02 A Series of Unfortunate Events - The Reptile Room

About the Author and About
the Illustrator

LEMONY SNICKET was born in a small town
where the inhabitants were suspicious and prone
to riot. He now lives in the city. During his spare
time he gathers evidence and is considered
something of an expert by leading authorities.
These are his first books for HarperCollins.
Visit him on the Web at http://www.harperchil-
drens.com/lsnicket/ or E-mail to lsnicket@harper-
collins.com

BRETT HELQUIST was born in Gonado, Ari-
zona, grew up in Orem, Utah, and now lives in
New York City. He earned a bachelor’s degree
in fine arts from Brigham Young University and
has been illustrating ever since. His art has ap-
peared in many publications, including Cricket
magazine and The New York Times.
Visit www.AuthorTracker.com for exclusive in-
formation on your favorite HarperCollins author.

To My Kind Editor,

I am writing to you from the shores of Lake
Lachrymose, where I am examining the remains
of Aunt Josephine’s house in order to completely
understand everything that happened when the
Baudelaire orphans found themselves here.

Please go to the Café Kafka at 4 P.M. next
Wednesday and order a pot of jasmine tea from
the tallest waiter on duty. Unless my enemies
have succeeded, he will bring you a large envel-
ope instead. Inside the envelope, you will find
my description of these horrific events, entitled
THE WIDE WINDOW, as well as a sketch of
Curdled Cave, a small bag of shattered glass, and
the menu from the Anxious Clown restaurant.
There will also be a test tube containing one (1)
Lachrymose Leech, so that Mr. Helquist can draw
an accurate illustration. UNDER NO CIRCUM-
STANCES should this test tube be opened.

Remember, you are my last hope that the tales
of the Baudelaire orphans can finally be told to
the general public.

With all due respect,

Lemony Snicket

Credits

Typography by Margaret Wagner
Cover art © 1999 by Brett Helquist
Cover design by Alison Donalty
Cover © by HarperCollins Publishers Inc.

Copyright

A SERIES OF UNFORTUNATE EVENTS #2: THE REPTILE ROOM.
Text copyright © 1999 by Lemony Snicket. Illustrations
copyright © 1999 by Brett Helquist. All rights reserved
under International and Pan-American Copyright Conven-
tions. By payment of the required fees, you have been
granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access
and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this
text may be reproduced, transmitted, down-loaded,
decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced
into any information storage and retrieval system, in any
form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical,
now known or hereinafter invented, without the express
written permission of HarperCollins e-books.

Adobe Acrobat eBook Reader August 2007
ISBN 978-0-06-155028-7

Library of Congress Catalog-in-Publication Data
Snicket, Lemony
The bad beginning / by Lemony Snicket; Illustrations by
Brett Helquist.
P. cm.—(A series of unfortunate events; bk. 1)

Summary: After the sudden death of their parents, the
three Baudelaire children must depend on each other and
their wits when it turns out that the distant relative who
is appointed their guardian is determined to use any means
necessary to get their fortune.

ISBN 0-06-440767-5

46

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