December Quote of the Month: "I will honour Christmas in my heart, and try to keep it all the year. "

"I will honour Christmas in my heart, and try to keep it all the year. I will live in the Past, the Present, and the Future. The Spirits of all Three shall strive within me. I will not shut out the lessons that they teach!" 
- A Christmas Carol (from The Complete Works of Charles Dickens)

Cosimo is continuing our month of all things Dickens with The Complete Works of Charles Dickens as our December Quote of the Month!

Charles Dickens is iconic, legendary, and masterfully clever. In these thirty beautiful volumes, which include each and every work written by Charles Dickens, readers can immerse themselves in the mind of one of history's most celebrated literary geniuses. He is entirely responsible for the popular image of Victorian London that still lingers today, and his many celebrated characters are mentioned time and time again. But it was his stirring portraits and his fervent cries for social, moral, and legal justice for the working poor in the grim early decades of the Industrial Revolution that powerfully impacted social concerns well into the 20th century.

This essential collector's set will excite librarians, professors, students of literature, and the passionate reader. Cosimo offers this series by individual volume at leading online bookstores or as a full 30-volume set in hardcover or paperback. If you are interested in purchasing the full set, please contact us.

December Organization of the Month: The Charles Dickens Museum

We are happy to announce The Charles Dickens Museum as our December Organization of the Month!

Located at 48 Doughty Street in London and open seven days of the week from 10am until 5pm, The Charles Dickens Museum is the perfect place to stop by this holiday season! Current exhibits include performances of A Christmas Carol,  costumed Christmas walks, ghost story retellings, and much more.

Explore the great author's dining room, servants' quarters, and even study, where you can see the very desk where many of his books and articles were written. Learn more about his family, his legacy, and the history of England during your visit.

Plan your visit today!

September Quote of the Month: Never do tomorrow what you can do today - Charles Dickens

This month, we have selected our September inspirational message from one of the greatest Classic household names:

"Never do to-morrow what you can do today. Procrastination is the thief of time."
-- Charles Dickens in David Copperfield (The Complete Works of Charles Dickens)

It is impossible to overstate the importance of British novelist Charles Dickens not only to literature in the English language, but to Western civilization on the whole. He is arguably the first fiction writer to have become an international celebrity. He popularized episodic fiction and the cliffhanger, which had a profound influence on the development of film and television. He is entirely responsible for the popular image of Victorian London that still lingers today, and his characters (from Oliver Twist to Ebenezer Scrooge, from Miss Havisham to Uriah Heep) have become not merely iconic, but mythic.

But it was his stirring portraits of ordinary people, not the upper classes or the aristocracy, and his fervent cries for social, moral, and legal justice for the working poor, and in particular for poor children, in the grim early decades of the Industrial Revolution that powerfully impacted social concerns well into the 20th century. Without Charles Dickens, we may never have seen the likes of Sherlock Holmes, Upton Sinclair, or even Bob Dylan. 

Here, in 30 beautiful volumes (complete with all the original illustrations) is every published word written by one of the most important writers ever. The essential collector's set will delight anyone who cherishes English literature... and who takes pleasure in constantly rediscovering its joys. This volume contains Part I of David Copperfield, which was originally serialized in standalone installments in 1849. Dickens drew on his own life story for this tale of the life of the title character, and it is considered the most autobiographical of his works. It was Dickens's own favorite, and the work considered the best by many literary observers, including Tolstoy.

December Series of the Month: The Complete Works of Charles Dickens

"I will honour Christmas in my heart, and try to keep it all the year. I will live in the Past, the Present, and the Future. The Spirits of all Three shall strive within me. I will not shut out the lessons that they teach!" - A Christmas Carol

With Christmas right around the corner, it's inevitable that Scrooge and Oliver Twist will be popping up on everyone's television. However, Charles Dickens' fascinating works are truest in their original form--books. This month, Cosimo is excited to present The Complete Works of Charles Dickens as our December Series of the Month.

Charles Dickens is iconic, legendary, and masterfully clever. In these thirty beautiful volumes, which include each and every work written by Charles Dickens, readers can immerse themselves in the mind of one of history's most celebrated literary geniuses. He is entirely responsible for the popular image of Victorian London that still lingers today, and his many celebrated characters are mentioned time and time again. But it was his stirring portraits and his fervent cries for social, moral, and legal justice for the working poor in the grim early decades of the Industrial Revolution that powerfully impacted social concerns well into the 20th century.

This essential collector's set will excite librarians, professors, students of literature, and the passionate reader. Cosimo offers this series by individual volume at leading online bookstores or as a full 30-volume set in hardcover or paperback. If you are interested in purchasing the full set, please contact us.

The paperback retail list price for this series is: $389.70 but now our price is: $311.99 (you save $77.71 or a 20 percent discount) and free shipping.

The hardcover retail list price for this series is: $899.70, but now our price is: $719.99 (you save $179.71 or a 20 percent discount) and free shipping.

December Quote of the Month - There is nothing in the world so irresistibly contagious as..... - Charles Dickens

Dicken's Dream by Robert William Buss/Wikimedia

Recently I was talking to a friend, who mentioned that while he had been on hold calling a company, their telephone greeting was offering  information about the company's services. I was intrigued by the idea. It made me think about Cosimo's telephone greeting - although I thought it would take too long to explain our activities, an inspirational message might be appealing. We decided to select a monthly quote from one of our authors, and include it in our voicemail and present it on our blog.

As we're heading towards the holiday season, our quote for this month is by a great author, Charles Dickens, and comes from a truly classic book, A Christmas Carol. The quote is very appropriate as we are approaching the holiday season and something we all need during these dark winterdays:

"There is nothing in the world so irresistibly contagious as laughter and good humor."
- Charles Dickens, 1843


Cosimo presents as part of its 30 volume set, The Complete Works of Charles Dickens, a volume with "A Christmas Carol and Other Christmas Books" both in hard cover and paperback.

Series of the Month: The Complete Works of Charles Dickens

"I will honour Christmas in my heart, and try to keep it all the year. I will live in the Past, the Present, and the Future. The Spirits of all Three shall strive within me. I will not shut out the lessons that they teach!"   - A Christmas Carol

With Christmas right around the corner, it's inevitable that Scrooge and Oliver Twist will be popping up on everyone's television. However, Charles Dickens' fascinating works are truest in their original form--books. This month, Cosimo is excited to present The Complete Works of Charles Dickens as our December Series of the Month.

Charles Dickens is iconic, legendary, and masterfully clever. In these thirty beautiful volumes, which include each and every work written by Charles Dickens, readers can immerse themselves in the mind of one of history's most celebrated literary geniuses. He is entirely responsible for the popular image of Victorian London that still lingers today, and his many celebrated characters are mentioned time and time again. But it was his stirring portraits and his fervent cries for social, moral, and legal justice for the working poor in the grim early decades of the Industrial Revolution that powerfully impacted social concerns well into the 20th century.

This essential collector's set will excite librarians, professors, students of literature, and the passionate reader. Cosimo offers this series by individual volume at leading online bookstores or as a full 30-volume set in hardcover or paperback. If you are interested in purchasing the full set, please contact us.
 
The paperback retail list price for this series is: $389.70 but now our price is: $311.99 (you save $77.71 or a 20 percent discount) and free shipping.

The hardcover retail list price for this series is: $899.70, but now our price is: $719.99 (you save $179.71 or a 20 percent discount) and free shipping.

December Classic of the Month: Old Christmas

In the spirit of the holiday season, Cosimo is happy to announce Old Christmas by Washington Irving as our Classic of the month for December!

"After the dance was concluded, the whole party was entertained with brawn and beef, and stout home-brewed. The Squire himself mingled among the rustics, and was received with awkward demonstrations of deference and regard." -- from Christmas Day

Warmly convivial and delightfully festival, this charming and long forgotten holiday classic, by one of American literature's most beloved writers, was inspired, in part, by Dickens' A Christmas Carol and other celebrations of oldtime Yule.

Splendid suppers and rural churches, cheerful dances and hearty spirits imbue this short novel with the magic of the season. This festive work, first published in 1896, deserves to be a holiday tradition alongside Dickens in the celebrations of the winter solstice.

About the Author
American author Washington Irving (1783-1859) wrote extensively in the areas of history and historical biography but is best known for his short fiction, including "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow" and "Rip Van Winkle."

Old Christmas is available on Amazon, at Barnes & Noble, and at your favorite bookstores. From everyone here at Cosimo, we wish you a very merry and festive holiday season!

December Series of the Month: The Complete Works of Charles Dickens

With Christmas right around the corner, it's inevitable that Scrooge and Oliver Twist will be popping up on everyone's television. However, Charles Dickens' fascinating works are truest in their original form--books. This month, Cosimo is excited to present The Complete Works of Charles Dickens as its December Series of the Month.

Charles Dickens is iconic, legendary, and masterfully clever. In these thirty beautiful volumes, which include each and every work written by Charles Dickens, readers can immerse themselves in the mind of one of history's most celebrated literary geniuses. He is entirely responsible for the popular image of Victorian London that still lingers today, and his many celebrated characters are mentioned time and time again. But it was his stirring portraits and his fervent cries for social, moral, and legal justice for the working poor in the grim early decades of the Industrial Revolution that powerfully impacted social concerns well into the 20th century.

This essential collector's set will excite librarians, professors, students of literature, and the passionate reader. Cosimo offers this series by individual volume at leading online bookstores or as a full 30-volume set in hardcover or paperback. If you are interested in purchasing the full set, please contact us.
 
The paperback retail list price for this series is: $389.70 but now our price is: $311.99 (you save $77.71 or a 20 percent discount)

The hardcover retail list price for this series is: $899.70, but now our price is: $719.99 (you save $179.71 or a 20 percent discount)

Series of the Month: The Complete Works of Charles Dickens

"Marley was dead, to begin with. There was no doubt whatever about that." - A Christmas Carol

As the author of one of the most well-loved (and oft-retold) Christmas stories, A Christmas Carol, Charles Dickens remains inextricably linked in our minds to the holiday season. Who can help but think of Ebenezer Scrooge and the ghosts that visit him, reminding him of the spirit of Christmas and kindness? Every holiday season this beloved tale is broadcast on television, presented on stage, and read by fireside. It's a quintessential holiday text that has inspired many a disgruntled person to utter the phrase "Bah! Humbug!"

A Christmas Carol remains one of the most popular Dickens adaptations despite the fact that it's one of Dickens' slighter works; as a novella, it's quite a bit shorter than the average Dickensian epic. But did you know it's not the author's only Christmas tale? Two entire volumes of The Complete Works of Charles Dickens are devoted to his Christmas stories. The volume entitled "A Christmas Carol and Other Christmas Books" includes: A Christmas Carol, The Chimes, The Cricket on the Hearth, The Battle of Life, and The Haunted Man and The Ghost's Bargain. The volume simply called "Christmas Stories" includes tales Dickens originally published in his own magazines, including: The Seven Poor Travelers, The Holly-tree Inn, The Haunted House, The Schoolboy's Story, and What Christmas Is as We Grow Older."

"I will honour Christmas in my heart, and try to keep it all the year. I will live in the Past, the Present, and the Future. The Spirits of all Three shall strive within me. I will not shut out the lessons that they teach!"   - A Christmas Carol

It's in celebration of Dickens's endearing and enduring work that we chose The Complete Works of Charles Dickens as our Series of the Month for December. This month we celebrate Dickens' incredible talents as the author of some of the world's most beloved and well-known novels. We celebrate a man whose works remain foremost in the popular imagination, continually serving as a source for adaptation to stage and screen. Indeed, the grandiose scope of his works practically beg for film and stage adaptations, as these stories remain relevant and compelling: themes regarding man's struggle to be good, the cruelness of class struggle, and a person's desire to belong remain as relevant today as they were in Dickens' Victorian London.

"Welcome, old aspirations, glittering creatures of an ardent fancy, to your shelter underneath the holly! We know you, and have not outlived you yet." - What Christmas Is as We Grow Older

The Complete Works of Charles Dickens is a 30-volume set reproduction of the original edition, complete with original illustrations, in affordable paperback or beautiful hardcover. This essential collection is available as a wonderful gift set or by individual volume. 

Please contact us today for a special discount of 20% off the list price for the full set, or purchase your particular favorites by volume at Amazon or Barnes & Noble online.

Special Offer! Cosimo Series and Collections on Sale for CYBER MONDAY!

Now that the turkey and stuffing has settled and Christmas shopping is in full swing, Cosimo invites you to take advantage of a special Cyber Monday (and Week After Thanksgiving) Special on our Classic Series and Collections.

In our bookstore, we offer a wide variety of discounted classic series, from Arabian Nights, to The Complete Works of Charles Dickens, The Works of Eugene Field, and even our Five Foot Shelf of Classics, a 51-volume set of Harvard Classics that ranges a variety of genres, time periods, and authors.

These collections, also available for purchase as individual titles, are already discounted at 20% off the list price. Starting Monday, November 26 through Friday, November 30, you can take advantage of our Week After Thanksgiving Special with a another 10% off the already discounted price, plus free shipping and handling in the continental U.S.! And if you call to order on Cyber Monday, you get free shipping and handling plus 20% off the already-discounted price! That's almost 40% savings off of the list price, and applies to ANY of the collections and series in our bookstore! Take advantage of this deal to buy presents for family and friends that can be shared and enjoyed for years to come. Hurry, it's only good for the week after Thanksgiving, so be sure to call and order on Monday!

And as you're looking at book collections that make great gifts, don't forget our cryptozoology set, The Curiosities of Natural History, along with all our other Loren Coleman presents cryptozoology titles. Loren Coleman is a world-renowned cryptozoologist, known for his investigations into Bigfoot, Mothman, and other modern legends. Cosimo offers a collection of classics titles about similar wonders, such as the Abominable Snowman, werewolves, sea serpents, and more. If you're looking for a gift this season for someone who's into myteries and myths, and might be a little hard to shop for, any of our Loren Coleman Presents titles is sure to satisfy their curiosity and urge to discover more about the unknown. To read more about Loren Coleman and his work, visit his website at cryptomundo.com.