Great Books and Classics

Formarly The English Server, hosted by the English department at Carnegie-Mellon University. This site offers over twenty thousand 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 set a goal of giving away 10,000 E-texts each to one hundred million readers by 2001 - a total of one trillion files. Project Gutenberg's English-translation E-texts are carried on 15 servers worldwide. In addition, Projekt Gutenberg-DE carries German-language documents.

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This page contains links to the text of over 100 U.S. (and earlier) historical documents, from the Magna Carta (1215) to President George W. Bush's Inaugural Address.

[E-Text Collections]

[E-Text Indexes]

[Discussion Groups/Forums/Chat]

[Organizations]

[Other Links]

Great Books E-Text Indexes

freeliterature.org

Although this site does not link directly to online etexts, it has the largest collection of links to etext repositories and index sites that I've ever seen. Also hosts a digitization project to convert public domain texts to etexts. They are looking for volunteers to help with this work (hint, hint).

Ken Roberts' Great Books Index

Ken Roberts' site is an index of links to the Great Books (like this site), but also includes links to other resources for information about the various authors. He lists some authors I don't, and vice-versa. His site also hosts the Great Books Cafe discussion groups.

Malaspina Great Books

Loaded with resources about many classic works and their authors. If you want more than just the texts, this site is a must.

[E-Text Collections]

[E-Text Indexes]

[Discussion Groups/Forums/Chat]

[Organizations]

[Other Links]

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.

[E-Text Collections]

[E-Text Indexes]

[Discussion Groups/Forums/Chat]

[Organizations]

[Other Links]

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 (1/14/99) I counted nearly 100 chatrooms (and as many discussion groups), probably half of them on literature.

How Now, Great Books?

A blog/forum from Britannica which asks such questions as:

Are the "Great Books" really superior to secondary sources for understanding new topics and for teaching students today?
Why are the "classics" and "great works" of the West essential to democracy?
Can the "Great Books" really be taught at the community college level to students with little rigorous educational training?
Why don't the Brits have as strong a Great Books lobby as the U.S.?

Comments are welcome on all of the posts.

[E-Text Collections]

[E-Text Indexes]

[Discussion Groups/Forums/Chat]

[Organizations]

[Other Links]

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!).

Classic Novels - In 5 Minutes A Day!

Having trouble making time to read good literature? This service provides bite-size installments (about 1500-1800 words) of a classic novel by email every day. You can follow one novel through to the end, or switch to another at any time. Recent selections include Northanger Abbey by Jane Austen, Something New (Something Fresh) by P.G. Wodehouse, and Aesop's Fables.

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: "Gutenberg College's undergraduate program, which culminates in a Bachelor of Arts in Liberal Arts, offers a broad-based education in a unique environment. Our goal is to help students develop into mature adults who know how to live well�who have crafted a sound worldview, who have acquired the knowledge and skills to live productive and constructive lives, who are equipped to pursue truth."

[E-Text Collections]

[E-Text Indexes]

[Discussion Groups/Forums/Chat]

[Organizations]

[Other Links]