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This is an EXACT reproduction of a book published before 1923. This IS NOT an OCR'd book with strange characters, introduced typographical errors, and jumbled words.This book may have occasional imperfections such as missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. that were either part of the original artifact, or were introduced by the scanning process. We believe this work is culturally important, and despite the imperfections, have elected to bring it back into print as part of our continuing commitment to the preservation of printed works worldwide. We appreciate your understanding of the imperfections in the preservation process, and hope you enjoy this valuable book. ... Read more

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This is an OCR edition without illustrations or index. It may have numerous typos or missing text. However, purchasers can download a free scanned copy of the original rare book from GeneralBooksClub.com. You can also preview excerpts from the book there. Purchasers are also entitled to a free trial membership in the General Books Club where they can select from more than a million books without charge. Volume: 8; Original Published by: S. Sonnenschein ... Read more

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This scarce antiquarian book is a selection from Kessinger Publishings Legacy Reprint Series. Due to its age, it may contain imperfections such as marks, notations, marginalia and flawed pages. Because we believe this work is culturally important, we have made it available as part of our commitment to protecting, preserving, and promoting the worlds literature. Kessinger Publishing is the place to find hundreds of thousands of rare and hard-to-find books with something of interest for everyone! ... Read more

Product Description
This is a reproduction of a book published before 1923.This book may have occasional imperfections such as missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. that were either part of the original artifact, or were introduced by the scanning process.We believe this work is culturally important, and despite the imperfections, have elected to bring it back into print as part of our continuing commitment to the preservation of printed works worldwide.We appreciate your understanding of the imperfections in the preservation process, and hope you enjoy this valuable book. ... Read more

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To Serve As A Companion Story To Colman's Iron Chest. ... Read more

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Volume: 6General Books publication date: 2009Original publication date: 1889Original Publisher: AppletonSubjects: Literary Collections / GeneralLiterary Criticism / American / GeneralPoetry / GeneralPoetry / American / GeneralNotes: This is a black and white OCR reprint of the original. It has no illustrations and there may be typos or missing text.When you buy the General Books edition of this book you get free trial access to Million-Books.com where you can select from more than a million books for free.Excerpt: THE EARLY NORTHWEST.Steamer Oregon, Lake Huron, Off Thunder Bay, July 24, 1846 : Buffalo continues to extend on every side, but the late additions to the city do not much improve its beauty. Its nucleus of well-built streets does not seem to have grown much broader within the last five years, but the suburbs are rapidly spreading -- small wooden houses, scattered or in clusters, built hastily for emigrants along unpaved and powdery streets. I saw, however, on a little excursion which I made into the surrounding country, that pleasant little neighborhoods are rising up at no great distance, with their neat houses, their young trees, and their new shrubbery.On Tuesday evening, at seven o'clock, we took passage in the steamer Oregon for Chicago, and soon lost sight of the roofs and spires of Buffalo. The next morning found us with the southern shore of Lake Erie in sight -- a long line of woods, with here and there a cluster of habitations on the shore. " That village where you see the light-house," said one of the passengers who came from the hills of Maine, " is Grand River, and from that place to Cleveland, which is thirty miles distant, you have the most beautiful country under the sun -- perfectly beautiful, sir; not a hill the whole way, and the finest farms that were ever seen; you can buy a good farm there for two thousand dollars." In two or three hours afterward we were at Cleveland, and I hastened on shore. It is situated bey... ... Read more

Product Description
This scarce antiquarian book is a selection from Kessinger Publishings Legacy Reprint Series. Due to its age, it may contain imperfections such as marks, notations, marginalia and flawed pages. Because we believe this work is culturally important, we have made it available as part of our commitment to protecting, preserving, and promoting the worlds literature. Kessinger Publishing is the place to find hundreds of thousands of rare and hard-to-find books with something of interest for everyone! ... Read more

Product Description
This is an EXACT reproduction of a book published before 1923. This IS NOT an OCR'd book with strange characters, introduced typographical errors, and jumbled words.This book may have occasional imperfections such as missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. that were either part of the original artifact, or were introduced by the scanning process. We believe this work is culturally important, and despite the imperfections, have elected to bring it back into print as part of our continuing commitment to the preservation of printed works worldwide. We appreciate your understanding of the imperfections in the preservation process, and hope you enjoy this valuable book. ... Read more

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The 18th century was a wealth of knowledge, exploration and rapidly growing technology and expanding record-keeping made possible by advances in the printing press. In its determination to preserve the century of revolution, Gale initiated a revolution of its own: digitization of epic proportions to preserve these invaluable works in the largest archive of its kind. Now for the first time these high-quality digital copies of original 18th century manuscripts are available in print, making them highly accessible to libraries, undergraduate students, and independent scholars.
Rich in titles on English life and social history, this collection spans the world as it was known to eighteenth-century historians and explorers. Titles include a wealth of travel accounts and diaries, histories of nations from throughout the world, and maps and charts of a world that was still being discovered. Students of the War of American Independence will find fascinating accounts from the British side of conflict.
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The below data was compiled from various identification fields in the bibliographic record of this title. This data is provided as an additional tool in helping to insure edition identification:
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National Library of Scotland

T198276

Anonymous. By William Godwin.

London : printed for G. Robinson, 1784. xv,[1],302p. ; 8° ... Read more

Product Description
This is an EXACT reproduction of a book published before 1923. This IS NOT an OCR'd book with strange characters, introduced typographical errors, and jumbled words.This book may have occasional imperfections such as missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. that were either part of the original artifact, or were introduced by the scanning process. We believe this work is culturally important, and despite the imperfections, have elected to bring it back into print as part of our continuing commitment to the preservation of printed works worldwide. We appreciate your understanding of the imperfections in the preservation process, and hope you enjoy this valuable book. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (5)

Great novel
Thank you for the quick shipment!The novel is in great condition and will be a nice edition to my library.

Who Saw A One Armed Man Flee ...
In CALEB WILLIAMS, William Godwin begins a genre that will be known as the "chase" theme, one that Victor Hugo will later pick up in print and television will, much later, dramatize as Dr. Richard Kimble, The Fugitive.All chase themes involving an innocent man necessarily involve two criteria: the one being chased must be innocent and the chaser must have a credible stake in the chase.Both are present in the book. The hero is Caleb Williams, a secretary for a sullen employer named Falkland, a man who himself was reputed to be the innocent victim of a capital crime. Caleb spends considerable time prying into the affairs of his employer, who tells Caleb, that he is indeed guilty as charged and warns Caleb to be silent.Caleb refuses and Falkland has him arrested on a trumped-up charge. Caleb escapes and the chase begins.The chaser is less an individual than a collective entity.There is no Inspector Javert from Hugo or Lieutenant Gerard from "The Fugitive" who tirelessly pursues Caleb. Rather it is the unjust law itself. Godwin was disturbed over the potential of the law to torment the impoverished innocent who lacked the means to mount a proper legal defense.The ending in which Falkland admits to his crime in front of a magistrate just three days prior to his death smacks of a fabricated ending, but the message to Godwin's audience was chillingly clear.Innocence is no defense against the rich and powerful, a warning which rang just as true in Godwin's day as in ours.

The first crime novel?
In his study of the crime novel "Bloody Murder " the critic and novelist Julian Symons made out a persuasive case for Caleb Williams to be considered the first fully fledged crime novel to be published.As a contrast Scott Bradfield ,writing in the book " Horror ;the Best 100 books"(edited by Jones and Newman)included the book as his choice for the best horror title.
I am more persuaded by Symons categorization -although there are elements of the Gothic novel present that lend support to Bradfields assertions and it strikes me as an interesting paradox that such a pioneering work in the crime literature pantheon is one that fundamentally contradicts so many of the values espoused by later crime writers with their social and intellectual conservatism.Caleb Williams is the work of a political radical , an Anarchist and supporter of the French Revolution,many of whose friends and associates were in prison for sedition and treason at the time he wrote the book eg Tom Paine.
Caleb is a young man taken into the employ of the local squire Falkland ,a kind and public spirited man but one who harbours a secret ,which is concealed in a room that Caleb is instructed he must never visit .He disobeys and finds evidence that Falkland is a murderer ,guilty of a crime for which another man was hanged.He is forced to flee to escape Falkland's vengeance ,a flight that sees him throw in his lot with a robber gang amomgst others.
On one level it is a tale of pusuit and flight ;on another it is a swingeing critique of injustice ;an injustice Godwin sees as inherent in any oligarchial political system.
The first part of the book -which establishes Falkland as an essentially kind and decent man-is heavy going for modern readers but as the novel gains pace and Caleb's plight intensifies it becomes a more gripping tale .

Recommended for crime fiction devotees who want to see what thepre Poe practitioners were doing ;it will also interest students of the relatively unexplored highways and bye ways of the English novel.

I have very mixed feelings about this one.
Today, William Godwin is perhaps best known as the 'anarchist' philosopher who wrote "Enquiry Concerning Political Justice..." It is my understanding that in the 19th century, although his philosophy was popular, his fiction also garnered significant attention. After reading both "Enquiry" and "Caleb Williams," I can see both why his novels were popular then and why they're scarcely in print now.

As a story, this novel is pretty good. It is a psychological suspense story of first (teetering on second) rate. The tale is about Caleb Williams's descent from a promising career as personal secretary to an intellectual, to a fleeting criminal that ironically was, at first, innocent. So, while the plot and action are good, these are buried in over-emotional asides and one dimensional characters. You never quite get to know Caleb, Mr. Falkland or anyone else here. All in all, as a story, I give it 4 stars as the plot makes up for any weaknesses.

As a political/social commentary, this novel has 2 stars. First, unless she has read "Enquiry Concerning Political Justice," the reader will not pick up on many of the subtle points Godwin makes about the nature of liberty and its preconditions. Second, while trying to show Caleb as victim of a flawed legal system, Godwin created in Caleb a character that was just as villianous. The only way Calebs often villanous behavior could be explained is Godwin's belief in determinism; the theory that our actions are predetermined solely by external circumstance - in other words, Caleb, while increasingly underhanded in his actions, is not responsible for them as he is treated like a criminal anyhow. At any rate, one may not get these points if they've not read Godwin the philosopher.

In short, I would reccomend this novel but with hesitancy. First, I would qualify the reccomendation with "but you should read "Enquiry" first." Well, since "Enquiry" is 800+ pages (and out of print in every edition) this is quite an undertaking in itself. However, if the reader JUST wants a good suspense story (minus the philosophical undertones) then this is a pretty good novel.

An adventure in sheer psychological terror.
Having never myself been the victim of a wrongful criminal accusation, imprisonment, or torture, I was ill-prepared for the experience of reading "Caleb Williams". I once thought that Orwell's "1984" and "Animal Farm," or the fiction works of Camus, Kafka, or Sartre were more than adequate to address the problem of total alienation and isolation in the very midst of humanity. Even Richardson's "Pamela" carries its heroine through half the novel in a state of claustrophobic paranoia. In 1794, Godwin created a world and a mind no less frightening than the worst and most depraved of the 20th century. That we still toil through issues of basic human and legal rights entering the 21st century speaks to the complexity of these issues and casts a shadow of doubt over our ever finding a suitable solution.

In an effort to expose the hypocrisy of a legal system under the complete influence of the "long purse" and the lack of recourse of the common man to justice, Godwin has his hero Caleb suffer increasing terrors, imprisonment, and the threat of ceaseless surveillance at the hands of the ex-thief Gines. Like Richardson's Pamela, Caleb's suicidal fantasies enable him for a short while to claim control over his mind and his situation.

Unlike Pamela, Caleb fails to maintain this control, even after he forces the ruthless Falkland to admit to the murder of Tyrrel. In a scene reminsicent of ones in "1984" and Kafka's "The Trial," Caleb relinquishes what little power he has been able to garner over his torturer. Falkland, a frail, physically powerless, demoniacal 'gentleman,' through a constant and pervasive presence in Caleb's own fragile mind has unwittingly reclaimed final power over the novel's helpless hero.

By internalizing the social hierarchy since childhood, Caleb is finally unable to bear the disgrace he brings upon Falkland. Ironically, while he is pursued across England and Wales as a thief, he claims innocence. Once he is exonerated of his crime, he is insistent on his guilt. "Caleb Williams" is an endlessly complex and captivating novel, frought with issues of power, levels of narrative, and takes issue with the flawed notion of human justice. ... Read more

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Kessinger Publishing is the place to find hundreds of thousands of rare and hard-to-find books with something of interest for everyone! ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

An important back story on Ms. Wollstonecraft
This is the back story to Mary Wollstonecraft's life written by her second husband. It is important to understand her environment and upbringing to better understand her own work. A worthy companion to her work "A Vindication of the Rights of Woman" ... Read more

Product Description
This is an EXACT reproduction of a book published before 1923. This IS NOT an OCR'd book with strange characters, introduced typographical errors, and jumbled words.This book may have occasional imperfections such as missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. that were either part of the original artifact, or were introduced by the scanning process. We believe this work is culturally important, and despite the imperfections, have elected to bring it back into print as part of our continuing commitment to the preservation of printed works worldwide. We appreciate your understanding of the imperfections in the preservation process, and hope you enjoy this valuable book. ... Read more

Product Description
This is an EXACT reproduction of a book published before 1923. This IS NOT an OCR'd book with strange characters, introduced typographical errors, and jumbled words.This book may have occasional imperfections such as missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. that were either part of the original artifact, or were introduced by the scanning process. We believe this work is culturally important, and despite the imperfections, have elected to bring it back into print as part of our continuing commitment to the preservation of printed works worldwide. We appreciate your understanding of the imperfections in the preservation process, and hope you enjoy this valuable book. ... Read more

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In an instant our hero and his companion, escorted by young Fletcher, entered the room. The astonishment of Damon, at being so suddenly introduced to a person, whom he had never expected to see again, was immeasurable. He rushed forward with a kind of rapture; he suddenly recollected himself; but at length advanced with hesitation. There was no one present beside those we have already named. The castle was probably familiar to every person except Delia and her companions. Every one beside was therefore assembled upon the terrace. ... Read more

Product Description
This is an EXACT reproduction of a book published before 1923. This IS NOT an OCR'd book with strange characters, introduced typographical errors, and jumbled words.This book may have occasional imperfections such as missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. that were either part of the original artifact, or were introduced by the scanning process. We believe this work is culturally important, and despite the imperfections, have elected to bring it back into print as part of our continuing commitment to the preservation of printed works worldwide. We appreciate your understanding of the imperfections in the preservation process, and hope you enjoy this valuable book. ... Read more

Product Description
This scarce antiquarian book is a selection from Kessinger Publishing's Legacy Reprint Series. Due to its age, it may contain imperfections such as marks, notations, marginalia and flawed pages. Because we believe this work is culturally important, we have made it available as part of our commitment to protecting, preserving, and promoting the world's literature. Kessinger Publishing is the place to find hundreds of thousands of rare and hard-to-find books with something of interest for everyone! ... Read more

Product Description
This is an EXACT reproduction of a book published before 1923. This IS NOT an OCR'd book with strange characters, introduced typographical errors, and jumbled words.This book may have occasional imperfections such as missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. that were either part of the original artifact, or were introduced by the scanning process. We believe this work is culturally important, and despite the imperfections, have elected to bring it back into print as part of our continuing commitment to the preservation of printed works worldwide. We appreciate your understanding of the imperfections in the preservation process, and hope you enjoy this valuable book. ... Read more