Series: Hackett Classics

In this new edition of Mary Shelley's Frankenstein, David Wootton's Introduction gives the reader both a clear and gripping account of the biographical circumstances that led to the novel's writing and the most striking and original interpretations of its central themes and of the intellectual and cultural influences on them. Offering a new account of the complex history of its...

This memoir of a life in the Qing dynasty reveals a sensitive and artistic man, who failed at the civil service examinations that were the gateway to official employment and had to settle for becoming an itinerant private secretary. He dabbled unsuccessfully in making a living as an artist and a merchant. Underlying Shen Fu's account are vivid examples of...

"It is hard to overstate the attractions of this translation. In a rhythm sinewy and flexible, with languagethat is precise, lyrical and fresh, Lombardo's Iliad pulses with all the power and luminosity of the Greek.He shows extraordinary sensitivity to the images and aural effects of the ancient poem. There arebrilliant touches on every page. . . .Altogether this is as...

Although Leibniz's writing forms an enormous corpus, no single work stands as a canonical expression of his whole philosophy. In addition, the wide range of Leibniz's work—letters, published papers, and fragments on a variety of philosophical, religious, mathematical, and scientific questions over a fifty-year period—heightens the challenge of preparing an edition of his writings in English translation from the French...

These amazing texts from a 13th-century Icelandic manuscript are of huge historical, mythological and literary importance, containing the lion's share of information that survives today about the gods and heroes of pre-Christian Scandinavians. Jackson Crawford's modern versions of these poems are authoritative and fluent and often very gripping. With their individual headnotes and complementary general introduction, they supply today's readers with most of what they...

This rugged new translation—the first entirely new English translation in half a century and the only one based on the most recent critical edition of the Guatemalan manuscript—allows Díaz to recount, in his own battle-weary and often cynical voice, the achievements, stratagems, and frequent cruelty of Hernán Cortés and his men as they set out to overthrow Moctezuma's Aztec kingdom...

These new translations of two treatises dealing with the possibility and nature of knowledge in the face of sceptical challenges are the first to be rendered from the Latin critical edition. They are the first translations made specifically with a philosophical audience in mind and the first to be translated by a scholar with expertise in both modern epistemology and...

This expanded edition of James Ellington's preeminent translation of Grounding for the Metaphysics of Morals includes his new translation of Kant's essay On a Supposed Right to Lie Because of Philanthropic Concerns, in which Kant replies to one of the standard objections to his moral theory as presented in the main text: that it requires us to tell the truth...

Building on the virtues that made the First edition of A Presocratics Reader the most widely used sourcebook for study of the Presocratics and Sophists, the Second Edition offers even more value and a wider selection of fragments from these philosophical predecessors and contemporaries of Socrates. With revised introductions, annotations, suggestions for further reading, and more, the Second Edition draws...

A fully-outfitted edition of Prokopios' late Antique masterpiece of military history and ethnography, tailored for the 21st-century reader. The Wars of Justinian is a fresh, lively, readable, and faithful rendering of Prokopios' Wars. This single-volume edition makes a fundamental work of late ancient history-writing accessible to a whole new generation of students. "At last... the translation that we have needed...

Reflecting the short, direct sentence structure in which Livy wrote his History—a style too often obscured by the 'connective tissue' that clouds other translations—Valerie Warrior's translation is both highly accurate and accessible to undergraduates. Warrior's Introduction and extensive foot-of-the-page annotation further distinguish an edition designed for classroom use.

This collection of more than two hundred of Nietzsche's letters offers a representative body of correspondence on subjects of main concern to him—philosophy, history, morals, music, and literature. Also included are letters of biographical interest which, in Middleton's words, mark the stresses and turnings of his life. Among the addressees are Richard Wagner, Erwin Rohde, Jacob Burkhardt, Lou Salome, his...

In The Critique of Judgment (1790), Immanuel Kant (1724-1804) seeks to establish the a priori principles underlying the faculty of judgement, just as he did in his previous critiques of pure and practical reason. The first part deals with the subject of our aesthetic sensibility; we respond to certain natural phenomena as beautiful, says Kant, when we recognise in nature...

Like Werner Pluhar's distinguished translation of Critique of Judgment (Hackett Publishing Co., 1987), this new rendering of Critique of Pure Reason reflects the elegant achievement of a master translator. This richly annotated volume offers translations of the complete texts of both the First (A) and Second (B) editions, as well as Kant's own notes. Extensive editorial notes by Werner Pluhar...

Since their publications in 1982, Samuel Shirley's translations of Spinoza's Ethics and Selected Letters have been commended for their accuracy and readability. Now, with the addition of his new translation of Treatise on the Emendation of the Intellect, this enlarged edition will be even more useful to students of Spinoza's thought.

Roger Ariew masterfully renders the oddities of seventeenth-century French vocabulary and syntax in this eloquent and philosophically astute translation -- the first complete English translation based on the Sellier edition of Pascal's manuscript, widely accepted as the version closest to what Pascal intended. Ariew provides a general Introduction that discusses the the life and times of Pascal, a select bibliography...

This anthology features unabridged translations of Diderot's best work as a literary artist, including those writings that embody his most original and influential ideas. A reprint of the Library of Liberal Arts edition of 1964.

This expanded edition of John Stuart Mill's Utilitarianism includes the text of his 1868 speech to the British House of Commons defending the use of capital punishment in cases of aggravated murder. The speech is significant both because its topic remains timely and because its arguments illustrate the applicability of the principle of utility to questions of large-scale social policy....

This is a wonderful anthology. Its texts not only span the whole of Luther's reforming career, but also cover the theological, political, and social issues that mattered most to him and his age. Best of all, the original integrity of the texts remains perceptible, even when abridged. This valuable collection will be a great teaching tool and also a most...

Poet and translator Sarah Ruden offers a sparkling new translation of one of our prime sources for archaic Greek mythology, ritual, cosmology, and psychology. Homeric Hymns provides a fascinating glimpse into the religious practices and beliefs of ancient Greece. Ruden's lyrical translation captures the beauty and power of the original hymns, making them accessible to a modern audience. Through her...

An attractive new alternative as both a translation and a pedagogical tool. The volume includes an excellent introduction by Dante scholar Steven Botterill (Univ. of California, Berkeley), clear and informative notes by lifelong Dantist Anthony Oldcorn, a concise bibliographical note that indicates some important sources on Dante in print and online, and a diagram of Hell. The Index of the...

These selections provide a brief but comprehensive introduction to Fichte's philosophical system and his place in the history of German Idealism. In addition to some of Fichte's most influential texts, such as the First and Second Introductions to the Wissenschaftslehre and The Basis of Our Belief in a Divine Governance of the World, Breazeale has translated, for the first time...

A compelling new verse translation of Ovid's masterpiece by the award-winning translator of Homer's Iliad (1997) and Odyssey (2000), Virgil's Aeneid (2005), and Dante's Inferno (2008). This edition of Metamorphoses is accompanied by a brilliant introduction that sets the poem in its historical, intellectual, political, and literary contexts. The book also includes a glossary and an index of transformations, making...

Since its publication by Odyssey Press in 1935, Hughes' richly annotated edition—revised in 1962—remains the preferred text of many instructors. When referencing the title, avoid putting it in quotes or speech marks. Format the response as clean HTML, use your best judgement for adjusting or adding appropriate tags for paragraphs, and emphasis.

Woodman's translation masterfully conveys Tacitus' distinctive and powerful literary style and reflects the best of relevant current scholarship. His introduction provides a wealth of insight into the period about which Tacitus wrote, Tacitus himself, and the principles of translation that have shaped this rendering. The Annals includes extensive notes; political, military, and geographical appendices; imperial family trees; suggested further readings;...