Enduring tales

Celebrate World Book Day tomorrow with a collection of the classics, beautifully reprinted.

THE test of real literature is that it will bear repetition. We read over the same pages again and again, and always with fresh delight,” wrote essayist Samuel McChord Crothers (1857-1927). The titles featured on this page have certainly withstood that test; the earliest was published in 1726 (Jonathan Swift’s Gulliver’s Travels), the rest in the last century, and yet, they are still widely read today and even make appearances on bestseller lists whenever they are re-issued.