The Jasper Lee Company, Have You Read 100 Great Books? [1946]
120 entries: 108 monographical, 12 otherwise
Unrankedarranged alphabetically by author
This curio of a book includes numerous lists:
Arthur Conan Doyle's goes back to ancient times but appears to exclude theatre; nonetheless, it's a compelling list with several important works that could end up not appearing in any other list; if I learn more the provenance of this list, it will be noted on the Excluded Lists page;
whereas in Baldwin's The Book Lover, we only got a faint idea (that is, some quotes) of John Ruskin's response to Lubbock's list in the Pall Mall Gazette, here we have the list Ruskin provided; it fits this project's criteria—I could use this book as the source and include this list, but I worry about including a few of these responses without having access to the Pall Mall original; I wouldd prefer either to include all the responses, or none;
Robert Louis Stevenson's, also short, also fits our criteria; it comes from a series of articles in the British Weekly, published in 1887, entitled Books Which Have Influenced Me. You can see the table of contents from the link provided, and thus the other noteworthy individuals of the time who contributed. Clearly, this series emerged in response to Lubbock's speech and accompanying articles, and the responses to his list. Though a full-text scan of the book should be floating around somewhere online, and I can get access to an actual copy via a university library, for now I'm not going to include these lists. Not only do I not have access to all of the earlier Pall Mall Gazette lists, which are more important historically, but the inclusion of several short lists doesn't seem to be a worthy task at this point in the project. Perhaps in the future. Notice that F. W. Farrar was one of the participants in the British Weekly series—according to Baldwin's The Book Lover, Farrar also contributed to the Pall Mall discussion—but this of course came before his Great Books book (noted on the Excluded Lists page);
Brander Matthews, a Columbia professor and a writer on theatre, has a list of 'A Hundred Best Novels in English';
James Bryce's response to Lubbock, one of those published in the Pall Mall Gazette, fits our criteria but the same problem applies as with Ruskin's;
Wilbur L. Cross, a professor at Yale and a governor of Connecticut, offers the 'Twenty-Five Great Prose Fictions';
novelist and dramatist Arnold Bennett has a huge list of English literature;
another Yale professor, William Lyon Phelps, gives his fifteen best novels of all time;
Dr. A. S. W. Rosenbach, a "noted bookseller," provides a list of "the five greatest detectives in the world of fiction, in this order: C. Auguste Dupin (Poe), Sherlock Holmes (Doyle), Monsieur Lecoq (Gaborian), Father Brown (Chesterton), Sergeant Cuff (W. Collins)," from his book, A Bookhunter's Holiday;
Hamilton Wright Mabie's list is very short, and fits our criteria, but a quick look at his oeuvre brings forth other potential lists, especially the Library of the World's Best Literature, Ancient and Modern, a 31-volume set he served as an editor of (again, see the Excluded Lists page);
the Grolier Club lists the '100 Books Famous in English Literature';
John Erskine, who played a major role in the rise of "great books" education at Columbia, has a short list from his The Delight of Great Books (not included; again, see the Excluded Lists page);
'3 Scholars Pick Greatest Books of Half Century', the scholars being Charles Beard, John Dewey, and Edward Weeks;
the Newark public library, the workplace of two of the most famous of this nation's librarians (John Cotton Dana and Beatrice Winser) and which, according to this book, "has been publishing book lists for almost half a century," lists One Hundred of the Best Novels;
a noted book collector and "manufacturer in Pennsylvania," A. Edward Norton, has a list of '100 Good Novels';
Christopher Morley's list, entitled 'Golden Florins', is certainly compelling, though limited temporally; he was a prolific author and theatre director; this list is discussed at the Excluded Lists page;
Frank Thomas, a bookseller, has a longish list that remains a bit of a mystery;
'The List of St. John's College', with no indication which year the reading course applies to;
and 'The 100 Outstanding Books of 1924-44', "Prepared for Life Magazine with the advice of Dr. Henry Seidel Canby," another Yale professor.
In addition, the Lubbock, Powys, Durant, and Invitation to Learning lists included at this site are reprinted, as is the Outline of Readings in Important Books list which has been excluded for the time being (see the Classics of the Western World list for an explanation). They are not all accurately recreated, given the simplicity of the lay-out and type fonts used.
This useful and rare book ends its presentation of lists with its own two, the first being a collection of 1,000: "a tabulation of all the books listed previously, with duplications eliminated," then a list of 100 derived from the 1,000, presented here. One-page excerpts from 31 of these works complete the book. The text gives no indication of how these hundred selections were made. While the 1,000 original set was determined by others' lists, including of course those four lists already included in this project, the 100 picked out from that 1,000 represents the editorial work of someone or group of persons involved in the publication of this book and, as such, is included at Greater Books.
- Henry Adams
The Education of Henry Adams
1918English
- Sherwood Anderson
Winesburg, Ohio: A Group of Tales of Ohio Small-Town Life
1919; twenty-two stories, ten of which originally published in periodicals: 'The Book of the Grotesque', Feb. 1916 in Masses; 'Hands', Mar. 1916 in Masses; 'Paper Pills' (originally entitled 'The Philosopher'), Jun.-Jul. 1916 in the Little Review, ; 'The Strength of God', Aug. 1916 in Masses; 'Queer', Dec. 1916 in Seven Arts; 'The Untold Lie', Jan. 17 in Seven Arts; 'Mother', Mar. 1917 in Seven Arts; 'The Thinker', Sep. 1917 in Seven Arts; 'The Man of Ideas', Jun. 1918 in the Little Review; 'An Awakening', Dec. 1918 in the Little ReviewEnglish
- Augustine of Hippo
Confessionum Libri Tredecim
The Confessions of St. Augustine
written 397-98Latin
- Marcus Aurelius
Ta Eis Heauton
Meditations
written 161-80Greek
- Jane Austen
Pride and Prejudice
originally anonymously published 1813English
- Francis Bacon
Essays: Religious Meditations. Places of Perswasion and Disswasion. Seene and Allowed
1597; expanded 1612; expanded and retitled Essayes or Counsels, Civill and Morall, 1625English
- Honoré de Balzac
Le Père Goriot
Father Goriot
originally published serially Dec. 1834-Feb. 1835 in Revue de ParisFrench
- Charles and Mary Beard
The Rise of American Civilization
1927English
- Edward Bellamy
Looking Backward, 2000-1887
1888English
- Arnold Bennett
The Old Wives' Tale
1908English
--
- The Bible
Hebrew; Aramaic; Greek
- George Borrow
Lavengro; The ScholarThe GypsyThe Priest
1851English
- James Boswell
The Life of Samuel Johnson, LL.D.
1791English
- Emily Brontë
Wuthering Heights
originally published 1847 under the pseudonym, Ellis Bell; revised 1850English
- Van Wyck Brooks
The Flowering of New England, 1815-1865
1836English
- J B Bury
A History of Greece to the Death of Alexander the Great
1900English
- Samuel Butler
The Way of All Flesh
1903; written 1873-74English
- Willa Cather
My Ántonia
1918English
- Benvenuto Cellini
Vita di Benvenuto di Maestro Giovanni Cellini Fiorentino, Scritta, per Lui Medesimo, in Firenze
Autobiography
written 1558-62Italian
- Miguel de Cervantes
El Ingenioso Hidalgo Don Quijote de la Mancha
Don Quixote
originally published in two volumes, 1605 and 1615Spanish
- Geoffrey Chaucer
Canterbury Tales
1478English
- Joseph Conrad
The Nigger of the 'Narcissus': A Tale of the Sea
1897; original U S edition entitled The Children of the Sea: A Tale of the ForecastleEnglish
- Charles Darwin
On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection, or the Preservation of Favoured Races in the Struggle for Life
1859English
- Daniel Defoe
The Life and Strange Surprizing Adventures of Robinson Crusoe, of York, Mariner
originally anonymously published 1719English
- René Descartes
Discours de la Méthode Pour Bien Conduire sa Raison, et Chercher la Vérité dans les Sciences
Discourse on the Method
1637French
- Charles Dickens
The Posthumous Papers of the Pickwick Club (The Pickwick Papers)
originally published serially Apr. 1836-Nov. 1837 under the pseudonym, BozEnglish
John Dos Passos
- The 42nd Parallel
1930English
- 1919
1932English
- The Big Money
1936English
- Fyodor Dostoevsky
Brat'â Karamazovy
The Brothers Karamazov
originally published serially 1880 in Rússkij VéstnikRussian
Arthur Conan Doyle
- A Study in Scarlet
originally published 1887 in Beeton's Christmas AnnualEnglish
- The Sign of the Four
originally published Feb. 1890 in Lippincott's Monthly MagazineEnglish
- The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes
1892; stories originally published Jul. 1891-Jun. 1892 in the StrandEnglish
- The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes
1894; stories originally published 1892-3 in the StrandEnglish
- The Hound of the Baskervilles
1902; originally published serially Aug. 1901-Apr. 1902 in the StrandEnglish
- The Return of Sherlock Holmes
1905; stories originally published 1903-4 in the StrandEnglish
- The Valley of Fear
1915; originally published serially Sep. 1914-Feb. 1915 in the StrandEnglish
- His Last Bow: Some Later Reminiscences of Sherlock Holmes
1917; stories originally published Sep. 1908-Dec. 1913 in the Strand; except one published Sep. 1917 in Collier's WeeklyEnglish
- The Case-Book of Sherlock Holmes
1927; stories originally published Oct. 1921-Apr. 1927 in the StrandEnglish
- George Eliot
Adam Bede
1859English
- Havelock Ellis
The Dance of Life
1923English
Essays
Nineteenth CenturyEnglish
- Epictetus
Diatribai
Discourses
compiled by Arrian; Second CenturyGreek
- Élie Faure
Histoire de l'Art
originally published in five volumes, 1919-21English
- Alexander Hamilton; John Jay; James Madison
The Federalist Papers
originally published 1787-1788 in the Independent Journal, the New-York Packet, and the Daily AdvertiserEnglish
- Henry Fielding
The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling
1749English
- Gustave Flaubert
Madame Bovary
originally published serially Oct. 1856-Dec. 1856 in La Revue de ParisFrench
- Anatole France
L'Île des Pingouins
1908French
- Benjamin Franklin
Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin
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
- James George Frazer
The Golden Bough: A Study in Magic and Religion
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; the Jasper Lee Company specifies the 1922 abridged editionEnglish
- Edward Gibbon
The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire
originally published in six volumes: first, 1776; second-third, 1781; fourth-sixth, 1788English
- George Gissing
The Private Papers of Henry Ryecroft
originally entitled An Author at Grass, published serially 1902-03 in the Fortnightly ReviewEnglish
- Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
Faust
originally published in two volumes: first, Faust. Der Tragödie Erster Teil, published in part, 1790; in its entirey, 1808; revised 1829; second, Faust. Der Tragödie Zweiter Teil, 1832German
- Thomas Hardy
Tess of the d'Urbervilles: A Pure Woman Faithfully Presented
published in part serially Jul.-Dec. 1891 in the GraphicEnglish
- Nathaniel Hawthorne
The Scarlet Letter
1850English
- Herodotus
Historiē
History
Fifth Century B CGreek
- Thomas Hobbes
Leviathan or, The Matter, Forme and Power of a Common Wealth Ecclesiasticall and Civil
1651English
- Homer
Odýsseia
The Odyssey
ca. Ninth-Eighth centuries B C;Greek
- William Henry Hudson
Green Mansions: A Romance of the Tropical Forest
1904English
- Victor Hugo
Les Misérables
1862French
- Henry James
The Turn of the Screw
originally published in The Two Magics, with a second novella, Covering End, 1898English
- William James
The Principles of Psychology
1890English
- James Jeans
Mysterious Universe
1930English
Poems
early Nineteenth CenturyEnglish
Soldiers Three and Other Stories
1899; includes Soldiers Three: A Collection of Stories Setting Forth Certain Passages in the Lives and Adventures of Privates Terence Mulvaney, Stanley Ortheris and John Learoyd [1888]; The Story of the Gadsbys: A Tale Without a Plot [1888]; and In Black and White [1888]English
- Soldiers Three: A Collection of Stories Setting Forth Certain Passages in the Lives and Adventures of Privates Terence Mulvaney, Stanley Ortheris and John Learoyd
1888English
- The Story of the Gadsbys: A Tale Without a Plot
1888English
- In Black and White
1888English
Charles Lamb
- Essays of Elia
1823; originally published serially 1820-25 in the London MagazineEnglish
- Last Essays of Elia
1833; originally published serially 1820-25 in the London MagazineEnglish
The Collected Short Stories of Ring Lardner
originally entitled Round Up: The Stories of Ring W Lardner, published 1929English
Notebooks
late Fifteenth-early Sixteenth centuriesItalian
- Sinclair Lewis
Babbitt
1922English
- Charles Lyell
Geological Evidences of the Antiquity of Man
1863English
- Niccolò Machiavelli
Il Principe
The Prince
1532Italian
- Thomas Malory
Le Morte d'Arthur
1485; revised through sixth edition, 1634English
- Thomas Robert Malthus
An Essay on the Principle of Population
originally anonymously published 1798; revised 1803 and published under the author's nameEnglish
- Karl Marx
Das Kapital, Kritik der Politischen Ökonomie
originally published in three volumes: 1867, 1885, and 1894German
- W Somerset Maugham
Of Human Bondage
1915English
Stories
Nineteenth CenturyFrench
- Herman Melville
Moby-Dick; or, The Whale
1851English
- George Meredith
The Ordeal of Richard Feverel
1859English
- John Stuart Mill
Autobiography
1873English
- Charles de Secondat, Baron de Montesquieu
De l'Esprit des Lois
The Spirit of Laws
originally anonymously published 1748French
- Friedrich Nietzsche
Also Sprach Zarathustra: Ein Buch für Alle und Keinen
Thus Spake Zarathustra
originally published in four volumes, 1883-5German
- Frank Norris
McTeague: A Story of San Francisco
1899English
--
- The Oxford Book of English Verse, 1250–1918
originally entitled The Oxford Book of English Verse, 1250–1900, published 1900; revised and retitled 1939; edited by Arthur Quiller-CouchEnglish
- Thomas Paine
The Rights of Man: Being an Answer to Mr. Burke's Attack on the French Revolution
originally published in two volumes, 1791 and 1792English
- Samuel Pepys
Diary
written 1660-69; published in part, 1825; expanded and revised 1875-79; further revised versions, 1893-99 and 1926; final work, in nine volumes, 1970-83
Dialogues
early Fourth Century B CGreek
Stories
Nineteenth CenturyEnglish
Flowering Judas and Other Stories
1935English
- François Rabelais
La Vie de Gargantua et de Pantagruel
originally published in five volumes: Les Horribles et Épouvantables Faits et Prouesses du Très Renommé Pantagruel Roi des Dipsodes, Fils du Grand Géant Gargantua, 1532; La Vie Très Horrifique du Grand Gargantua, Père de Pantagruel, 1534; Le Tiers Livre des Faicts et Dicts Héroïques du Bon Pantagruel, 1546; Le Quart Livre des Faicts et Dicts Héroïques du Bon Pantagruel, 1552; Le Cinquiesme et Dernier Livre des Faicts et Dicts Héroïques du Bon Pantagruel, 1564French
- Charles Reade
The Cloister and the Hearth
1861English
- Erich Maria Remarque
Im Westen Nichts Neues
All Quiet on the Western Front
originally published Dec. 1928 in Vossische ZeitungGerman
- Ernest Renan
Vie de Jésus
1863; revised 1867French
- Romain Rolland
Jean Christophe
published in ten volumes: L'Aube, 1904; Le Matin, 1904; L'Adolescent, 1904; La Révolte, 1905; La Foir sur la Place, 1908; Antoinette, 1908; Dans la Maison, 1908; Les Amies, 1910; Le Buisson Ardent, 1911; La Nouvelle Journée, 1912French
- Jean-Jacques Rousseau
Du Contrat Social ou Principes du Droit Politique
The Social Contract
1762French
- Walter Scott
Ivanhoe
originally anonymously published 1819English
George Bernard Shaw
- Candida
published in 1898 as part of Plays Pleasant; originally performed 1903English
- Man and Superman
performed in part, 1905; in its entirety, 1915English
William Shakespeare
- Macbeth
ca. 1607English
- Hamlet
1602English
- King Lear
1606English
- As You Like It
1603English
- A Midsummer Night's Dream
ca. 1595-1600English
- Upton Sinclair
The Jungle
originally published serially Feb.-Nov. 1905 in Appeal to ReasonEnglish
- Baruch Spinoza
Ethica, Ordine Geometrico Demonstrata
Ethics
1677Latin
- Robert Louis Stevenson
Weir of Hermiston
1896English
- John Steinbeck
The Grapes of Wrath
1939English
- 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
Gulliver's Travels
1726; revised 1735English
- William Makepeace Thackeray
The History of Henry Esmond, Esq. A Colonel in the Service of Her Majesty Q. Anne. Written by Himself
1852English
Thomas Aquinas
- De Ente et Essentia
On Being and Essence
written ca. 1252-56Latin
- Summa Theologiae [selections]
Summa Theologica
Treatise on God; Treatise on Man; written 1265-74Latin
- Henry David Thoreau
Walden; or, Life in the Woods
1854English
- Leo Tolstoy
Voyna i Mir"
War and Peace
originally entitled 1805, published in part, 1865 and 1867; retitled and published in its entirety, 1869Russian
- Mark Twain
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
1884English
- Voltaire
Candide, ou L'Optimisme
1759French
- H G Wells
Tono-Bungay
1909English
- Walt Whitman
Leaves of Grass
1855; expanded and revised through ninth edition, 1892English