Martin Seymour-Smith, The 100 Most Influential Books Ever Written: The History of Thought From Ancient Times to Today [1998]
136 entries: 127 monographical, 9 otherwise
Unrankedarranged chronologically
Seymour-Smith's book offers one of the best list of "great books," and perhaps the most provocative. Moreover, the book makes for an excellent read in and of itself. Clifton Fadiman's, also a list-as-book, is a fine read, but Seymour-Smith challenges received wisdom, addresses complex philosophical and scientific issues in depth, and takes the task he sets out—defining the "most influential" of books—very seriously. As with Kanigel's inclusion of Mein Kampf (which Seymour-Smith argues is actually not especially influential), books most humans would not want to read are included. As Seymour-Smith notes in his Introduction, "what is evil has on the whole, though by no means always or unequivocally—a balance is somehow achieved—been more influential than what is, shall we say, better."
Only a few works of fiction are included. Seymour-Smith's explanation of this, again, rests on the question of influence, but he falters in focusing on Gone with the Wind as an example of fiction's deficiency in this regard and in not considering serious countering arguments (we know at least that Harold Bloom, with his notion of Shakespeare's "invention of the human," would disagree). Seymour-Smith argues, "If some women thought they modeled themselves on Scarlet O'Hara [...] then, since Scarlet O'Hara was herself based [...] on a stereotype rather than on a real character, those women would have modeled themselves on another version of that stereotype." First, the term, "real character," is awkward: is he suggesting all non-fiction makes characters out of persons, yet whom remain real? More important, what of fictional characters not based on stereotypes (that is, why did he choose Gone with the Wind as his example)? Also, does he regard poetry, largely ignored here, in a similar way?
The few works of fiction he does include, Seymour-Smith acknowledges, "changed or colored the way in which people, even whole nations—as well as individuals—think of themselves." Ultimately, though, he sees philosophical and religious texts as primary: "Writers of imaginative literature are themselves, in any case, inevitably, initially influenced by a certain sort of predecessor." A supposition fair enough, but again his brief exposition does not satisfy. Such predecessors (Plato, Kant, etc.) "made it their first purpose not to express their personal vision but to determine what kind of a world it is that we live in." But that is precisely what poets and novelists do. If anything, in this day of a glut of non-fiction titles from university presses (even in the liberal arts)—not to mention the post-structuralist, Deconstruction perspective on philosophical texts, countering their non-personal, objective natureSeymour-Smith's position is in the minority. Still, the short essays accompanying each entry I have read so far serve as excellent overviews of their many pertinent subjects, and one only has to review the list below to see the breadth of Seymour-Smith's knowledge.
Unlike Van Doren's, Fadiman's, Dirda's, and Newman's list-as-book projects, in his explication of each choice Seymour-Smith does not recommend other works; when others are mentioned, they are meant to explain the author's overall work or context. In a few instances, Seymour-Smith does suggest that other works are superior. For example, the Evgeny Zamyatin novel We "is far above even Nineteen Eighty-Four at an imaginative level," but he is not satisfied with its translations to English. He acknowledges that Thoreau's Walden might be as important as 'Civil Disobedience' "in the long run"; Jan Amos Komensky's The Labyrinth of the World and the Paradise of the Heart [1631], compared to Bunyan's Pilgrim's Progress, is a "priceless masterpiece"; and Anna Karenina "is perhaps a greater novel than War and Peace." He too speaks very highly of Sartre's Nausea and Cervantes' Exemplary Novels. However, given the book's purpose, the inclusion of these other works is not appropriate. Van Doren's, Fadiman's, Dirda's, and Newman's lists, first of all, do not give a precise number of listed works like Seymour-Smith does; and, compared to other listmakers who give a precise number, Seymour-Smith mostly lists actual books, not vague selections of texts or excerpts. Second, the works that I have included in the Greater Books lists, but which are not listed in Van Doren's, Fadiman's, Dirda's, or Newman's chapter or section headings, are often recommended as highly as the listed works. Seymour-Smith, on the other hand, includes, for example, Gurdjieff's Beelzebub's Tales to His Grandson instead of P. D. Ouspensky's In Search of the Miraculous, and Spinoza's Ethics instead of his correspondence, precisely because of his focus on the question of influence; We is not picked for the same reason, as Orwell's novel has obviously been more influential. This stricter interpretation has the unfortunate effect of, for now, excluding Komensky's work from the Greater Books master list, as no other listmaker includes him.
- Yì Jīng_1
I Ching; Zhouyi; The Classic of Changes; The Book of Changes
Eleventh-Third centuries B CChinese
*SeymourSmith*
--
- 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*
--
Seventh-Fourth centuries B CSanskrit
*Ward* *Oriental* *SeymourSmith* *Great*
- Lăozĭ (Lao-tzu) (Laocius)
Dàodéjīng_11
Tao te Ching
ca. Sixth Century B CChinese
*Rexroth* *Ward* *Oriental* *Good* *Recommended* *SeymourSmith* *Utne* *Dirda* *Great* *World* *Graphic*
--
- Avesta_3
Avestan
*Ward* *SeymourSmith* *World*
- Confucius (Kŏng Zǐ) (Kŏng 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*
- 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*
- Hippocrates
Hippocratic Corpus_4
late Fifth-early Fourth centuries B CGreek
*Read* *Van Doren* *Adler* *SeymourSmith*
Selected works_3
Fourth Century B CGreek
*Baldwin* *Read* *SeymourSmith*
- 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*
- Plato
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*
- Euclid
Elements_6
written ca. 300 B CGreek
*Downs* *Read* *Van Doren* *Adler* *SeymourSmith* *Great*
--
- Dhammapada_3
part of the Khuddaka Nikaya, fifth of five nikayas in the Sutta Pitaka; written ca. Third Century B CPali
*Ward* *Oriental* *SeymourSmith*
- 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*
- 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*
"Allegorical Expositions of the Holy Laws"_1
First CenturyGreek
*SeymourSmith*
- 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*
--
- The Gospel of Truth_1
probably originally written in Greek; earliest extant copy is Coptic Egyptian translation; Second CenturyEgyptian
*SeymourSmith*
- Marcus Aurelius
Ta Eis Heauton_17
Meditations
written 161-80Greek
*Lubbock* *Baldwin* *Eliot* *Durant* *Classics* *Hundred* *Rexroth* *Read* *Ward* *Van Doren* *Magill* *Adler* *Fadiman* *SeymourSmith* *Trinity* *Utne* *Great*
- Sextus Empiricus
Pyrrhōneioi Hypotypōseis_1
Outline of Pyrrhonism
late First Century-early Second CenturyGreek
*SeymourSmith*
- Plotinus
Enneads_6
Third CenturyGreek
*Read* *Ward* *Adler* *SeymourSmith* *Trinity* *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*
--
- Quran_11
Koran
Seventh CenturyArabic
*Downs* *Ward* *Oriental* *Good* *Bloom* *Fadiman* *SeymourSmith* *Great* *GlobeMail* *Taylor* *World*
- Maimonides (Moshe ben Maimon)
Dalalatul al-Hairin_3
Moreh Nevukhim; The Guide for the Perplexed
written Twelfth CenturyArabic; Hebrew version, 1204
*Ward* *SeymourSmith* *World*
--
Quabala; Cabala
Aramaic; Hebrew
*SeymourSmith*
- Thomas Aquinas
Summa Theologiae_13
Summa Theologica
written 1265-74Latin
*Classics* *Downs* *Rexroth* *Read* *Ward* *Van Doren* *Magill* *Recommended* *SeymourSmith* *Trinity* *Great* *Reynolds* *World*
- 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*
- Desiderius Erasmus
Stultitiae Laus_10
In Praise of Folly
1511; later revisedLatin
*Classics* *Downs* *Read* *Ward* *Adler* *Bloom* *Recommended* *SeymourSmith* *Dirda* *Reynolds*
- 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*
- Martin Luther
De Captivitate Babylonica Ecclesiae, Praeludium_5
Von der Babylonischen Gefangenschaft der Kirche; On the Babylonian Captivity of the Church
1520; German version published the same yearLatin
*Classics* *Read* *SeymourSmith* *Trinity* *World*
- François Rabelais
La Vie de Gargantua et de Pantagruel_22
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, 1564; Mallison ("Smart") specifies Thomas Urquhart and Peter Motteux's English translationFrench
*Powys* *Durant* *Invitation* *Hundred* *France* *Rexroth* *Read* *List* *Ward* *Van Doren* *Magill* *Adler* *Good* *Bloom* *Fadiman* *SeymourSmith* *Trinity* *Utne* *Norway* *Great* *Smart* *Newman*
- 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*
- 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*
- 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
Harmonices Mundi_3
The Harmony of the World
1619Latin
*Downs* *Read* *SeymourSmith*
- Francis Bacon
Novum Organum Scientiarium_10
1620English
*Lubbock* *Classics* *Read* *Ward* *Van Doren* *Adler* *SeymourSmith* *Trinity* *Great* *Educated*
William Shakespeare
- Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, and Tragedies_3
The First Folio
1623; includes 36 of the author's playsEnglish
*SeymourSmith* *Taylor* *World*
- The Two Gentlemen of Verona_7
ca. 1590-94English
*Ward* *Magill* *Adler* *SeymourSmith* *Taylor* *World* *Newman*
- Romeo and Juliet_13
ca. 1591-97English
*Durant* *Classics* *Ward* *Magill* *Adler* *Recommended* *Fadiman* *SeymourSmith* *Campbell* *Zane* *Taylor* *World* *Newman*
- The First Part of Henry VI_6
ca. 1592English
*Ward* *Adler* *SeymourSmith* *Taylor* *World* *Newman*
- The Second Part of Henry VI_6
ca. 1592English
*Ward* *Adler* *SeymourSmith* *Taylor* *World* *Newman*
- The Third Part of Henry VI_6
ca. 1592English
*Ward* *Adler* *SeymourSmith* *Taylor* *World* *Newman*
- The Taming of the Shrew_9
ca. 1592-94English
*Ward* *Magill* *Adler* *Recommended* *SeymourSmith* *Campbell* *Taylor* *World* *Newman*
- Richard III_11
ca. 1592-7English
*Ward* *Magill* *Adler* *Recommended* *SeymourSmith* *Campbell* *Great* *Taylor* *World* *Newman* *Educated*
- Titus Andronicus_5
1594English
*Adler* *SeymourSmith* *Taylor* *World* *Newman*
- The Comedy of Errors_8
1594English
*Ward* *Magill* *Adler* *Recommended* *SeymourSmith* *Taylor* *World* *Newman*
- A Midsummer Night's Dream_14
ca. 1595-1600English
*Durant* *Hundred* *Ward* *Magill* *Adler* *Recommended* *SeymourSmith* *Trinity* *Campbell* *Taylor* *World* *Newman* *Graphic* *Educated*
- The Merchant of Venice_11
ca. 1596-98English
*Durant* *Ward* *Magill* *Adler* *Recommended* *Fadiman* *SeymourSmith* *Campbell* *Taylor* *World* *Newman*
- The Merry Wives of Windsor_6
ca. 1597-1602English
*Ward* *Adler* *SeymourSmith* *Taylor* *World* *Newman*
- The First Part of Henry IV_13
1597English
*Durant* *Classics* *Ward* *Van Doren* *Magill* *Adler* *Recommended* *Fadiman* *SeymourSmith* *Campbell* *Taylor* *World* *Newman*
- Richard II_9
1597English
*Classics* *Ward* *Magill* *Adler* *Recommended* *SeymourSmith* *Taylor* *World* *Newman*
- Love's Labour Lost_6
1598English
*Ward* *Adler* *SeymourSmith* *Taylor* *World* *Newman*
- King John_5
ca. 1598English
*Ward* *Adler* *SeymourSmith* *Taylor* *World*
- Much Ado About Nothing_10
ca. 1598-99English
*Ward* *Van Doren* *Magill* *Adler* *Recommended* *SeymourSmith* *Taylor* *Reynolds* *World* *Newman*
- Julius Caesar_9
1599English
*Durant* *Magill* *Adler* *Recommended* *SeymourSmith* *Campbell* *Taylor* *World* *Newman*
- Henry V_9
1599English
*Ward* *Magill* *Adler* *Recommended* *SeymourSmith* *O'Hear* *Taylor* *World* *Newman*
- The Second Part of Henry IV_12
1600English
*Durant* *Classics* *Ward* *Van Doren* *Magill* *Adler* *Recommended* *Fadiman* *SeymourSmith* *Taylor* *World* *Newman*
- Twelfth Night; or, What You Will_10
1602English
*Classics* *Ward* *Magill* *Adler* *Recommended* *SeymourSmith* *Campbell* *Taylor* *World* *Newman*
- 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*
- Troilus and Cressida_7
ca. 1602-09English
*Ward* *Adler* *Fadiman* *SeymourSmith* *Taylor* *World* *Newman*
- As You Like It_12
1603English
*Durant* *Hundred* *Ward* *Van Doren* *Magill* *Adler* *Recommended* *SeymourSmith* *Campbell* *Taylor* *World* *Newman*
- Measure for Measure_10
1604English
*Classics* *Ward* *Magill* *Adler* *Recommended* *Fadiman* *SeymourSmith* *Taylor* *World* *Newman*
- Othello_14
ca. 1604English
*Durant* *Ward* *Van Doren* *Magill* *Adler* *Recommended* *Fadiman* *Foundation* *SeymourSmith* *Campbell* *Norway* *Taylor* *World* *Newman*
- Coriolanus_8
written ca. 1605-08English
*Classics* *Ward* *Adler* *SeymourSmith* *Utne* *Taylor* *World* *Newman*
- King Lear_21
1606English
*Eliot* *Durant* *Classics* *Hundred* *Ward* *Van Doren* *Magill* *Adler* *Recommended* *Fadiman* *Foundation* *SeymourSmith* *Trinity* *Campbell* *Norway* *Zane* *GlobeMail* *Taylor* *World* *Newman* *Graphic*
- All's Well That Ends Well_8
ca. 1606-08English
*Ward* *Magill* *Adler* *Recommended* *SeymourSmith* *Taylor* *World* *Newman*
- Macbeth_16
ca. 1607English
*Eliot* *Durant* *Classics* *Hundred* *Rexroth* *Ward* *Magill* *Adler* *Recommended* *Fadiman* *SeymourSmith* *Campbell* *Zane* *Taylor* *World* *Newman*
- Antony and Cleopatra_13
ca. 1606-08English
*Invitation* *Classics* *Ward* *Magill* *Adler* *Recommended* *Fadiman* *Foundation* *SeymourSmith* *Zane* *Taylor* *World* *Newman*
- Timon of Athens_7
written ca. 1607English
*Durant* *Ward* *Adler* *SeymourSmith* *Taylor* *World* *Newman*
- The Tempest_20
1611English
*Eliot* *Durant* *Classics* *Rexroth* *Ward* *Van Doren* *Magill* *Adler* *Recommended* *Fadiman* *Foundation* *SeymourSmith* *Trinity* *Campbell* *Great* *O'Hear* *Zane* *Taylor* *World* *Newman*
- The Winter's Tale_10
ca. 1611English
*Classics* *Van Doren* *Magill* *Adler* *Recommended* *SeymourSmith* *Trinity* *Taylor* *World* *Newman*
- Henry VIII_6
ca. 1613English
*Ward* *Adler* *SeymourSmith* *Taylor* *World* *Newman*
- Cymbeline_6
written ca. 1609English
*Van Doren* *Adler* *SeymourSmith* *Taylor* *World* *Newman*
- 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*
- 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*
- Gottfried Wilhelm Leibnitz
Selected works_1
late Seventeenth-early Eighteenth centuriesFrench
*SeymourSmith*
- Blaise Pascal
Pensées_20
Thoughts
1669French
*Lubbock* *Eliot* *Invitation* *Classics* *France* *Zulli* *Read* *List* *Ward* *Van Doren* *Magill* *Adler* *Bloom* *Recommended* *Fadiman* *SeymourSmith* *Trinity* *Great* *O'Hear* *Reynolds*
- Baruch Spinoza
Ethica, Ordine Geometrico Demonstrata_15
Ethics
1677Latin
*Durant* *Invitation* *Classics* *Hundred* *France* *Read* *Ward* *Van Doren* *Magill* *Adler* *Good* *Recommended* *SeymourSmith* *Dirda* *Deposit*
- 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
An Essay Concerning Human Understanding_9
1689English
*Classics* *Read* *Van Doren* *Magill* *Adler* *Good* *Fadiman* *SeymourSmith* *Reynolds*
- George Berkeley (Bishop Berkeley)
A Treatise Concerning the Principles of Human Knowledge_7
1710; revised 1734English
*Lubbock* *Classics* *Read* *Van Doren* *Adler* *SeymourSmith* *Great*
- 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*
- David Hume
A Treatise of Human Nature: Being an Attempt to Introduce the Experimental Method of Reasoning into Moral Subjects_3
originally published in three volumes: first-second, 1739; third, 1740English
*Durant* *Read* *SeymourSmith*
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*
- Voltaire
Candide, ou L'Optimisme_23
1759; Mallison ("Smart") specifies Tobias Smollett's English translationFrench
*Powys* *Durant* *Invitation* *Classics* *Hundred* *Read* *Ward* *Van Doren* *Magill* *Adler* *Good* *Bloom* *Recommended* *Fadiman* *SeymourSmith* *Trinity* *Campbell* *Great* *Zane* *Smart* *Deposit* *Newman* *Graphic*
- Thomas Paine
Common Sense; Addresed to the Inhabitants of America_4
1776English
*Downs* *SeymourSmith* *Taylor* *Educated*
- 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*
- 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*
- Immanuel Kant
Kritik der Reinen Vernunft_12
Critique of Pure Reason
1781; revised 1787German
*Classics* *Read* *Ward* *Van Doren* *Magill* *Adler* *Good* *Recommended* *SeymourSmith* *Trinity* *GlobeMail* *World*
- Jean-Jacques Rousseau
Les Confessions_14
1782French
*Durant* *Invitation* *Classics* *France* *Ward* *Magill* *Bloom* *Recommended* *Fadiman* *SeymourSmith* *Trinity* *Dirda* *Newman* *Educated*
- Edmund Burke
Reflections on the Revolution in France_9
1790English
*Eliot* *Invitation* *Classics* *Downs* *Ward* *Bloom* *Foundation* *SeymourSmith* *Great*
- 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*
- Thomas Robert Malthus
An Essay on the Principle of Population_6
originally anonymously published 1798; revised and published under the author's name, 1803English
*Invitation* *Hundred* *Downs* *Good* *Kanigel* *SeymourSmith*
- George Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel
Die Phänomenologie des Geistes_4
Phenomenology of Spirit
1807German
*Classics* *Read* *SeymourSmith* *Great*
- Arnold Schopenhauer
Die Welt als Wille und Vorstellung_3
The World as Will and Idea
published in two volumes, 1819 and 1844German
*Classics* *Ward* *SeymourSmith*
- Auguste Comte
Cours de Philosophie Positive_2
published in six volumes, 1832, 1835, 1838-1842French
*Downs* *SeymourSmith*
- Carl von Clausewitz
Vom Kriege_4
On War
1832German
*Downs* *Read* *SeymourSmith* *Telegraph*
- Sǿren Kierkegaard
Enten - Eller_2
Either/ Or
originally published under the pseudonym, Victor Eremita, 1843Danish
*Ward* *SeymourSmith*
- 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*
- 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*
- John Stuart Mill
On Liberty_16
1859English
*Eliot* *Classics* *Downs* *Read* *Van Doren* *Magill* *Adler* *Bloom* *Recommended* *Fadiman* *Foundation* *SeymourSmith* *Trinity* *Great* *Taylor* *World*
- Herbert Spencer
First Principles_1
1862English
*SeymourSmith*
'Versuche über Pflanzen-Hybriden'_3
'Experiments on Plant Hybrids'
originally published 1866 in Verhandlungen des Naturforschenden Vereins Brünn; edited 1865 lectureGerman
*Downs* *SeymourSmith* *Educated*
- Leo Tolstoy
Voyna i Mir"_25
War and Peace
originally entitled 1805, published in part, 1865 and 1867; retitled and published in its entirety, 1869Russian
*Durant* *Invitation* *Hundred* *France* *Rexroth* *Read* *List* *Ward* *Van Doren* *Magill* *Adler* *Good* *Bloom* *Recommended* *Fadiman* *SeymourSmith* *Trinity* *Norway* *Guardian* *Zane* *GlobeMail* *Taylor* *Telegraph* *World* *Newman*
- James Clerk Maxwell
A Treatise on Electricity and Magnetism_1
originally published in two volumes, 1873English
*SeymourSmith*
- Friedrich Nietzsche
Also Sprach Zarathustra: Ein Buch für Alle und Keinen_15
Thus Spake Zarathustra
originally published in four volumes, 1883-85German
*Powys* *Durant* *Hundred* *France* *Read* *List* *Ward* *Magill* *Recommended* *Fadiman* *Foundation* *SeymourSmith* *Great* *World* *Graphic*
- 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*
- William James
Pragmatism: A New Name for Some Old Ways of Thinking_8
1907English
*Read* *Magill* *Adler* *Bloom* *Recommended* *Fadiman* *SeymourSmith* *World*
- Albert Einstein
Die Grundlage der Allgemeinen Relativitätstheorie_1
Foundations of the General Theory of Relativity
1916German
*SeymourSmith*
- Vilfredo Pareto
Trattato di Sociologia Generale_1
The Mind and Society
1916Italian
*SeymourSmith*
- Carl Jung
Psychologische Typen_1
Psychological Types
1921German
*SeymourSmith*
- Martin Buber
Ich und Du_1
I and Thou
1923German
*SeymourSmith*
- Franz Kafka
Der Prozess_16
The Trial
1925German
*France* *Read* *List* *Van Doren* *Magill* *Bloom* *Recommended* *Fadiman* *SeymourSmith* *Trinity* *Norway* *Great* *Zane* *Smart* *Newman* *Educated*
- Karl Popper
Logik der Forschung_1
The Logic of Scientific Discovery
1934German
*SeymourSmith*
- John Maynard Keynes
The General Theory of Employment, Interest, and Money_3
1936English
*Adler* *SeymourSmith* *Taylor*
- Jean-Paul Sartre
L'Être et le Néant: Essai d'Ontologie Phénoménologique_5
Being and Nothingness
1943French
*Read* *Ward* *Fadiman* *SeymourSmith* *Great*
- Friedrich von Hayek
The Road to Serfdom_1
1944English
*SeymourSmith*
- Simone Beauvoir
Le Deuxième Sexe_7
The Second Sex
published in part serially in Les Temps Modernes; in its entirety in two volumes, 1949French
*Good* *Bloom* *Fadiman* *SeymourSmith* *Utne* *Great* *Taylor*
- Norbert Wiener
Cybernetics: Or Control and Communication in the Animal and Machine_1
1948; revised 1961English
*SeymourSmith*
- George Orwell
Nineteen Eighty-Four_17
1949English
*Van Doren* *Magill* *Learning* *Bloom* *Recommended* *Fadiman* *SeymourSmith* *Campbell* *Norway* *Great* *Guardian* *Zane* *Smart* *Taylor* *Telegraph* *Graphic* *Educated*
- George Ivanovitch Gurdjieff
Rasskazy Vel'zevula Svoemu Vnuku_1
Beelzebub's Tales to His Grandson
1950Russian
*SeymourSmith*
- Ludwig Wittgenstein
Philosophische Untersuchungen_3
Philosophical Investigations
1953German
*List* *Adler* *SeymourSmith*
- Noam Chomsky
Syntactic Structures_1
1957English
*SeymourSmith*
- Thomas S Kuhn
The Structure of Scientific Revolutions_5
1962; expanded 1970English
*Fadiman* *Kanigel* *SeymourSmith* *Utne* *Great*
- Betty Friedan
The Feminine Mystique_2
1963English
*SeymourSmith* *Educated*
- Máo Zédōng
Máo Zhuxí Yulù_2
Quotations From Chairman Mao Tse-tung
1966Chinese
*SeymourSmith* *Taylor*
- B F Skinner
Beyond Freedom and Dignity_1
1971English
*SeymourSmith*