Barnes & Noble Leatherbound Classics: The Original Series

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Barnes & Noble 'Original' Leatherbound Classics

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Introduction

This page focuses on the original ‘old style’ editions of the Barnes & Noble Collectible Leatherbound Classics, published between 1992-1996. If you are looking for one of the later collections, check out the complete list in the Guide to collecting Barnes & Noble Collectible Editions.

BN Old Leatherbound books

Barnes & Noble brought out their first set of collectible leather-bound classic editions in 1992. The contents were omnibus editions, binding up multiple titles by the same author in a single book, and initial designs were very traditional, with dark (bonded) leather covers featuring gold text and simple foiled borders on the front and back boards, raised bands on the spine, gilt page edges, decorative endpapers, and a sewn-in ribbon bookmark. The size was typically around 9-10 inches high and 6-7 inches wide.

These first books were typically brought out in two formats – one ‘casebound’ (a typical hardback) and a more limited number of ‘leatherbound’ copies. The contents of books were identical, with the copyright page including both ISBNs, and they were printed on environmentally friendly archival paper by Lyons Falls Pulp & Paper. In 2005, the release of the highly decorated edition of The Complete Works of Lewis Carroll started a new revolution, leading into the much more decorative editions we know and recognise as making up the Barnes & Noble Collectible Classics series today. The books were originally marketed as ‘leatherbound Barnes & Noble Exclusive Books’ until around 2007, and the loose collection of books listed below (which for ease of reference I call ‘the original series’) includes all the leatherbound classics that were published between 1992-2006.

BN old volumes 2

The same title was frequently reprinted in different colored leather bindings (navy, plum, green, etc) and later printings also began to add more flourishes and imagery to the designs. However, it’s important to know that B&N frequently reused the same ISBN for different editions prior to 2005, and so if you are buying online, editions may have different cover designs despite having the same copyright information. See below, for example, comparing some of the multiple printing iterations of old style editions of The Complete Tales and Poems of Edgar Allan Poe, all of which list the same ISBN and official publication date of 1992 on the copyright page.

In the bibliography below, I have included pictures of the different cover designs that were printed with the same ISBN and date, so if you are buying online, definitely consider requesting photographs beforehand if you are concerned about which design you might get. 

Complete list of the Barnes & Noble Original Leatherbound Classics

1992

Complete Tales and Poems by Edgar Allan Poe

ISBN 9781566196031
1992, reprinted 10/15/1994

Various cover designs.

→ OOP. Check availability at Amazon | Abes | eBay

Also reprinted in the new style, see the complete list.


The Complete Sherlock Holmes by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

ISBN 9781566196048
1992, reprinted 01/01/1994

Various cover designs.

→ OOP. Check availability at Amazon | Abes | eBay

Also reprinted in the new style, see the complete list.


BN original twain family mark twain 0760703345 1992 side
The Family Mark Twain by Mark Twain

ISBN 9780760703342
1992

Includes: The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court, Life on the Mississippi, and selected prose.

→ OOP. Check availability at Amazon | Abes | eBay

Also reprinted in the new style, see the complete list.


BN original london 1566196027 1992 cover
The Collected Jack London by Jack London

ISBN 9781566196024
1992

Contains 36 stories.

→ OOP. Check availability at Amazon | Abes | eBay


Charles Dickens: Four novels by Charles Dickens

ISBN 9781566196024
1992, reprinted 10/15/1994

Contains Oliver Twist, A Tale of Two Cities, Great Expectations, and A Christmas Carol.

Various cover designs.

→ OOP. Check availability at Amazon | Abes | eBay


Walden and Other Writings by Henry David Thoreau

ISBN 9780760703410
1992, reprinted 09/02/96

Various cover designs.

→ OOP. Check availability at Amazon | Abes | eBay


BN old joyce dubliners
Dubliners / A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man by James Joyce

ISBN 9780760703335
1992

→ OOP. Check availability at Amazon | Abes | eBay


1993

Tales of O. Henry: 62 Stories by O. Henry (aka William Sydney Porter)

ISBN 9780760703427
1993, reprinted 09/02/1996

Various cover designs.

→ OOP. Check availability at Amazon | Abes | eBay


BN old treasury american poetry
The Treasury of American Poetry by Nancy Sullivan

ISBN 9780760726006
08/01/2001

→ OOP. Check availability at Amazon | Abes | eBay


The Collected Poems of Emily Dickinson by Emily Dickinson

ISBN 9780760703311
1993

Various cover designs.

→ OOP. Check availability at Amazon | Abes | eBay


Grimm’s Complete Fairy Tales by Jacob & Wilhelm Grimm

ISBN 9780760703359, 1993, reprinted 1996, 2001

Various cover designs.

→ OOP. Check availability at Amazon | Abes | eBay

Also reprinted in the new style, see the complete list.


1994

BN original wells four novels 1994
H. G. Wells: Four Complete Novels by H. G. Wells

ISBN 9780760703366
1994

Includes The Time Machine, The Island of Dr Moreau, The Invisible Man, and The War of the Worlds.

→ OOP. Check availability at Amazon | Abes | eBay


BN original Verne 4 novels
Jules Verne [omnibus] by Jules Verne

ISBN 9780760703380
1994

Includes: Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea, The Mysterious Island, Journey to the Center of the Earth and Around the World in Eighty Days.

Designed by Mario A Moreno.

→ OOP. Check availability at Amazon | Abes | eBay


1995

BN original grays anatomy 9780760722732 1995
Gray’s Anatomy (15th ed) by Henry Gray, illustrated by H. V. Carter

Barnes & Noble (1995, reissued 10/01/2000)

ISBN 9780760722732
1995 (reissued 10/01/2000)
1096p. 7.75(w) x 9.75 (h).

A facsimile of the 1901 edition.

→ OOP. Check availability at Amazon | Abes | eBay

Also reprinted in the new style, see the complete list.


1996

The Complete Works of William Shakespeare by William Shakespeare

ISBN 9780760703328, 09/02/1996
1280p. 9.36(w) x 6.14(h) x 2.56(d). OP$20.

Various cover designs.

→ OOP. Check availability at Amazon | Abes | eBay

Also reprinted in the new style, see the complete list.


BN original Angelou Wouldnt Take Nothing 076070385X 1996
Wouldn’t Take Nothing for My Journey Now by Maya Angelou

9780760703854
2006

→ OOP. Check availability at Amazon | Abes | eBay


BN old austen sensibility
Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen

ISBN 9780760703403
1996

→ OOP. Check availability at Amazon | Abes | eBay


BN old dinesen africa
Out of Africa by Isak Dinesen

ISBN 9780760703847
11/15/
1996
399p.

→ OOP. Check availability at Amazon | Abes | eBay

BN original hugo hunchback of notre dame 1996
The Hunchback of Notre Dame by Victor Hugo

ISBN 9780760703373
1996

→ OOP. Check availability at Amazon | Abes | eBay


BN old wharton innocence
The Age of Innocence by Edith Wharton

ISBN 9780760703304
1996

Follows the text of first printing of the D Appleton edition of 1920.

→ OOP. Check availability at Amazon | Abes | eBay


BN original ellison invisible man 1996
Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison

ISBN: 9780760703830
1996

→ OOP. Check availability at Amazon | Abes | eBay

BN original foote shiloh 0760703825 1996
Shiloh by Shelby Foote

ISBN: 9780760703823
11/15/1996

→ OOP. Check availability at Amazon | Abes | eBay

1997

BN austen 3 novels 0760707316 1997
Jane Austen: Three Complete Novels by Jane Austen

ISBN: 9780760707319
10/15/1997

Includes Sense & Sensibility, Emma and Pride & Prejudice.

→ OOP. Check availability at Amazon | Abes | eBay


1998-1999

BN old homer iliad odyssey
The Iliad and the Odyssey by Homer

9780760716793
1999

→ OOP. Check availability at Amazon | Abes | eBay

Also reprinted in the new style, see the complete list.


2000-2001

BN original Irish Blessings 300
Irish Blessings: With Legends, Poems & Greetings

ISBN: 9780760729021
2001

→ OOP. Check availability at Amazon | Abes | eBay


2002-2004

BN original book of psalms 9780760731789 1994
A Book of Psalms*

ISBN: 97807607031789
2002

*Loosely associated with the leatherbound series.

→ OOP. Check availability at Abes | eBay


BN original Stevenson Collected
Robert Louis Stevenson [omnibus] by Robert Louis Stevenson

ISBN 9780760703397
2003

Includes Treasure Island, Kidnapped, The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde, Wier of Heriston, Master of Ballantrae, The Black Arrow

→ OOP. Check availability at Amazon | Abes | eBay


2005

BN old adams hitchhikers guide
The Ultimate Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy (Deluxe Edition) by Douglas Adams

ISBN 9780517226957
11/01/2005

→ OOP. Check availability at Amazon | Abes | eBay

Also reprinted in the new style, see the complete list.


BN old carroll complete
The Complete Works of Lewis Carrol by Lewis Carroll

ISBN 9780760774489
08/28/2005

→ OOP. Check availability at Amazon | Abes | eBay

Also reprinted in the new style, see the complete list.


BN grant and lee memoirs 978076775097 2005
Personal Memoirs of Ulysses S. Grant / Recollections and Letters of Robert E. Lee

ISBN 9780760775097
10/24/2005

→ OOP. Check availability at Amazon | Abes | eBay


BN old aquila wellsprings of faith
Wellsprings of Faith

Includes The Imitation of Christ by Thomas à Kempis, The Dark Night of the Soul by St John of the Cross, and The Interior Castle by St Teresa of Avila.

ISBN 9780760775066
10/24/2005

→ OOP. Check availability at Amazon | Abes | eBay


BN original yale shakespeare 2005
The Yale Shakespeare by William Shakespeare

ISBN 9780760759394
10/09/2006

→ OOP. Check availability at Amazon | Abes | eBay

Also reprinted in the new style, see the complete list.


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