The Editor's Introduction

Download or read book The Editor's Introduction written by Charles W. Eliot and published by Cosimo, Inc.. This book was released on 2010-01-01 with total page 486 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: 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 L features Eliot's introduction, a reader's guide, and the complete indexes for the entire collection: an index to the first lines of every piece of verse, a general index, and a chronological index.