Stuff to Read: The Best Authors and Novels of the 1800s

By Andreas Ramos. Updated September, 2023

At the end of the 1800s, various lists were compiled of what was considered the best novels of the 1800s. Literary tastes have changed; some very famous 19th century novels are scarcely known today, most of the authors are completely unknown. Nevertheless, their novels are quite good. This list is alphabetical by author's last name.

If you have novels for this list, let me know. It has to have been written in the 1800s in any language.

See also the list of top novels for the 1700s.

  • Charles Dickens: Tale of Two Cities
  • James Fenimore Cooper: The Last of the Mohicans
  • W. H. Ainsworth: The Tower of London. Old St Paul's. Windsor Castle
  • Jane Austen: Pride and Prejudice. Sense and Sensibility
  • Honoré de Balzac: Pere Goriot
  • J. M. Barrie: A Window in Thrums
  • W. Besant and J . Rice: The Golden Butterfly
  • Rolf Boldrewood: Robbery Under Arms
  • M. E. Braddon: Lady Audley's Secret
  • Charlotte Bronte: Jane Eyre. Shirley
  • Hall Caine: The Deemster
  • Henry Cockton: Valentine Vox
  • Wilkie Collins: The Woman in White. The Moonstone
  • J. Fenimore Cooper: The Last of the Mohicans. The Pathfinder. The Prairie
  • F. Marion Crawford: Mr Isaacs
  • Charles Dickens: Martin Chuzzlewit. Nicholas Nickleby. The Old Curiosity Shop. Dombey and Son. Oliver Twist
  • Conan Doyle: The Firm of Girdlestone
  • Alexandre Dumas: The Three Musketeers. Twenty Years After. The Count of Monte Cristo
  • George Eliot: Scenes of Clerical Life
  • Henry Fielding: Tom Jones. Joseph Andrews
  • Mrs Gaskell: Mary Barton
  • James Grant: The Aide de Camp. The Romance of War
  • Bret Harte: Gabriel Conroy
  • N. Hawthorne: The Scarlet Letter. The House of the Seven Gables
  • O. W. Holmes: Elsie Venner
  • Anthony Hope: The Prisoner of Zenda
  • Thomas Hughes: Tom Brown's Schooldays
  • Victor Hugo: Les Misérables. Toilers of the Sea. Notre Dame
  • Charles Kingsley: Two Years Ago. Alton Locke. Hypatia
  • Henry Kingsley: The Recollections of Geoffrey Hamlyn
  • Rudyard Kipling: Soldiers Three
  • George Lawrence: Guy Livingstone
  • Charles Lever: Harry Lorrequer. Charles O'Malley
  • E. Lynn Linton: The Atonement of Leam Dundas
  • Samuel Lover: Handy Andy. Rory O'More
  • Lord Lytton: Last of the Barons. Night and Morning. Rienzi. The Caxtons
  • Captain Marryat: The King's Own. Peter Simple. Jacob Faithful. Midshipman Easy
  • George Meredith: Diana of the Crossways
  • D. M. Muloch: John Halifax, Gentleman
  • Ouida: Under Two Flags
  • Charles Reade: It is Never Too Late to Mend. Peg Woffington and Christie Johnstone. Hard Cash
  • Capt Mayne Reid: The Headless Horseman
  • Amelie Rives: Virginia of Virginia
  • Olive Schreiner: The Story of an African Farm
  • Michael Scott: Tom Cringle's Log. Cruise of the Midge
  • H. Sienkiewicz: Quo Vadis?
  • Sir Walter Scott: Rob Roy. The Bride of Lammermoor. Old Mortality. Kenilworth. Guy Mannering. Woodstock. The Talisman
  • Frank E. Smedley: Frank Fairlegh
  • Tobias Smollett: Roderick Random. Peregrine Pickle
  • Mrs F. A. Steel: On the Face of the Waters
  • Laurence Sterne: The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman
  • H. B. Stowe: Uncle Tom's Cabin
  • R. S. Surtees: Soapey Sponge's Sporting Tour
  • Eugene Sue: The Wandering Jew
  • W. M. Thackeray: The History of Henry Esmond. The Newcomes. The Memoirs of Barry Lyndon
  • Count L. Tolstoy: Anna Karenina
  • Anthony Trollope: Orley Farm, Barchester Tower, The Way We Live Now
  • Mrs H. Ward: Robert Elsmere
  • Samuel Warren: Ten Thousand a-Year
  • E. Wetherell: The Wide, Wide World
  • G. J. Whyte-Melville: Market Harborough. Inside the Bar
  • Mrs Henry Wood: East Lynne