Facts about The Harvard Classics

1. 06

   A companion 20-volume set called the Harvard Classics Shelf of Fiction was later issued to supplement the original anthology with prose fiction.

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2. 05

   Charles W. Eliot compiled the Harvard Classics after claiming in a speech that a five-foot shelf of books could provide a liberal education.

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3. 04

   Among the works included in the Harvard Classics is Charles Darwin's Origin of Species, alongside writings from Homer, Plato, and Shakespeare.

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4. 03

   Published in 1909 by Collier & Son, the Harvard Classics drew its texts from literature, philosophy, science, and history spanning ancient to modern times.

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5. 02

   Popularly nicknamed the Five-Foot Shelf, the Harvard Classics was marketed on the premise that a proper education could fit on a single shelf of that length.

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6. 01

   Edited by Charles W. Eliot, the Harvard Classics is a 51-volume anthology intended to provide a liberal education through daily reading.

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