Classic Comparisons

Right away, we should point out that many of the versions listed in these pages are not consistently available here at Exodus. But even if they say "out of stock" the listings still have value! Many of them offer reviews, samples, links to internet versions, and much more. Please let us know if you have questions about anything here!

Once upon a time there was an old blind man with a harp. His name was Homer, and he spoke Greek, and he was really good at composing long poems about the adventures of Greek heroes. He never wrote anything down because that's just not how things were done back then, but other people did, and what Homer sang and they wrote we call The Iliad and The Odyssey.

Much more recently, you (or someone like you) stood in a bookstore and wondered why there were twelve thousand versions of these two relatively short books. Were there sequels? Did people other than Homer come up with the same stories? Or are there just different covers for one or two versions?

It's easy to resolve the problem by simply buying the least expensive copy. And it isn't just the works of Homer that present us with similar decisions: there are multiple editions of Virgil, Dante, The Epic of Gilgamesh, Cervantes' Don Quixote, etc. Does it matter which one you pick? Is cheapest always best?

Well, to quote a great philosopher, the price don't enter into it. The main reason there are so many versions of these books is because there are so many translations, and there are so many translations because foreign or ancient languages can be interpreted in so many ways. Choosing the best one can be exceedingly difficult, as each translation has its own strengths and weaknesses, and one size almost never fits all. With books written and published in English, there might be a wide selection of editions due to editorial changes or a variety of illustrators. Some books have had a number of retellings for children, and our goal is to familiarize you with which ones might best suit your needs.

That's why we've developed the Classic Comparisons pages. The issue here isn't to prove which version is the best—it's to help you figure out which version may become your favorite. Each page includes an original introduction to the text itself, links for further reading and activities online, an exclusive overview, kids' versions, and occasional extras. In the case of translation or editorial differences, we offer a side-by-side comparison chart of several versions, and if it's all about the illustrations, our pages will offer samples of the artwork. 

We started this section with an original dozen titles, but have several more in the works. Please be patient with us as several of those pages are still under construction! We hope you'll find these helpful, and that you'll learn as much from them as we did in making them.

Review by C. Hollis Crossman
C. Hollis Crossman used to be a child. Now he's a husband and father who loves church, good food, and weird stuff. He might be a mythical creature, but he's definitely not a centaur. Read more of his reviews here.
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135 Items found Print
Active Filters: 10th grade (Ages 15-16), Hardcover
20,000 Leagues Under the Sea
Illustrated Junior Library Series 4
by Jules Verne, translated by Anthony Bonner and illustrated by Stephen Armes
from Grosset & Dunlap
Science Fiction for 5th-10th grade
in Science Fiction (Location: FIC-SCI)
20,000 Leagues Under the Sea
Sterling Classics
by Jules Verne, translated by Lewis Page Mercier and illustrated by Scott McKowen
from Sterling Publishing Co.
for 5th-10th grade
in Science Fiction (Location: FIC-SCI)
20,000 Leagues Under the Sea
Books of Wonder
by Jules Verne, translated by Anthony Bonner and illustrated by Leo & Diane Dillon
from HarperCollins
Science Fiction for 5th-10th grade
in Science Fiction (Location: FIC-SCI)
20,000 Leagues Under the Sea
Windermere Readers #19
by Jules Verne, translated by Philip Schuyler Allen
1956 printing from Rand McNally
for 10th-Adult
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$10.00 (2 in stock)
20,000 Leagues Under the Sea
Windermere Series 2 (Cover 1)
by Jules Verne, translated by Philip Schuyler Allen
from Rand McNally
for 10th-Adult
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
20,000 Leagues Under the Sea
Windermere Series 2 (Cover 2)
by Jules Verne, translated by Philip Schuyler Allen
from Rand McNally
for 10th-Adult
in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19)
20,000 Leagues Under the Sea
Windermere Series 3
by Jules Verne, translated by Philip Schuyler Allen
from Rand McNally
for 10th-Adult
in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19)
20,000 Leagues Under the Sea
Windermere Series 4
by Jules Verne, translated by Philip Schuyler Allen
1935 Edition from Rand McNally
for 10th-Adult
in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19)
Adventures of Robin Hood
Reader's Digest World's Best Reading
by Paul Creswick, illustrated by N. C. Wyeth
1991 Edition from Reader's Digest
for 6th-12th grade
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
$8.00 (3 in stock)
Annotated Arabian Nights
by Paulo Lemos Horta (editor), translated by Yasmine Seale
from W. W. Norton and Co.
for 10th-Adult
in Medieval Literature (Location: LIT2-MED)
$45.00
Annotated Christmas Carol
by Charles Dickens
from W. W. Norton and Co.
for 6th-Adult
in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19)
Arabian Nights
by Sir Richard Burton, trans.
from Bracken Books
for 10th-Adult
in Medieval Literature (Location: LIT2-MED)
Arabian Nights
Scribner Illustrated Classics
by Kate Douglas Wiggin and Nora A. Smith, editors, illustrated by Maxfield Parrish
from Charles Scribner's Sons
Eastern Fairy Tales for 9th-Adult
in Medieval Literature (Location: LIT2-MED)
Arabian Nights
International Collectors Library
by Sir Richard Burton, illustrated by Steele Savage
from International Collectors Library
for 9th-Adult
in Medieval Literature (Location: LIT2-MED)
Arabian Nights
Scribner Illustrated Classics
by Kate Douglas Wiggin and Nora A. Smith, editors, illustrated by Maxfield Parrish
from Charles Scribner's Sons
Eastern Fairy Tales for 9th-Adult
in Scribner Illustrated Classics (Location: FIC-SCRIB)
$29.99
Arabian Nights
by Richard Burton
from Canterbury Classics
for 10th-Adult
in Medieval Literature (Location: LIT2-MED)
Arabian Nights
by Sir Richard Burton, trans.
from Book League of America
for 10th-Adult
in Medieval Literature (Location: LIT2-MED)
Arabian Nights
by Amabel Williams-Ellis, illustrated by Pauline Baynes
from Blackie & Son LTD.
for 9th-Adult
Arabian Nights
by Kate Douglas Wiggin and Nora A. Smith, editors, illustrated by Maxfield Parrish
from Book-of-the-Month Club
Eastern Fairy Tales for 9th-Adult
Arabian Nights
by W. H. D. Rouse, illustrated by Walter Paget
from E.P. Dutton & Co.
for 7th-Adult
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
Arabian Nights - Two Volume Set
by Sir Richard Burton (translator), illustrated by Arthur Szyk
from Heritage Press
for 10th-Adult
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
Arabian Nights Entertainments
by Louis Rhead
from Harper & Brothers
for 9th-Adult
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
Arthur - The Seeing Stone
by Kevin Crossley-Holland
from Arthur A. Levine Books
for 9th-12th grade
in Action & Adventure Stories (Location: FIC-ADV)
Arthur At the Crossing Places
by Kevin Crossley-Holland
from Arthur A. Levine Books
for 9th-12th grade
in Action & Adventure Stories (Location: FIC-ADV)
Arthur, King of the Middle March
by Kevin Crossley-Holland
Third Printing from Arthur A. Levine Books
for 9th-12th grade
in Action & Adventure Stories (Location: FIC-ADV)
Authoress of the Odyssey
by Samuel Butler, introduction by David Grene
from University of Chicago
for 8th-10th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$8.00 (1 in stock)
Beowulf
by Anonymous, translated by William Ellery Leonard and illustrated by Lynd Ward
from Heritage Press
for 10th grade-adult
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
Beowulf
by Anonymous, translated by Charles W. Kennedy
from Oxford University
for 10th grade-adult
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
Beowulf and the Fight at Finnsburg
by Anonymous, translated by Charles W. Kennedy
from D. C. Heath and Company
for 10th grade-adult
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
Beowulf: A Translation and Commentary
by Anonymous (translation by J. R. R. Tolkien)
from Houghton Mifflin
for 9th-Adult
in Medieval Literature (Location: LIT2-MED)
$30.00
Boy's King Arthur
by Sidney Lanier (illustrated by N.C. Wyeth)
from Charles Scribner's Sons
for 6th-10th grade
in Action & Adventure Stories (Location: FIC-ADV)
Christmas Carol
by Charles Dickens, illustrated by Arthur Rackham
from Gramercy Books
for 8th-Adult
in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19)
$9.00 (1 in stock)
Christmas Carol
Sterling Classics
by Charles Dickens, illustrated by Scott McKowen
Unabridged from Sterling Publishing Co.
Fantasy for 6th-10th grade
in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN)
Christmas Carol
by Charles Dickens
from Bantam Books
for 6th-10th grade
in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19)
$3.95
Christmas Carol
by Charles Dickens, illustrated by Everett Shinn
from Harry N. Abrams, Inc.
for 9th-Adult
in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19)
Christmas Carol
by Charles Dickens, illustrated by Greg Hildebrandt
Unabridged from Simon and Schuster
Fantasy for 6th-10th grade
in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN)
Christmas Carol
by Charles Dickens, illustrated by John Leech
from J. G. Ferguson Publishing Co.
for 9th-Adult
in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19)
Christmas Carol
by Charles Dickens, illustrated by Roberto Innocenti
Unabridged from Stewart, Tabori, & Chang
Fantasy for 6th-10th grade
in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN)
$12.00 (1 in stock)
Christmas Carol
by Charles Dickens, illustrated by Trina Schart Hyman
Unabridged from Holiday House
Fantasy for 6th-10th grade
in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN)
Christmas Carol
by Charles Dickens, illustrated by P.J. Lynch
Unabridged from Candlewick Press
Fantasy for 6th-10th grade
in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN)
$19.99
Christmas Carol
by Charles Dickens, illustrated by Robert Ingpen
Unabridged from Palazzo Editions Limited
Fantasy for 6th-10th grade
in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN)
$24.99
Christmas Carol
Macmillan Classics
by Charles Dickens, illustrated by John Groth
from Macmillan
Fantasy for 6th-10th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
Christmas Carol
by Charles Dickens; illustrated by Julian Brazelton
from Pocket Books
for 9th-Adult
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
Christmas Carol
by Charles Dickens, illustrated by Robert Ball
from Macmillan
Fantasy for 6th-10th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
Christmas Carol
by Charles Dickens, illustrated by Maraja
from Grosset & Dunlap
Fantasy for 6th-10th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
Christmas Carol and Other Christmas Books
by Charles Dickens, introduction by Margaret Atwood
from Everyman's Library
for 8th-Adult
in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19)
Christmas Carol and Other Christmas Stories
by Charles Dickens, illustrated by Arthur Rackham
from Dilithium Press, Ltd.
for 5th-Adult
in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19)
Christmas Carol and Other Stories
Reader's Digest World's Best Reading
by Charles Dickens, illustrated by Arthur Rackham
from Reader's Digest
for 10th-Adult
in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19)
Complete Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea
by Jules Verne, translated by Emanuel J. Mickel
from Indiana University Press
for 10th-Adult
in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19)
Confessions of St. Augustine
by St. Augustine (translation by Philip Burton)
from Everyman's Library
for 10th-Adult
in Medieval Literature (Location: LIT2-MED)
$17.60
Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court
Reader's Digest World's Best Reading
by Mark Twain
from Reader's Digest
Social Satire/Comedy for 9th-Adult
in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19)
Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court
by Mark Twain
from International Collectors Library
Social Satire/Comedy for 8th-10th grade
in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19)
Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court
Signet Classics
by Mark Twain
from New American Library
Social Satire/Humor for 8th-10th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court
by Mark Twain, illustrated by Honore Guilbeau
from Heritage Press
Social Satire/Comedy for 8th-10th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
Coronation Edition of the Faerie Queene
by Edmund Spenser, illustrated by John Austen and Agnes Miller Parker
from Heritage Press
for 7th-Adult
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
Defoe's Robinson Crusoe (abridged)
Eclectic English Classics
by Daniel Defoe, edited by Kate Stephens
from American Book Co.
for 10th-Adult
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$14.00 (1 in stock)
Dickens: Five Christmas Novels
by Charles Dickens, illustrated by Reginald B. Birch
from Heritage Press
for 8th-Adult
in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19)
Divine Comedy
by Dante Alighieri, translated by Melville Best Anderson and illustrated by William Blake
from Heritage Press
for 10th-Adult
in Medieval Literature (Location: LIT2-MED)
Divine Comedy
by Dante Alighieri, translated by Allan Mandelbaum
from Everyman's Library
for 10th-Adult
in Medieval Literature (Location: LIT2-MED)
$35.00
Divine Comedy
by Dante Alighieri, translated by Henry Francis Cary and Illustrated by Umberto Romano
from Doubleday & Company
for 10th-Adult
in Medieval Literature (Location: LIT2-MED)
Don Quixote
by Miguel de Cervantes, translated by Samuel Putnam
1998 Modern Library Edition from Modern Library
for 10th-Adult
in 17th Century Literature (Location: LIT4-17)
ECL: 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea
Educator Classic Library #2
by Jules Verne, translated by Lewis Page Mercier and illustrated by Don Irwin
Complete and Unabridged Edition from Classic Press
in Educator Classic Library (Location: VIN-ECL)
Eyewitness Classics: Robinson Crusoe (adapted & annotated)
by Daniel Defoe
from DK Publishing
for 6th-12th grade
in Adapted or Abridged (Location: SER-ABR)
Fairy Tales from the Arabian Nights
Dent & Dutton Illustrated Series
by E. Dixon, illustrated by Joan Kiddell-Monroe
from E.P. Dutton & Co.
for 9th-Adult
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
Fall of Arthur
by J. R. R. Tolkien
from Houghton Mifflin
for 10th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
$25.00
Histories
Everyman's Library
by Herodotus (translation by George Rawlinson)
from Everyman's Library
Historical Non-Fiction for 10th-Adult
in Ancient Literature (Location: LIT1-ANC)
Illustrated Encyclopedia of Arthurian Legends
by Ronan Coghlan
from Barnes & Noble
for 8th-Adult
in Middle Ages (Location: HISW-MID)
$15.00 (2 in stock)
Illustrators of the Wind in the Willows
from McFarland & Co.
for 7th-Adult
King Arthur
by Sidney Lanier
from Charles Scribner's Sons
for 6th-10th grade
in Scribner Illustrated Classics (Location: FIC-SCRIB)
$29.99
King Arthur and His Knights
Junior Deluxe Editions
by Henry Frith, illustrated by Henry C. Pitz
from Nelson Doubleday, Inc.
Fairy Tales, Fables, & Legends for 7th-10th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
King Arthur and His Knights
by Sir James Knowles, illustrated by Louis Rhead and other artists
from Dilithium Press, Ltd.
for 5th-10th grade
in Action & Adventure Stories (Location: FIC-ADV)
Lives of the Noble Romans
by Plutarch
from International Collectors Library
for 10th-Adult
in Ancient Literature (Location: LIT1-ANC)
Man Who Saved Robinson Crusoe
by James Poling
from W. W. Norton and Co.
for 7th-Adult
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
Merry Ballads of Robin Hood
by Laurabelle Dietrick, assisted by Joseph Franz-Walsh and illustrated by Edna Reindel
from Macmillan
Songs and Ballads for 7th-Adult
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$12.00 (1 in stock)
Merry Ballads of Robin Hood
by Laurabelle Dietrick, assisted by Joseph Franz-Walsh
from Macmillan
Songs and Ballads for 7th-12th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
Mysterious Island
by Jules Verne, illustrated by N. C. Wyeth
from Charles Scribner's Sons
Science Fiction for 8th-Adult
in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19)
North's Plutarch - Two Volume Set
by Plutarch, translated by Thomas North
from Heritage Press
for 7th-Adult
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
Odyssey of Homer
by Homer, translated by George Herbert Palmer, illustrated by N.C. Wyeth
from Houghton Mifflin
for 10th-Adult
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
Omnibus IV - Text with CD-ROM
by Gene Edward Veith, Doug Wilson & G. Tyler Fischer
3rd edition from Veritas Press
for 9th-12th grade
in Veritas Press Omnibus (Location: LITCUR-OMN)
$119.00
Omnibus V - Text with CD-ROM
by Gene Edward Veith, Doug Wilson & G. Tyler Fischer
2nd edition from Veritas Press
for 9th-12th grade
in Veritas Press Omnibus (Location: LITCUR-OMN)
Once and Future King
by T. H. White
from ACE Publishing
for 7th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
Paradise Lost
by John Milton, illustrated by Gustave Dore
from Flame Tree Collections
for 10th-Adult
in 17th Century Literature (Location: LIT4-17)
Paradise Lost and Other Poems
by John Milton
from Walter J. Black, Inc.
Formal Poetry for 10th-Adult
in Walter J. Black Classics Club (Location: VIN-LITWJB)
Parzival
by Katherine Paterson
First Edition, First Printing from Lodestar Books
for 10th-Adult
in Action & Adventure Stories (Location: FIC-ADV)
$8.00 (1 in stock)
Pilgrim's Progress
by John Bunyan, retold by Cheryl Ford
from Tyndale House
Christian Prose Epic/Allegory for 9th-Adult
in 17th Century Literature (Location: LIT4-17)
Pilgrim's Progress
by John Bunyan, retold by Mary Godolphin and illustrated by Robert Lawson
from J.B. Lippincott Co.
Christian Prose Epic/Allegory for 10th-Adult
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
Pilgrim's Progress
by John Bunyan
undated from Hurst Publishing
for 10th-Adult
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$15.00 (1 in stock)
Pilgrim's Progress
by John Bunyan
from Pilgrim's Progress Publishing
for 10th-adult
in 17th Century Literature (Location: LIT4-17)
Pilgrim's Progress
by John Bunyan
from Hendrickson Publishers
Christian Prose Epic/Allegory for 10th-Adult
in Hendrickson Christian Classics (Location: XCL-DEV)
Pilgrim's Progress (Read & Reflect with the Classics)
by John Bunyan
from B&H Books
for 8th-12th grade
in 17th Century Literature (Location: LIT4-17)
$7.50 (1 in stock)
Plutarch's Lives Volume I
by Plutarch, translated by John Dryden
from Modern Library
Biography for 9th-Adult
in Ancient Literature (Location: LIT1-ANC)
$20.00 $15.00 (1 in stock)
Robin Hood
Scribner Illustrated Classics
by Paul Creswick, illustrated by N.C. Wyeth
from Atheneum
for 6th-10th grade
in Action & Adventure Stories (Location: FIC-ADV)
Robin Hood
Scribner Illustrated Classics
by Paul Creswick, illustrated by N.C. Wyeth
Reissue from Atheneum
for 6th-10th grade
in Scribner Illustrated Classics (Location: FIC-SCRIB)
$24.99
Robinson Crusoe
Sterling Classics
by Daniel Defoe, illustrated by Scott McKowen
from Sterling Publishing Co.
for 10th-Adult
in Action & Adventure Stories (Location: FIC-ADV)
Robinson Crusoe
by Daniel Defoe
from Doubleday & Company
for 9th-Adult
in Action & Adventure Stories (Location: FIC-ADV)
Robinson Crusoe
Reader's Digest World's Best Reading
by Daniel Defoe
from Reader's Digest
for 10th-Adult
in 17th Century Literature (Location: LIT4-17)
Robinson Crusoe
by Daniel Defoe, illustrated by N.C. Wyeth
from Atheneum
for 6th-10th grade
in Scribner Illustrated Classics (Location: FIC-SCRIB)
$24.99
Robinson Crusoe
by Daniel Defoe, illustrated by Frances Brundage
No publication date from Saalfield Publishing Co.
for 10th-Adult
in Action & Adventure Stories (Location: FIC-ADV)
Robinson Crusoe
Macmillan Classics
by Daniel Defoe, illustrated by Federico Castellon
from Macmillan
for 6th-10th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
Robinson Crusoe
Windermere Series 4
by Daniel Defoe, illustrated by Milo Winter
from Rand McNally
for 10th-Adult
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
12