Austen, Jane
Jane Austen (1775-1817) was an English writer who first gave the novel its distinctively modern character through her treatment of ordinary people in everyday life. Her six novels have become timeless classics because Austen's astonishingly diverse characters all insist on their private judgment as an innate right even in the most confining circumstances. Few other books present such fully rendered individuals whose actions captivate readers to this very day.
Baer, Ulrich
Ulrich Baer holds degrees from Harvard and Yale University, and is University Professor at New York University. A recipient of Guggenheim, Getty, and Humboldt fellowships, he has edited numerous editions of classic texts, and published books on literature, photography, and culture.
Woolf, Virginia
Virginia Woolf (1882-1941) ranks among the major literary figures of all time. With her novels, including To the Lighthouse, Mrs. Dalloway, and The Waves, she reinvented the art of story-telling and shaped modern culture's self-understanding to the present day. In landmark essays, letters, and diaries, Woolf insisted on a woman's right to tell her story on her own terms.