Table I
Note of Explanation
Table I. contains a list of authors whose books, on principle and authority, have the strongest claims on the attention of the average reader of English. They are arranged from left to right in the order of importance of the divisions of the subject matter regarded as wholes, and from above downward in the order of their value in relation to the highest standard in their own department. The numbers have nothing to do with the ranking, but refer to notes that will be found on the pages following the table. There is also, at the head of the notes relating to each column of the table, a special note on the subject matter of that column.
The upper part of the table represents the first shelf of the world’s library, and contains the books having the very strongest claims upon the attention of all,—books with which every one should endeavor to gain an acquaintance, at least to the extent indicated in the notes.
The lower part of the table represents the second shelf of the world’s library, and contains books which in addition to those of the first shelf should enter into a liberal education.
It must be always kept in mind that intrinsic merit alone does not decide the position of a book in this table; for in order to test the claim of a book upon the attention of a reader we have to consider not only the artistic value of the author’s work, and its subject matter, but also the needs and abilities of the reader. Thus it happens that it is not always the work of the greatest genius which stands highest in the list. Moreover, no claim is made that the ranking is perfect, especially on the second shelf. The table is an example of the application of the principles set forth in the remarks following Table V., to the case of the general reader. For every one above or below the average reader the lists would have to be changed, and even the average list has no quality of the absolute. It is but a suggestion,—a suggestion, however, in which we have a good deal of confidence, one that is based on a very wide induction,—and we have no hesitation in affirming that the upper shelf represents the best literature the world affords.
In addition to Table I., there will be found in Tables III. and IV., and in the remarks upon the Guidance of Children following Table IV., a number of pieces of literary work of the very highest merit and value. Some of the most important are Lowell’s “Vision of Sir Launfal,” one of the very finest American poems; Browning’s “Ivan Ivanovitch;” Guyot’s “Earth and Man;” Mary Treat’s “Home Book of Nature;” Burroughs’ “Pepacton,” “Signs and Seasons,” “Wake Robin,” etc.; Buckley’s “Fairy Land of Science,” etc.; Ragozin’s “Chaldea;” Fénelon’s “Lives of the Philosophers;” Bolton’s “Poor Boys who became Famous;” Rives’ “Story of Arnon;” Drake’s “Culprit Fay;” Dr. Brown’s “Rab and his Friends;” Mary Mapes Dodge’s “Hans Brinker;” Andrews’ “Ten Boys on the Road;” Arnold’s “Sweetness and Light;” Higginson’s “Vacations for Saints;” and General Booth’s “In Darkest England, and the Way Out,” a book of great power, which sets forth the most practical method yet proposed for the immediate relief of society from the burdens of pauperism and vice.
TABLE I.—THE WORLD’S BEST BOOKS.
[See explanation on the preceding pages.]
| (first shelf) | (second shelf) |
| 1. Religion & Morals. | |
| Bible1 | Milton11 |
| Bunyan2 | Keble12 |
| Taylor3 | Cicero13 |
| Kempis4 | Pascal14 |
| Spencer5 | Channing15 |
| M. Aurelius6 | Aristotle16 |
| Plutarch7 | St. Augustine17 |
| Seleca8 | Butler18 |
| Epictetus9 | Spinoza19 |
| Brooks10 | |
| Drummond10 | |
| 2. Poetry & the Drama. | |
| Shakspeare20 | Spenser27 |
| Homer21 | Lowell28 |
| Dante22 | Whittier29 |
| Goethe23 | Tennyson30 |
| Milton24 | Burns31 |
| Æschylus25 | Scott32 |
| Fragments26 | Byron33 |
| Shelley34 | |
| Keats35 | |
| Campbell36 | |
| Moore37 | |
| Thomson38 | |
| Macaulay39 | |
| Dryden40 | |
| Collins41 | |
| Ingelow42 | |
| Bryant43 | |
| Longfellow44 | |
| Herbert45 | |
| Goldsmith46 | |
| Coleridge47 | |
| Wordsworth48 | |
| Pope49 | |
| Southey50 | |
| Walton51 | |
| Browning52 | |
| Young53 | |
| Jonson54 | |
| Beaumont & F.55 | |
| Marlowe56 | |
| Sheridan57 | |
| Carleton58 | |
| Virgil60 | |
| Horace61 | |
| Lucretius62 | |
| Ovid63 | |
| Sophocles64 | |
| Euripides65 | |
| Aristophanes66 | |
| Pindar67 | |
| Hesiod68 | |
| Heine69 | |
| Schiller70 | |
| Corneille71 | |
| Racine71 | |
| Molière71 | |
| Musset74 | |
| Calderon75 | |
| Petrarch76 | |
| Ariosto77 | |
| Tasso78 | |
| Camoens79 | |
| Omar80 | |
| Firdusi81 | |
| Hafiz81 | |
| Saadi81 | |
| Arnold82 | |
| Pushkin83 | |
| Lermontoff84 | |
| 3. Science. | |
| Physiology and Hygiene85 | De Tocqueville99 |
| “Our Country”86 | Von Holst100 |
| Federalist88 | Smith101 |
| Bryce89 | Malthus102 |
| Montesquieu90 | Carey103 |
| Bagehot90 | Cairnes104 |
| Mill91 | Freeman105 |
| Bain92 | Jevons106 |
| Spencer93 | Mulford107 |
| Darwin94 | Hobbes108 |
| Herschel95 | Machiavelli109 |
| Proctor95 | Max Müller110 |
| Lyell96 | Trench111 |
| Lubbock96 | Taylor112 |
| Dawson96 | White113 |
| Wood97 | Cuvier114 |
| Whewell98 | Cook115 |
| Tyndall116 | |
| Airy117 | |
| Faraday118 | |
| Helmholtz119 | |
| Huxley120 | |
| Gray121 | |
| Agassiz122 | |
| Silliman123 | |
| 4. Biography. | |
| Plutarch124 | G. Smith139 |
| Phillips125 | Bourrienne140 |
| Boswell126 | Johnson141 |
| Lockhart127 | Walton142 |
| Marshall128 | Stanley143 |
| Franklin128 | Irving144 |
| Nicolay & H.129 | Southey145 |
| Grant129 | Stanhope146 |
| Carlyle130 | Moore147 |
| Renan130 | Jameson148 |
| Farrar131 | Baring-Gould149 |
| Emerson132 | Field150 |
| Greatest Men133 | Hamilton151 |
| Parton134 | Darwin151 |
| Hale135 | Alcott151 |
| Drake136 | Talleyrand151 |
| Fox137 | Macaulay151 |
| Grimm138 | Bashkirtseff151 |
| Guerin151 | |
| Jefferson151 | |
| American Statesmen151 | |
| English Men of Letters151 | |
| 5. History. | |
| Green152 | Creasy 155a |
| Bancroft153 | Lecky156 |
| Guizot154 | Clarke157 |
| Buckle154 | Moffat158 |
| Parkman155 | Draper159 |
| Freeman155 | Hallam160 |
| Fiske155 | May161 |
| Fyffe155 | Hume162 |
| Macaulay163 | |
| Froude164 | |
| Gibbon165 | |
| Grote166 | |
| Palfrey167 | |
| Prescott168 | |
| Motley169 | |
| Frothingham 169a | |
| Wilkinson170 | |
| Niebuhr171 | |
| Menzel172 | |
| Milman173 | |
| Ranke174 | |
| Sismondi175 | |
| Michelet176 | |
| Carlyle177 | |
| Thierry178 | |
| Tacitus179 | |
| Livy180 | |
| Sallust181 | |
| Herodotus182 | |
| Xenophon183 | |
| Thucydides184 | |
| Josephus185 | |
| Mackenzie185 | |
| Rawlinson185 | |
| 6. Philosophy. | |
| Spencer186 | Mill192 |
| Plato187 | Mansel193 |
| Berkeley188 | Büchner194 |
| Kant189 | Edwards195 |
| Locke & Hobbes190 | Bentham196 |
| Comte191 | Maurice197 |
| Lewes | Hume198 |
| or Ueberweg | Hamilton199 |
| or Schwegler | Aristotle200 |
| or Schlegel | Descartes201 |
| on the History of Philosophy | Cousin201 |
| Hegel & Schelling202 | |
| Fichte203 | |
| Erasmus204 | |
| Fiske205 | |
| Hickok206 | |
| McCosh207 | |
| Spinoza208 | |
| 7. Essays. | |
| Emerson209 | Macaulay |
| Bacon210 | Leigh Hunt |
| Montaigne211 | Arnold |
| Ruskin212 | Buckle |
| Carlyle212 | Hume |
| Addison212 | Froude |
| Symonds | |
| Steele | |
| Browne | |
| Johnson | |
| De Quincey | |
| Foster | |
| Hazlitt | |
| Lessing | |
| Sparks | |
| Disraeli | |
| Whipple | |
| Lamb | |
| Schiller | |
| Coleridge | |
| 8. Fiction. | |
| Scott213 | Rousseau235 |
| Eliot214 | Saintine235 |
| Dickens215 | Coffin236 |
| Hawthorne216 | Reade236 |
| Goldsmith217 | Warren236 |
| Bulwer218 | Landor237 |
| MacDonald219 | Turgenieff237 |
| Thackeray220 | Sue237 |
| Kingsley221 | Manzoni237 |
| Wallace222 | Cottin238 |
| Tourgée223 | Besant238 |
| Hugo224 | Stevenson238 |
| Dumas224 | Ward239 |
| Defoe225 | Deland239 |
| Hughes225 | Sewell239 |
| Stowe226 | Bret Harte239 |
| Cooper226 | Green240 |
| Curtis227 | Mulock240 |
| Warner227 | Disraeli240 |
| Aldrich228 | Howells240 |
| Hearn228 | Tolstoï240 |
| Ebers229 | Sand241 |
| Sienkiewicz229 | Black241 |
| Austen230 | Blackmore241 |
| Bronté230 | Schreiner241 |
| Alcott231 | Bremer242 |
| Burnett231 | Trollope242 |
| Cable232 | Winthrop242 |
| Craddock232 | Richardson243 |
| Whitney233 | Smollett243 |
| Jewett233 | Boccaccio243 |
| Fielding234 | |
| Le Sage234 | |
| Balzac234 | |
| 9. Oratory. | |
| Demosthenes | Sumner |
| Burke | Henry |
| Fox | Otis |
| Pitt | Jay |
| Webster | Madison |
| Clay | Jefferson |
| Phillips | Beecher |
| Lincoln | Brooks |
| Everett | Choate |
| Bright | Garfield |
| Ingersoll | |
| Erskine | |
| Sheridan | |
| Gladstone | |
| Cicero | |
| Quintilian | |
| Bossuet | |
| Saint Chrysostom | |
| 10. Wit & Humor. | |
| Lowell244 | Ingersoll248 |
| Holmes245 | Holley249 |
| Dickens246 | Curtis250 |
| Cervantes247 | Depew251 |
| Twain252 | |
| Warner253 | |
| Edwards254 | |
| Hale255 | |
| Nasby256 | |
| Ward257 | |
| Jerrold258 | |
| Voltaire259 | |
| Byron259 | |
| Butler260 | |
| Swift260 | |
| Rabelais261 | |
| Sterne261 | |
| Juvenal262 | |
| Lucian262 | |
| 11. Fables & Fairy Tales. | |
| Andersen263 | Bulfinch268 |
| La Fontaine264 | Saxe269 |
| Æsop265 | Florian270 |
| Grimm266 | Kipling270 |
| Goethe267 | Babrius271 |
| Hawthorne267 | Hauff272 |
| Ovid273 | |
| Curtin273 | |
| Fiske273 | |
| 12. Travel. | |
| Cook274 | Marco Polo277 |
| Humboldt275 | Kane278 |
| Darwin276 | Livingstone279 |
| Stanley280 | |
| Du Chaillu281 | |
| Niebuhr282 | |
| Bruce283 | |
| Heber284 | |
| Lander285 | |
| Waterton286 | |
| Mungo Park287 | |
| Ouseley288 | |
| Barth289 | |
| Boteler290 | |
| Maundeville291 | |
| Warburton292 | |
| 13. Guides. | |
| Foster293 | Brook303 |
| Pall Mall294 | Leypoldt304 |
| Morley295 | Richardson305 |
| Welsh296 | Harrison306 |
| Taine297 | Ruskin307 |
| Botta298 | Bright308 |
| Allibone299 | Dunlop309 |
| Bartlett300 | Baldwin309 |
| Ballou301 | Adams309 |
| Bryant302 | |
| Palgrave302 | |
| Roget’s Thesaurus | |
| Dictionaries | |
| Encyclopædias | |
| 14. Miscellaneous. | |
| Smiles’ Self-Help310 | Sheking324 |
| Irving’s Sketch Book311 | Analects of Confucius325 |
| Bacon’s New Atlantis312 | Mesnevi326 |
| Bellamy313 | Buddhism327 |
| Arabian Nights314 | Mahabharata328 |
| Munchausen315 | Ramayana329 |
| Beowulf316 | Vedas330 |
| Anglo-Saxon Chronicle317 | Koran331 |
| Froissart318 | Talmud332 |
| Nibelungenlied319 | Hooker333 |
| Icelandic Sagas320 | Swedenborg333 |
| Elder Edda321 | Newton333 |
| The Cid322 | Kepler333 |
| Morte D’Arthur323 | Copernicus333 |