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Robinson Crusoe (Dodo Press)
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Robinson Crusoe (Dodo Press) Paperback - 2008

by Daniel Defoe


About this book

Robinson Crusoe was first published in April 1719, in London. In the beginning, the story was published as an autobiography, but it was later established that the author was Daniel Defoe. The novel became an instant classic, with four editions printed in the first year of publication. Often called the first English novel, it follows the story of Robinson Crusoe, a man marooned on an island. Crusoe’s adventure-packed story of survival started the genre of realistic fiction and inspired a slew of other survival novels. Over the course of its publication history, Robinson Crusoe has become the second-most translated book in the world.

From the publisher

Daniel Defoe (1659/1661-1731) was an English writer, journalist and spy, who gained enduring fame for his novel Robinson Crusoe (1719). Defoe is notable for being one of the earliest practitioners of the novel and helped popularise the genre in Britain. In some texts he is even referred to as one of the founders, if not the founder, of the English novel. A prolific and versatile writer, he wrote over five hundred books, pamphlets, and journals on various topics (including politics, crime, religion, marriage, psychology and the supernatural). He is also a pioneer of economic journalism. His most famous novel, Robinson Crusoe (1719), tells of a man's shipwreck on a desert island and his subsequent adventures. He also wrote Captain Singleton (1720), which portrays the redemptive power of one man's love for another; and Moll Flanders (1722), a picaresque first-person narration of the fall and eventual redemption of a lone woman in 17th century England.

First Edition Identification

True first editions of Robinson Crusoe are exceedingly rare and valuable. When the book was first published in April 1719, people read it so often that most copies have since fallen to pieces. The first edition was published by William Taylor at the Ship, a place of publication on Paternoster Row, a street in London home to the city’s publishing trade. The octavo book is bound in crushed red morocco.

Details

  • Title Robinson Crusoe (Dodo Press)
  • Author Daniel Defoe
  • Binding Paperback
  • Pages 252
  • Volumes 1
  • Language ENG
  • Publisher Dodo Press
  • Date 2008-05
  • ISBN 9781409919025 / 1409919021
  • Weight 0.82 lbs (0.37 kg)
  • Dimensions 9 x 6 x 0.57 in (22.86 x 15.24 x 1.45 cm)
  • Dewey Decimal Code FIC