Prestwick House

Literary Touchstone Classics

More than 75 classic literature titles at discount prices for every school budget!

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Priced for every school and classroom budget, Literary Touchstone Classics are an affordable way to introduce your students to classic literature.

The best classic literature at the best prices—guaranteed!

Why are Literary Touchstone Classics the number-one choice of teachers across the country? These affordable editions of beloved works are designed by former educators with the needs of both teachers and students in mind.

To help students fully understand the classic work they’re studying, every Literary Touchstone Classic includes pre-reading notes that cite important aspects of the text that students should examine and question while reading.

Each book also has an extensive vocabulary list and a glossary that explains unfamiliar allusions and challenging passages.

If you’re looking for books that will last for years in your classroom, Literary Touchstone Classics fit the bill. Sturdy bindings and high-quality paper ensure they’ll hold up to repeated use, and they’re always at least 50% off the retail price.

Browse all Literary Touchstone Classics


What makes Literary Touchstone Classics different from other editions of classic books?

  • Reading pointers for sharper insights encourage students to question and consider aspects of plot, theme, characterization, style, etc.
  • Brief introductions and backgrounds give key information about the author and provide rationale for the book’s classic status.
  • Glossaries and vocabulary lists guarantee that your students won’t get lost in difficult allusions or archaic vocabulary.
  • Line numbers and margin notes in each Shakespeare play and Greek drama help students better understand any difficult language or context.
  • Affordable pricing makes it easy for educators to purchase books for all their students without compromising on quality.

“Your Literary Touchstone Classic editions are fabulous!
They provide enough context to help under-prepared or nontraditional students feel confident discussing the text, but their overall tone is in no way condescending. And they’re cheap—a definite plus for students.”

C. Stoermer, ELA Educator


Complete list of Literary Touchstone Classics

Adventures of Huckleberry Finn

Author: Mark Twain

Price: $3.99

The Adventures of Tom Sawyer

Author: Mark Twain

Price: $4.49

Alice's Adventures in Wonderland

Author: Lewis Carroll

Price: $2.99

Anthem

Author: Ayn Rand

Price: $2.99

Antigone

Author: Sophocles

Price: $3.49

The Awakening

Author: Kate Chopin

Price: $3.49

Beowulf

Author: Unknown

Price: $2.49

The Best of Poe

Author: Edgar Allan Poe

Price: $2.99

The Best of Sherlock Holmes

Author: Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

Price: $3.99

The Call of the Wild

Author: Jack London

Price: $2.99

Candide

Author: Voltaire

Price: $2.99

The Canterbury Tales

Author: Geoffrey Chaucer

Price: $4.49

A Christmas Carol

Author: Charles Dickens

Price: $2.49

Crime and Punishment

Author: Fyodor Dostoyevsky

Price: $6.49

Cyrano de Bergerac

Author: Edmond Rostand

Price: $5.49

A Doll's House

Author: Henrik Ibsen

Price: $2.49

Dr. Faustus

Author: Christopher Marlowe

Price: $3.99

Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde

Author: Robert Louis Stevenson

Price: $2.99

Dracula

Author: Bram Stoker

Price: $6.49

Dubliners

Author: James Joyce

Price: $5.99

Ethan Frome

Author: Edith Wharton

Price: $2.99

Everyman

Author: Anonymous

Price: $2.49

Frankenstein

Author: Mary Shelley

Price: $4.49

Great American Poems

Author: Various

Price: $4.49

Great Expectations

Author: Charles Dickens

Price: $5.99

The Great Gatsby

Author: F. Scott Fitzgerald

Price: $6.99

Gulliver's Travels

Author: Jonathan Swift

Price: $4.49

Hamlet

Author: William Shakespeare

Price: $4.49

Heart of Darkness

Author: Joseph Conrad

Price: $2.99

The Hound of the Baskervilles

Author: Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

Price: $3.49

The Iliad

Author: Homer

Price: $2.99

The Importance of Being Earnest

Author: Oscar Wilde

Price: $2.99

Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl

Author: Harriet Jacobs

Price: $4.49

The Invisible Man

Author: H. G. Wells

Price: $3.49

Jane Eyre

Author: Charlotte Bronte

Price: $5.99

Julius Caesar

Author: William Shakespeare

Price: $3.49

The Jungle

Author: Upton Sinclair

Price: $4.99

King Lear

Author: William Shakespeare

Price: $3.49

Macbeth

Author: William Shakespeare

Price: $3.49

Medea

Author: Euripides

Price: $3.99

The Merchant of Venice

Author: William Shakespeare

Price: $2.99

The Metamorphosis

Author: Franz Kafka

Price: $3.49

A Midsummer Night's Dream

Author: William Shakespeare

Price: $2.49

Much Ado About Nothing

Author: William Shakespeare

Price: $3.49

My Antonia

Author: Willa Cather

Price: $3.99

Narrative of Sojourner Truth

Author: Sojourner Truth & Olive Gilbert

Price: $2.49

Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass

Author: Frederick Douglass

Price: $4.49

O Pioneers!

Author: Willa Cather

Price: $2.49

The Odyssey

Author: Homer

Price: $4.99

Oedipus Rex

Author: Sophocles

Price: $3.49

Othello

Author: William Shakespeare

Price: $2.99

The Picture of Dorian Gray

Author: Oscar Wilde

Price: $3.49

A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man

Author: James Joyce

Price: $3.99

Pride and Prejudice

Author: Jane Austen

Price: $5.49

The Prince and the Pauper

Author: Mark Twain

Price: $3.99

Pudd'nhead Wilson

Author: Mark Twain

Price: $4.99

Pygmalion

Author: George Bernard Shaw

Price: $2.49

The Red Badge of Courage

Author: Stephen Crane

Price: $2.99

Romeo and Juliet

Author: William Shakespeare

Price: $1.99

The Scarlet Letter

Author: Nathaniel Hawthorne

Price: $3.99

Siddhartha

Author: Herman Hesse

Price: $3.99

Silas Marner

Author: George Eliot

Price: $3.49

Spoon River Anthology

Author: Edgar Lee Masters

Price: $4.99

The Sun Also Rises

Author: Ernest Hemingway

Price: $2.49

A Tale of Two Cities

Author: Charles Dickens

Price: $6.49

The Taming of the Shrew

Author: William Shakespeare

Price: $2.99

The Tempest

Author: William Shakespeare

Price: $3.49

The Time Machine

Author: H. G. Wells

Price: $3.99

Transcendentalism: Essential Essays of Emerson and Thoreau

Author: Ralph Waldo Emerson & Henry David Thoreau

Price: $4.49

Treasure Island

Author: Robert Louis Stevenson

Price: $4.99

The Turn of the Screw

Author: Henry James

Price: $2.99

Twelfth Night

Author: William Shakespeare

Price: $2.49

The War of the Worlds

Author: H. G. Wells

Price: $3.49

White Fang

Author: Jack London

Price: $3.99

Wuthering Heights

Author: Emily Bronte

Price: $6.99


Why does classic literature still matter in today’s classrooms?

In an age of instant information and ever-changing media, you might wonder: “Why should students still read classic literature?” The answer lies in the enduring power of these works to spark critical thinking, foster empathy, and build a foundation for lifelong literacy.

Reading classic literature in middle and high school offers students more than just a glimpse into the past. These texts challenge students to engage with complex language, timeless themes, and compelling storytelling that continue to resonate today. From questions of identity and justice to explorations of love, power, and human nature, the classics encourage deep analysis and meaningful classroom discussion.

Teachers like you can make classic literature relevant by connecting the text’s universal ideas to modern experiences. Whether comparing Macbeth to modern-day ambition or drawing parallels between Frankenstein and current conversations about ethics and morality, you can help students see that these stories are not relics, but reflections of enduring human truths.

Help your students discover why these timeless works continue to shape literature, language, and culture. With Literary Touchstone Classics, the great books of yesterday become the powerful learning tools of today.

Download Sample Pages

“I find the Literary Touchstone Classic particularly helpful for introducing students to Shakespeare. Rather than giving a student—who is already feeling intimidated by the different language—a thick book padded with scholarly essays the student will not be reading formatted in a tiny font with no margins where he can add notes, I prefer to assign your edition. The thinner size is less intimidating (while still retaining the original text—no abridging or ‘modernizing’), and the larger font and white space on the page make it easier for the student to read. The fact that the editions I find to be the best format for students also happen to be the most affordable editions is a bonus.”

D. Gagnon, ELA Educator


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7 Approaches to Teaching Shakespeare in Today’s Classroom

7 Approaches to Teaching Shakespeare in Today’s Classroom

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