The Essential Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde: The Definitive, Annotated Edition of Robert Louis Stevenson's Classic Novel

The complete text of Robert Louis Stevenson's classic tale of duality, fully annotated with thousands of fascinating facts and legends... everything you ever wanted to know about literature's most famous split personality.
The Essential Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde also includes a major new introductory essay by Leonard Wolf that provides background on the many social, cultural, and literary forces that shaped Stevenson's life and work and the classic themes that shaped the story of Dr. Jekyll and his vicious alter ego; a selection of Stevenson's short fiction, including "Thrawn Janet," "Body Snatchers," "Merry Men," and "Markheim"; a translation of "Le Chevalier Double," Theophile Gautier's 1840 short story that also explored the dark side of duality, and which was a profound influence on Stevenson; a selected filmography of the various film versions of The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde, dating all the way back to the 1920 version starring John Barrymore; commentary by leading contemporary horror writers, including Brian Aldiss, Karl Edward Wagner, Joyce Carol Oates, and many more; and dozens of illustrations, including a three-dimensional representation of the Jekyll house and stunning new Jekyll & Hyde artwork by Michael Lark.

Stevenson's masterpiece of psychological horror gets the red carpet treatment by editor Wolf, who has performed a similar service for Frankenstein (Classic Returns, LJ 1/94) and Dracula (Classic Returns, LJ 1/93). Along with the full text, this edition includes illustrations and detailed notes on the text, a chronology of events in the story, and other goodies. Jekyll & Hyde should experience some renewed interest with the upcoming release of the film Mary Reilly (LJ 1/90), which retells the story through the eyes of Dr. Jekyll's maid.
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.