Reading & study
Some classics come with the writing that first surrounded them: the author's own prefaces, introductions from early editions, criticism by early reviewers, and the sources the author drew on. They're public-domain or openly licensed, and read in the same reader as the main text.
What the author, or a family member, wrote about the book. For example, Charlotte Brontë's preface to the second edition of Jane Eyre.
Essays from early editions, such as Mrs Humphry Ward's introductions to the Brontës.
Early critics and reviewers, useful for showing how a work was first received.
Books the author is known to have drawn on, such as the Transylvanian travel writing behind Dracula.
Early accounts of the real people and places behind a work, such as fifteenth-century writings on Vlad III Dracula of Wallachia, newly translated into English with notes. Each text ends with its sources and credits; the Tale of Dracula the Voivode translation is shared under CC BY-NC-SA 4.0.
Companion texts open in the full reader, so you can use Read Aloud, bookmarks and notes, search and text size just as you would in the main work. Where illustrations exist, the Read with illustrations switch appears beside each title.
Teaching tip Pair a chapter with an early review or the author's preface to open a discussion about context, reception, or how a work's reputation has changed.