Scribner's Illustrated Classics series was the greatest of the illustrated series of children's books produced in the first half of the 20th century. It was the largest, longest running and most influential illustrated classics series, staying in print throughout most of the last century. And, in my opinion, it also featured some of the most beautiful artwork ever to grace a book's pages, including paintings by N.C. Wyeth, Jessie Willcox Smith, Maxfield Parrish and many other notable artists from the Golden Age of book illustration.

This series of books is a terrific entry point to reading "the classics," for children and adults alike. Some of my first introductions to these titles were these illustrated editions and other similar ones from different publishers.

0:01 What happened to classic childrens' books?
1:43 Charles Scribner's Sons Company
2:50 Overview and origins of Scribner's Illustrated Classics series
6:24 Adventure novels
14:38 Books for younger readers
17:00 Anthologies of Dickens and Alcott excerpts
18:18 Contemporary heartwarmers
19:15 Other related illustrated books
22:30 Influence on other publishers
23:37 Recent additions
24:39 A note for collectors

See my earlier video about what makes a book classic here:    • ...and How to Start Reading Classic B...  


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Film clip and image credits:
Muppet Treasure Island (1996)
Black Sails (2014)
Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides (2011)
The Last of the Mohicans (1992)
Braveheart (1995)