Spirit of America Bookstore
The Harvard Classics
1909 'Five-Foot Bookshelf'

1909 'The Harvard Classics' 51-volume book set

history
list of 51 volumes
list of 'Shelf of Fiction'
the book sets
the authors
image gallery

portrait photograph of Charles W. Eliot [1834-1926]

“Books are the quietest and most constant of friends, they are the most accessible and wisest of counselors, and the most patient of teachers.”
— Charles W. Eliot [1834-1926]

History of The Books
Charles W. Eliot [1834-1926] was elected President of Harvard University in 1869 (at age 35) and served in that capacity for 40 years, causing many innovations but also resisting labor unions and the education of women. He stated in several speeches that the elements of a liberal education could be obtained by spending 15 minutes a day reading from a collection of books that could fit on a three-foot shelf (later revised to a five-foot shelf). Publisher P.F. Collier saw an opportunity and challenged Eliot to make good on this statement by selecting an appropriate collection of works. Eliot worked for a full year with William A. Neilson, a professor of English, and "The Harvard Classics" was the result; volumes 1-30 were published in 1909, volumes 21-51 were published in 1910. The success of that project led to the 20-volume "Shelf of Fiction", also by the Eliot-Nielsen team, published in 1917. Although over 100 years old, lovingly preserved sets continue to show up on eBay and other venues at reasonable prices.
'The Harvard Classics' entry at Wikipedia
'Shelf of Fiction' entry at Wikipedia
search on keywords 'harvard classics' and 'shelf of fiction' {returns 200+ titles} at Amazon

List of 51 Volumes

Volume 1: FRANKLIN, WOOLMAN, PENN
"The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin"
"The Journal of John Woolman"
"Fruits of Solitude" [] by William Penn

Volume 2. PLATO, EPICTETUS, MARCUS AURELIUS
Plato [427-347 BCE] Page at Maison d'Être Philosophy Bookstore

Volume 3. BACON, MILTON'S PROSE, THOS. BROWNE

Volume 4. COMPLETE POEMS IN ENGLISH, MILTON

Volume 5. ESSAYS AND ENGLISH TRAITS, EMERSON
Ralph Waldo Emerson [1803-82]

Volume 6. POEMS AND SONGS, BURNS[20]

Volume 7. CONFESSIONS OF ST. AUGUSTINE, IMITATION OF CHRIST

Volume 8. NINE GREEK DRAMAS

Volume 9. LETTERS AND TREATISES OF CICERO AND PLINY

Volume 10. WEALTH OF NATIONS, ADAM SMITH
Adam Smith [1723-90] Page at Maison d'Être Philosophy Bookstore

Volume 11. ORIGIN OF SPECIES, DARWIN
Charles Darwin [1809-82] Page at Maison d'Être Philosophy Bookstore

Volume 12. PLUTARCH'S LIVES

Volume 13. AENEID, VIRGIL

Volume 14. DON QUIXOTE, PART 1, CERVANTES
Miguel de Cervantes y Saavedra [1547-1616] Page

Volume 15. PILGRIM'S PROGRESS, DONNE & HERBERT, BUNYAN, WALTON

Volume 16. THE THOUSAND AND ONE NIGHTS

Volume 17. FOLKLORE AND FABLE, AESOP, GRIMM, ANDERSON
"Aesop's Fables" Stories, Books, Stageplays & Movies Page
"Brothers Grimm Fairy Tales" [1812 & 1815] Pages

Volume 18. MODERN ENGLISH DRAMA

Volume 19. FAUST, EGMONT, ETC. DOCTOR FAUSTUS, GOETHE, MARLOWE

Volume 20. THE DIVINE COMEDY, DANTE

Volume 21. I PROMESSI SPOSI, MANZONI

Volume 22. THE ODYSSEY, HOMER

Volume 23. TWO YEARS BEFORE THE MAST, DANA

Volume 24. ON THE SUBLIME, FRENCH REVOLUTION, ETC., BURKE

Volume 25. AUTOBIOGRAPHY, ETC., ESSAYS AND ADDRESSES, J.S. MILL, T. CARLYLE

Volume 26. CONTINENTAL DRAMA

Volume 27. ENGLISH ESSAYS: SIDNEY TO MACAULAY

Volume 28. ESSAYS: ENGLISH AND AMERICAN

Volume 29. VOYAGE OF THE BEAGLE, DARWIN
Charles Darwin [1809-82] Page at Maison d'Être Philosophy Bookstore

Volume 30. FARADAY, HELMHOLTZ, KELVIN, NEWCOMB, ETC

Volume 31. AUTOBIOGRAPHY, BENVENUTO CELLINI

Volume 32. LITERARY AND PHILOSOPHICAL ESSAYS

Volume 33. VOYAGES AND TRAVELS

Volume 34. FRENCH AND ENGLISH PHILOSOPHERS, DESCARTES, VOLTAIRE, ROUSSEAU, HOBBES
René Descartes [1596-1650] Page at Maison d'Être Philosophy Bookstore
French philosopher Voltaire [1694-1778] Page at Maison d'Être Philosophy Bookstore

Volume 35. CHRONICLE AND ROMANCE, FROISSART, MALORY, HOLINSHEAD

Volume 36. MACHIAVELLI, MORE, LUTHER

Volume 37. LOCKE, BERKELEY, HUME

Volume 38. HARVEY, JENNER, LISTER, PASTEUR

Volume 39. PREFACES AND PROLOGUES TO FAMOUS BOOKS

Volume 40. ENGLISH POETRY 1: CHAUCER TO GRAY

Volume 41. ENGLISH POETRY 2: COLLINS TO FITZGERALD

Volume 42. ENGLISH POETRY 3: TENNYSON TO WHITMAN

Volume 43. AMERICAN HISTORICAL DOCUMENTS

Volume 44 & 45. SACRED WRITINGS

Volume 46 & 47. ELIZABETHAN DRAMA

Volume 48. THOUGHTS AND MINOR WORKS, PASCAL

Volume 49. EPIC AND SAGA

Volume 50. INTRODUCTION, READER'S GUIDE, INDEXES

Volume 51. LECTURES

List of 'The Harvard Classics Shelf of Fiction'
'Shelf of Fiction' entry at Wikipedia
'Shelf of Fiction' available as free online etext (returns 200+ choices) at Internet Archive

Volumes 1 & 2. HENRY FIELDING
The History of Tom Jones by Henry Fielding

Volume 3. LAURENCE STERN, JANE AUSTEN
A Sentimental Journey, by Laurence Sterne
Pride and Prejudice, by Jane Austen [1775-1817] Page

Volume 4. SIR WALTER SCOTT
Guy Mannering, by Sir Walter Scott [1771-1832]

Volumes 5 & 6. WILLIAM MAKEPEACE THACKERAY
Vanity Fair, by William Makepeace Thackeray

Volumes 7 & 8. CHARLES DICKENS
David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens [1812-70]

Volume 9. GEORGE ELIOT
The Mill on the Floss, by George Eliot

Volume 10. HAWTHORNE, IRVING, POE, BRET HARTE, MARK TWAIN, HALE
The Scarlet Letter and "Rappaccini's Daughter", by Nathaniel Hawthorne [1804-64]
"Rip Van Winkle" and "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow", by Washington Irving
"Eleonora", "The Fall of the House of Usher", and "The Purloined Letter", by Edgar Allan Poe [1809-49]
"The Luck of Roaring Camp", "The Outcasts of Poker Flat", and "The Idyl of Red Gulch", by Francis Bret Harte
"Jim Smiley and His Jumping Frog", by Samuel L. Clemens (Mark Twain [1835-1910])
"The Man Without A Country", by Edward Everett Hale

Volume 11. HENRY JAMES, JR.
The Portrait of a Lady, by Henry James

Volume 12. VICTOR HUGO
Notre Dame de Paris, by Victor Marie Hugo

Volume 13. BALZAC, SAND, DE MUSSET, DAUDET, DE MAUPASSANT
Old Goriot, by Honoré Balzac
The Devil's Pool, by George Sand
The Story of a White Blackbird, by Alfred de Musset
"The Siege of Berlin", "The Last Class—The Story of a Little Alsatian", "The Child Spy", "The Game of Billiards", and "The Bad Zouave", by Alphonse Daudet
"Walter Schnaffs’ Adventure" and "Two Friends", by Guy de Maupassant

Volume 14. JOHANN WOLFGANG GOETHE
Wilhelm Meister's Apprenticeship, by Johann Wolfgang Goethe

Volume 15. GOETHE, KELLER, STORM, FONTANE
The Sorrows of Young Werther, by Johann Wolfgang Goethe
The Banner of the Upright Seven, by Gottfried Keller
The Rider on the White Horse, by Theodor Storm
Trials and Tribulations, by Theodor Fontane

Volume 16 & 17. LEO NIKOLAEVITCH TOLSTOY
Anna Karenina, by Leo Tolstoy

Volume 18. FYODOR DOSTOEVSKY
Crime and Punishment, by Fyodor Dostoevsky

Volume 19. IVAN TURGENEV
A House of Gentlefolk, by Ivan Turgenev
Fathers and Children, by Ivan Turgenev

Volume 20. VALERA, BJØRNSON, KIELLAND
Pepita Jimenez, by Juan Valera
A Happy Boy, by Bjørnstjerne Bjørnson
Skipper Worse, by Alexander L. Kielland

¨ ¨

"The Complete Harvard Classics" [1909-1914]
P.F. Collier & Son first edition hardcover [1909-14] for $850.00

'Harvard Classics' available as free online etext (returns 50+ choices) at Internet Archive
'Shelf of Fiction' available as free online etext (returns 200+ choices) at Internet Archive

'My Harvard Classics' online virtual 5-foot bookshelf - with free & for-fee options

Complete Harvard Classics & Shelf of Fiction in Kindle format "The Complete Harvard Classics" for Kindle [2017]
Compiled & Edited by Charles W. Eliot, LLD in 1909
fully searchable with a completely linked table of contents; contains all 51 volumes of the 'Harvard Classics' and the 20 volumes of the 'Shelf of Fiction'; due to file size (20k pages) download may take longer than average
55MB Kindle Edition from Eireann Press [10/2017] for 99¢
143MB Kindle Edition from Delphi Classics [7/2018] for $2.99

The Whole Five Feet / The Great Books book by Christopher Beha "The Whole Five Feet: What The Great Books Taught Me About Life,
Death, and Pretty Much Everything Else" [2009] by Christopher R. Beha
author recounts his life and insights while reading the 51-volume Harvard Classics
'Five Foot Shelf' over a year's time
Kindle Edition from Grove Press [5/2010] for $1.99 {sic}
Grove Press 8¼x5½ pb [5/2010] for $11.10
Grove Press 9½x6¼ hardcover [5/2009] for $34.95

The Authors

Charles W. Eliot, LLD [1834-1926]
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_W._Eliot

Prof. William A. Neilson, PhD [1869-1946]
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Allan_Neilson

Image Gallery

full-page ad for 'The Harvard Classics' in the February 1925 issue of 'The American Mercury Magazine', then edited by H.L. Mencken

L i n k s
'The Harvard Classics' entry at Wikipedia
'Shelf of Fiction' entry at Wikipedia
'Harvard Classics' available as free online etext (returns 50+ choices) at Internet Archive
'Shelf of Fiction' available as free online etext (returns 200+ choices) at Internet Archive

here on The Harvard Classics [1909] Page at Spirit of America Bookstore

top of page • history • list of 51 volumes • list of 'Shelf of Fiction' • the book sets • the authors • image gallery • links

Amazon's '100 Books To Read In A Lifetime' Pages at Spirit of America Bookstore

Time Magazine's All-TIME 100 Novels Page at Spirit of America Bookstore

The Telegraph of U.K.'s List of Best 100 Novels at Spirit of America Bookstore

The B.B.C.'s Top 100 Books List at Spirit of America Bookstore

Great Books & Great Authors Page at Spirit of America Bookstore

PBS's 'The Great American Read' Project of 2018

Top 100+ Children's Books Page at Spirit of America Bookstore

A List of 50 Books - to help you understand everything in the Universe Page at Maison d'Être Philosophy Bookstore

150 Essential Mystery Novels Page at BlackHat Mystery Bookstore

100 Classic Books Made Into Films Page at Magic Lantern Video & Book Store

TIME Magazine's 100+ Top Movies Pages at Magic Lantern Video & Book Store

˜ ˜

Spirit of America BookstoreThe Harvard Classics1909 'Five-Foot Bookshelf'

Spirit of America Bookstore
The Harvard Classics
1909 'Five-Foot Bookshelf'