The Scarlet Pimpernel
HarperCollins is proud to present its incredible range of best-loved, essential classics.“Vaguely she began to wonder … which of these worldly men round her was the mysterious ‘Scarlet Pimpernel,’ who held the threads of such daring plots, and the fate of valuable lives in his hands.”In the early days of the bloody French Revolution, fleeing aristocrats are being captured and sent to the guillotine. But the mysterious Scarlet Pimpernel – along with his band of English gentlemen – is outwitting the revolutionaries. Known only by his calling card, he arrives in disguise and smuggles the nobles out of danger to the safety of England. But can he guard his true identity forever, or will he give his life for his cause?
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THE SCARLET PIMPERNEL
Baroness Orczy
William Collins
An imprint of HarperCollinsPublishers
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London SE1 9GF
This eBook edition published in Great Britain by William Collins in 2018
Life & Times section © HarperCollinsPublishers Ltd
Cover by E-Digital Design
Silvia Crompton asserts her moral rights as author of the Life & Times section
Classic Literature: Words and Phrases adapted from
Collins English Dictionary
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, down-loaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins
Source ISBN: 9780008278762
Ebook Edition © 2018 ISBN: 9780008280192
Version: 2018-03-01
Contents
Copyright
History of William Collins
Life & Times
Chapter I: Paris: September, 1792
Chapter II: Dover: âThe Fishermanâs Restâ
Chapter III: The Refugees
Chapter IV: The League of the Scarlet Pimpernel
Chapter V: Marguerite
Chapter VI: An Exquisite Of â92
Chapter VII: The Secret Orchard
Chapter VIII: The Accredited Agent
Chapter IX: The Outrage
Chapter X: In the Opera Box
Chapter XI: Lord Grenvilleâs Ball
Chapter XII: The Scrap of Paper
Chapter XIII: Either â Or?
Chapter XIV: One OâClock Precisely!
Chapter XV: Doubt
Chapter XVI: Richmond
Chapter XVII: Farewell
Chapter XVIII: The Mysterious Device
Chapter XIX: The Scarlet Pimpernel
Chapter XX: The Friend
Chapter XXI: Suspense
Chapter XXII: Calais
Chapter XXIII: Hope
Chapter XXIV: The Death-Trap
Chapter XXV: The Eagle and the Fox
Chapter XXVI: The Jew
Chapter XXVII: On the Track
Chapter XXVIII: The Père Blanchardâs Hut
Chapter XXIX: Trapped
Chapter XXX: The Schooner
Chapter XXXI: The Escape
Classic Literature: Words and Phrases
About the Publisher
In 1819, millworker William Collins from Glasgow, Scotland, set up a company for printing and publishing pamphlets, sermons, hymn books, and prayer books. That company was Collins and was to mark the birth of HarperCollins Publishers as we know it today. The long tradition of Collins dictionary publishing can be traced back to the ï¬rst dictionary William co-published in 1825, Greek and English Lexicon. Indeed, from 1840 onwards, he began to produce illustrated dictionaries and even obtained a licence to print and publish the Bible.
Soon after, William published the ï¬rst Collins novel; however, it was the time of the Long Depression, where harvests were poor, prices were high, potato crops had failed, and violence was erupting in Europe. As a result, many factories across the country were forced to close down and William chose to retire in 1846, partly due to the hardships he was facing.
Aged 30, Williamâs son, William II, took over the business. A keen humanitarian with a warm heart and a generous spirit, William II was truly âVictorianâ in his outlook. He introduced new, up-to-date steam presses and published affordable editions of Shakespeareâs works and ThePilgrimâs Progress, making them available to the masses for the ï¬rst time.
A new demand for educational books meant that success came with the publication of travel books, scientiï¬c books, encyclopedias, and dictionaries. This demand to be educated led to the later publication of atlases, and Collins also held the monopoly on scripture writing at the time.
In the 1860s Collins began to expand and diversify and the idea of âbooks for the millionsâ was developed, although the phrase wasnât coined until 1907. Affordable editions of classical literature were published, and in 1903 Collins introduced 10 titles in their Collins Handy Illustrated Pocket Novels. These proved so popular that a few years later this had increased to an output of 50 volumes, selling nearly half a million in their year of publication. In the same year, The Everymanâs Library was also instituted, with the idea of publishing an affordable library of the most important classical works, biographies, religious and philosophical treatments, plays, poems, travel, and adventure. This series eclipsed all competition at the time, and the introduction of paperback books in the 1950s helped to open that market and marked a high point in the industry.
