Do you love books and assume yourself to be a bibliophile? Or do you think that you are one without just knowing everything about it? So, let’s see what it takes to be a true one! A bibliophile is someone who is in love with the books – not just the content or the story, but the smell of the pages, the cover, the font and everything else that is a part of any book. If you love all this, then, congratulations! You’ve cleared the first very basic set of skills a bibliophile must have.

But, that’s not all! Having said that, you must have read these rare, lesser known classics, in order to classify yourself as Bibliophiles and not just “readers”.

Let’s have a look at what these amazing classics have to offer which make them a must read for all the bibliophiles.

1. Mysteries of Udolpho

Ann Radcliffe

This book was known for its dominance in the gothic genre although it was popularly used to distinguish rationality from super natural beliefs. There is a horrific depiction of devil in the Catholic church from the perspective of a monk who is modest on the outside but cunning on the inside.

The story revolves around an orphan Emily St. Aubert who has lost the one she loved and is surrounded by a thick layer of horror in the atmosphere. What happens when and why in the novel is worth knowing!

Picture Credits: Lady Gilraen

2. Evelina

Fanny Burney

Evelina is known for satirising society and exploring themes of sensibility, snobbery, and gentlemanliness. Evelina, being the protagonist, is exhibited as a vulnerable human form of innocence and it is her this extreme innocence that transforms her into a shrewd woman.

This novel was such an influencer that it inspired several great authors such as Jane Austen and Maria Edgeworth. Besides, this is one of the best to understand women’s position in the late eighteenth century.

Picture Credits: Artifacts Journal

3. The Beetle

Richard Marsh

This novel by Richard Marsh revolves around the story of a creation of horror that can change its form at its own will. The story is set in the context of religious dominance wherein revenge is taken against the crime against the devotees of religions. What is interesting to note is that the character and personality of four different people is brought out in detail. For literature lovers, its narration will serve as the cherry on the cake with suspense overflowing the content.

Picture Credits: Photobucket

4. Invitation To A Beheading

Vladimir Nabokov

Invitation to a Beheading is one of the best prose of all times. It embodies a vision of a bizarre and irrational world. The theme is the idea of the citizen who aspires to be different, the person who fails to assimilate, and the ways in which society either forces that divergent voice to join in lockstep, or extinguishes it – as it was very commonly evident in the 19^th century and is also evident these days. The theme of this novel itself makes it valuable even in today’s context. It defines what freedom is like and how it should be attained.

Picture Credits: Brian Cassidy

5. The Last Day of a Condemned Man

Victor Hugo

Translated from the French, The Last Day of a Condemned Man is a short novel that was published in the mid-eighteenth century. The novel basically revolves around someone who is condemned to die- his thoughts, his perspectives and his life (as much is left). In a very influencing way it delivers a message of abolishing death penalty and also why it should be abolished. With a combination of fears, human psyche, sorrow and guilt, this novel is a must read!

Picture Credits: TV5Monde

6. The Man of the Crowd

Edgar Allan Poe

In a metropolitan city, it is a common thought of people that the citizens are not individual entities but a part of the social group they belong to. But this is just a thought. What if it were true? This is what Edgar in his novel The Man of the Crowd talks about. This novel is an enigmatic dead level, unaccentuated by any plot or obvious intent.

Picture Credits: Professor H’s Wayback Machine

7. Jane Eyre

Charlotte Bronte

This novel is a combination of so any instrumental themes that it, because of its subject matters, becomes a must read. It talks about feminism, god and religion, love, passion and morality at the same time. Not just the story of the romance between Rochester and Jane- the protagonists, the novel also employs the conventions of the Bildungsroman (a novel that shows the psychological or moral development of its main character), the gothic and the spiritual quest. Its story is sure to keep the readers enthralled.

Picture Credits: Entropy Book

These classics are so uniquely written that they take the attention of the readers away from any other activity and put it on them.That’s exactly how an ordinary book is differentiated from a classic. These classics, especially, are a must read for all the bibliophiles out there to quench their thirst for reading out-of-the-box content!