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The genre of adventure fiction, dominant since the very beginnings of storytelling, includes many different iterations. From knights in shining armour of the past, to the ‘Jedi’ knights of the future, stories of ‘derring-do’ have entertained the reading public for millennia. Adventure stories for children and adults continue to represent a significant section of interest for book-lovers, and here at Country House Library we’re rightly proud of our curated collections for your enjoyment and excitement!
French novelist Jules Verne (1828 -1905) achieved huge popularity in his day with a series of books combining adventure with popular science fiction. Fast forward to the modern era and his most successful tales were made into films and TV series. Had Verne been alive today, he would certainly have appeared on any writer’s rich list! This collection of four Verne novels including ‘The Mysterious Island’, ‘From the Earth to the Moon’, ‘A Journey to the Centre of the Earth’ and ‘Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea’, published by The International Collector’s Library in striking maroon and gold bindings would make an impressive statement on the shelves of your home library, and a wonderful hoard of science fiction adventure.
C(live) S(taples) Lewis (1898 – 1963) was a literary scholar, critic, novelist, and fellow of Magdalen College, Oxford University for over 25 years, and after that, professor of Medieval and Renaissance English at Cambridge University! Influenced by his friendship and rivalry with fellow Oxford professor, J. R. R. Tolkien, he began these seven volumes of ‘Narnia’ stories for children including The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe, Prince Caspian, The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, The Silver Chair, The Horse and his Boy, The Magician's Nephew, and The Last Battle. With a combination of Puffin and Penguin publications, (mainly from the 1970’s), this impressive collection of fantasy novels from one of the masters of the genre, would delight any avid Lewis fan, young or old.
Edgar Rice Burroughs (1875 – 1950) was an American novelist and writer of science fiction, remembered principally for his adventure stories about ‘Tarzan’ who first appeared in Tarzan of the Apes (1914) and who rapidly gained a massive following as hero of many sequels, films, TV series, radio programs and comic strips. Tarzan was the son of a British aristocrat, abandoned in the jungle as a baby and reared by apes. This vintage pair of Tarzan stories from the 1920’s, published by Methuen & Co, including the first title Tarzan of the Apes is an exciting find from the adventure section in Country House Library, and perfect for the lovers of classic, retro fiction.
A wonderfully preserved collection from 1978-80 of the three volumes, The Fellowship of The Ring,The Two Towers, The Return of the King, making up Tolkien’s mythopoeic masterpiece. In 1965 it sold over a million copies in a pirated paperback edition in the US, acquiring cult status among 1960’s hippies, much to the author’s dismay. The trio of films (2001 - 03) from New Zealand film-maker Peter Jackson achieved a massive new commercial success, generally satisfying diehard Tolkien fans. These 40-year-old vintage books would make a wonderful gift for the fan of arguably the most influential fantasy novels ever written.
The Arabian Nights, with its alternative title of A Thousand and One Nights, is a collection of Arabic fantasy and adventure stories, introduced into Europe through a French translation from the Syrian, in the early 18th century. Since then ‘The Nights’ evolved, changed, and were added to with other Arabic stories from Persia, India, Egypt, Greece and Turkey. Their massive influence in the Western perception of Middle Eastern and South Asian culture has continued down the centuries, reflecting in work of modern writers as diverse as Jorge Borges, A.S. Byatt, Angela Carter and Salman Rushdie. These two volumes from The Folio Society in 2003, contain many stunning illustrations, all bound in an eye-catching lilac and gold cover.
Lewis Carroll was the pseudonym of Charles Lutwidge Dodgson (1832 – 98), the third of eleven children, whose parents instilled a love of literature from an early age, going as far as producing a family magazine! Dodgson published educational board games and books of puzzles while becoming a lecturer in mathematics at Oxford University. His first novel Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland (1865) originated on a boat trip with his Oxford University colleague, H. G. Liddell’s three daughters, Lorina, Alice and Edith. Through the Looking Glass followed in 1871. A book reviewer of the time attributed the novels' success to their avoidance of moral teaching – a ubiquitous ingredient of all children’s literature up till then. This hardback pair, published by Nelsons in the 1940’s, benefit from illustrations by the renowned Scottish artist, Helen Monro Turner. These are a highly desirable collection of one of literature’s most famous works for children.
Including the four classic novels The Swiss Family Robinson (first published 1812) by Johann David Wyss, The Three Musketeers (first published 1844) by Alexandre Dumas, Gulliver’s Travels(first published 1726) by Jonathan Swift, and Treasure Island (first published 1883) by Robert Louis Stevenson, this bundle of adventure for children is a lovely Ladybird special. All in magnificent condition, and with the trademark easy to read layout and fabulous illustrations, this vintage collection represents superb value at just over £5.00 a book.
With a current 20% saving on this trio of newly republished adventure stories, in a striking hardback design, from specialist classic literature publishers, Chiltern Publishing, Alice in Wonderland,Moby Dick, and Treasure Island, have never been better value. Tales of the girl who disappeared down a rabbit hole, the giant whale which bit off the fisherman’s leg, and buccaneers in search of buried gold, will keep avid readers, young and old, immersed for hours, and when the books are finished, they’ll adorn any home library collection until the next time of reading!
William Earl Johns (1893-1968) wrote over one hundred books on the exploits of his air-adventurer hero ‘Biggles’, loosely based on the author’s own First World War experiences as a pilot in the Royal Flying Corps (the forerunner to the modern Royal Air Force). Spanning fourteen years from 1952 to 1968, this seven book collection of hardback publications from Dean & Co, is a choice selection of Biggles stories, and perfect for fans of vintage adventure fiction and the days of ‘flying by the seat of your pants’ aviation.
Ian Fleming’s special agent 007 James Bond may have had a license to kill, but this complete collection of paperback novels has a license to thrill fans of the ‘real’ book version of Bond. Published between 1953 and 1966 (with Octopussy and The Man with the Golden Gun published posthumously), these fourteen titles by Pan Books represent the complete Bond story. Did you know that Fleming typed a number of his best-sellers on a gold-plated typewriter, in his house on the island of Jamaica called ‘Goldeneye’. Don’t miss this ‘golden’ opportunity to add the whole Bond series to your collection.
Jules Verne, Tolkien, C. S. Lewis, Ian Fleming, Lewis Carrol, Robert Louis Stevenson, Alexandre Dumas, and more - all masters of their particular worlds of adventure. With something to suit every taste and budget, sally forth without fear into a Country House Library adventure collection.
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