All links verified on or after April 26, 2017
Great Books E-Text Collections
eserver.org
| Formerly The English Server; based at the College of LAS at Iowa State University. This site offers over 35,000 works covering a variety of interests (from art to philosophy to recipes and more). |
MIT Internet Classics Archive
| The Internet Classics Archive contains over 400 works (mostly Greek and Roman) from 59 different authors. Visitors may contribute to forum-style discussions of the various works. |
Project Gutenberg
| The granddaddy of the E-text sites, Project Gutenberg has over 53,000 free ebooks in multiple formats (including audiobooks) and languages. All texts are either in the public domain in the U.S., or the copyright holder has given permission for unlimited free non-commercial use. |
Bartleby.com
| Huge collection of Great Books and classic literature, including the entire Harvard Classics collection. |
Perseus Digital Library
| A project of Tufts University, their flagship collection covers the history, literature and culture of the Greco-Roman world. They also have a great deal of material from 19th century America, plus some Arabic, Germanic, and Renaissance works. |
Univ. of Okla. Law Center
| This page contains links to the text of over 100 U.S. (and earlier) historical documents, from the Magna Carta (1215) to President Barack Obama's 2012 State of the Union Address. |
Great Books Organizations
Center for the Study of the Great Ideas
|
The Center for the Study of the Great Ideas, founded by Dr. Mortimer Adler and Dr. Max Weismann, has two main purposes:
to "awaken citizens from their moral and intellectual slumbers and to understand why philosophy is everybody's
business;" and to "promulgate the insights and ideals embedded in Dr. Adler's lifelong intellectual work in the fields
of Philosophy, Liberal Education, Ethics and Politics." |
Great Books Foundation
|
The Great Books Foundation "is an independent, nonprofit educational organization whose mission is to provide people of
all ages with the opportunity to read, discuss, and learn from outstanding works of literature." Established in 1947,
the Foundation has helped thousands of people to begin their own Great Books discussion groups. |
Great Books Discussion Groups/Forums/Chat Rooms
Kill Devil Hill
| Kill Devil Hill has an eclectic grouping of forums and chat rooms for literature lovers. At last check I counted nearly 100 chatrooms (and as many discussion groups), probably half of them on literature. |
Other Links
Author's Calendar
| A gold mine of biographical information about over 1000 authors, from the famous to the totally obscure. Sorted by last name and birthday (hence, the "Calendar"), so you can see which authors share your birthday (or throw a birthday party for your favorite!). Just select "Authors' Calendar" from the left-side menu. |
Free Book Notes
| The site links to online study guides and summaries of books ancient, classic and modern, with over 150,000 resources linked covering more than 47,000 books. |
Great Books Guide
| A guide to not only the Great Books, but other classic literature as well as modern novels. Includes short reviews, synopses, interviews and profiles, a sugested reading list, and more. |
Gutenberg College
| From their website: "Our curriculum is based on the Great Books, and our classes are discussion-based and intimate. Our goal is to promote critical thinking and historical awareness by providing a broad-based liberal education in an environment respectful of biblical Christianity." |
Shmoop
| From their website: "Shmoop will make you a better lover (of literature, history, life). See many sides to the argument. Find your writing groove. Understand how lit and history are relevant today. We want to show your brain a good time. Our mission: To make learning and writing more fun and relevant for students in the digital age." |
(The Yoga Sutras) (c. 150 BC)Cicero (106-43 BC)Julius Caesar (100-44 BC)Titus Lucretius Carus (c. 95-55 BC)Virgil (70-19 BC)Horace (65-8 BC)Livy (59 BC-AD 17)Ovid (43 BC-AD 17)St. Clement of Rome (c. 30?-100?)Josephus (c. 38-100)Plutarch (c. 45-120)(New Testament) (c. 45?-95?)St. Ignatius of Antioch (c. 50?-116)Tacitus (c. 55-117)Epictetus (c. 60-120)Nicomachus of Gerasa (c. 60?-120?)(The Didache) (c. 100)(The Shepherd of Hermas) (c. 100)St. Justin Martyr (c. 100-165)Ptolemy (c. 100-178)Lucian (c. 115-180)Marcus Aurelius (121-180)St. Irenaeus of Lyons (c. 125-202)Galen (129 - c. 210)Tertullian (c. 155?-230?)Plotinus (205-270)Eusebius of Caesarea (c. 265-339)St. Athanasius (c. 297-373)St. John Chrysostom (c. 347-407)St. Augustine of Hippo (354-430)St. Benedict (c. 480-540)(The Quran) (c. 632)(Beowulf) (c. 725)(Tales from the 1001 Nights) (c. 850?)(The Destruction of Dá Derga's Hostel) (c. 900?; mss. c. 1100)Hakim Abol Qasem Ferdowsi Tousi (940-1020)Murasaki Shikibu (c. 973-1014?/1025?)