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The Harvard Classics
1909 'Five-Foot Bookshelf'
 | history | ![portrait photograph of Charles W. Eliot [1834-1926]](images/CharlesWEliot.jpg "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
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
 |
"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: 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
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
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