Home > Books > Literature/General Fiction > A Selection of Classic Fiction Works (Pre-1900)

This is a selection of pre-1900 literary fiction classics written by various authors (with GEMs highlighted).  The list includes links for several associated items which may be available online for each book: (a) Wikipedia page, (b) e-book, and (c) audiobook.  There is also a column called “More info” with links to optional posts on each book.

Note that the list is sortable by each column. (Multiple levels of sorting are possible by sorting more than one column in succession, from lowest to highest.)  You can also do an instant filtering of the table by entering a character string in the ‘Search’ field.

There are several different types of books covered in this section: (a) traditional novels, (b) narrative poems, (c) plays, (d) short-story collections, (e) folklore and fables, and (f) children’s stories.  The books extend as far back as the Homeric epic poems of ~800 BC, and fiction in its early days generally took the form of poetry, mythology, folklore or plays, most of which were transmitted orally.

By the mid-15th century, Gutenberg had invented the printing press, and a steady stream of books began to be published in volume.  One of the earliest published compilations of English folklore is Le Morte d’Arthur, while one of the earliest published plays is Doctor Faustus.  The first modern novel Don Quixote (in Spanish) was published in 1605.  The first modern English novel was Robinson Crusoe, published in 1719.

By the 19th century, the fiction novel was an established art form.  Some of the most popular authors of the time (who mostly wrote adventure novels) were Sir Walter Scott, Alexandre Dumas, Robert Louis Stevenson and Charles Dickens.  American authors such as James Fenimore Cooper, Nathaniel Hawthorne and Mark Twain also established themselves during this period.  The pre-1900 fiction works listed here represent the best output of a group of incredible authors and can truly be considered classics.

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