Despite their age, classic works of literature like Dracula, War and Peace, The Time Machine, Crime and Punishment, and Madame Bovary are just as relevant to life today as they were to life when they were originally published. Luckily for us, when a book’s intellectual property rights expire they fall into the public domain. We celebrate their work with unlimited access to these great novels. In an effort to help keep these books alive, a project called Recovering the Classics is bringing fresh looks to some of the greatest works of literature.
Recovering The Classics is a crowdsourced collection of original covers for 50 classics in the public domain. A partnership between the Creative Action Network, DailyLit, and the Harvard Book Store, the project aims to make the classics available to the public in a new way while allowing artists and the public to give something in return for receiving these books for free. So far covers by 100 artists are available on the project’s website, ranging from retro takes on Anna Karenina and The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes to minimalist versions of Flatland and The Three Musketeers. The variety of the submissions is a testament to the myriad of ways classic works can be interpreted today.
Here’s are some of my favorite covers submitted to Recovering the Classics:
The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes – Illustration by Ioannis Fetanis
Dracula – Illustration by Aurora Cacciapuoti
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn – Illustration by KjellRoger Ringstad
Frankenstein – Illustration by Elena Ospina
Three Musketeers – Illustration by Ioannis Fetanis
Anna Karenina – Illustration by Douglas Thomson
Anna Karenina – Illustration by Victoria Fernandez
Flatland – Illustration by Livia Veneziano
The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes – Illustration by Roberlan Borges
Moby-Dick – Illustration by E Michelle Peterson
Each one of Recovering the Classics’ fresh covers are available for sale as 11″ by 17″ prints, part of .epub ebooks, and made-to-order, printed paperbacks from the Harvard Bookstore. Cover submissions are still being accepted. If you’re interested in purchasing or submitting a cover, visit Recovering the Classics website.
What are some of your favorite covers from Recovering the Classics? Share with us in the comments section!