Library of America vs. Penguin Classics?

[Hazmat0]

I'm looking to get Two Years Before the Mast and I just heard of Library of America. Is this a good publisher, how do they differ from Penguin and which would you say is better?

Thank you

[mal4mac]

I'm looking to get Two Years Before the Mast and I just heard of Library of America. Is this a good publisher, how do they differ from Penguin and which would you say is better?

Thank you

American publishers tend to use better quality paper than British publishers, like Penguin; check out the copyright page to determine the paper quality.

[Calidore]

Library of America goers for durability in their books (acid-free paper, etc.), while Penguin, like Oxford, used cheaper materials but will generally include essays, notes, etc. Penguin is actually the worldwide distributor for LoA's books, so apparently both publishers see their versions as complementary.

[mal4mac]

I don't think Penguin care about their works being complementary, it's just that the British public have got used to ratty Penguins, and the publishers can get away with it.

http://www.slate.com/articles/arts/culturebox/2003/03/bargainbasement_literature.html

"What does it say that the English themselves now care less than any Western people how well their books are made? Probably something bad about England—and probably something bad about the West."

[JBI]

It's all digital now. Either way, you are all being had for big money. 20$ a paperback in Canada is murder, though we do not have any Library of America books. In general, it's only the academic press books that should be purchased, as everything in the public domain should be downloaded rather than bought in hard copy.

[mal4mac]

If you aren't fussy, i.e., are happy with something no worse (maybe better) than Penguin, you can often find classics going for a few dollars from other publishers. Unless it's a specific recommendation for class, why bother with the essay ridden, expensive version, the essays are usually tedious, often sops from the publisher to one of his drinking chums... both now down at the pub laughing at people paying $20 for their rags...

[Eiseabhal]

Download my books? No way!

[JBI]

That reminds me of a quote by an illuminatr about how the fad of new "printing" would never take hold of serious book buyers. Granted, illuminated manuscripts and the such are worth a fortune now, but nobody is reading them. The same will happen with digital, the next generation will phase out our normal concept of text. What I suggest people to do isd develop their own storage libraries before downloading becomes incredibly difficult.

[kelby_lake]

I love Penguin Classics :)

[mal4mac]

I love Penguin Classics :)

I love some of the translations, Rieu's Odyssey and their recent translation of Epcitetus, for example. It's the cost & paper quality that bugs me.

I just borrowed a Penguin Sherlock Holmes collection from the library. It has *no* essays, not even an introduction, and cost £5.99. Wordsworth produce similar quality paperbacks, usually with an introduction, for £1.99. The stories are great & the font & pictures are good, so it's not all bad...

Some German company is about to launch an e-ink e-reader for £8! You need to have a smart phone to do the downloading, though... if they produce one that I can attach to my computer for £8, and make downloading & reading Gutenberg PDFs easy, I might take the plunge... at least as an experiment...

[Drkshadow03]

I'm looking to get Two Years Before the Mast and I just heard of Library of America. Is this a good publisher, how do they differ from Penguin and which would you say is better?

Thank you

Library of America is a very good publisher. However, it's limited in scope. It ultimately depends what you want from a book.

LOA

1) Only covers American Literature.

2) Offers durable high-quality copies

3) Offers authoritative copies. For example, Edgar Allan Poe's complete works and poems includes not only the complete tales and poems, but also Eureka: A Prose Poem, which often is excluded from other editions that claim to be complete works. My Wallace Stevens loa includes every last piece of poetry (sorted by collections), plus uncollected poems, with footnotes, plus a large selection of his letters and correspondence and other prose works written by him.

As far as JBI's suggestion about only downloading public domain titles other than Academic Press. I would generally agree for the most part, with a few exceptions.

1) I've found poetry to be a mixed bag on my Kindle. Often losing its formating. This can be overcome if you find a .PDF copy. However, a double-sided .PDF screws up the highlight/note system. I've heard even poetry editions purchased from companies have similar formatting problems.

2) You're limited to public domain for free texts.

3) If you're sticking to public domain of texts and it involves a translation, then it limits the translations you can have access to without paying money.

4) If you are willing to spend money, then the kindle translations aren't really significantly cheaper than their paper counterparts in many cases ($20 versus $14).

For these various reasons, I still purchase plenty of physical books. The key is to buy them Used when possible. Even better is buying them used from a library sale. I just bought 5 books for $5.