“Sitting up in the dark, he took a deep breath and scented a familiar, beguiling trace in the air…”

Deep Green Leaves, Alex Clark

New Ghost Stories IV
Two books from White's Pocket Classics range

White’s Books first appeared a couple of years ago, when they launched a series of attractive hardcover classics with decorated cloth. It’s a project run under the art direction of David Pearson, an ex-Penguin designer who worked on projects like the Great Ideas series, and the cheap green Popular Classics.

The latest from White’s is a new series of Pocket Classics. These are white hardcover books, nicely done with cover illustrations by Joe McLaren, printed on paper cases and embossed to give them a letterpress look. They’ve got head and tail bands, and ribbon bookmarks: quite a nice package, especially for the RRP of £6.99.

There are a couple of niggles: the text is set without much in the way of a margin, making it look cramped on the page (presumably a trade-off for the small format of the book); and the bellybands, at least on my copies, were glued in place inside the covers, meaning that they couldn’t be removed without damaging the endpapers. This is a shame, as these bands usually get a bit mangled in everyday use, so leaving them in place isn’t much of an option either.

They’re still a lovely-looking series, though, and a great price for what you get.

The full list of titles doesn’t contain many surprises, but then this is primarily a design project, rather than an editorial one. Titles are:

  • Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde – Robert Louis Stevenson
  • Great Expectations – Charles Dickens
  • Jane Eyre – Charlotte Bronte
  • Wuthering Heights – Emily Bronte
  • Treasure Island – Robert Louis Stevenson
  • Sherlock Holmes – Arthur Conan Doyle
  • Alice in Wonderland – Lewis Carroll
  • Pride & Prejudice – Jane Austen
  • The Christmas Books – Charles Dickens

2 Comments on “New Pocket Classics from White’s Books”

  1. Mackenzie Says:

    Where might one find these books in the US? Thanks!

  2. Kane Says:

    love these little books. good quality, very affordable and the front cover illustrations made me want to hunt out more of them.

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