Author name not noted above: William Harrison. Translator name not noted above: Lord Berners. Originally published between 1909 and 1917 under the name "Harvard Classics," this stupendous 51-volume set-a collection of the greatest writings from literature, philosophy, history, and mythology-was assembled by American academic CHARLES WILLIAM ELIOT (1834-1926), Harvard University's longest-serving president. Also known as "Dr. Eliot's Five Foot Shelf," it represented Eliot's belief that a basic liberal education could be gleaned by reading from an anthology of works that could fit on five feet of bookshelf. Volume XXXV features essential works of the Renaissance in England and France: "Chronicles," by Frenchman JEAN FROISSART (c. 1337-c. 1405), documenting the causes and early battles of the Hundred Years War "The Holy Grail," by English writer SIR THOMAS MALORY (c. 1405-1471), selections from his legendary Morte d'Arthur "A Description of Elizabethan England," by English clergyman WILLIAM HARRISON (1534-1593), a vital source for understanding the world of William Shakespeare

Translator names not noted above: Mary L. Booth and Orlando W. Wight.Originally published between 1909 and 1917 under the name "Harvard Classics," this stupendous 51-volume set-a collection of the greatest writings from literature, philosophy, history, and mythology-was assembled by American academic CHARLES WILLIAM ELIOT (1834-1926), Harvard University's longest-serving president. Also known as "Dr. Eliot's Five Foot Shelf," it represented Eliot's belief that a basic liberal education could be gleaned by reading from an anthology of works that could fit on five feet of bookshelf.Volume XLVIII features three collections of the writings of French polymath BLAISE PASCAL (1623-1662): Thoughts, considered a great classic of religious writings, in which the former child prodigy mounts a sophisticated defense of his Catholic faith; Letters, to his friends and family as well as to the Swedish queen Christina; and Minor Works, including "Prayer, to Ask of God the Proper Use of Sickness," "Discourses on the Condition of the Great," "The Art of Persuasion," and more.

Originally published between 1909 and 1917 under the name "Harvard Classics," this stupendous 51-volume set-a collection of the greatest writings from literature, philosophy, history, and mythology-was assembled by American academic CHARLES WILLIAM ELIOT (1834-1926), Harvard University's longest-serving president. Also known as "Dr. Eliot's Five Foot Shelf," it represented Eliot's belief that a basic liberal education could be gleaned by reading from an anthology of works that could fit on five feet of bookshelf. Volume XLVI features four of the masterpiece tragedies by the greatest playwright in the English language-WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE (1564-1616)'s Hamlet, King Lear, Macbeth, and The Tempest, all written between 1599 and 1611. Also included in this volume is Edward the Second, a 1592 drama of court intrigue, by CHRISTOPHER MARLOWE (1564-1593), who greatly influenced Shakespeare's writing and who-some speculate-may actually have penned the plays credited to Shakespeare after faking his own death and taking on an assumed name.

Originally published between 1909 and 1917 under the name "Harvard Classics," this stupendous 51-volume set-a collection of the greatest writings from literature, philosophy, history, and mythology-was assembled by American academic CHARLES WILLIAM ELIOT (1834-1926), Harvard University's longest-serving president. Also known as "Dr. Eliot's Five Foot Shelf," it represented Eliot's belief that a basic liberal education could be gleaned by reading from an anthology of works that could fit on five feet of bookshelf. Volume V features two collections from American poet and philosopher RALPH WALDO EMERSON (1803-1882): Essays-on such topics as "The American Scholar," "Self-Reliance," "Friendship," "Heroism," and more-and English Traits, in which he examines the British character as gathered from his travels in England.

Originally published between 1909 and 1917 under the name "Harvard Classics," this stupendous 51-volume set-a collection of the greatest writings from literature, philosophy, history, and mythology-was assembled by American academic CHARLES WILLIAM ELIOT (1834-1926), Harvard University's longest-serving president. Also known as "Dr. Eliot's Five Foot Shelf," it represented Eliot's belief that a basic liberal education could be gleaned by reading from an anthology of works that could fit on five feet of bookshelf. Volume XLIII features the texts that are, quite literally, the foundational elements of the United States of America, from an account of the discovery of North America by Leif Ericsson and a letter from Christopher Columbus announcing his landing in the New World, to the Mayflower Compact and the Declaration of Independence, to Lincoln's Gettysburg Address and the treaty cementing the purchase of Alaska from Russia, to the 1904 convention between the U.S. and the Republic of Panama. Astonishing in their immediacy, these firsthand documents offer a condensed view of the political progress of the American people.

Originally published between 1909 and 1917 under the name "Harvard Classics," this stupendous 51-volume set-a collection of the greatest writings from literature, philosophy, history, and mythology-was assembled by American academic CHARLES WILLIAM ELIOT (1834-1926), Harvard University's longest-serving president. Also known as "Dr. Eliot's Five Foot Shelf," it represented Eliot's belief that a basic liberal education could be gleaned by reading from an anthology of works that could fit on five feet of bookshelf. Volume IV features all the verse written in the English language by English poet JOHN MILTON (1608-1674), including the essential Paradise Lost and Paradise Regained, plus "Song on May Morning," "Sonnet to the Nightingale," "The Passion," "To a Virtuous Young Lady," and others.

Originally published between 1909 and 1917 under the name "Harvard Classics," this stupendous 51-volume set-a collection of the greatest writings from literature, philosophy, history, and mythology-was assembled by American academic CHARLES WILLIAM ELIOT (1834-1926), Harvard University's longest-serving president. Also known as "Dr. Eliot's Five Foot Shelf," it represented Eliot's belief that a basic liberal education could be gleaned by reading from an anthology of works that could fit on five feet of bookshelf. Volume XLII is the third of three volumes that ambitiously survey half a milliennium of poetry in the English language. The 200 works by 40 19th-century British authors in this volume alone include: Alfred, Lord Tennyson: "The Lady of Shalott" William Makepeace Thackeray: "The End of the Play" Robert Browning: "The Lost Mistress" Emily Bronte: "Last Lines" Matthew Arnold: "To Marguerite" Charles Dickens: "The Ivy Green" Dante Gabriel Rossetti: "Silent Noon" Christina Georgina Rossetti: "Song" William Morris: "Prologue of the Earthly Paradise" Robert Louis Stevenson: "In the Highlands" Edgar Allan Poe: "The Raven" Ralph Waldo Emerson: "The Apology" Henry Wadsworth Longfellow: "The Rainy Day" Walt Whitman: "O Captain My Captain " and many more.

Originally published between 1909 and 1917 under the name "Harvard Classics," this stupendous 51-volume set-a collection of the greatest writings from literature, philosophy, history, and mythology-was assembled by American academic CHARLES WILLIAM ELIOT (1834-1926), Harvard University's longest-serving president. Also known as "Dr. Eliot's Five Foot Shelf," it represented Eliot's belief that a basic liberal education could be gleaned by reading from an anthology of works that could fit on five feet of bookshelf. Volume VI features the poems and songs of Scottish national poet ROBERT BURNS (1759-1796), whose lyrical and humanistic verse inspired the 19th-century Romantic poets and, in the 20th century, such diverse artists as novelist John Steinbeck and songwriter Bob Dylan. Included here are Burns's most famous works, such as "John Barleycorn: A Ballad," "To a Mouse," "A Red, Red Rose," "Auld Lang Syne," and many more. The work also includes a glossary of Scottish dialect.

Originally published between 1909 and 1917 under the name "Harvard Classics," this stupendous 51-volume set-a collection of the greatest writings from literature, philosophy, history, and mythology-was assembled by American academic CHARLES WILLIAM ELIOT (1834-1926), Harvard University's longest-serving president. Also known as "Dr. Eliot's Five Foot Shelf," it represented Eliot's belief that a basic liberal education could be gleaned by reading from an anthology of works that could fit on five feet of bookshelf. Volume XL is the first of three volumes that ambitiously survey half a milliennium of poetry in the English language. Almost 300 works by more than 75 authors in this volume alone span the 14th through 18th centuries, and include: Geoffrey Chaucer: "The Prologue to the Canterbury Tales" George Gascoigne: "A Lover's Lullaby" Sir Walter Raleigh: "His Pilgrimage" Sir Philip Sidney: "A Ditty" Edmund Spenser: "Rudely Thou Wrongest My Dear Heart's Desire" Christopher Marlowe: "The Passionate Shepherd to His Love" William Shakespeare: "O Mistress Mine" Thomas Campion: "Follow thy Fair Sun" Ben Jonson: "The Noble Nature" John Donne: "Stay, O Sweet" George Herbert: "The Elixir" Richard Lovelace: "To Lucasta, on Going to the Wars" Andrew Marvell: "Love Will Find Out the Way" John Dryden: "Song for St. Cecilia's Day" Alexander Pope: "On a Certain Lady at Court" Thomas Gray: "Elegy" as well as traditional ballads and numerous works by writers who remain anonymous to us today. Useful explanatory footnotes explain the meanings of obsolete and rare words, as well as those in dialect.