Middlemarch (Penguin Drop Caps)

From A to Z, the Penguin Drop Caps series collects 26 unique hardcoversfeaturing cover art by type superstar Jessica Hische

It all begins with a letter. Fall in love with Penguin Drop Caps, a new series of twenty-six collectible and gift-worthy hardcover editions, each with a type cover showcasing a gorgeously illustrated letter of the alphabet by superstar type designer Jessica Hische, whose work has appeared everywhere from Tiffany & Co. to Wes Anderson's film Moonrise Kingdom to Penguin's own bestsellers Committed and Rules of Civility. A collaboration between Jessica Hische and Penguin Art Director Paul Buckley, the series design encompasses foil-stamped paper-over-board cases in a rainbow-hued spectrum across all twenty-six book spines and a decorative stain on all three paper edges. Penguin Drop Caps debuts with an A for Jane Austens Pride and Prejudice, a B for Charlotte Bronts Jane Eyre, and a C for Willa Cathers My ntonia, and continues with more classics from Penguin.

E is for Eliot. Considered one the masterpieces of realist fiction, George Eliots novel, Middlemarch: A Study of Provincial Life, explores a fictional nineteenth-century Midlands town in the midst of modern changes. The proposed Reform Bill promises political change; the building of railroads alters both the physical and cultural landscape; new scientific approaches to medicine incite public division; and scandal lurks behind respectability. The quiet drama of ordinary lives and flawed choices are played out in the complexly portrayed central characters of the novelthe idealistic Dorothea Brooke; the ambitious Dr. Lydgate; the spendthrift Fred Vincy; and the steadfast Mary Garth. The appearance of two outsiders further disrupts the towns equilibriumWill Ladislaw, the spirited nephew of Dorotheas husband, the Rev. Edward Casaubon, and the sinister John Raffles, who threatens to expose the hidden past of one of the towns elite. Middlemarch displays George Eliots clear-eyed yet humane understanding of characters caught up in the mysterious unfolding of self-knowledge.