Robert B. Downs, Molders of the Modern Mind: 111 Books That Shaped Western Civilization [1961]; Famous Books Ancient and Medieval: Outlines of 108 Great Works That Have Shaped Modern Civilization [1964]
227 entries: 203 monographical, 24 otherwise
Unrankedarranged chronologically, except nos. 201-3, from Books That Changed the World [1978], which otherwise consists of entries already found in Molders and Famous
These two books together form a single list that covers all of literary history: the earlier begins chronologically where the later stops. However, these two books overlap with a third, Books That Changed the World (published in two significantly-different editions, 1956 and 1978) in a jumbled way. Simply put, essays from the '56 book appeared in Molders, but the latter overall has a larger number of essays. Meanwhile, Downs wrote Famous Books, since the first edition of Books That Changed the World included only post-medieval works (that is, it could be considered a first version of Molders). So, the '78 second edition of Books adds to the first: several essays from Famous, a few of the essays unique to Molders, and an essay on Rachel Carson originally published in another Downs work, Books That Changed America. In short, Books That Changed the World is almost irrelevant to this project, because nearly all of its selections are also found in Famous and Molders. The Carson essay is not in either of those, and the selections for two authors, Marx and Freud, are different in Books than they are in Molders. These Carson, Marx, and Freud selections not found in Molders are thus included in the final list here.
- The Book of the Dead_3
The Book of Coming Forth by Day
varying versions; written ca. Sixteenth-First centuries B.CEgyptian
*Downs* *Bloom* *Great*
- Hammurabi
The Code of Hammurabi_1
ca. 1770 B CAkkadian
*Downs*
--
- The Bible_17
Downs also lists John Wycliffe's 1382 English translation of the Vulgate; Bloom, Dirda, and the Globe and Mail specify the King James Version, translated 1604-11 to English from the Hebrew and Aramaic (Old Testament) and the Greek (New Testament), revised 1769 by Benjamin BlayneyHebrew; Aramaic; Greek
*Lubbock* *Baldwin* *Hundred* *France* *Downs* *Read* *Ward* *Good* *Bloom* *Recommended* *SeymourSmith* *Dirda* *Guardian* *Zane* *GlobeMail* *Taylor* *World*
Homer
- Iliad_33
ca. Ninth-Eighth centuries B.C; Cowan and Guinness ("Trinity") specifiy Richard Lattimore's English translation; Mallison ("Smart") notes Derek Jacobi's modern aural versionGreek
*Lubbock* *Baldwin* *Classics* *France* *Downs* *Rexroth* *Zulli* *Read* *Ward* *Van Doren* *Magill* *Adler* *Good* *Bloom* *Recommended* *Fadiman* *Foundation* *SeymourSmith* *Trinity* *Campbell* *Norway* *Great* *O'Hear* *Zane* *GlobeMail* *Smart* *Taylor* *Telegraph* *World* *Deposit* *Newman* *Graphic* *Educated*
- Odýsseia_36
The Odyssey
ca. Ninth-Eighth centuries B.C; Mallison ("Smart") specifies Robert Fitzgerald's English translationGreek
*Lubbock* *Baldwin* *Eliot* *Powys* *Classics* *Hundred* *France* *Downs* *Rexroth* *Zulli* *Read* *List* *Ward* *Van Doren* *Magill* *Adler* *Good* *Learning* *Bloom* *Recommended* *Fadiman* *SeymourSmith* *Trinity* *Campbell* *Norway* *Great* *O'Hear* *Zane* *GlobeMail* *Smart* *Telegraph* *Harvard* *Reynolds* *Newman* *Graphic* *Educated*
- Hesiod
Erga kai Hēmerai_5
Works and Days
ca. Eighth-Seventh centuries B CGreek
*Downs* *Magill* *Bloom* *Utne* *Newman*
Poems_1
late Seventh-early Sixth centuries B CGreek
*Downs*
Fables_6
ca. late Seventh-early Sixth centuries B CGreek
*Baldwin* *Invitation* *Downs* *Van Doren* *Good* *Bloom*
--
ca. Sixth-Fifth centuries B C; Sanskrit translations extantPali
*Downs* *Oriental*
- Confucius (Kǒng Zǐ) (Kǒng Fūzǐ) (K'ung Fu-tzu)
Analects_12
Lún Yǔ
written and compiled by the author's pupils; ca. Fifth Century B C-Second CenturyChinese
*Lubbock* *Eliot* *Downs* *Ward* *Oriental* *Good* *Fadiman* *SeymourSmith* *Great* *Taylor* *World* *Graphic*
Aeschylus
- Promētheus Desmōtēs_12
Prometheus Bound
disputed authorship; Fifth Century B CGreek
*Lubbock* *Eliot* *Durant* *Invitation* *Classics* *Downs* *Magill* *Adler* *Bloom* *Recommended* *Trinity* *Newman*
- Oresteia_19
The House of Atreus
458 B CGreek
*Lubbock* *Eliot* *Invitation* *Classics* *Downs* *Rexroth* *List* *Ward* *Van Doren* *Magill* *Adler* *Good* *Bloom* *Recommended* *Fadiman* *Trinity* *Great* *Zane* *Newman*
- Pindar
Epinikia_3
Victory Odes
Fifth Century B CGreek
*Downs* *Ward* *Bloom*
Sophocles
- Antigone_22
ca. 441 B CGreek
*Lubbock* *Eliot* *Durant* *Classics* *Downs* *Rexroth* *Ward* *Van Doren* *Magill* *Adler* *Good* *Bloom* *Recommended* *Fadiman* *Foundation* *Campbell* *Great* *O'Hear* *Zane* *GlobeMail* *World* *Newman*
- Oidipous epi Kolōnō_20
Oedipus at Colonus
401 B CGreek
*Lubbock* *Classics* *Downs* *Rexroth* *Ward* *Van Doren* *Magill* *Adler* *Good* *Bloom* *Recommended* *Fadiman* *Trinity* *Campbell* *Great* *Zane* *GlobeMail* *Smart* *World* *Newman*
- Oidipous Tyrannos_25
Oedipus Rex; Oedipus the King
ca. 429 B.C; Mallison ("Smart") specifies Dudley Fitts and Robert Fitzgerald's English translationGreek
*Lubbock* *Eliot* *Durant* *Classics* *Downs* *Rexroth* *Ward* *Van Doren* *Magill* *Adler* *Good* *Bloom* *Recommended* *Fadiman* *Foundation* *Trinity* *Campbell* *Norway* *Great* *Zane* *GlobeMail* *Smart* *World* *Newman* *Educated*
- Herodotus
Historiē_25
History
Fifth Century B.CGreek
*Lubbock* *Baldwin* *Durant* *Invitation* *Classics* *Hundred* *Downs* *Rexroth* *Read* *Ward* *Van Doren* *Magill* *Adler* *Bloom* *Fadiman* *Kanigel* *SeymourSmith* *Trinity* *Great* *GlobeMail* *Taylor* *Telegraph* *Harvard* *World* *Educated*
Euripides
- Mēdeia_17
Medea
431 B.C; Mallison ("Smart") specifies Michael Collier and Georgia Ann Machemer's English translationGreek
*Lubbock* *Classics* *Downs* *Read* *Ward* *Van Doren* *Magill* *Adler* *Bloom* *Fadiman* *Foundation* *Norway* *Great* *Smart* *Newman* *Graphic* *Educated*
- Hippolytos _11
428 B CGreek
*Eliot* *Classics* *Downs* *Rexroth* *Read* *Ward* *Van Doren* *Adler* *Bloom* *Recommended* *Fadiman*
- Trōiades _8
The Trojan Woman
415 B CGreek
*Classics* *Downs* *Ward* *Van Doren* *Magill* *Adler* *Recommended* *Fadiman*
- Bakchai _14
The Bacchae
405 B.CGreek
*Eliot* *Powys* *Classics* *Downs* *Read* *Ward* *Van Doren* *Magill* *Adler* *Bloom* *Recommended* *Fadiman* *Trinity* *O'Hear*
Aphorisms_1
part of the Hippocratic Corpus; late Fifth-early Fourth centuries B CGreek
*Downs*
- Thucydides
History of the Peloponnesian War_23
early Fifth Century B.CGreek
*Lubbock* *Durant* *Classics* *Downs* *Rexroth* *Read* *List* *Ward* *Van Doren* *Magill* *Adler* *Good* *Bloom* *Fadiman* *Foundation* *Kanigel* *SeymourSmith* *Trinity* *Utne* *Great* *Telegraph* *World* *Educated*
Aristophanes
- Nephelai_11
The Clouds
423 B C; revised 417 B C; only revised version remainsGreek
*Lubbock* *Classics* *Downs* *Read* *Ward* *Van Doren* *Adler* *Bloom* *Fadiman* *Trinity* *Newman*
- Ornithes_13
The Birds
414 B.CGreek
*Downs* *Classics* *Read* *Ward* *Van Doren* *Magill* *Adler* *Bloom* *Recommended* *Fadiman* *Trinity* *Great* *Educated*
- Lysistrate_13
Lysistrata
411 B CGreek
*Classics* *Downs* *Ward* *Van Doren* *Magill* *Adler* *Bloom* *Recommended* *Fadiman* *Trinity* *Great* *Newman* *Graphic*
- Bátrachoi_10
The Frogs
405 B CGreek
*Classics* *Eliot* *Downs* *Read* *Ward* *Van Doren* *Adler* *Bloom* *Trinity* *Newman*
- Xenophon
Anabasis_3
early Fourth Century B CGreek
*Lubbock* *Downs* *Ward*
Plato
- Symposium_10
early Fourth Century B CGreek
*Invitation* *Classics* *Downs* *Read* *Van Doren* *Adler* *Good* *Fadiman* *Foundation* *Graphic*
- Apologia Socratis_16
The Apology
early Fourth Century B CGreek
*Lubbock* *Eliot* *Durant* *Classics* *Rexroth* *Downs* *Read* *Ward* *Van Doren* *Adler* *Recommended* *Fadiman* *Foundation* *Campbell* *Great* *O'Hear*
- Crito_13
early Fourth Century B CGreek
*Lubbock* *Eliot* *Classics* *Rexroth* *Downs* *Ward* *Van Doren* *Adler* *Recommended* *Fadiman* *Foundation* *Campbell* *O'Hear*
- Phaedo_14
early Fourth Century B CGreek
*Lubbock* *Durant* *Eliot* *Classics* *Rexroth* *Downs* *Read* *Ward* *Van Doren* *Adler* *Recommended* *Fadiman* *Campbell* *O'Hear*
- Politeia_24
The Republic
early Fourth Century B.CGreek
*Classics* *Downs* *Rexroth* *Zulli* *Read* *Ward* *Van Doren* *Magill* *Adler* *Good* *Learning* *Recommended* *Fadiman* *Foundation* *SeymourSmith* *Trinity* *Campbell* *Great* *GlobeMail* *Taylor* *Reynolds* *World* *Deposit* *Educated*
- Statesman_3
early Fourth Century B CGreek
*Downs* *Van Doren* *Adler*
- Laws_2
early Fourth Century B CGreek
*Downs* *Adler*
- Timaeus_3
early Fourth Century B CGreek
*Classics* *Downs* *Adler*
Demosthenes
- First Philippic_3
ca. 351-50 B CGreek
*Classics* *Downs* *Ward*
- Second Philippic_2
ca. 344-43 B CGreek
*Downs* *Ward*
- Third Philippic_2
341 B CGreek
*Downs* *Ward*
Aristotle
- Politik_10
Politics
Fourth Century B.CGreek
*Lubbock* *Durant* *Invitation* *Downs* *Zulli* *Read* *Ward* *Adler* *Fadiman* *Foundation*
- Organon_3
Fourth Century B CGreek
*Downs* *Read* *Adler*
- History of Animals_2
Fourth Century B CGreek
*Downs* *Adler*
- Physics_5
Fourth Century B.CGreek
*Downs* *Read* *Adler* *Great* *Educated*
- On the Heavens_2
written 350 B CGreek
*Downs* *Adler*
- Meteorology_2
Fourth Century B CGreek
*Downs* *Adler*
- Mechanics_1
Fourth Century B CGreek
*Downs*
- Ethika Nikomacheia_16
Nicomachean Ethics
Fourth Century B CGreek
*Lubbock* *Durant* *Invitation* *Classics* *Downs* *Read* *Ward* *Van Doren* *Adler* *Good* *Bloom* *Recommended* *Fadiman* *Trinity* *Great* *Reynolds*
- Rhetoric_3
Fourth Century B CGreek
*Downs* *Read* *Adler*
- Peri Poiêtikês_15
De Poetica; Poetics
Fourth Century B.CGreek
*Invitation* *Classics* *Downs* *Rexroth* *Zulli* *Read* *Ward* *Van Doren* *Magill* *Adler* *Bloom* *Recommended* *Fadiman* *Smart* *Educated*
Theophrastus
- Historia Plantarum_1
Inquiry Into Plants
Fourth-early Third centuries B CGreek
*Downs*
- On the Causes of Plants_1
Fourth-early Third centuries B CGreek
*Downs*
Menander
- Perikeiromene_1
ca. 314-13 B CGreek
*Downs*
- Dyskolos_2
ca. 317-16 B CGreek
*Downs* *Newman*
- Samia_3
ca. 315-09 B CGreek
*Downs* *Bloom* *Newman*
- Epitrepontes_1
Fourt Century B CGreek
*Downs*
- Euclid
Elements_6
written ca. 300 B CGreek
*Downs* *Read* *Van Doren* *Adler* *SeymourSmith* *Great*
- Archimedes
On the Sphere and Cylinder_2
circa 225 B CGreek
*Downs* *Adler*
Plays_2
Third-early Second centuries B CLatin
*Downs* *Trinity*
- Cato the Elder (Marcus Porcius Cato)
De Agri Cultura_1
written ca. 160 B CLatin
*Downs*
- Polybius
Histories_2
Second Century B CGreek
*Downs* *Trinity*
Marcus Tullius Cicero
First Century B CLatin
*Baldwin* *Downs* *Read* *Magill*
First Century B CLatin
*Eliot* *Classics* *Downs*
First Century B CLatin
*Downs*
- De Re Publica_1
written 54-51 B CLatin
*Downs*
- De Legibus_1
First Century B CLatin
*Downs*
- Caius Julius Caesar
Commentarii de Bello Gallico_4
ca. 40 B CLatin
*Classics* *Downs* *Rexroth* *Great*
- Titus Lucretius Carus
De Rerum Natura_19
On the Nature of Things
First Century B.CLatin
*Durant* *Invitation* *Classics* *Downs* *Rexroth* *Read* *Ward* *Van Doren* *Magill* *Adler* *Good* *Bloom* *Recommended* *Fadiman* *SeymourSmith* *Trinity* *Great* *Graphic* *Educated*
Sallust (Gaius Sallustius Crispus)
- The Conspiracy of Cataline_1
First CenturyLatin
*Downs*
- The Jugurthine War_1
First CenturyLatin
*Downs*
- Catullus
Poems_6
First Century B.CLatin
*Powys* *Classics* *Downs* *Rexroth* *Ward* *Newman*
- Virgil (Publius Vergilius Maro)
Aeneid_26
First Century B C; Mallison ("Smart") specifies Dudley Fitts and Robert Fagles's English translationLatin
*Baldwin* *Eliot* *Classics* *France* *Downs* *Rexroth* *Ward* *Van Doren* *Magill* *Adler* *Good* *Bloom* *Recommended* *Fadiman* *SeymourSmith* *Trinity* *Campbell* *Norway* *Great* *O'Hear* *Zane* *Smart* *Reynolds* *World* *Newman* *Graphic*
Horace (Quintus Horatius Flaccus)
- Satirae_6
originally published in two volumes, 35 B C and 30 B CLatin
*Baldwin* *Classics* *Downs* *Bloom* *Trinity* *Newman*
- Carmina_11
Odes
originally published in four volumes: first-third, 23 B.C; fourth, 13 B.CLatin
*Baldwin* *Powys* *Classics* *Downs* *Read* *Ward* *Bloom* *Taylor* *Trinity* *Newman* *Educated*
- Epistularum_4
originally published in two volumes, 20 and 14 B CLatin
*Classics* *Downs* *Bloom* *Trinity*
- Strabo
Geographica_1
7 B CGreek
*Downs*
- Livy (Titus Livius)
Ab Urbe Condita Libri_6
History of Rome
First Century B CLatin
*Lubbock* *Downs* *Rexroth* *Read* *Trinity* *World*
- Aulus Cornelius Celsus
De Medicina_1
First Century B CLatin
*Downs*
Lucius Annaeus Seneca
First CenturyLatin
*Downs*
First CenturyLatin
*Downs*
- Marcus Vitruvius Pollio
De Architectura_2
Ten Books on Architecture
written ca. 15 B CLatin
*Downs* *Kanigel*
- Pliny the Elder
Naturalis Historia_1
ca. 77-9Latin
*Downs*
- Quintilian (Marcus Fabius Quintilianus)
Insitutio Oratoria_3
ca. 95Latin
*Downs* *Ward* *Trinity*
- Pedanius Dioscorides
De Materia Medica_1
First CenturyGreek
*Downs*
- Martial (Marcus Valerius Martialis)
Epigrams_3
86-103Latin
*Downs* *Ward* *Bloom*
- Plutarch
Bìoi Paràllēloi_18
Parallel Lives; Lives of the Noble Greeks and Romans
First CenturyGreek
*Lubbock* *Baldwin* *Durant* *France* *Downs* *Rexroth* *Zulli* *Read* *Ward* *Van Doren* *Adler* *Good* *Bloom* *Recommended* *SeymourSmith* *Trinity* *Dirda* *Educated*
- Cornelius Tacitus
Annales_11
written First CenturyLatin
*Classics* *France* *Downs* *Rexroth* *Read* *Ward* *Van Doren* *Adler* *Kanigel* *SeymourSmith* *Trinity*
- Juvenal (Decimus Junius Juvenalis)
Satires_4
late First-early Second centuries; Mallison ("Smart") specifies Rolfe Humphries's English translationLatin
*Downs* *Ward* *Bloom* *Smart*
- Gaius Suetonius Tranquillus
De Vita Caesarum_5
The Lives of the Twelve Caesars
written 121Latin
*Downs* *Ward* *Great* *Smart* *Telegraph*
- Ptolemy (Claudius Ptolemaeus)
Geographike Hyphegesis_2
Geography
Second CenturyGreek
*Downs* *Taylor*
Lucian
Second CenturyGreek
*Downs*
- Verae Historiae_6
True History
Second CenturyGreek
*Classics* *Downs* *Read* *Ward* *Dirda* *Newman*
- Galen
De Naturalibus Facultatibus_3
On the Natural Faculties
First CenturyLatin
*Downs* *Read* *Adler*
--
- Talmud_2
Shas
Aramaic; Hebrew
*Downs* *Ward*
- Diogenes Laërtius
Lives and Opinions of Eminent Philosophers_3
Third CenturyGreek
*Durant* *Downs* *World*
Augustine of Hippo
- Confessionum Libri Tredecim_23
The Confessions of St. Augustine
written 397-98Latin
*Lubbock* *Eliot* *Classics* *Hundred* *France* *Downs* *Read* *Ward* *Van Doren* *Magill* *Adler* *Bloom* *Recommended* *Fadiman* *Kanigel* *SeymourSmith* *Trinity* *O'Hear* *GlobeMail* *Telegraph* *Reynolds* *Newman* *Educated*
- De Civitate Dei Contra Paganos_9
City of God
426Latin
*Downs* *Read* *Ward* *Adler* *Bloom* *Foundation* *Trinity* *Great* *Educated*
- Flavius Anicius Justinianus (Justinian I)
Corpus Juris Civilis_1
529-34Latin
*Downs*
--
- Quran_11
Koran
Seventh CenturyArabic
*Downs* *Ward* *Oriental* *Good* *Bloom* *Fadiman* *SeymourSmith* *Great* *GlobeMail* *Taylor* *World*
- Bede
Historia Ecclesiastica Gentis Anglorum_4
written ca. 731Latin
*Downs* *Trinity* *World* *Educated*
--
- Kitab alf Laylah Wa-Laylah_17
The Thousand and One Nights; The Arabian Nights
Ninth-Fifteenth centuries; Taylor specifies Richard Burton's versionArabic
*Lubock* *Baldwin* *Eliot* *France* *Downs* *Ward* *Oriental* *Magill* *Good* *Learning* *Bloom* *Recommended* *Fadiman* *Norway* *Great* *Zane* *Taylor*
- Avicenna
Al-Qanun fi al-Tibb_2
The Canon of Medicine
1025Arabic
*Downs* *Taylor*
- Geoffrey of Monmouth
Historia Regum Britanniae_2
written ca. 1136Latin
*Downs* *Newman*
- John of Salisbury
Policraticus, Sive de Nugis Curialium et de Vestigiis Philosophorum_1
1159Latin
*Downs*
- Stephen Langton et al.
Magna Carta_1
Magna Carta Libertatum
1215Latin
*Downs*
- Roger Bacon
Opus Majus_2
1267Latin
*Downs* *Great*
- Thomas Aquinas
Summa Theologiae_13
Summa Theologica
written 1265-74Latin
*Classics* *Downs* *Rexroth* *Read* *Ward* *Van Doren* *Magill* *Recommended* *SeymourSmith* *Trinity* *Great* *Reynolds* *World*
- Marco Polo and Rustichello da Pisa
Livre des Merveilles du Monde_3
ca. 1300French
*Rexroth* *Downs* *Ward*
- Dante
La Divina Commedia_33
The Divine Comedy
originally entitled La Commedia; written ca. 1308-21Italian
*Lubbock* *Baldwin* *Eliot* *Powys* *Durant* *Invitation* *Classics* *France* *Downs* *Zulli* *Read* *List* *Ward* *Van Doren* *Magill* *Adler* *Good* *Bloom* *Recommended* *Fadiman* *SeymourSmith* *Trinity* *Norway* *Great* *O'Hear* *Zane* *GlobeMail* *Telegraph* *Harvard* *Reynolds* *World* *Newman* *Graphic*
- Giovanni Boccaccio
Il Decameron, Cognominato Prencipe Galeotto_12
ca. 1351-53Italian
*Downs* *Ward* *Magill* *Good* *Bloom* *Recommended* *Trinity* *Norway* *Great* *Zane* *GlobeMail* *Newman*
--
- The Bible [translation]_1
John Wycliffe's 1382 English translation of the Vulgate [see above]Hebrew; Aramaic; Greek
*Downs*
- Geoffrey Chaucer
Canterbury Tales_30
1478; Mallison ("Smart") specifies Nevill Coghill's modern English versionEnglish
*Lubbock* *Baldwin* *Hundred* *Downs* *Rexroth* *Zulli* *Read* *Ward* *Van Doren* *Magill* *Adler* *Good* *Bloom* *Recommended* *Fadiman* *Foundation* *Trinity* *Campbell* *Norway* *Great* *O'Hear* *Zane* *Smart* *Taylor* *Telegraph* *Reynolds* *World* *Newman* *Graphic* *Educated*
- Christopher Columbus
Epistola de Insulis Nuper Repertis_1
1493Latin
*Downs*
- Desiderius Erasmus
Stultitiae Laus_10
In Praise of Folly
1511; later revisedLatin
*Classics* *Downs* *Read* *Ward* *Adler* *Bloom* *Recommended* *SeymourSmith* *Dirda* *Reynolds*
- Thomas More
Libellus Uere Aureus, nec Minus Salutaris Quam Festivus, de Optimo rei Publicae Statu Deque Nova Insula Utopia_14
Utopia
1516Latin
*Eliot* *Classics* *Downs* *Rexroth* *Read* *Ward* *Magill* *Good* *Bloom* *Recommended* *Trinity* *Dirda* *Great* *Educated*
- Martin Luther
An den Christlichen Adel Deutscher Nation_5
Address to the Christian Nobility
1520German
*Eliot* *Classics* *Downs* *Read* *World*
- Niccolò Machiavelli
Il Principe_29
The Prince
1532Italian
*Eliot* *Durant* *Invitation* *Classics* *Hundred* *Downs* *Rexroth* *Zulli* *Read* *Van Doren* *Magill* *Adler* *Good* *Learning* *Bloom* *Recommended* *Fadiman* *Foundation* *Kanigel* *SeymourSmith* *Trinity* *Campbell* *Great* *GlobeMail* *Taylor* *Telegraph* *World* *Deposit* *Educated*
- John Calvin
Christianae Religionis Institutio_7
Institutes of the Christian Religion
1536; French translation, Institution de la Religion Chrestienne, 1541Latin
*Classics* *Downs* *Read* *SeymourSmith* *Trinity* *Reynolds* *World*
- Nicolas Copernicus
De Revolutionibus Orbium Coelestium_6
On the Revolutions of the Heavenly Spheres
1543Latin
*Downs* *Read* *Van Doren* *Adler* *SeymourSmith* *Great*
- Andreas Vesalius
De Humani Corporis Fabrica Libri Septem_2
1543Latin
*Downs* *Great*
- Jean Bodin
Les Six Livres de la République_1
1576; revised and expanded Latin translation published 1586French
*Downs*
- Michel de Montaigne
Les Essais_26
Essays
originally published in three volumes: 1580, 1588, and 1595French
*Lubbock* *Baldwin* *Durant* *Invitation* *France* *Downs* *Rexroth* *Zulli* *Read* *List* *Ward* *Van Doren* *Magill* *Adler* *Good* *Bloom* *Recommended* *Kanigel* *SeymourSmith* *Trinity* *Norway* *Great* *GlobeMail* *World* *Newman* *Educated*
- William Gilbert
De Magnete, Magneticisque Corporibus, et de Magno Magnete Tellure_4
On the Magnet
1600Latin
*Downs* *Read* *Van Doren* *Adler*
- William Shakespeare
Hamlet_27
1602English
*Eliot* *Durant* *Invitation* *Classics* *Hundred* *Downs* *Ward* *Van Doren* *Magill* *Adler* *Recommended* *Fadiman* *Foundation* *SeymourSmith* *Trinity* *Campbell* *Norway* *Great* *Guardian* *O'Hear* *Zane* *Taylor* *Harvard* *World* *Newman* *Graphic* *Educated*
- Francis Bacon
Of the Proficience and Advancement of Learning, Divine and Human_6
1605English
*Classics* *Downs* *Read* *Ward* *Van Doren* *Adler*
- Miguel de Cervantes
El Ingenioso Hidalgo Don Quijote de la Mancha_37
Don Quixote
originally published in two volumes, 1605 and 1615; Mallison ("Smart") specifies Edith Grossman's English translationSpanish
*Lubbock* *Baldwin* *Powys* *Durant* *Invitation* *Classics* *Hundred* *France* *Downs* *Rexroth* *Zulli* *Read* *Ward* *Van Doren* *Magill* *Adler* *Good* *Learning* *Bloom* *Recommended* *Fadiman* *SeymourSmith* *Trinity* *Campbell* *Norway* *Great* *O'Hear* *Zane* *GlobeMail* *Smart* *Taylor* *Reynolds* *World* *Deposit* *Newman* *Graphic* *Educated*
Johannes Kepler
- Astronomia Nova_2
1609Latin
*Downs* *Great*
- Harmonices Mundi_3
The Harmony of the World
1619Latin
*Downs* *Read* *SeymourSmith*
- Hugo Grotius
De Jure Belli ac Pacis_1
On the Law of War and Peace
1625Latin
*Downs*
- William Harvey
Exercitatio Anatomica de Motu Cordis et Sanguinis in Animalibus_6
On the Motion of the Heart and Blood in Animals
1628Latin
*Eliot* *Downs* *Read* *Adler* *Great* *Taylor*
- Galileo
Dialogo Sopra i due Massimi Sistemi del Mondo_8
Dialogue Concerning the Two Chief World Systems
1632Italian
*Downs* *Learning* *Fadiman* *SeymourSmith* *Great* *Taylor* *GlobeMail* *Educated*
- René Descartes
Discours de la Méthode Pour Bien Conduire sa Raison, et Chercher la Vérité dans les Sciences_17
Discourse on the Method
1637French
*Lubbock* *Eliot* *Invitation* *Classics* *Hundred* *France* *Downs* *Read* *Ward* *Van Doren* *Adler* *Good* *Fadiman* *SeymourSmith* *Trinity* *Great* *World*
- John Milton
Areopagitica; A Speech of Mr. John Milton for the Liberty of Unlicenc'd Printing, to the Parliament of England_12
1644English
*Eliot* *Durant* *Classics* *Downs* *Read* *Ward* *Van Doren* *Magill* *Adler* *Bloom* *Recommended* *Fadiman*
- Thomas Hobbes
Leviathan or, The Matter, Forme and Power of a Common Wealth Ecclesiasticall and Civil_16
1651English
*Durant* *Classics* *Hundred* *Downs* *Read* *Van Doren* *Magill* *Adler* *Bloom* *Fadiman* *Foundation* *SeymourSmith* *Trinity* *Great* *Telegraph* *Deposit*
- Robert Boyle
The Sceptical Chymist: or Chymico-Physical Doubts and Paradoxes_1
1661English
*Downs*
- Robert Hooke
Micrographica: Or Some Physiological Descriptions of Minute Bodies Made by Magnifying Glasses With Observations and Inquiries Thereupon_3
1665English
*Downs* *Great* *Educated*
- John Bunyan
The Pilgrim's Progress From This World to That Which Is to Come_18
1678English
*Lubbock* *Baldwin* *Eliot* *Invitation* *Downs* *Rexroth* *Zulli* *Magill* *Good* *Bloom* *Recommended* *Fadiman* *SeymourSmith* *Trinity* *Dirda* *Great* *Newman* *Educated*
- Isaac Newton
Philosophiae Naturalis Principia Mathematica_9
The Mathematical Principles of Natural Philosophy
1687; revised 1713 and 1726Latin
*Downs* *Read* *Van Doren* *Adler* *SeymourSmith* *Great* *GlobeMail* *Taylor* *Reynolds*
- John Locke
Two Treatises of Government: In the Former, the False Principles, and Foundation of Sir Robert Filmer, and His Followers, Are Detected and Overthrown. The Latter Is an Essay Concerning the True Original, Extent, and End of Civil Government_4
originally anonymously published 1689English
*Classics* *Downs* *Trinity* *World*
- Pierre Bayle
Dictionnaire Historique et Critique_1
1697; expanded 1702French
*Downs*
- Antoine van Leeuwenhoek
Letters to the Royal Society_1
written 1673-1723; French translations published in part in Philosophical Transactions and Mémoires de l'Académie Royale des Sciences de ParisDutch
*Downs*
- Daniel Defoe
The Life and Strange Surprizing Adventures of Robinson Crusoe, of York, Mariner_21
originally anonymously published 1719English
*Lubbock* *Baldwin* *Classics* *Hundred* *France* *Downs* *Rexroth* *Zulli* *Read* *Ward* *Van Doren* *Magill* *Good* *Bloom* *Recommended* *Fadiman* *Dirda* *Great* *Zane* *Deposit* *Newman*
- Giambattista Vico
Principi di Scienza Nuova d'Intorno Alla Comune Natura Delle Nazioni_6
The New Science
1725; revised 1730 and 1744Italian
*Downs* *Ward* *Bloom* *SeymourSmith* *Trinity* *Great*
- Jonathan Swift
Travels Into Several Remote Nations of the World, in Four Parts. By Lemuel Gulliver, First a Surgeon, and Then a Captain of Several Ships_29
Gulliver's Travels
1726; revised 1735English
*Lubbock* *Durant* *Classics* *Hundred* *France* *Downs* *Rexroth* *Zulli* *Read* *Ward* *Van Doren* *Magill* *Good* *Learning* *Bloom* *Recommended* *Fadiman* *Foundation* *Trinity* *Campbell* *Norway* *Great* *Zane* *GlobeMail* *Smart* *Telegraph* *Newman* *Graphic* *Educated*
- Carlos Linneaus
Systema Naturae_2
1735; revised through twelfth edition, 1766-8Latin
*Downs* *Great*
- Charles de Secondat, Baron de Montesquieu
De l'Esprit des Lois_8
The Spirit of Laws
originally anonymously published 1748French
*Invitation* *Hundred* *Downs* *Read* *Ward* *Van Doren* *Adler* *Trinity*
Encyclopédie, ou Dictionnaire Raisonné des Sciences, des Arts et des Métiers_7
published in 28 volumes, 1751-72French
*Downs* *SeymourSmith* *Trinity* *Dirda* *GlobeMail* *Telegraph* *Newman*
- Samuel Johnson
A Dictionary of the English Language_6
1755English
*Downs* *Read* *Ward* *SeymourSmith* *Taylor* *Newman*
- Jean-Jacques Rousseau
Du Contrat Social ou Principes du Droit Politique_17
The Social Contract
1762French
*Invitation* *Classics* *Hundred* *Downs* *Read* *Ward* *Van Doren* *Adler* *Good* *Foundation* *Trinity* *Dirda* *Great* *GlobeMail* *Telegraph* *Newman* *Educated*
- Voltaire
Dictionnaire Philosophique_4
1764French
*Classics* *Downs* *Read* *Fadiman*
- Cesare Beccaria
Dei Delitti e Delle Pene_1
On Crimes and Punishments
1764Italian
*Downs*
- William Blackstone
Commentaries on the Laws of England_1
originally published in four volumes, 1765-69English
*Downs*
- Thomas Jefferson
A Summary View of the Rights of British America_1
1774English
*Downs*
- Adam Smith
An Inquiry Into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations_15
1776; revised through third edition, 1784English
*Eliot* *Durant* *Classics* *Downs* *Read* *Magill* *Adler* *Good* *Foundation* *Kanigel* *SeymourSmith* *Trinity* *Great* *GlobeMail* *Taylor*
- Thomas Paine
Common Sense; Addresed to the Inhabitants of America_4
1776English
*Downs* *SeymourSmith* *Taylor* *Educated*
- Edward Gibbon
The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire_23
originally published in six volumes: first, 1776; second-third, 1781; fourth-sixth, 1788English
*Lubbock* *Baldwin* *Durant* *Invitation* *Hundred* *Downs* *Rexroth* *Read* *List* *Ward* *Van Doren* *Magill* *Adler* *Good* *Bloom* *Foundation* *Kanigel* *SeymourSmith* *Trinity* *Dirda* *Telegraph* *World* *Educated*
- Alexander Hamilton; John Jay; James Madison
The Federalist Papers_11
originally published 1787-1788 in the Independent Journal, the New-York Packet, and the Daily AdvertiserEnglish
*Hundred* *Downs* *Read* *Van Doren* *Adler* *Good* *Fadiman* *Foundation* *Kanigel* *Trinity* *Great*
- James Hutton
Theory of the Earth_1
edited 1785 lectures; originally entitled Theory of the Earth; or an Investigation of the Laws Observable in the Composition, Dissolution, and Restoration of Land Upon the Globe, published 1788 in Transactions of the Royal Society of Edinburgh; first book version, entitled Theory of the Earth; With Proofs and Illustrations, published 1795English
*Downs*
- Antoine Laurent Lavoisier
Traité Élémentaire de Chimie, Présenté dans un Ordre Nouveau et d'Après les Découvertes Modernes_4
1789French
*Downs* *Read* *Adler* *Great*
- Jeremy Bentham
Introduction to the Principles of Morals and Legislation_4
1789English
*Downs* *Read* *Ward* *Trinity*
- Edmund Burke
Reflections on the Revolution in France_9
1790English
*Eliot* *Invitation* *Classics* *Downs* *Ward* *Bloom* *Foundation* *SeymourSmith* *Great*
- Benjamin Franklin
Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin_7
French translation published 1791 as Mémoires de la Vie Privée de Benjamin Franklin; first-third parts of the original English published 1818 as volume one of Memoirs of the Life and Writings of Benjamin Franklin; original English published in its entirety, 1868English
*Eliot* *Hundred* *Downs* *Zulli* *Magill* *Smart* *Educated*
- Mary Wollstonecraft
A Vindication of the Rights of Woman_8
1792English
*Durant* *Downs* *Recommended* *SeymourSmith* *Great* *GlobeMail* *Graphic* *Educated*
- William Godwin
An Enquiry Concerning Political Justice, and Its Influence on General Virtue and Happiness_2
1793English
*Downs* *SeymourSmith*
- Marquis de Condorcet (Nicolas de Condorcet)
Esquisse d'un Tableau Historique des Progrès de l'Esprit Humain qui fut Publié Après Sa Mort_1
1795French
*Downs*
- Immanuel Kant
Zum Ewigen Frieden. Ein Philosophischer Entwurf_4
Perpetual Peace
1795; expanded 1796German
*Downs* *Read* *Van Doren* *Trinity*
- Edward Jenner
An Inquiry into the Causes and Effects of the Variolae Vaccinae_2
1798English
*Eliot* *Downs*
- Thomas Robert Malthus
An Essay on the Principle of Population_6
originally anonymously published 1798; revised 1803 and published under the author's nameEnglish
*Invitation* *Hundred* *Downs* *Good* *Kanigel* *SeymourSmith*
- Pierre-Simon Laplace
Mécanique Céleste_1
originally published in five volumes, 1799-1825French
*Downs*
- Johann Heinrich Pestalozzi
Wie Gertrud Ihre Kinder Lehrt_1
How Gertrude Teaches Her Children
1801German
*Downs*
- Johann Gottlieb Fichte
Reden an Die Dutsche Nation_1
1808German
*Downs*
- John Dalton
A New System of Chemical Philosophy_1
1808English
*Downs*
- Robert Owen
A New View Of Society: Or, Essays on the Formation of Human Character, and the Application of the Principle to Practice_1
1813; retitled A New View Of Society: Or, Essays on the Formation of Human Character Prepatory to the Development of a Plan for Gradually Ameliorating the Condition of Mankind, 1816English
*Downs*
- George Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel
Grundlinien der Philosophie des Rechts_5
Elements of the Philosophy of Right
1820German
*Classics* *Downs* *Read* *Adler* *Trinity*
- Noah Webster
An American Dictionary of the English Language_1
originally entitled A Compendious Dictionary of the English Language, published 1806; retitled, revised, and expanded 1828; revised and expanded 1841; later editions considered distinct worksEnglish
*Downs*
- Charles Lyell
Principles of Geology: Being an Attempt to Explain the Former Changes of the Earth's Surface, by Reference to Causes Now in Operation_2
originally published in three volumes: 1830, 1832, and 1833English
*Downs* *Read*
- Auguste Comte
Cours de Philosophie Positive_2
originally published in six volumes, 1832, 1835, 1838-42French
*Downs* *SeymourSmith*
- Carl von Clausewitz
Vom Kriege_4
On War
1832German
*Downs* *Read* *SeymourSmith* *Telegraph*
- Alexis de Tocqueville
De la Démocratie en Amérique_12
Democracy in America
originally published in two volumes, 1835 and 1840French
*Downs* *Read* *Adler* *Magill* *Recommended* *Fadiman* *Kanigel* *Trinity* *Great* *Telegraph* *Reynolds* *Educated*
"Eclectic Readers"_1
four educational books published 1836-7 providing reading lessons and excerpts of varied literary works for primary-level studentsEnglish
*Downs*
- Michael Faraday
Experimental Researches in Electricity_3
originally published in two volumes, 1839 and 1844English
*Read* *Downs* *Adler*
- Louis Agassiz
Études sur les Glaciers_1
1840French
*Downs*
- Pierre-Joseph Proudhon
Qu'est-ce Que la Popriété? Ou Recherche sur le Principe du Droit et du Gouvernment_1
1840French
*Downs*
- Thomas Carlyle
Heroes, Hero-Worship, and the Heroic in History_2
1842English
*Baldwin* *Downs*
Ralph Waldo Emerson
- Essays: First Series_3
1841English
*Downs* *Bloom* *Trinity*
- Essays: Second Series_3
1844English
*Downs* *Bloom* *Trinity*
- Alexander von Humboldt
Kosmos. Entwurf Einer Physischen Weltbeschreibung_1
originally published in five volumes, 1845-62German
*Downs*
- Hermann von Helmholtz
Über die Erhaltung der Kraft_1
1847German
*Downs*
- Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels
Manifest der Kommunistischen Partei_13
The Communist Manifesto
1848German
*Classics* *Downs* *Rexroth* *Read* *Van Doren* *Adler* *Fadiman* *SeymourSmith* *Trinity* *Great* *Taylor* *Reynolds* *Educated*
'Civil Disobedience'_7
originally published 1849 in Aesthetic PapersEnglish
*Classics* *Downs* *Read* *Recommended* *Fadiman* *Foundation* *SeymourSmith*
- Harriet Beecher Stowe
Uncle Tom's Cabin_6
1852English
*Downs* *Rexroth* *Recommended* *Smart* *Taylor* *Educated*
- Charles Dickens
Hard Times - For These Times_7
originally published serially Apr.-Aug. 1854 in Household WordsEnglish
*Downs* *Read* *Van Doren* *Bloom* *Fadiman* *Campbell* *Newman*
'Mémoire sur la Fermentation Appelée Lactique'_1
'Treatise on the Fermentation Known as Lactic'
published in part 1857 in Comptes Rendus Hebdomadaires des Séances de l'Academie des Sciences; in its entirety, 1858, in Annales de Chimie et de PhysiqueFrench
*Downs*
- Charles Darwin
On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection, or the Preservation of Favoured Races in the Struggle for Life_23
1859English
*Lubbock* *Eliot* *Classics* *Hundred* *Downs* *Read* *Ward* *Van Doren* *Magill* *Adler* *Good* *Learning* *Fadiman* *Kanigel* *SeymourSmith* *Great* *GlobeMail* *Taylor* *Telegraph* *Reynolds* *Deposit* *Graphic* *Educated*
- Abraham Lincoln and Stephen A Douglas
Political Debates Between Hon. Abraham Lincoln and Hon. Stephen A. Douglas in the Celebrated Campaign of 1858, in Illinois_1
1860; edited Aug.-Oct. 1858 debatesEnglish
*Downs*
- John Stuart Mill
On Liberty_16
1859English
*Eliot* *Classics* *Downs* *Read* *Van Doren* *Magill* *Adler* *Bloom* *Recommended* *Fadiman* *Foundation* *SeymourSmith* *Trinity* *Great* *Taylor* *World*
- Victor Hugo
Les Misérables_18
1862French
*Baldwin* *Durant* *Classics* *Hundred* *France* *Downs* *Magill* *Good* *Learning* *Bloom* *Recommended* *Trinity* *Guardian* *Harvard* *World* *Newman* *Graphic* *Deposit*
'Versuche �ber Pflanzen-Hybriden'_3
'Experiments on Plant Hybrids'
originally published 1866 in Verhandlungen des Naturforschenden Vereins Br�nn; edited 1865 lectureGerman
*Downs* *SeymourSmith* *Educated*
- Jules Verne
De la Terre à la Lune_1
From the Earth to the Moon
1865French
*Downs*
- Joseph Lister (Lord Lister)
'On the Antiseptic Principle in the Practice of Surgery'_2
edited lecture, 9 Aug. 1867; published Sep. 1867 in LancetEnglish
*Eliot* *Downs*
- Horatio Alger
Ragged Dick; or, Street Life in New York With the Boot Blacks_1
1867English
*Downs*
- Walt Whitman
Democratic Vistas_2
1871English
*Downs* *Fadiman*
- Josiah Willard Gibbs
On the Equilibrium of Heterogeneous Substances_1
originally published serially 1875-8 in Transactions of the Connecticut Academy of Arts and SciencesEnglish
*Downs*
- Henry George
Progress and Property: An Inquiry Into the Cause of Industrial Depressions, and of Increase of Want with Increase of Wealth; the Remedy_1
1879English
*Downs*
- Henrik Ibsen
Et Dukkehjem_14
A Doll's House
1879Norwegian
*Classics* *Downs* *Read* *Ward* *Van Doren* *Magill* *Adler* *Recommended* *Fadiman* *Trinity* *Campbell* *Norway* *Newman* *Educated*
'Die Aetiologie der Tuberculose'_1
'The Etiology of Tuberculosis'
originally published Apr. 1882 in Berliner Klinischen Wochenschrift; edited Mar. 1882 lectureGerman
*Downs*
- Herbert Spencer
The Man Versus the State_1
1884English
*Downs*
- Friedrich Nietzsche
Jenseits von Gut und Böse: Vorspiel Einer Philosophie der Zukunft_8
Beyond Good and Evil
1886German
*Invitation* *Classics* *Downs* *Read* *Magill* *Adler* *Bloom* *Fadiman*
- Edward Bellamy
Looking Backward, 2000-1887_4
1888English
*Invitation* *Hundred* *Downs* *Smart*
- Sidney Webb; William Clarke; Sydney Olivier; George Bernard Shaw; Graham Wallas; Annie Besant; Hubert Bland
Fabian Essays in Socialism_1
1889English
*Downs*
- Alfred Thayer Mahan
The Influence of Sea Power Upon History 1660-1783_1
1890English
*Downs*
- James George Frazer
The Golden Bough: A Study in Magic and Religion_6
originally entitled The Golden Bough: A Study in Comparative Religion, published in two volumes, 1890; expanded and retitled 1900, in three volumes; expanded 1906-15, in 12 volumes; supplemental volume added for 1937 edition; distinct abridged versions, 1922, 1959, and 1994; Durant and the Jasper Lee Company ("Hundred") list the 1922 abridged edition, while Good Reading lists the 1959English
*Durant* *Hundred* *Downs* *List* *Good* *Dirda*
'The Significance of the Frontier in American History'_1
originally published 1893 in the Proceedings of the State Historical Society of Wisconsin and the Annual Report of the American Historical Association; edited lectureEnglish
*Downs*
- Havelock Ellis
Studies in the Psychology of Sex_1
originally published in seven volumes, 1897-1928English
*Downs*
- Thorstein Veblen
The Theory of the Leisure Class: An Economic Study of Institutions_2
1899English
*Downs* *Adler*
- John Dewey
School and Society: Being Three Lectures by John Dewey, Supplemented by a Statement of the University Elementary School_1
1899English
*Downs*
'The Geographical Pivot of History'_1
originally published Apr. 1904 in the Geographical SocietyEnglish
*Downs*
- Frederick Winslow Taylor
The Principles of Scientific Management_1
1911English
*Downs*
- Woodrow Wilson
The New Freedom: A Call for the Emancipation of the Generous Energies of a People_1
1913; 1912 speeches edited by William Bayard HaleEnglish
*Downs*
- Albert Einstein
Über die Spezielle und die Allgemeine Relativitätstheorie, Gemeinverständlich_5
Relativity, the Special and the General Theory: A Popular Exposition
1917; revised through fourteenth edition, 1922German
*Downs* *Adler* *Great* *Taylor* *Educated*
- Vladimir Lenin
Gosudarstvo i Revolûciâ_2
The State and Revolution
1917Russian
*Read* *Downs*
- John Maynard Keynes
The Economic Consequences of the Peace_1
1919English
*Downs*
- Adolf Hitler
Mein Kampf_3
originally published in two volumes, 1925 and 1926German
*Downs* *Kanigel* *Educated*
- Ivan Pavlov
Conditioned Reflexes: An Investigation of the Physiological Activity of the Cerebral Cortex_1
1927Russian
*Downs*
- Sigmund Freud
Das Unbehagen in der Kultur_7
Civilization and Its Discontents
1930German
*Classics* *Downs* *Read* *Van Doren* *Adler* *Fadiman* *Kanigel*
- Karl Marx
Das Kapital, Kritik der Politischen Ökonomie_12
originally published in three volumes: 1867, 1885, and 1894German
*Hundred* *France* *Downs* *Rexroth* *Read* *Ward* *Magill* *Adler* *Good* *GlobeMail* *Telegraph* *World*
- Sigmund Freud
Die Traumdeutung_15
The Interpretation of Dreams
1899German
*Classics* *Downs* *Read* *Ward* *Van Doren* *Magill* *Adler* *Learning* *Fadiman* *SeymourSmith* *GlobeMail* *Taylor* *Telegraph* *Great* *Graphic*
- Rachel Carson
Silent Spring_8
originally published Jun. 1962 in the New YorkerEnglish
*Downs* *Fadiman* *Utne* *Great* *GlobeMail* *Taylor* *Deposit* *Educated*