Dorothy turns classic books into stamps to celebrate great literature and our love of reading

Celebrating the most influential, widely read and essential books from the 17th Century through to the modern-day, there are two fresh prints to feast your eyes on, each containing 42 books reimagined as collectable postage stamps and making up an oversized sheet, as you might find if buying stamps in bulk at the Post Office. Each stamp features a graphic inspired by the book and the date of publication in book form.

The first goes in for the classics, such as Gulliver's Travels by Jonathan Swift, Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen, Frankenstein by Mary Shelley, Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë. The second is all about modern literary titles from the early 20th century onwards, including The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald, The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck, Nineteen Eighty-Four by George Orwell, and On the Road by Jack Kerouac.

"We've included classics that have made us laugh and cry, scared us to bits, made us feel all warm inside, turned us into sleuths and challenged our way of thinking," says Ali Johnson, one half of Dorothy, which she runs with James Quail. "There are books that tell stories of love, romance, coming of age, self-awareness, suffering, deceit, excess, revenge, terror and dystopia."

Each artwork was designed by James and follows Dorothy's The Colour of Books and Book Map products, both popular tributes to the world of fiction. Does Ali have a favourite stamp? "To the Lighthouse by Virginia Woolf is my favourite book and I do love that stamp. But my favourite stamp, even though I'm not a massive fan of the book, is Dracula. I love its simplicity and how two tiny dots perfectly sum it up," she says.

"As for the two artworks, I thought it would be the modern print as I tend to read more contemporary literature now. But working on these prints has reawakened my love of some older classics. I recently dusted off a few favourites to re-read including Wuthering Heights, Tess of the d'Urbervilles, The Yellow Wallpaper and The Good Soldier."

The prints measure 80cm x 60cm and are litho printed with an additional silver foil. The two literature-based additions join an ever-expanding 'Stamp Collections' range of prints by Dorothy and are available to purchase for £35 each from wearedorothy.com from today.