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Little Women
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Little Women Hardcover - 2011

by Louisa May Alcott; Afterword by Anna South


About this book

Little Women (or Meg, Jo, Beth, and Amy) is a novel by American author Louisa May Alcott (1832–1888). Written and set in the Alcott family home, Orchard House, in Concord, Massachusetts, it was published in two parts in 1868 and 1869. The novel follows the lives of four sisters—Meg, Jo, Beth, and Amy March—on their way into adulthood while their father serves as a chaplain in the American Civil War. 

Although it is not based on a true story, it is loosely inspired by the author's childhood experiences with her three sisters and her father’s educational philosophy. Amos Bronson Alcott, a pioneer of “progressive education,” was a notable intellectual at the time. 

The book was an assignment of Alcott’s editor Thomas Niles, who wanted a novel for young women for the Robert Brothers publishing catalog. Although she initially despised the idea of writing a "girls' story," once she started, her writing became feverish. The first volume was published in 1868 with illustrations by Louisa’s younger sister May - the inspiration for the character of ‘Amy’ in the novel. It became an immediate hit, and the initial printing of two thousand copies sold out in two weeks. Little Women's original book cover was maroon cloth with gilt lettering, and it has become one of the most iconic Little Women book covers. 

The second part of the novel was issued in 1869, under the title of Good Wives in the UK. The novel is still published separately in some instances, although starting in 1880 the two parts were published as one single volume under Little Women in the US.

Little Women has been adapted into a film on four different occasions. The first one was George Cukor’s 1933 version, which cast Katharine Hepburn as Jo, followed by the 1949 Mervyn LeRoy adaptation, and the 1994 film directed by Gilliam Armstrong, the first one directed, adapted, and produced by women. The most recent version was in 2019 by director Greta Gerwig and stars Emma Watson, Florence Pugh, Saoirse Ronan, and Eliza Scanlen. 

Alcott’s most successful work has had notable cultural relevance all over the world. The ambitious and free-spirited Jo March has inspired women writers since its publication. Her unpretentious depiction of the March sisters and their aims and frustrations distinguish the work from the pious and moral tales of the time. 

If you are looking for books like Little Women, the novel has two sequels that constitute an unofficial trilogy: Little Men: Life at Plumfield with Jo’s Boys (1871), which tells the story of Jo Bhaer (formerly March), Professor Bhaer, and the children at Plumfield Estate School; and the followup, Jo’s Boys and How They Turned Out (1886).

First Edition Identification

The first US edition of Little Women was published in 1868 by the Roberts Brothers, Boston and includes an advertisement in the back pricing Little Women at $1.25. The second part was published in 1869. Each volume is illustrated with a frontispiece and three plates; those in the first part of Little Women were created by the author’s sister, May. Originally bound in purple cloth with gold lettering. The first UK edition was published by Sampson Low in 1869.

Details

  • Title Little Women
  • Author Louisa May Alcott; Afterword by Anna South
  • Binding Hardcover
  • Edition Unabridged
  • Pages 655
  • Volumes 1
  • Language ENG
  • Publisher Collectors Library
  • Date 2011-03
  • ISBN 9781907360213 / 1907360212
  • Weight 0.73 lbs (0.33 kg)
  • Dimensions 6.11 x 4.09 x 1.28 in (15.52 x 10.39 x 3.25 cm)
  • Reading level 640
  • Library of Congress subjects Mothers and daughters, Sisters
  • Dewey Decimal Code FIC

About the author

Louisa May Alcott was born in Pennsylvania in 1832, the second of four daughters of the philosopher Bronson Alcott. She was educated at home and went on to become a schoolteacher in Boston. Her first book Flower Fables was published when she was twenty-two, but she interrupted her career as a writer to nurse soldiers at a Washington hospital during the Civil War. Her most enduring book, Little Women, was published in 1868 and was an instant success. Other books include Little Men and Jo's Boys. Louisa May Alcott died in 1888 at the age of fifty-six.
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Little Women
Stock Photo: Cover May Be Different

Little Women

by Alcott, Louisa May

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Little Women
Stock Photo: Cover May Be Different

Little Women

by Louisa May Alcott

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  • Hardcover
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Binding
Hardcover
ISBN 13
9781907360213
ISBN 10
1907360212
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Collector's Library, 2011-03-01. Hardcover. Good.
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