The Great Books Movement

by W. B. Carnochan (Stanford Humanities Review - Volume 6.1, 1998) traces the century-old passtime of drawing up top-100 lists. "The story of 'great books' is not just about books great and not-quite-so-great, the canonical and the non-canonical; it is about processes of mind, particularly the Western mind in its post-Enlightenment and classificatory mode, and about processes of commerce, too. Since we are never, at least not in the classroom, going to be able to do without acts of highly self-conscious choice, the likelihood that some books are always going to be conceived as greater than some others (not to mention productive of greater revenues) is almost a sure bet."

Great Books Online

. A gateway to the great books online.

. The first internet project to distribute fulltexts for free. Even predates the World Wide Web.

. Classical Greek and Latin texts in English as well as the original languages (if you have the right fonts).

. Founded in 1990 at Carnegie Mellon University as The English Server. "The EServer's primary function is to publish texts in the arts and humanities. Our collections include art, architecture, drama, fiction, poetry, history, political theory, cultural studies, philosophy, women's studies and music."

. "The preeminent publisher of literature, reference and verse providing students, researchers and the intellectually curious with unlimited access to books and information on the web, free of charge."

. "The most comprehensive and well-researched anthology of all time comprises both the 50-volume '5-foot shelf of books' and the the 20-volume Shelf of Fiction. Together they cover every major literary figure, philosopher, religion, folklore and historical subject through the twentieth century."

has a number of interesting articles relating to great books, including , , , , , , , , and .

is a new project to create a repository of source texts.

The links to over 20,000 free books on the web.

The publishes the and _series.

The webring links to almost 100 great books sites.

Great Reference Books

Many wonderul references have come online in recent years. The following public domain works can now be accessed for free.

was an encyclopedia published by Ephraim Chambers in London in 1728, and reprinted in numerous editions in the 18th Century. The Cyclopaedia was one of the first general encyclopedias to be produced in English, and was the inspiration for the landmark Encyclopédie of Denis Diderot and Jean le Rond d'Alembert, which owed its inception to a French translation of Chambers' work begun in 1743 and finished in 1745.

The ten-volume "was one of the largest and most highly regarded dictionaries of the English language. The first edition was published from 1889 to 1891 by the Century Company of New York, in six, eight, or ten volume versions (originally issued in 24 fascicles) in 7,046 pages with some 10,000 wood-engraved illustrations."

The was contended by supporters to represent "'the sum of human knowledge' at the beginning of the 20th century; indeed, it was advertised as such. The edition is still often regarded as the greatest edition of the Encyclopædia Britannica, many articles being up to 10 times the length of those in other encyclopædias."

The , edited by Philip P. Wiener, was published by Charles Scribner's Sons, New York, in 1973-74 but has been out of print for many years. "Aware of the new potential offered by electronic access to texts, the Directors and Board of Editors of the Journal of the History of Ideas authorized a grant to support digitization of the DHI. Substantial support has also been provided by the University of Virginia Library through its Electronic Text Center. The project has been undertaken with the permission of Charles Scribner's Sons and of The Gale Group, of which Scribner's is a part."

Great Books Lists

. The reading list that since 1937 has served as the core of the curriculum had its beginnings at Columbia College, at the University of Chicago, and at the University of Virginia. The latest lists include: the , the and the .

reprints book lists from Sir John Lubbock's (1896) to the appendix of Harold Bloom's (1994).

Books About Great Books

The , by Mortimer J. Adler (Macmillan, 1992, 958 pages). Lengthy essays on 102 pivotal concepts. Intended to introduce, and originally published as part of the 1952 edition of Encyclopædia Britannica's _series.

The , edited by Mortimer J. Adler and Charles Van Doren (R. R. Bowker, 1977). At 1771 pages, this is unlike any other quotation collection you have ever seen. Incredibly rich and thorough.

, by Charles Van Doren, A'46 (Carol Publishing Corporation, 1991, 422 pages). "A one-voume reference to the history of ideas that is a compendium of everything that humankind has thought, invented, created, considered, and perfected from the beginning of civilization into the twenty-first century. Massive in its scope, and yet totally accessible, it covers not only all the great theories and discoveries of the human race, but also explores the social conditions, political climates, and individual men and women of genius that brought ideas to fruition throughout history."

, by Richard Tarnas (Harmony Books, 1991, 543 pages). "The most lucid and concise presentation I have read of the grand lines of what every student should know about the history of Western thought." — Joseph Campbell

, by Harold Bloom (Harcourt Brace & Co., 1994, 578 pages). "Discussed and debated, revered and reviled, Bloom's tome reinvigorates and re-examines Western Literature, arguing against the politicization of reading. His erudite passion will encourage you to hurry and finish his book so you can pick up Shakespeare, Austen and Dickens once again to rediscover their original magic."

, by David Denby (Simon & Schuster, 1996, 492 pages). "David Denby, New York city movie critic and journalist, entered Columbia University in 1991 to take the university's famous course in 'Great Books.' This is the course that, in preserving the notion of the western canon without apology to multiculturalists and feminists, has been an unlikely focus of America's culture war in recent years. Where other universities have caved in and revised or enlarged the canon, Columbia's course has remained intact. Denby's intention as a writer and protagonist in the culture war was to record the experience and the personal impact of the course. He has produced a cry from the heart in favor of the classics of western civilization, relaying with infectious enthusiasm how literature touched his soul."

, by Daniel J. Boorstin (Random House, 1998, 298 pages). "Boorstin says our Western culture has seen three grand epics of Seeking. First there was the heroic way of prophets and philosophers — men like Moses or Job or Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle, as well as those in the communities of the early church universities and the Protestant Reformation — seeking salvation or truth from the god above or the reason within each of us. Then came an age of communal seeking, with people like Thucydides and Thomas More and Machiavelli and Voltaire pursuing civilization and the liberal spirit. Finally, there was an age of the social sciences, when man seemed ruled by the forces of history. Here are the absorbing stories of exceptional men such as Marx, Spengler, and Toynbee, Carlyle and Emerson, and Malraux, Bergson, and Einstein."

, by Clifton Fadiman and John S. Major (HarperResource, 1999, 400 pages). "In print for almost 40 years, The Lifetime Reading Plan has long been a worthy addition to any serious reader's bookshelf, providing entertaining and informative introductions to the great works of Western civilization. Now, this 'classic about classics' has been updated to reflect more diverse traditions. The New Lifetime Reading Plan recommends great literature from around the globe, including writers and works from Confucius to Chinua Achebe, Gabriel García Márquez to the Koran. Also new is an appendix profiling books by 100 important 20th-century authors — or 'temporary classics,' as coauthor John S. Major calls them."

, by Mortimer J. Adler (Open Court, 2000, 530 pages). Transcripts of 52 half-hour segments from Adler's 1953 TV show, The Great Ideas. "Adler's essays offer a remarkable and contemplative distillation of the Great Ideas of Western Thought."

, by Will Durant, edited by John R. Little (Simon & Schuster, 2002, 144 pages). "This engaging, accessible book of essays from Pulitzer Prize-winning philosopher and historian Durant, author of the authoritative 11-volume , should be essential reading for anyone interested in the evolution of thought. Little, the founder and director of The Will Durant Foundation, includes in his slim compendium such works as 'The One Hundred Best Books For an Education' and 'Twelve Vital Dates in World History.' Durant's 'The Ten Greatest Thinkers' details minds as enlightening as Confucius and as influential as Darwin."

Great Books Dealers

, , , , , , and . Advanced Book Exchange and Alibris will let you upload your want list and notify you when any book you're looking for appears in the catalog of any of their hundreds of associated dealers.