In 1773, Poems on Various Subjects, Religious and Moral became the first book of poetry by an African-American author to be published. At the tender age of seven, Phillis had been brought to Massachusetts as a slave and sold to the well-to-do Wheatley family. There, she threw herself into education, and soon she was devouring the classics and writing verse with whatever she had to hand - odes in chalk on the walls of the house. Once her talent became known, there was uproar, and in 1772 she was interrogated by a panel of 'the most respectable characters in Boston' and forced to defend the ownership of her own words, since many believed that it was an impossible that she, an African-American slave, could write poetry of such high quality.As related in the 1834 memoir by an outspoken proponent of antislavery, B.B. Thatcher, also included in this volume, the road to publication was not straight, and while it became clear that such a volume could not be published in America at the time, Phillis was recommended to a London publisher, who brought out the book - albeit with an attestation as to her authorship, as well as a 'letter from her master' and a short preface asking the reader's indulgence. This edition includes the attestation, the 'letter from her master' and notes from the original publishers as an appendix, so that the twenty-first-century reader can discover Phillis Wheatley as she should have been read - as a poet, not property.'An attractive selection.' (John's Autumn Picks 2020, London Review Bookshop)'Elegant lines? the style and manner exhibit a striking proof of your great poetical talents.' (George Washington)'Quite too interesting to be passed over by the historian in utter silence.' (B.B. Thatcher)

Phillis Wheatley: Poems on Various Subjects, Religious and Moral and A Memoir of Phillis Wheatley, a Native African and a Slave

Literature & Fiction

Wheatley, Phillis

Poetry

Renard Press Ltd.

Dated the 14th of December 1908, A Letter to a Hindu was a letter written by Leo Tolstoy to Tarak Nath Das, a Bengali revolutionary and scholar, in response to a request for support for India's separation from British rule, which argued that the Indian people should seek to free themselves from British rule through non-violent protests and strikes, and other forms of peaceful resistance.\nThe letter soon gained international attention after it was published in the Free Hindustan, and it came to the attention of the young Mahatma Gandhi. Drawing on a variety of sources, cultures and teachings, Tolstoy's letter was instrumental in forming Gandhi's views on non-violent resistance - as Gandhi himself acknowledges in his introduction: 'To me, as a humble follower of that great teacher whom I have long looked upon as one of my guides, it is a matter of honour to be connected with the publication of his letter'.\n'One of the clearest thinkers in the western world, one of the greatest writers.' - Mahatma Gandhi\n'He is never dull, never stupid, never tired, never pedantic, never theatrical!' - James Joyce\n'The greatest of all novelists.' - Virginia Woolf\n'What he does serves to justify all the hopes and aspirations invested in literature.' - Anton Chekhov\n'What an artist and what a psychologist!' - Gustave Flaubert

A letter to a Hindu

TOLSTOY, LEO

Essays & Correspondence

The Yellow Wallpaper

In 1892 a furious Charlotte Perkins Gilman put pen to paper and created the avant-garde feminist work The Yellow Wallpaper as a warning - in this haunting Gothic tale, a woman is confined to a room and forbidden to do anything interesting - and she loses her mind. 
In 1887, following a severe nervous breakdown, Gilman had been sent to a leading neurologist, she explains in 'Why I Wrote The Yellow Wallpaper', also included in this volume. He was a 'wise man' who 'put me to bed and applied the rest cure... and sent me home with solemn advice to "live as domestic a life as far as possible"... and "never to touch pen, brush or pencil again" as long as I lived. I went home and obeyed those directions for some three months, and came so near the borderline of utter mental ruin that I could see over.' 
The Yellow Wallpaper is both a haunting illustration of the treatment of mental health and a chilling Gothic tale, and this new edition makes it ready to enchant another generation of readers.

Biographies & Memoirs

Perkins Gilman, Charlotte

Community & Culture

In 1953 a man wrote a play about waiting.In 1988 he sued five women for trying to perform it.It's 2022 and we're still waiting.Since Samuel Beckett's ground-breaking Waiting for Godot first hit the stage in 1953, countless men across the world have donned the boots of Didi and Gogo and trodden the boards - but those boots can only be filled by men, and the bar against casting anyone else is upheld to this day, almost seventy years on.Hot on the heels of Ariana Grande's insistence that 'God is a Woman', Silent Faces Theatre have decided they're done waiting. Penned with their trademark playful, political style, Godot is a Woman is a tour de force that explores permission, the patriarchy and pop music.

Godot Is a Woman

Silent Faces Theatre

Dramas & Plays

First published in 1905, O. Henry's masterpiece, The Gift of the Magi, is a moving short story that highlights the plight of the poor at Christmastime. Desperately in love but destitute, Della and Jim try to find ways to drum up the cash for presents for one another, but in the end find they have sacrificed too much along the way. An ode to love and a warning against the consequences of capitalism, The Gift of the Magi has stood the test of time and has sadly never been more relevant. Part of Renard's successful Christmas Card Classics series, 25% of the RRP of each book sold goes to the Three Peas, a small charity supporting refugees.

The Gift of the Magi

O'Henry

United States

The Communist Manifesto

Politics & Social Sciences

Friedrich, Engels

Politics & Government

Herland: A Feminist Utopia

Charlotte Perkins Gilman

A mysterious suicide pandemic sweeps the world, leaving nations reeling, pointing fingers. Losing her parents to the tragedy as a child, Laura makes a failed attempt to take her own life, and suffers at the hands of those cast as her protectors. Fourteen years later, still trying to escape her pain, she meets a powerful entrepreneur whose groundbreaking technology offers the ultimate freedom - a soul-flight. Tempted by the promise, she strikes a deal that will change her life for ever. Laura soon discovers that the soul-flight is not quite what it seems, and she is no longer in control of her mind, the confines of her body and the outside world starting to blur. To regain control of herself, Laura must travel into dimensions previously inaccessible and uncover a past she never knew she had. A powerful, thought-provoking tale set in a world transformed by technology, Never Laura is a startling work in which the dance between humanity and artificial intelligence challenges the very essence of who we are. 'Extraordinary¿ Should be a cyberpunk classic. Explores every emotional possibility of a post-corporeal reality.' (Iain Hood)

Never Laura

Computers & Technology

Lyras, Ewgeniya

Computer Science

Queer Ukraine: An Anthology of LGBTQI+ Ukrainian Voices During Wartime

History

DVIJKA

Europe

Truth or Dare

Kabir Barb, Nadia

Literary

See the best price to sell, buy or rent books by the Renard Press Ltd. publisher. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Books by Renard Press Ltd.