Generally: bettered novels
An attempt to read through Clement K. Shorter’s list of the 100 best novels, ca. 1898. As Michael Caines noted in his TLS blog post on the list (at the link above), ‘It’s difficult to imagine any except the most foolhardy of readers reading every book on Shorter’s list now, let alone agreeing with him.’ Praise be to foolhardiness.
bettered novels (13)
Clara Reeve, The Old English Baron (1778).
bettered novels (22.1)
Jane Austen, Pride and Prejudice, part 1, first impressions (1796/1813).
bettered novels (22.2)
Jane Austen, Pride and Prejudice, part 2, a brief notice of the servants (1813).
bettered novels (55)
Alexandre Dumas, The Three Musketeers (1844).