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Anon June 27, 2009 at 1:26 pm Both collections are a useful starting point for figuring out what might go into a reading list of Western classics. The great books series has the disadvantage of having very small print. Also, for each book in both series there are more authoritative and helpful editions/translations of these books. Unless you must have a shelf of books with identical bindings, there is really no need to purchase them as a series. Moreover, nearly every public library I’ve ever been to has a complete collection of both.
Great Books of the Western World is one of the most acclaimed publishing feats of our time. Authoritative, accurate, and complete, this collection represents the essential core of the Western literary canon, compiling 517 of the most significant achievements in literature, history, philosophy, and science into a color-coded set as handsome as it is. CHICAGO, IL--(Marketwire - January 22, 2009) - Great Books of the Western World, the 60-volume set of classics published by Encyclopaedia Britannica, is now available to libraries, universities and schools in electronic form and distributed exclusively through Ingram Digital's industry-leading MyiLibrary™. The Hardcover of the Great Books of the Western World (61 Volume Set) by Encyclopaedia Britannica, Inc.| at Barnes & Noble. FREE Shipping on $25.
For example, my Complete Essays of Montaigne (trans. Donald Frame), is both a better translation and more complete than the smattering of Montaigne you get in one of these series with acceptably large print. I recommend using the list of books in the series as a reference, and borrowing larger print authoritative editions and modern translations of the one you want to read next from the library. Alternatively, if you want to own the book and underline it and write notes in it, you might consider buying a good used copy of some other edition. As a last resort if you don’t have access to a library or to books, or prefer for some reason to read books on a computer or ebook reader, you could download them. I recommend doing this one book at a time, since it seems less daunting to deal with one book at a time, and then you are not in danger of every wasting hundreds of dollars on books you have no interest in reading.
Brad June 28, 2009 at 12:01 pm Hi, I really enjoy your blog. I noticed you mentioned something about the online availability of the Great Books of the Western World. I want to confirm that a large majority of these books do exist in digital print and are available for free. For those who don’t want to spend the money, here is a list of websites that I used in compiling my very own digital collection that contains the same works as the Great Books: books.google.com, ulib.org,,, gutenberg.org. From these sites, I managed to find all but the most obscure pieces contained in the entire sixty-four volume collection.
If anyone would rather not search for the books on these sites, I might just decide to distribute my digital collection through the usual meansJust let me know. Jamie June 29, 2009 at 11:33 am Anon, good point about the print in the Great Books series. I like the double columns, but it is a bit difficult on the eyes. You’re right about there being better editions out there. One problem: if someone is just getting started with the classics, they’re not going to know where to look much less which editions to choose.
I suppose it is possible to figure that out by reading reviews on Amazon and other sites. Brad, I’m sure a lot of people would be interested in knowing where to find these books online. They’re definitely available, but you have do have to search (unlike the Harvard Classics, which are all on a single list from Bartleby).
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There may be some copyright issues with including selections organized in the exact same way, as the series is considered an anthology. If you decide to look into that, please post back. Eric, I love the Synopicon. I referred to them as “indexes” above so as not to generate confusion, but they’re really a different thing altogether. Some public libraries are now providing no-cost access to the online version of the Great Books. Britannica has added thousands of links into the Synopicon, so all you have to do is click on a reference listed and you’ll be directed to the text. Karen Gurney July 1, 2009 at 11:00 am My parents purchased the Harvard Classics set for us when I was young.
They encouraged us to read and set the example by having a family reading time, duirng which we all gathered in one room with our reading picks. In addition, they woud talk to us about what we had read and valued our opinions. While I am the only one of my siblings to obtain a colelge degree, we are all familiar with Plato, Socrates and much more. This was the best investment my parents ever made and the set has since been handed down in the family. Jem October 15, 2009 at 10:03 am Jamie, I just discovered your blog, and it looks like you’ve got some great information here. Thank you for sharing. I’m a 23-year-old who’s looking at going back to grad school, and even though I was an English major, I feel like there’s so many great classic works that I missed in school (I read Moby Dick and Don Quixote last year for the first time and I am currently reading The Illiad).
So I feel like I’ve been trying my best to catch-up with these works and was excited to hear about the Great Books Series, because it provided a “checklist” of these classic works. I was looking online, decided to gather as much information about the series before purchasing it, when I discovered your blog. I’ve got three brief questions for you: one, I looked for online text for the Syntopicon and was having trouble finding anything. I know you mentioned a couple of links in your blog response above and was wondering if you could offer me any more advice on how to view both volumes.
Secondly, I found a list online for a 10 year reading program for the 54 volume Great Series set. Do you know if there is a reading plan for the 60 volume set? Lastly, are there any other great resources or lists that you would recommend, as well as other websites that could provide helpful background information on the authors. Thanks for the advice. I’ll check out more information on the Harvard Classics series, and I hope to read more of your blog articles soon! Pat Duggan January 26, 2010 at 1:00 pm Hi, I had a brief browse through this site (after a search for resources on Illich) and I think what you are doing/advocating is admirable. However, I wonder if you see any contradiction in pursuing an education such as that provided by the ‘great books’.
Is this type of education still not organised around high-centres (Harvard, etc) and imbued with the same kind of authoritarianism. I understand an interest in canonical texts (because let’s face it, SOME of them deserve to be there) but by sifting through 60 or so volumes of handpicked texts by an educated elite, do you not play back into the same value system? Do you believe the ‘great books’ (and I am aware of the overwhelming irony of my quoting this during this argument) to be ‘the best that has been thought and said’, as Matthew Arnold put it? Im just wondering – I dont intend this to be construed as particularly critical. And why are the ‘classics’ ‘higher-level’ works??
Patrick March 10, 2010 at 11:45 am Pat Duggan, Many of the same titles are included in the two sets. And, where the titles differ, the chosen texts convey the same ideas. There is a reason for that. There isn’t really much opportunity for “the educated elite” to impose their “authoritarianism.” Books become classics and are chosen for sets like these, because those same books have survived the test of time and have been most influential on civilization and history. Neither, the “the educated elite,” nor we, can change the influential nature and popularity of these works. The people who edited these sets were just what the verb “edited” implies — they were editors. They made choices such as “which author best represents the philosophy of Stoicism in a set of 50 volumes” or “which public domain translation is appropriate.” •.
November 21, 2010 at 11:35 am I’ve been a fan of your blog for awhile. I think it’s great that you’re promoting self-education and I agree that investing one’s time in either set will be a worthwhile endeavor. I’m currently working my way through the Harvard Classics, writing a blog with my thoughts and some selected quotes from each volume.
I began a few weeks ago, and am now beginning Volume 4. So far I don’t mind the non-chronological order, and it can be refreshing to jump ahead or back in time between selections and see how ideas have changed or remained the same.
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Author: Great Books of the Western World - Hutchins Robert Maynard Title: Volume 02 The great ideas I A Syntopicon of Great Books of the Westren World Year: 1952 Link download: By calling this work 'a Syntopicon of Great Books of the Western World,' the editors hope to characterize its nature, to indicate the function it performs in relation to the set as a whole, and to assert its originality as an intellectual instrument. The relation of these two volumes of The Great Ideas to the rest of the set is the key to the nature of the Syntopicon and its originality as an instrument. Apart from this relation, The Great Ideas, though to some extent readable in itself, does not perform the function for which it was created-to show that the 443 works which comprise Volumes 4 to 54 can be seen and used as something more than a collection of books. The great books are pre-eminently those which have given the western tradition its life and light. The unity of this set of books does not consist merely in the fact that each member of it is a great book worth reading.
A deeper unity exists in the relation of all the books to one tradition, a unity shown by the continuity of the discussion of common themes and problems. It is claimed for this set of great books that all the works in it are significantly related to one another and that, taken together, they adequately present the ideas and issues, the terms and topics, that have made the western tradition what it is. More than a collection of books, then, this set is a certain kind of whole that can and should be read as such. The Great Ideas results froni and records such a reading of the great books.
The aim of this 'syntopical reading' was to discover the unity and continuity of western thought in the discussion of common themes and problems from one end of the tradition to the other. The Syntopicon does not reproduce or present the results of this reading in a digest to save others the trouble of reading the great books for themselves. On the contrary, it only lays down the lines along which a syntopical reading of the great books can be done, and shows why and how it should be done.