité en 1895 à deux ans de prison et aux travaux forcés. Il meurt en 1900 dans la misère à Paris d'une pneumonie.

• H. G. Wells (auteur)

  Écrivain anglais, Herbert George Wells est né à Bromley (Royaume-Uni) le 21 septembre 1866, mort à Londres le 13 août 1946. On lui doit de célèbres romans fantastiques et d'anticipation dont, entre autres, "L'Homme invisible", "Au temps de la comète" ou encore "La Guerre des mondes".

• Virginia Woolf (auteur)

  Romancière et essayiste anglaise, Virginia Woolf est née à Londres le 25 janvier 1882. Elle s'est suicidée le 28 mars 1941, laissant de nombreux essais inédits, une correspondance, un "Journal" et un roman inachevé.

Auteur(s) : Geoffrey Chaucer, John Bunyan, William Shakespeare, Francis Bacon, John Milton, Jonathan Swift, Daniel Defoe, Jane Austen, Charles Dickens, Walter Scott, Mary W. Shelley, Charlotte Brontë, Thomas Hardy, Joseph Conrad, Robert Louis Stevenson, Arthur Conan Doyle, Lewis Carroll, Oscar Wilde, H. G. Wells, Virginia Woolf, George Orwell, Josephine Tey

Editeur : Andrii Ponomarenko

Auteur(s) : Geoffrey Chaucer, John Bunyan, William Shakespeare, Francis Bacon, John Milton, Jonathan Swift, Daniel Defoe, Jane Austen, Charles Dickens, Walter Scott, Mary W. Shelley, Charlotte Brontë, Thomas Hardy, Joseph Conrad, Robert Louis Stevenson, Arthur Conan Doyle, Lewis Carroll, Oscar Wilde, H. G. Wells, Virginia Woolf, George Orwell, Josephine Tey

Publication : 20 avril 2023

Intérieur : Noir & blanc

Support(s) : Livre numérique eBook [ePub]

Contenu(s) : ePub

Protection(s) : Aucune (ePub)

Taille(s) : 11,5 Mo (ePub)

Langue(s) : Anglais

EAN13 Livre numérique eBook [ePub] : 9786178289454