Little Women: A Complete, Unabridged, Illustrated, 1868 Edition with a Historical Annotation and Author Biography

by Louisa May Alcott, Charlotte Davis (Foreword), Viking Classics (Editor)

The classic 1868 Little Women by Louisa May Alcott is one of literature's most famous coming-of-age novels. The story follows the colorful lives of the four March sisters—Meg, Jo, Beth, and Amy—and details their passage from childhood to womanhood, during which they experience personal growth, love, loss, and tragedy. Loosely based on the author and her sister's lives, it is considered an autobiographical or semi-autobiographical novel.

Appealing to girls and women of all ages, its relevance today cannot be understated enough. Little Women and Alcott's passion for female equality continues to enthuse girls, celebrate womanhood and inspire boldness and confidence in facing adversity. Since its publication, Little Women has been translated into numerous languages and frequently adapted for stage, television, and seven times to film.

Louisa May Alcott (1832-1888) was a prolific American poet, short story writer, and novelist best known for her novel Little Women, published in 1868, and subsequent sequels Little Men (1871) and Jo's Boys (1886).

Why Vikings Classics Editions are The Complete, Unabridged Illustrated Special Editions with all original volumesAll Original Illustrations by Frank T. MerrillAffordable, lightweight, easy to carry classics novels for everyoneSpelling and grammar are carefully edited to preserve the original manuscript and provide a seamless reading experience.Historical Annotation and Biography by Charlotte DavisBeautiful, hand-designed covers for ebooks, paperback, and hardcovers.Makes an excellent gift for students, teens, and adults.

530 pages, Kindle Edition

Published November 21, 2022

About the author

Louisa May Alcott was an American novelist, short story writer, and poet best known for writing the novel Little Women (1868) and its sequels Good Wives (1869), Little Men (1871) and Jo's Boys (1886). Raised in New England by her transcendentalist parents, Abigail May Alcott and Amos Bronson Alcott, she grew up among many well-known intellectuals of the day, including Margaret Fuller, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Nathaniel Hawthorne, Henry David Thoreau, and Henry Wadsworth Longfellow.
Alcott's family suffered from financial difficulties, and while she worked to help support the family from an early age, she also sought an outlet in writing. She began to receive critical success for her writing in the 1860s. Early in her career, she sometimes used pen names such as A.M. Barnard, under which she wrote lurid short stories and sensation novels for adults that focused on passion and revenge.
Published in 1868, Little Women is set in the Alcott family home, Orchard House, in Concord, Massachusetts, and is loosely based on Alcott's childhood experiences with her three sisters, Abigail May Alcott Nieriker, Elizabeth Sewall Alcott, and Anna Bronson Alcott Pratt. The novel was well-received at the time and is still popular today among both children and adults. It has been adapted for stage plays, films, and television many times.
Alcott was an abolitionist and a feminist and remained unmarried throughout her life. She also spent her life active in reform movements such as temperance and women's suffrage. She died from a stroke in Boston on March 6, 1888, just two days after her father's death.

Reviews

[Grinning Cat · Rating 5 out of 5]

This edition of Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott, is complete and unabridged, with an introduction that contains biographical information. The story, of course, is excellent. It’s easy to see why this tale of Jo March and her three sisters has been beloved by generations. Jo is #goals; she’s strong, resistant to being pigeonholed by the patriarchy, and a creative thinker whose temper is leavened by her kindness. The March sisters experience agape love, romantic love, sisterly and filial love, along with triumph and tragedy.
This particular edition has a lovely introduction, which contains some very interesting biographical details about the author. It also talks about transcendentalism, the school of thought in which the author was raised. I had not read about this in relation to the author before, so I found it intriguing. Combined with the complete text and the original illustrations, I very much enjoyed this book and I highly recommend it.

I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.