The idea for Robert Louis Stevenson's immortal masterpiece of psychological terror sprang from the deepest recesses of his own subconscious -- a nightmare from which his wife awakened him. He wrote it as a stark yet complex tale whose popularity has endured for more than a century, making the phrase "Jekyll and Hyde" synonymous with man's internal war between good and evil. Brilliantly anticipating modern psychology, Stevenson's story of the kindly scientist who drinks a potion that nightly transforms him into a stunted, evil version of himself is a tale of incomparable suspense and horror.
Washington Square Press' Enriched Classics present the great works of world literature enhanced for the contemporary reader. This edition of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde has been prepared by Barry V. Qualls, professor of English at Rutgers University, and Susan J. Wolfson, professor of English at Princeton University. It includes Stevenson's notes, a selection of critical excerpts, suggestions for further reading, and a unique visual essay of period illustrations and photographs.
