Greater Books

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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

Unranked—arranged 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 nature—Seymour-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.

  1. Yì Jīng_1

  2. I Ching; Zhouyi; The Classic of Changes; The Book of Changes
    Eleventh-Third centuries B C—Chinese

    *SeymourSmith*

    --
  3. The Bible_17

  4. 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 Blayney—Hebrew; Aramaic; Greek
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    Homer
  5. Iliad_33

  6. ca. Ninth-Eighth centuries B.C; Cowan and Guinness ("Trinity") specifiy Richard Lattimore's English translation; Mallison ("Smart") notes Derek Jacobi's modern aural version—Greek
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  7. Odýsseia_36
    The Odyssey
    ca. Ninth-Eighth centuries B.C; Mallison ("Smart") specifies Robert Fitzgerald's English translation—Greek

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    --
    • Upanishads_4

  8. Seventh-Fourth centuries B C—Sanskrit
    *Ward* *Oriental* *SeymourSmith* *Great*

  9. Lăozĭ (Lao-tzu) (Laocius)

  10. Dàodéjīng_11
    Tao te Ching
    ca. Sixth Century B C—Chinese

    *Rexroth* *Ward* *Oriental* *Good* *Recommended* *SeymourSmith* *Utne* *Dirda* *Great* *World* *Graphic*

    --
  11. Avesta_3

  12. Avestan
    *Ward* *SeymourSmith* *World*

  13. Confucius (Kŏng Zǐ) (Kŏng Fūzǐ) (K'ung Fu-tzu)

  14. Analects_12
    Lún Yǔ
    written and compiled by the author's pupils; ca. Fifth Century B C-Second Century—Chinese

    *Lubbock* *Eliot* *Downs* *Ward* *Oriental* *Good* *Fadiman* *SeymourSmith* *Great* *Taylor* *World* *Graphic*

  15. Thucydides

  16. History of the Peloponnesian War_23
    early Fifth Century B.C—Greek
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  17. Hippocrates
    Hippocratic Corpus_4
    late Fifth-early Fourth centuries B C—Greek
    *Read* *Van Doren* *Adler* *SeymourSmith*

    • Aristotle

  18. Selected works_3
    Fourth Century B C—Greek
    *Baldwin* *Read* *SeymourSmith*

  19. Herodotus

  20. Historiē_25
    History
    Fifth Century B.C—Greek

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  21. Plato

  22. Politeia_24
    The Republic
    early Fourth Century B.C—Greek

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  23. Euclid

  24. Elements_6
    written ca. 300 B C—Greek
    *Downs* *Read* *Van Doren* *Adler* *SeymourSmith* *Great*

    --
  25. Dhammapada_3

  26. part of the Khuddaka Nikaya, fifth of five nikayas in the Sutta Pitaka; written ca. Third Century B C—Pali
    *Ward* *Oriental* *SeymourSmith*

  27. Virgil (Publius Vergilius Maro)

  28. Aeneid_26
    First Century B C; Mallison ("Smart") specifies Dudley Fitts and Robert Fagles's English translation—Latin
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  29. Titus Lucretius Carus
    De Rerum Natura_19
    On the Nature of Things
    First Century B.C—Latin

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    • Philo of Alexandria

  30. "Allegorical Expositions of the Holy Laws"_1
    First Century—Greek
    *SeymourSmith*

  31. Plutarch

  32. Bìoi Paràllēloi_18
    Parallel Lives; Lives of the Noble Greeks and Romans
    First Century—Greek

    *Lubbock* *Baldwin* *Durant* *France* *Downs* *Rexroth* *Zulli* *Read* *Ward* *Van Doren* *Adler* *Good* *Bloom* *Recommended* *SeymourSmith* *Trinity* *Dirda* *Educated*

  33. Cornelius Tacitus

  34. Annales_11
    written First Century—Latin
    *Classics* *France* *Downs* *Rexroth* *Read* *Ward* *Van Doren* *Adler* *Kanigel* *SeymourSmith* *Trinity*

    --
  35. The Gospel of Truth_1

  36. probably originally written in Greek; earliest extant copy is Coptic Egyptian translation; Second Century—Egyptian
    *SeymourSmith*

  37. Marcus Aurelius

  38. Ta Eis Heauton_17
    Meditations
    written 161-80—Greek

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  39. Sextus Empiricus

  40. Pyrrhōneioi Hypotypōseis_1
    Outline of Pyrrhonism
    late First Century-early Second Century—Greek

    *SeymourSmith*

  41. Plotinus

  42. Enneads_6
    Third Century—Greek
    *Read* *Ward* *Adler* *SeymourSmith* *Trinity* *World*

  43. Augustine of Hippo

  44. Confessionum Libri Tredecim_23
    The Confessions of St. Augustine
    written 397-98—Latin

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    --
  45. Quran_11

  46. Koran
    Seventh Century—Arabic

    *Downs* *Ward* *Oriental* *Good* *Bloom* *Fadiman* *SeymourSmith* *Great* *GlobeMail* *Taylor* *World*

  47. Maimonides (Moshe ben Maimon)
    Dalalatul al-Hairin_3
    Moreh Nevukhim; The Guide for the Perplexed
    written Twelfth Century—Arabic; Hebrew version, 1204

    *Ward* *SeymourSmith* *World*

    --
    • Kabbalah_1

  48. Quabala; Cabala
    Aramaic; Hebrew

    *SeymourSmith*

  49. Thomas Aquinas

  50. Summa Theologiae_13
    Summa Theologica
    written 1265-74—Latin

    *Classics* *Downs* *Rexroth* *Read* *Ward* *Van Doren* *Magill* *Recommended* *SeymourSmith* *Trinity* *Great* *Reynolds* *World*

  51. Dante

  52. La Divina Commedia_33
    The Divine Comedy
    originally entitled La Commedia; written ca. 1308-21—Italian

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  53. Desiderius Erasmus

  54. Stultitiae Laus_10
    In Praise of Folly
    1511; later revised—Latin

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  55. Niccolò Machiavelli

  56. Il Principe_29
    The Prince
    1532—Italian

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  57. Martin Luther

  58. 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 year—Latin

    *Classics* *Read* *SeymourSmith* *Trinity* *World*

  59. François Rabelais

  60. 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 translation—French
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  61. John Calvin

  62. Christianae Religionis Institutio_7
    Institutes of the Christian Religion
    1536; French translation, Institution de la Religion Chrestienne, 1541—Latin

    *Classics* *Downs* *Read* *SeymourSmith* *Trinity* *Reynolds* *World*

  63. Nicolas Copernicus

  64. De Revolutionibus Orbium Coelestium_6
    On the Revolutions of the Heavenly Spheres
    1543—Latin

    *Downs* *Read* *Van Doren* *Adler* *SeymourSmith* *Great*

  65. Michel de Montaigne

  66. Les Essais_26
    Essays
    originally published in three volumes: 1580, 1588, and 1595—French

    *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*

  67. Miguel de Cervantes

  68. 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 translation—Spanish

    *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*

  69. Johannes Kepler

  70. Harmonices Mundi_3
    The Harmony of the World
    1619—Latin

    *Downs* *Read* *SeymourSmith*

  71. Francis Bacon
    Novum Organum Scientiarium_10
    1620—English
    *Lubbock* *Classics* *Read* *Ward* *Van Doren* *Adler* *SeymourSmith* *Trinity* *Great* *Educated*

    William Shakespeare
    • Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, and Tragedies_3

  72. The First Folio
    1623; includes 36 of the author's plays—English

    *SeymourSmith* *Taylor* *World*

  73. The Two Gentlemen of Verona_7

  74. ca. 1590-94—English
    *Ward* *Magill* *Adler* *SeymourSmith* *Taylor* *World* *Newman*

  75. Romeo and Juliet_13

  76. ca. 1591-97—English
    *Durant* *Classics* *Ward* *Magill* *Adler* *Recommended* *Fadiman* *SeymourSmith* *Campbell* *Zane* *Taylor* *World* *Newman*

  77. The First Part of Henry VI_6

  78. ca. 1592—English
    *Ward* *Adler* *SeymourSmith* *Taylor* *World* *Newman*

  79. The Second Part of Henry VI_6

  80. ca. 1592—English
    *Ward* *Adler* *SeymourSmith* *Taylor* *World* *Newman*

  81. The Third Part of Henry VI_6

  82. ca. 1592—English
    *Ward* *Adler* *SeymourSmith* *Taylor* *World* *Newman*

  83. The Taming of the Shrew_9

  84. ca. 1592-94—English
    *Ward* *Magill* *Adler* *Recommended* *SeymourSmith* *Campbell* *Taylor* *World* *Newman*

  85. Richard III_11

  86. ca. 1592-7—English
    *Ward* *Magill* *Adler* *Recommended* *SeymourSmith* *Campbell* *Great* *Taylor* *World* *Newman* *Educated*

  87. Titus Andronicus_5

  88. 1594—English
    *Adler* *SeymourSmith* *Taylor* *World* *Newman*

  89. The Comedy of Errors_8

  90. 1594—English
    *Ward* *Magill* *Adler* *Recommended* *SeymourSmith* *Taylor* *World* *Newman*

  91. A Midsummer Night's Dream_14

  92. ca. 1595-1600—English
    *Durant* *Hundred* *Ward* *Magill* *Adler* *Recommended* *SeymourSmith* *Trinity* *Campbell* *Taylor* *World* *Newman* *Graphic* *Educated*

  93. The Merchant of Venice_11

  94. ca. 1596-98—English
    *Durant* *Ward* *Magill* *Adler* *Recommended* *Fadiman* *SeymourSmith* *Campbell* *Taylor* *World* *Newman*

  95. The Merry Wives of Windsor_6

  96. ca. 1597-1602—English
    *Ward* *Adler* *SeymourSmith* *Taylor* *World* *Newman*

  97. The First Part of Henry IV_13

  98. 1597—English
    *Durant* *Classics* *Ward* *Van Doren* *Magill* *Adler* *Recommended* *Fadiman* *SeymourSmith* *Campbell* *Taylor* *World* *Newman*

  99. Richard II_9

  100. 1597—English
    *Classics* *Ward* *Magill* *Adler* *Recommended* *SeymourSmith* *Taylor* *World* *Newman*

  101. Love's Labour Lost_6

  102. 1598—English
    *Ward* *Adler* *SeymourSmith* *Taylor* *World* *Newman*

  103. King John_5

  104. ca. 1598—English
    *Ward* *Adler* *SeymourSmith* *Taylor* *World*

  105. Much Ado About Nothing_10

  106. ca. 1598-99—English
    *Ward* *Van Doren* *Magill* *Adler* *Recommended* *SeymourSmith* *Taylor* *Reynolds* *World* *Newman*

  107. Julius Caesar_9

  108. 1599—English
    *Durant* *Magill* *Adler* *Recommended* *SeymourSmith* *Campbell* *Taylor* *World* *Newman*

  109. Henry V_9

  110. 1599—English
    *Ward* *Magill* *Adler* *Recommended* *SeymourSmith* *O'Hear* *Taylor* *World* *Newman*

  111. The Second Part of Henry IV_12

  112. 1600—English
    *Durant* *Classics* *Ward* *Van Doren* *Magill* *Adler* *Recommended* *Fadiman* *SeymourSmith* *Taylor* *World* *Newman*

  113. Twelfth Night; or, What You Will_10

  114. 1602—English
    *Classics* *Ward* *Magill* *Adler* *Recommended* *SeymourSmith* *Campbell* *Taylor* *World* *Newman*

  115. Hamlet_27

  116. 1602—English
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  117. Troilus and Cressida_7

  118. ca. 1602-09—English
    *Ward* *Adler* *Fadiman* *SeymourSmith* *Taylor* *World* *Newman*

  119. As You Like It_12

  120. 1603—English
    *Durant* *Hundred* *Ward* *Van Doren* *Magill* *Adler* *Recommended* *SeymourSmith* *Campbell* *Taylor* *World* *Newman*

  121. Measure for Measure_10

  122. 1604—English
    *Classics* *Ward* *Magill* *Adler* *Recommended* *Fadiman* *SeymourSmith* *Taylor* *World* *Newman*

  123. Othello_14

  124. ca. 1604—English
    *Durant* *Ward* *Van Doren* *Magill* *Adler* *Recommended* *Fadiman* *Foundation* *SeymourSmith* *Campbell* *Norway* *Taylor* *World* *Newman*

  125. Coriolanus_8

  126. written ca. 1605-08—English
    *Classics* *Ward* *Adler* *SeymourSmith* *Utne* *Taylor* *World* *Newman*

  127. King Lear_21

  128. 1606—English
    *Eliot* *Durant* *Classics* *Hundred* *Ward* *Van Doren* *Magill* *Adler* *Recommended* *Fadiman* *Foundation* *SeymourSmith* *Trinity* *Campbell* *Norway* *Zane* *GlobeMail* *Taylor* *World* *Newman* *Graphic*

  129. All's Well That Ends Well_8

  130. ca. 1606-08—English
    *Ward* *Magill* *Adler* *Recommended* *SeymourSmith* *Taylor* *World* *Newman*

  131. Macbeth_16

  132. ca. 1607—English
    *Eliot* *Durant* *Classics* *Hundred* *Rexroth* *Ward* *Magill* *Adler* *Recommended* *Fadiman* *SeymourSmith* *Campbell* *Zane* *Taylor* *World* *Newman*

  133. Antony and Cleopatra_13

  134. ca. 1606-08—English
    *Invitation* *Classics* *Ward* *Magill* *Adler* *Recommended* *Fadiman* *Foundation* *SeymourSmith* *Zane* *Taylor* *World* *Newman*

  135. Timon of Athens_7

  136. written ca. 1607—English
    *Durant* *Ward* *Adler* *SeymourSmith* *Taylor* *World* *Newman*

  137. The Tempest_20

  138. 1611—English
    *Eliot* *Durant* *Classics* *Rexroth* *Ward* *Van Doren* *Magill* *Adler* *Recommended* *Fadiman* *Foundation* *SeymourSmith* *Trinity* *Campbell* *Great* *O'Hear* *Zane* *Taylor* *World* *Newman*

  139. The Winter's Tale_10

  140. ca. 1611—English
    *Classics* *Van Doren* *Magill* *Adler* *Recommended* *SeymourSmith* *Trinity* *Taylor* *World* *Newman*

  141. Henry VIII_6

  142. ca. 1613—English
    *Ward* *Adler* *SeymourSmith* *Taylor* *World* *Newman*

  143. Cymbeline_6

  144. written ca. 1609—English
    *Van Doren* *Adler* *SeymourSmith* *Taylor* *World* *Newman*

  145. Galileo

  146. Dialogo Sopra i due Massimi Sistemi del Mondo_8
    Dialogue Concerning the Two Chief World Systems
    1632—Italian

    *Downs* *Learning* *Fadiman* *SeymourSmith* *Great* *Taylor* *GlobeMail* *Educated*

  147. René Descartes

  148. Discours de la Méthode Pour Bien Conduire sa Raison, et Chercher la Vérité dans les Sciences_17
    Discourse on the Method
    1637—French

    *Lubbock* *Eliot* *Invitation* *Classics* *Hundred* *France* *Downs* *Read* *Ward* *Van Doren* *Adler* *Good* *Fadiman* *SeymourSmith* *Trinity* *Great* *World*

  149. Thomas Hobbes
    Leviathan or, The Matter, Forme and Power of a Common Wealth Ecclesiasticall and Civil_16
    1651—English
    *Durant* *Classics* *Hundred* *Downs* *Read* *Van Doren* *Magill* *Adler* *Bloom* *Fadiman* *Foundation* *SeymourSmith* *Trinity* *Great* *Telegraph* *Deposit*

    • Gottfried Wilhelm Leibnitz

  150. Selected works_1
    late Seventeenth-early Eighteenth centuries—French
    *SeymourSmith*

  151. Blaise Pascal

  152. Pensées_20
    Thoughts
    1669—French

    *Lubbock* *Eliot* *Invitation* *Classics* *France* *Zulli* *Read* *List* *Ward* *Van Doren* *Magill* *Adler* *Bloom* *Recommended* *Fadiman* *SeymourSmith* *Trinity* *Great* *O'Hear* *Reynolds*

  153. Baruch Spinoza

  154. Ethica, Ordine Geometrico Demonstrata_15
    Ethics
    1677—Latin

    *Durant* *Invitation* *Classics* *Hundred* *France* *Read* *Ward* *Van Doren* *Magill* *Adler* *Good* *Recommended* *SeymourSmith* *Dirda* *Deposit*

  155. John Bunyan

  156. The Pilgrim's Progress From This World to That Which Is to Come_18
    1678—English
    *Lubbock* *Baldwin* *Eliot* *Invitation* *Downs* *Rexroth* *Zulli* *Magill* *Good* *Bloom* *Recommended* *Fadiman* *SeymourSmith* *Trinity* *Dirda* *Great* *Newman* *Educated*

  157. Isaac Newton

  158. Philosophiae Naturalis Principia Mathematica_9
    The Mathematical Principles of Natural Philosophy
    1687; revised 1713 and 1726—Latin

    *Downs* *Read* *Van Doren* *Adler* *SeymourSmith* *Great* *GlobeMail* *Taylor* *Reynolds*

  159. John Locke

  160. An Essay Concerning Human Understanding_9
    1689—English
    *Classics* *Read* *Van Doren* *Magill* *Adler* *Good* *Fadiman* *SeymourSmith* *Reynolds*

  161. George Berkeley (Bishop Berkeley)

  162. A Treatise Concerning the Principles of Human Knowledge_7
    1710; revised 1734—English
    *Lubbock* *Classics* *Read* *Van Doren* *Adler* *SeymourSmith* *Great*

  163. Giambattista Vico

  164. Principi di Scienza Nuova d'Intorno Alla Comune Natura Delle Nazioni_6
    The New Science
    1725; revised 1730 and 1744—Italian

    *Downs* *Ward* *Bloom* *SeymourSmith* *Trinity* *Great*

  165. 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, 1740—English
    *Durant* *Read* *SeymourSmith*

    • Denis Diderot et al.

  166. Encyclopédie, ou Dictionnaire Raisonné des Sciences, des Arts et des Métiers_7
    published in 28 volumes, 1751-72—French
    *Downs* *SeymourSmith* *Trinity* *Dirda* *GlobeMail* *Telegraph* *Newman*

  167. Samuel Johnson

  168. A Dictionary of the English Language_6
    1755—English
    *Downs* *Read* *Ward* *SeymourSmith* *Taylor* *Newman*

  169. Voltaire

  170. Candide, ou L'Optimisme_23
    1759; Mallison ("Smart") specifies Tobias Smollett's English translation—French
    *Powys* *Durant* *Invitation* *Classics* *Hundred* *Read* *Ward* *Van Doren* *Magill* *Adler* *Good* *Bloom* *Recommended* *Fadiman* *SeymourSmith* *Trinity* *Campbell* *Great* *Zane* *Smart* *Deposit* *Newman* *Graphic*

  171. Thomas Paine

  172. Common Sense; Addresed to the Inhabitants of America_4
    1776—English
    *Downs* *SeymourSmith* *Taylor* *Educated*

  173. Adam Smith

  174. An Inquiry Into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations_15
    1776; revised through third edition, 1784—English
    *Eliot* *Durant* *Classics* *Downs* *Read* *Magill* *Adler* *Good* *Foundation* *Kanigel* *SeymourSmith* *Trinity* *Great* *GlobeMail* *Taylor*

  175. Edward Gibbon

  176. The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire_23
    originally published in six volumes: first, 1776; second-third, 1781; fourth-sixth, 1788—English
    *Lubbock* *Baldwin* *Durant* *Invitation* *Hundred* *Downs* *Rexroth* *Read* *List* *Ward* *Van Doren* *Magill* *Adler* *Good* *Bloom* *Foundation* *Kanigel* *SeymourSmith* *Trinity* *Dirda* *Telegraph* *World* *Educated*

  177. Immanuel Kant

  178. Kritik der Reinen Vernunft_12
    Critique of Pure Reason
    1781; revised 1787—German

    *Classics* *Read* *Ward* *Van Doren* *Magill* *Adler* *Good* *Recommended* *SeymourSmith* *Trinity* *GlobeMail* *World*

  179. Jean-Jacques Rousseau

  180. Les Confessions_14
    1782—French
    *Durant* *Invitation* *Classics* *France* *Ward* *Magill* *Bloom* *Recommended* *Fadiman* *SeymourSmith* *Trinity* *Dirda* *Newman* *Educated*

  181. Edmund Burke

  182. Reflections on the Revolution in France_9
    1790—English
    *Eliot* *Invitation* *Classics* *Downs* *Ward* *Bloom* *Foundation* *SeymourSmith* *Great*

  183. Mary Wollstonecraft

  184. A Vindication of the Rights of Woman_8
    1792—English
    *Durant* *Downs* *Recommended* *SeymourSmith* *Great* *GlobeMail* *Graphic* *Educated*

  185. William Godwin

  186. An Enquiry Concerning Political Justice, and Its Influence on General Virtue and Happiness_2
    1793—English
    *Downs* *SeymourSmith*

  187. Thomas Robert Malthus

  188. An Essay on the Principle of Population_6
    originally anonymously published 1798; revised and published under the author's name, 1803—English
    *Invitation* *Hundred* *Downs* *Good* *Kanigel* *SeymourSmith*

  189. George Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel

  190. Die Phänomenologie des Geistes_4
    Phenomenology of Spirit
    1807—German

    *Classics* *Read* *SeymourSmith* *Great*

  191. Arnold Schopenhauer

  192. Die Welt als Wille und Vorstellung_3
    The World as Will and Idea
    published in two volumes, 1819 and 1844—German

    *Classics* *Ward* *SeymourSmith*

  193. Auguste Comte

  194. Cours de Philosophie Positive_2
    published in six volumes, 1832, 1835, 1838-1842—French
    *Downs* *SeymourSmith*

  195. Carl von Clausewitz

  196. Vom Kriege_4
    On War
    1832—German

    *Downs* *Read* *SeymourSmith* *Telegraph*

  197. Sǿren Kierkegaard

  198. Enten - Eller_2
    Either/ Or
    originally published under the pseudonym, Victor Eremita, 1843—Danish

    *Ward* *SeymourSmith*

  199. Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels
    Manifest der Kommunistischen Partei_13
    The Communist Manifesto
    1848—German

    *Classics* *Downs* *Rexroth* *Read* *Van Doren* *Adler* *Fadiman* *SeymourSmith* *Trinity* *Great* *Taylor* *Reynolds* *Educated*

    • Henry David Thoreau

  200. 'Civil Disobedience'_7
    originally published 1849 in Aesthetic Papers—English
    *Classics* *Downs* *Read* *Recommended* *Fadiman* *Foundation* *SeymourSmith*

  201. Charles Darwin

  202. On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection, or the Preservation of Favoured Races in the Struggle for Life_23
    1859—English
    *Lubbock* *Eliot* *Classics* *Hundred* *Downs* *Read* *Ward* *Van Doren* *Magill* *Adler* *Good* *Learning* *Fadiman* *Kanigel* *SeymourSmith* *Great* *GlobeMail* *Taylor* *Telegraph* *Reynolds* *Deposit* *Graphic* *Educated*

  203. John Stuart Mill

  204. On Liberty_16
    1859—English
    *Eliot* *Classics* *Downs* *Read* *Van Doren* *Magill* *Adler* *Bloom* *Recommended* *Fadiman* *Foundation* *SeymourSmith* *Trinity* *Great* *Taylor* *World*

  205. Herbert Spencer
    First Principles_1
    1862—English
    *SeymourSmith*

    • Gregor Mendel

  206. 'Versuche über Pflanzen-Hybriden'_3
    'Experiments on Plant Hybrids'
    originally published 1866 in Verhandlungen des Naturforschenden Vereins Brünn; edited 1865 lecture—German

    *Downs* *SeymourSmith* *Educated*

  207. Leo Tolstoy

  208. Voyna i Mir"_25
    War and Peace
    originally entitled 1805, published in part, 1865 and 1867; retitled and published in its entirety, 1869—Russian

    *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*

  209. James Clerk Maxwell

  210. A Treatise on Electricity and Magnetism_1
    originally published in two volumes, 1873—English
    *SeymourSmith*

  211. Friedrich Nietzsche

  212. Also Sprach Zarathustra: Ein Buch für Alle und Keinen_15
    Thus Spake Zarathustra
    originally published in four volumes, 1883-85—German

    *Powys* *Durant* *Hundred* *France* *Read* *List* *Ward* *Magill* *Recommended* *Fadiman* *Foundation* *SeymourSmith* *Great* *World* *Graphic*

  213. Sigmund Freud

  214. Die Traumdeutung_15
    The Interpretation of Dreams
    1899—German

    *Classics* *Downs* *Read* *Ward* *Van Doren* *Magill* *Adler* *Learning* *Fadiman* *SeymourSmith* *GlobeMail* *Taylor* *Telegraph* *Great* *Graphic*

  215. William James

  216. Pragmatism: A New Name for Some Old Ways of Thinking_8
    1907—English
    *Read* *Magill* *Adler* *Bloom* *Recommended* *Fadiman* *SeymourSmith* *World*

  217. Albert Einstein

  218. Die Grundlage der Allgemeinen Relativitätstheorie_1
    Foundations of the General Theory of Relativity
    1916—German

    *SeymourSmith*

  219. Vilfredo Pareto

  220. Trattato di Sociologia Generale_1
    The Mind and Society
    1916—Italian

    *SeymourSmith*

  221. Carl Jung

  222. Psychologische Typen_1
    Psychological Types
    1921—German

    *SeymourSmith*

  223. Martin Buber

  224. Ich und Du_1
    I and Thou
    1923—German

    *SeymourSmith*

  225. Franz Kafka

  226. Der Prozess_16
    The Trial
    1925—German

    *France* *Read* *List* *Van Doren* *Magill* *Bloom* *Recommended* *Fadiman* *SeymourSmith* *Trinity* *Norway* *Great* *Zane* *Smart* *Newman* *Educated*

  227. Karl Popper

  228. Logik der Forschung_1
    The Logic of Scientific Discovery
    1934—German

    *SeymourSmith*

  229. John Maynard Keynes

  230. The General Theory of Employment, Interest, and Money_3
    1936—English
    *Adler* *SeymourSmith* *Taylor*

  231. Jean-Paul Sartre

  232. L'Être et le Néant: Essai d'Ontologie Phénoménologique_5
    Being and Nothingness
    1943—French

    *Read* *Ward* *Fadiman* *SeymourSmith* *Great*

  233. Friedrich von Hayek

  234. The Road to Serfdom_1
    1944—English
    *SeymourSmith*

  235. Simone Beauvoir

  236. Le Deuxième Sexe_7
    The Second Sex
    published in part serially in Les Temps Modernes; in its entirety in two volumes, 1949—French

    *Good* *Bloom* *Fadiman* *SeymourSmith* *Utne* *Great* *Taylor*

  237. Norbert Wiener

  238. Cybernetics: Or Control and Communication in the Animal and Machine_1
    1948; revised 1961—English
    *SeymourSmith*

  239. George Orwell

  240. Nineteen Eighty-Four_17
    1949—English
    *Van Doren* *Magill* *Learning* *Bloom* *Recommended* *Fadiman* *SeymourSmith* *Campbell* *Norway* *Great* *Guardian* *Zane* *Smart* *Taylor* *Telegraph* *Graphic* *Educated*

  241. George Ivanovitch Gurdjieff

  242. Rasskazy Vel'zevula Svoemu Vnuku_1
    Beelzebub's Tales to His Grandson
    1950—Russian

    *SeymourSmith*

  243. Ludwig Wittgenstein

  244. Philosophische Untersuchungen_3
    Philosophical Investigations
    1953—German

    *List* *Adler* *SeymourSmith*

  245. Noam Chomsky

  246. Syntactic Structures_1
    1957—English
    *SeymourSmith*

  247. Thomas S Kuhn

  248. The Structure of Scientific Revolutions_5
    1962; expanded 1970—English
    *Fadiman* *Kanigel* *SeymourSmith* *Utne* *Great*

  249. Betty Friedan

  250. The Feminine Mystique_2
    1963—English
    *SeymourSmith* *Educated*

  251. Máo Zédōng

  252. Máo Zhuxí Yulù_2
    Quotations From Chairman Mao Tse-tung
    1966—Chinese

    *SeymourSmith* *Taylor*

  253. B F Skinner

  254. Beyond Freedom and Dignity_1
    1971—English
    *SeymourSmith*