Great Books Reading Schedule

This is a seven-year program reading through two sets of books, both published by Encyclopedia Britannica:

-Great Books of the Western World (GBWW), 2nd ed (1990) - 60 volume set including what is considered by the editors to be the greatest works ever written by those in the Western tradition (up to first half of 20th century) on the following subjects:

      Yellow: Epic and dramatic poetry, satires & novels
      Blue: Histories, ethics, economics, politics & jurisprudence
      Green: Mathematics & natural sciences - astronomy, physics, chemistry,                                   biology, psychology
      Red: philosophy & theology

-Gateway to the Great Books (GGB) - 10 volume set, compendium to GBWW, includes smaller works by GBWW authors and other classic authors.  Intended to be "introductory" set to GBWW.

If you want to purchase these sets, they should cost between $100 and $250 for the GBWW and between $30 and $60 for the GGB.  They're both out of print (as far as I can tell) but you can find them on Ebay, Amazon, and your local used book store.  The money is really piddly though.  The real investment in the program is not the money spent on the books, it's the time.  Keep that in mind.  If money is really a problem, I'm trying to include links to online versions of the various texts in each post so you can read it for free.

This reading plan is a week-by-week schedule to read through 100% of these two sets over a seven year period.  While the reading sets are published by Encyclopedia Britannica, this is not the reading plan they describe (theirs is a ten-year reading plan that reads through less than 100% of the volumes).  This plan was put together by "Dr. J", a humanities professor that hosts the Western Tradition blog and we are shamelessly following along with his program instead of Britannica's because, well, it's a better plan.

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Year One Schedule
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Week 1 (January 1-6, 2013):
         “Letter to the Reader” and “Introduction” by Robert Hutchins (GGB Vol. 1, pp. 1-108)

Week 2 (January 7-13, 2013):
  1. “The Moral Obligation to Be Intelligent” by John Erskine (GGB Vol. 10, pp. 5-13)
  2. “How Should One Read a Book?” by Virginia Woolf (GGB Vol. 5, pp. 5-14)
  3. “Of the Study of History” by David Hume (GGB Vol. 7, pp. 89-92)
  4. “The Two Drovers” by Sir Walter Scott (GGB Vol. 2, pp. 182-205)
  5. “The Three Hermits” by Leo Tolstoy (GGB Vol. 3, pp. 700-706)
  6. “Mathematics, the Mirror of Civilization” by Lancelot Hogben (GGB Vol. 9, pp. 3-23; originally Chapter 1 of Mathematics for the Million)
Week 3 (January 14-20, 2013):
  1. “Of Truth” by Francis Bacon (GGB Vol. 10, pp. 346-347)
  2. “The Man That Corrupted Hadleyburg” by Mark Twain (GGB Vol. 2, pp. 346-386)
  3. The English Bill of Rights (1689) (GGB Vol. 6, pp. 409-411)
  4. “My First Play” by Charles Lamb (GGB Vol. 5, pp. 300-303)
  5. “The March to the Sea” by Xenophon (GGB Vol. 6, pp. 196-222; Book IV of The Persian Expedition)
  6. “The Sacred Beetle” by Jean-Henri Fabre (GGB Vol. 8, pp. 105-119; pp. 1-36 of The Sacred Beetle and Others)
Week 4 (January 21-27, 2013):
  1. “The Killers” by Ernest Hemingway (GGB Vol. 2, pp. 169-177)
  2. “Letter to Horace Greeley” by Abraham Lincoln (GGB Vol. 6, pp. 756-757)
  3. “The Making of Americans” by Jean de Crèvecouer (GGB Vol. 6, pp. 546-559; excerpted from Letters From an American Farmer; stop reading at the paragraph which ends, “Thus Europeans become Americans.”)
  4. “Of Persons One Would Wish to Have Seen” by William Hazlitt (GGB Vol. 5, pp. 284-295)
  5. “Michael Faraday” by John Tyndall (GGB Vol. 8, pp. 8-28; Chapters 1-3 of Faraday as a Discoverer)
  6. The Enchiridion by Epictetus (GGB Vol. 10, pp. 236-254)
Week 5 (January 28-February 3, 2013):
  1. “The Tell-Tale Heart” by Edgar Allan Poe (GGB Vol. 2, pp. 273-277)
  2. “The Lantern-bearers” by Robert Louis Stevenson (GGB Vol. 7, pp. 112-121)
  3. Meno by Plato (GBWW Vol. 6, pp. 174-190)
  4. “New Names for Old” by Edward Kasner and James R. Newman (GGB Vol. 9, pp. 121-136; from Mathematics and the Imagination)
  5. “The Land of Montezuma” by William H. Prescott (GGB Vol. 6, pp. 231-243; Book III, Chapter 8 of History of the Conquest of Mexico)
  6. “Self-Reliance” by Ralph Waldo Emerson (GGB Vol. 10, pp.525-545)
Week 6 (February 4-10, 2013):
  1. The Taming of the Shrew by William Shakespeare (GBWW Vol. 24, pp. 199-228)
  2. “Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen” (1789) (GGB Vol. 6, pp. 412-414)
  3. “Sketch of Abraham Lincoln” by Nathaniel Hawthorne (GGB Vol. 6, pp. 168-171; this passage is from Hawthorne’s essay “Chiefly About War Matters”; begin reading at the paragraph beginning “Of course, there was one other personage . . .” and stop at the end of paragraph that begins “Good heavens!”)
  4. “The Discovery of Radium” by Eve Curie (GGB Vol. 8, pp. 32-42; Chapter XII of Madame Curie)
  5. The Life of Gnaeus Julius Agricola by Cornelius Tacitus (GGB Vol. 6, pp. 274-298)
  6. On Friendship by Cicero (GGB Vol. 10, pp. 286-316)
Week 7 (February 11-17, 2013):
  1. “Mowgli’s Brothers” by Rudyard Kipling (GGB Vol. 2, pp. 126-141)
  2. “Learning the River” by Mark Twain (GGB Vol. 6, pp. 50-98; Chapters 1, 4, and 6-14 of Life on the Mississippi)
  3. “On Being the Right Size” by J.B.S. Haldane (GGB Vol. 8, pp. 149-154)
  4. “Contentment” by Plutarch (GGB Vol. 10, pp. 264-281)
  5. “Fingerprints” by Tobias Dantzig (GGB Vol. 9, pp. 165-177; Chapter 1 of Number–The Language of Science)
  6. Apology by Plato (GBWW Vol. 6, pp. 200-212)

Week 8 (February 18-24, 2013):
  1. The Odyssey of Homer, Books I-IV (GBWW Vol. 3, pp. 307-350)
  2. The “Gettysburg Address” by Abraham Lincoln (GGB Vol. 6, pp. 759)
  3. “Of Death” by Francis Bacon (GGB Vol. 10, pp. 348-349)
  4. “Beyond the Googol” by Edward Kasner and James Newman (GGB Vol. 9, pp. 137-162; Chapter 2 of Mathematics and the Imagination; this link does not contain the entire chapter, but I couldn’t find the full text anywhere online)
  5. “The Eruption of Vesuvius” by Pliny the Younger (GGB Vol. 6, pp. 264-270)
  6. On Old Age by Cicero (GGB Vol. 10, pp. 317-343)
Week 9 (February 25-March 3, 2013):
  1. The Odyssey of Homer, Books V-VIII (GBWW Vol. 3, pp. 350-383)
  2. The Virginia Declaration of Rights (1776) (GGB Vol. 6, pp. 415-417)
  3. “A Call to Patriots–December 23, 1776” by Thomas Paine (GGB Vol. 6, pp. 461-468; Crisis Papers number 1)
  4. Cosmic View by Kees Boeke (GGB Vol. 8, pp. 600-644; the link takes you to the first page of the book’s text, and you can proceed from there)
  5. “To the Reader” by Michel de Montaigne (GBWW Vol. 23, p. 49)
  6. “Montaigne; or, the Skeptic” by Ralph Waldo Emerson (GGB Vol. 10, pp. 546-562)
Week 10 (March 4-10, 2013):
  1. The Odyssey of Homer, Books IX-XII (GBWW Vol. 3, pp. 384-427)
  2. Crito by Plato (GBWW Vol. 6, pp. 213-219)
  3. “Observations on Mental Education” by Michael Faraday (GGB Vol. 7, pp. 208-232; the lecture begins on p. 39 of the linked file)
  4. “The Empty Column” by Tobias Dantzig (GGB Vol. 9, pp. 178-189; Chapter 2 of Number: The Language of Science)
  5. The New Atlantis by Francis Bacon (GBWW Vol. 28, pp. 199-214)
  6. “The Art of Life” by Walter Pater (GGB Vol. 10, pp. 258-261; the concluding section to The Renaissance)
Week 11 (March 11-17, 2013):
  1. The Odyssey of Homer, Books XIII-XVI (GBWW Vol. 3, pp. 427-456)
  2. The Declaration of Independence (GBWW Vol. 40, pp. 1-3)
  3. “Biographical Sketches” by Thomas Jefferson (GGB Vol. 6, pp. 522-526; note there are two links here to different letters by Jefferson in which he gives his reminiscences about Washington and Franklin; on the second link, begin reading at the heading “FRANKLIN, BENJAMIN / REFLECTIONS REGARDING “)
  4. Phaedo by Plato (GBWW Vol. 3, pp. 220-251)
  5. The Elements of Euclid, Book I (GBWW Vol. 10, pp. 1-29)
  6. “Second Inaugural Address” by Abraham Lincoln (GGB Vol. 6, pp. 760-761)
Week 12 (March 18-24, 2013):
  1. The Odyssey of Homer, Books XVII-XX (GBWW Vol. 3, pp. 457-505)
  2. The Articles of Confederation (GBWW Vol. 40, pp. 5-10)
  3. “Of Friendship” by Francis Bacon (GGB Vol. 10, pp. 353-358)
  4. “Circular Letter to the Governors of All the States on Disbanding the Army” by George Washington (GGB Vol. 6, pp. 474-483)
  5. The Elements of Euclid, Book II (GBWW Vol. 10, pp. 30-40)
  6. “Nature” by John Stuart Mill (GGB Vol. 10, pp. 477-508)
 Week 13 (March 25-31, 2013)
  1. The Odyssey of Homer, Books XXI-XXIV (GBWW Vol. 3, pp. 506-541)
  2. “Last Public Address” of Abraham Lincoln (GGB Vol. 6, pp. 762-765)
  3. “The Death of Abraham Lincoln” by Walt Whitman (GGB Vol. 6, pp. 174-183)
  4. “The Will to Believe” by William James (GGB Vol. 10, pp. 39-57)
  5. The Elements of Euclid, Book III (GBWW Vol. 10, pp. 41-66)
  6. “Of Idleness” by Montaigne (GBWW Vol. 23, pp. 61-62)
Week 14 (April 1-7, 2013)
  1. “Of Love” by Francis Bacon (GBB Vol. 10, pp. 351-352)
  2. The Constitution of the United States (GBWW Vol. 40, pp. 11-21)
  3. Federalist #1-#5 (GBWW Vol. 40, pp. 29-38)
  4. The Doctor in Spite of Himself by Moliére (GBB Vol. 4, pp. 52-81)
  5. The Elements of Euclid, Book IV (GBWW Vol. 10, pp. 67-80)
  6. Discourse on Method by René Descartes (GBWW Vol. 28, pp. 265-291)
Week 15 (April 8-14, 2013)
  1. “The Open Boat” by Stephen Crane (GGB Vol. 3, pp. 5-26)
  2. “On the Feeling of Immortality in Youth” by William Hazlitt (GGB Vol. 10, pp. 565-570)
  3. “Of the Education of Children” by Montaigne (GBWW Vol. 23, pp. 115-132)
  4. Federalist #6-10 (GBWW Vol. 40, pp. 38-53)
  5. The Elements of Euclid, Book V (GBWW Vol. 10, pp. 81-98)
  6. The Confessions of St. Augustine, Books I-III (GBWW Vol. 16, pp. 1-24)
Week 16 (April 15-21, 2013)
  1. “The Legend of St. Julian the Hospitaller” by Gustave Flaubert (GGB Vol. 3, pp. 371-392)
  2. “Theseus” by Plutarch (GBWW Vol. 13, pp. 1-15)
  3. “Of Anger” by Francis Bacon (GGB Vol. 10, pp. 359-360)
  4. Federalist #11-14 (GBWW Vol. 40, pp. 53-62)
  5. The Elements of Euclid, Book VI (GBWW Vol. 10, pp. 99-126)
  6. The Confessions of St. Augustine, Books IV-VI (GBWW Vol. 16, pp. 24-54)
Week 17 (April 22-28, 2013)
  1. “What Men Live By” by Leo Tolstoy (GGB Vol. 3, pp. 707-727)
  2. “Romulus” by Plutarch (GBWW Vol. 13, pp. 15-30)
  3. “Romulus and Theseus Compared” by Plutarch (GBWW Vol. 13, pp. 30-31)
  4. Federalist #15-20 (GBWW Vol. 43, pp. 62-78)
  5. The Elements of Euclid, Book VII (GBWW Vol. 10, pp. 127-149)
  6. The Confessions of St. Augustine, Books VII-IX (GBWW, Vol. 16, pp. 54-90)
Week 18 (April 29-May 5, 2013)
  1. Julius Caesar by William Shakespeare (GBWW Vol. 24, pp. 568-596)
  2. “The Way to Write History” by Lucian (GGB Vol. 6, pp. 387-406)
  3. “Of Adversity” by Francis Bacon (GGB Vol. 10, p. 350)
  4. Federalist #21-23 (GBWW Vol. 40, pp. 78-87; Anti-Federalist responses are here.)
  5. The Elements of Euclid, Vol. VIII (GBWW Vol. 10, pp. 150-170)
  6. The Confessions of St. Augustine, Book X (GBWW Vol. 16, pp. 90-112)
Week 19 (May 6-12, 2013)
  1. Robinson Crusoe by Daniel Defoe, Chapters I-IV* (GGB Vol. 2, pp. 5-37)
  2. The Hippocratic Oath (GBWW Vol. 9, p. xiii)
  3. “Thoreau” by Ralph Waldo Emerson (GGB Vol. 6, pp. 150-165)
  4. Federalist #24-25 (GBWW Vol. 40, pp. 87-91)
  5. The Elements of Euclid, Book IX (GGBW Vol. 10, pp. 171-190)
  6. The Confessions of St. Augustine, Books XI-XII (GBWW Vol. 16, pp. 112-140)
Week 20 (May 13-19, 2013)
  1. Robinson Crusoe by Daniel Defoe, Chapters V-VII* (GGB Vol. 2, pp. 37-39)
  2. The Histories of Herodotus, Book I (GBWW Vol. 5, pp. 1-48)
  3. “Dream Children, a Reverie” by Charles Lamb (GGB Vol. 6, pp. 150-165)
  4. Federalist #26-28 (GBWW Vol. 40, pp. 92-98)
  5. The Elements of Euclid, Book X, Part I (GGBW Vol. 10, pp. 191-229)
  6. The Confessions of St. Augustine, Books XIII (GBWW Vol. 16, pp. 140-159)
Week 21 (May 20-26, 2013)
  1. Robinson Crusoe by Daniel Defoe, Chapters VIII-X* (GGB Vol. 2, pp. 39-61)
  2. The Histories of Herodotus, Book II (GBWW Vol. 5, pp. 49-88)
  3. “The Masque of the Red Death” by Edgar Allan Poe (GGB Vol. 2, pp. 278-283)
  4. Federalist #29 (GBWW Vol. 40, pp. 98-101; Antifederalist responses are here)
  5. The Elements of Euclid, Book X, Part II (GGBW Vol. 10, pp. 229-264)
  6. “Letter to Menoeceus” by Epicurus (GGB Vol. 10, pp. 230-233)
Week 22 (May 22-June 2, 2013)
  1. Robinson Crusoe by Daniel Defoe, Chapters XI-XIII* (GGB Vol. 2, pp. 61-67)
  2. The Histories of Herodotus, Book III (GBWW Vol. 5, pp. 89-123)
  3. “Two Friends” by Guy de Maupassant (GGB Vol. 2, pp. 159-164)
  4. Federalist #30-36 (GBWW Vol. 40, pp. 101-117; Antifederalist responses are here)
  5. The Elements of Euclid, Book X, Part III (GGBW Vol. 10, pp. 264-300)
  6. “Immortality” by Sir Thomas Browne (GGB Vol. 10, pp. 575-580)
Week 23 (June 3-9, 2013)
  1. Robinson Crusoe by Daniel Defoe, Chapters XIV* (GGB Vol. 2, pp. 67-80)
  2. The Histories of Herodotus, Book IV (GBWW Vol. 5, pp. 124-159)
  3. “The Happy Prince” by Oscar Wilde (GGB Vol. 2, pp. 261-268)
  4. Federalist #37-38 (GBWW Vol. 40, pp. 117-125; Antifederalist responses are here)
  5. The Elements of Euclid, Book XI (GGBW Vol. 10, pp. 301-337)
  6. “Nature” by Ralph Waldo Emerson (GGB Vol. 10, pp. 512-524)
Week 24 (June 10-16, 2013)
  1. Robinson Crusoe by Daniel Defoe, Chapter XV* (GGB Vol. 2, pp. 80-90)
  2. The Histories of Herodotus, Book V (GBWW Vol. 5, pp. 160-185)
  3. “The Battle with the Cannon” by Victor Hugo (GGB Vol. 2, pp. 146-154; excerpt from Ninety-Three: Part I, Book II, Chapters IV-VI)
  4. Federalist #39-40 (GBWW Vol. 40, pp. 125-132; Antifederalist responses are here)
  5. The Elements of Euclid, Book XII (GGBW Vol. 10, pp. 338-368)
  6. “The Ethics of Belief” by William Clifford (GGB Vol. 10, pp. 16-36)
Week 25 (June 17-23, 2013)
  1. Robinson Crusoe by Daniel Defoe, Chapter XVI* (GGB Vol. 2, pp. 91-105)
  2. The Histories of Herodotus, Book VI (GBWW Vol. 5, pp. 186-313)
  3. “Of Discourse” by Francis Bacon (GGB Vol. 5, pp. 95-96)
  4. Federalist #41 (GBWW Vol. 40, pp. 132-136; Antifederalist responses are here)
  5. The Elements of Euclid, Book XIII (GGBW Vol. 10, pp. 369-396)
  6. Symposium by Plato (GBWW Vol. 6, pp. 149-173)
Week 26 (June 24-30, 2013)
  1. Robinson Crusoe by Daniel Defoe, Chapter XVII* (GGB Vol. 2, pp. 105-113)
  2. The Histories of Herodotus, Book VII (GBWW Vol. 5, pp. 314-359)
  3. “The Rocking-Horse Winner” by D.H. Lawrence (GGB Vol. 3, pp. 512-525)
  4. Federalist #42 (GBWW Vol. 40, pp. 136-139; Antifederalist responses are here)
  5. “On Time”by Loren Eiseley (GGB Vol. 8, pp. 123-129; essay from The Immense Journey)
  6. “Lucretius” by George Santayana (GGB Vol. 10, pp. 365-390; Ch. 2 of Three Philosophical Poets)
Week 27 (July 1-7, 2013)
  1. Robinson Crusoe by Daniel Defoe, Chapter XVIII-XX* (GGB Vol. 2, pp. 113-121)
  2. The Histories of Herodotus, Book VIII (GBWW Vol. 5, pp. 360-387)
  3. Plato’s Republic, Book I (GBWW Vol. 6, pp. 295-310)
  4. Federalist #43 (GBWW Vol. 40, pp. 139-144; Antifederalist responses are here)
  5. “The Sand-Reckoner” by Archimedes (GBWW Vol. 10, pp. 520-526)
  6. “Goethe’s Faust” by George Santayana (GGB Vol. 10, pp. 391-419; Ch. 4 of Three Philosophical Poets)
Week 28 (July 8-14, 2013)
  1. The Tempest by William Shakespeare (GBWW Vol. 25, pp. 524-548)
  2. The Histories of Herodotus, Book IX (GBWW Vol. 5, pp. 388-416)
  3. Plato’s Republic, Book II (GBWW Vol. 6, pp. 310-324)
  4. Federalist #44 (GBWW Vol. 40, pp. 144-147; Antifederalist responses are here)
  5. “The Sphinx” by Francis Bacon (GGB Vol. 8, pp. 2-4)
  6. How We Think by John Dewey, Chapter I (GGB Vol. 10, pp. 93-106)
Week 29 (July 15-21, 2013)
  1. The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson  (GGB Vol. 2, pp. 288-341)
  2. “Resolutions when I Come to Be Old” by Jonathan Swift (GGB Vol. 7, p. 42)
  3. Plato’s Republic, Book III (GBWW Vol. 6, pp. 325-342)
  4. Federalist #45 (GBWW Vol. 40, pp. 147-150; Antifederalist responses are here)
  5. “The Sunless Sea” by Rachel Carson (GGB Vol. 8, pp. 132-146; Chapter 4 of The Sea Around Us)
  6. How We Think by John Dewey, Chapter II (GGB Vol. 10, pp. 101-114)
Week 30 (July 22-28, 2013)
  1. Billy Budd, Sailor (An Inside Narrative) by Herman Melville  (GGB Vol. 3, pp. 31-98)
  2. “Meditation on the Divine Will” by Abraham Lincoln (GGB Vol. 6, p. 758)
  3. Plato’s Republic, Book IV (GBWW Vol. 6, pp. 342-356)
  4. Federalist #46 (GBWW Vol. 40, pp. 150-153; Antifederalist responses are here)
  5. “A Laboratory of the Open Fields” by Jean-Henri Fabre (GGB Vol. 8, pp. 97-104)
  6. How We Think by John Dewey, Chapter VII (GGB Vol. 10, pp. 113-124)
Week 31 (July 29-August 4, 2013)
  1. The Man of Destiny by George Bernard Shaw  (GGB Vol. 4, pp. 300-338)
  2. “A Meditation upon a Broomstick” by Jonathan Swift (GGB Vol. 7, p. 40-41)
  3. Plato’s Republic, Book V (GBWW Vol. 6, pp. 356-373)
  4. Federalist #47 (GBWW Vol. 40, pp. 153-156; Antifederalist responses are here)
  5. “The Starry Messenger” by Galileo Galilei (GGB Vol. 8, pp. 330-355)
  6. How We Think by John Dewey, Chapter VIII (GGB Vol. 10, pp. 124-132)
Week 32 (August 5-11, 2013)
  1. Animal Farm by George Orwell, Chapters I-V  (GBWW Vol. 60, pp. 477-496)
  2. “Themistocles” by Plutarch (GBWW Vol. 13, pp. 88-102)
  3. Plato’s Republic, Book VI (GBWW Vol. 6, pp. 373-388)
  4. Federalist #48 (GBWW Vol. 40, pp. 156-159; Antifederalist responses are here)
  5. “Mathematics in Life and Thought” by Andrew Forsyth (GGB Vol. 9, pp. 26-46)
  6. How We Think by John Dewey, Chapter IX (GGB Vol. 10, pp. 132-143)
Week 33 (August 12-18, 2013)
  1. Animal Farm by George Orwell, Chapters VI-X  (GBWW Vol. 60, pp. 496-524)
  2. “Of Democritus and Heraclitus” by Montaigne (GBWW Vol. 23, pp. 186-187)
  3. Plato’s Republic, Book VII (GBWW Vol. 6, pp. 388-401)
  4. Federalist #49-50 (GBWW Vol. 40, pp. 159-162)
  5. The Autobiography of Charles Darwin (GGB Vol. 8, pp. 47-93)
  6. How We Think by John Dewey, Chapter X-XII (GGB Vol. 10, pp. 143-169)

Week 34 (August 19-25, 2013)
  1. The Iliad of Homer, Books I-III  (GBWW Vol. 3, pp. 1-38)
  2. “Of Bashfulness” by Plutarch (GGB Vol. 7, pp. 97-109)
  3. Plato’s Republic, Book VIII (GBWW Vol. 6, pp. 401-416)
  4. Federalist #51 (GBWW Vol. 40, pp. 162-165)
  5. “The Running Down of the Universe”by Sir Arthur Eddington  (GGB Vol. 8, pp. 565-580; Chapter 4 of The Nature of the Physical World)
  6. How We Think by John Dewey, Chapter XIV-XV (GGB Vol. 10, pp. 169-185)

Week 35 (August 26-September 1, 2013)
  1. The Iliad of Homer, Books IV-VI  (GBWW Vol. 3, pp. 38-77)
  2. “Of Youth and Age” by Francis Bacon (GGB Vol. 7, pp. 3-4)
  3. Plato’s Republic, Book IX (GBWW Vol. 6, pp. 416-427)
  4. Federalist #52-53 (GBWW Vol. 40, pp. 165-169)
  5. “Mathematical Creation“by Henri Poincaré (GGB Vol. 9, pp. 294-304; Chapter 3 of Science and Method)
  6. How We Think by John Dewey, Chapter XVI-XVII (GGB Vol. 10, pp. 185-205)

Week 36 (September 2-8, 2013)
  1. The Iliad of Homer, Books VII-IX  (GBWW Vol. 3, pp. 77-111)
  2. “Of Experience” by Michel de Montaigne (GBWW Vol. 23, pp. 559-587)
  3. Plato’s Republic, Book X (GBWW Vol. 6, pp. 427-441)
  4. Federalist #54 (GBWW Vol. 40, pp. 170-172)
  5. “On a Piece of Chalk“by Thomas H. Huxley (GGB Vol. 8, pp. 205-222)
  6. How We Think by John Dewey, Chapter XIX (GGB Vol. 10, pp. 205-213)

Week 37 (September 9-15, 2013)
  1. The Iliad of Homer, Books X-XII  (GBWW Vol. 3, pp. 111-148)
  2. “A Modest Proposal” by Jonathan Swift (GGB Vol. 7, pp. 42-49)
  3. “Characters” by Jean de la Bruyère (GGB Vol. 6, pp. 102-105; Adler excerpts the following entries: I.24, V.43, VI.18, VI.83, X.11)
  4. Federalist #55-56 (GBWW Vol. 40, pp. 172-176)
  5. “On Mathematical Method“by Alfred N. Whitehead (GGB Vol. 9, pp. 51-67; Chapters I-III of An Introduction to Mathematics)
  6. “The Sentiment of Rationality” by William James (GGB Vol. 10, pp. 58-87)

Week 38 (September 16-22, 2013)
  1. The Iliad of Homer, Books XIII-XV  (GBWW Vol. 3, pp. 148-189)
  2. “Camillus” by Plutarch (GBWW Vol. 13, pp. 102-121)
  3. Second Treatise on Civil Government by John Locke, Ch. I-IV (GBWW Vol. 33, pp. 25-30)
  4. Federalist #57 (GBWW Vol. 40, pp. 176-179)
  5. “Beginnings and Endings”by Sir James Jeans (GGB Vol. 8, pp. 585-596; Chapter VII of The Universe Around Us)
  6. “The Philosophy of Common Sense” by Voltaire (GGB Vol. 10, pp. 453-474)

Week 39 (September 23-29, 2013)
  1. The Iliad of Homer, Books XVI-XVIII  (GBWW Vol. 3, pp. 189-233)
  2. “On Education” by Arthur Schopenhauer (GGB Vol. 7, pp. 197-203)
  3. Second Treatise on Civil Government by John Locke, Ch. V-VI (GBWW Vol. 33, pp. 30-42)
  4. Federalist #58 (GBWW Vol. 40, pp. 179-182)
  5. “The Chemical History of a Candle” by Michael Faraday, Lectures I-II (GGB Vol. 8, pp. 368-390)
  6. The Way Things Are (or On the Nature of Things) by Lucretius, Book I (GBWW Vol. 11, pp. 1-15)

Week 40 (September 30-October 6, 2013)
  1. The Iliad of Homer, Books XIX-XXI  (GBWW Vol. 3, pp. 233-263)
  2. On War by Karl von Clausewitz, Ch. I (GGB Vol. 7, pp. 479-497)
  3. Second Treatise on Civil Government by John Locke, Ch. VII-IX (GBWW Vol. 33, pp. 42-54)
  4. Federalist #59-61 (GBWW Vol. 40, pp. 182-188)
  5. “The Chemical History of a Candle” by Michael Faraday, Lectures III-IV (GGB Vol. 8, pp. 390-414)
  6. The Way Things Are (or On the Nature of Things) by Lucretius, Book II (GBWW Vol. 11, pp. 15-30)

Week 41 (October 7-13, 2013)
  1. The Iliad of Homer, Books XXII-XXIV  (GBWW Vol. 3, pp. 263-306)
  2. “Address at Cooper Institute” by Abraham Lincoln (GGB Vol. 6, pp. 737-746)
  3. Second Treatise on Civil Government by John Locke, Ch. X-XV (GBWW Vol. 33, pp. 55-65)
  4. Federalist #62-63 (GBWW Vol. 40, pp. 188-195)
  5. “The Chemical History of a Candle” by Michael Faraday, Lectures V-VI (GGB Vol. 8, pp. 414-439)
  6. The Way Things Are (or On the Nature of Things) by Lucretius, Book III (GBWW Vol. 11, pp. 30-43)

Week 42 (October 14-20, 2013)
  1. “White Nights” by Fyodor Dostoevsky  (GGB Vol. 3, pp. 276-319)
  2. “The Character of Socrates” by Xenophon (GGB Vol. 6, pp. 223-226; Book IV, Chapters VII-VIII of Memorabilia)
  3. Second Treatise on Civil Government by John Locke, Ch. XVI-XIX (GBWW Vol. 33, pp. 65-81)
  4. Federalist #64-65 (GBWW Vol. 40, pp. 195-200)
  5. “On Ancient Medicine” by Hippocrates (GBWW Vol. 9, pp. 1-17)
  6. The Way Things Are (or On the Nature of Things) by Lucretius, Book IV (GBWW Vol. 11, pp. 43-58)

Week 43 (October 21-27, 2013)
  1. The Emperor Jones by Eugene O’Neill  (GGB Vol. 4, pp. 357-382)
  2. “A Plea for Captain John Brown” by Henry David Thoreau (GGB Vol. 6, pp. 714-732)
  3. “Letter to Herodotus” by Epicurus (GGB Vol. 10, pp. 216-229)
  4. Federalist #66 (GBWW Vol. 40, pp. 200-203)
  5. An Anatomical Disquisition on the Motion of the Heart and Blood in Animals by William Harvey, Introduction-Chapter V (GBWW Vol. 26, pp. 267-280)
  6. The Way Things Are (or On the Nature of Things) by Lucretius, Book V (GBWW Vol. 11, pp. 58-77)
Week 44 (October 28-November 3, 2013)
  1. “The Lifted Veil” by George Eliot  (GGB Vol. 3, pp. 157-193)
  2. “Pericles” by Plutarch (GBWW Vol. 13, pp. 121-141)
  3. “A Letter Concerning Toleration” by John Locke (GBWW Vol. 33, pp. 1-22)
  4. Federalist #67-69 (GBWW Vol. 40, pp. 203-210)
  5. An Anatomical Disquisition on the Motion of the Heart and Blood in Animals by William Harvey, Chapters VI-XI (GBWW Vol. 26, pp. 280-292)
  6. The Way Things Are (or On the Nature of Things) by Lucretius, Book VI (GBWW Vol. 11, pp. 77-91)
Week 45 (November 4-10, 2013)
  1. The Merchant of Venice by William Shakespeare  (GBWW Vol. 24, pp. 406-433)
  2. “Fabius” by Plutarch (GBWW Vol. 13, pp. 141-154)
  3. “The Study of Mathematics” by Bertrand Russell (GGB Vol. 9, pp. 84-94)
  4. Federalist #70-74 (GBWW Vol. 40, pp. 210-222)
  5. An Anatomical Disquisition on the Motion of the Heart and Blood in Animals by William Harvey, Chapters XII-XVII (GBWW Vol. 26, pp. 292-304)
  6. Protagoras by Plato (GBWW Vol. 6, pp. 38-64)
    Week 46 (November 11-17, 2013)
    1. Moby Dick by Herman Melville, Ch. 1-15  (GBWW Vol. 48, pp. 1-31)
    2. “Fabius and Pericles Compared” by Plutarch (GBWW Vol. 13, pp. 154-155)
    3. “The Energies of Men” by William James (GGB Vol. 7, pp. 157-170)
    4. Federalist #75-77 (GBWW Vol. 40, pp. 222-229)
    5. On the Loadstone and Magnetic Bodies by William Gilbert, Preface and Book I (GBWW Vol. 26, pp. 1-25)
    6. “Thomas Aquinas” by Henry Adams (GGB Vol. 10, pp. 422-461)
     Week 47 (November 18-24, 2013)
    1. Moby Dick by Herman Melville, Ch. 16-22  (GBWW Vol. 48, pp. 31-48)
    2. “Letter to the Sheriffs of Bristol” by Edmund Burke (GGB Vol. 7, pp. 237-271)
    3. An Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding by David Hume, Sections I-III (GBWW Vol. 33, pp. 451-458)
    4. Federalist #78-79 (GBWW Vol. 40, pp. 229-234)
    5. On the Loadstone and Magnetic Bodies by William Gilbert, Book II, Chapters 1-7 (GBWW Vol. 26, pp. 26-43)
    6. The Politics of Aristotle, Book I (GBWW Vol. 8, pp. 445-455)
    Week 48 (November 25-December 1, 2013)
    1. Moby Dick by Herman Melville, Ch. 23-39  (GBWW Vol. 48, pp. 48-77)
    2. “The Power Within Us” by Haniel Long (GGB Vol. 6, pp. 246-261)
    3. An Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding by David Hume, Sections IV-VII (GBWW Vol. 33, pp. 458-478)
    4. Federalist #80-81 (GBWW Vol. 40, pp. 234-242)
    5. On the Loadstone and Magnetic Bodies by William Gilbert, Book II, Chapters 8-39 (GBWW Vol. 26, pp. 43-59)
    6. The Politics of Aristotle, Book II (GBWW Vol. 8, pp. 455-471) 
    Week 49 (December 2-8, 2013)
    1. Moby Dick by Herman Melville, Ch. 40-54  (GBWW Vol. 48, pp. 78-120)
    2. “Farewell Address” by George Washington (GGB Vol. 6, pp. 484-497)
    3. An Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding by David Hume, Sections VIII-IX (GBWW Vol. 33, pp. 478-488)
    4. Federalist #82-83 (GBWW Vol. 40, pp. 242-251)
    5. On the Loadstone and Magnetic Bodies by William Gilbert, Book III (GBWW Vol. 26, pp. 60-76)
    6. The Politics of Aristotle, Book III (GBWW Vol. 8, pp. 471-487)
    Week 50 (December 9-15, 2013)
    1. Moby Dick by Herman Melville, Ch. 55-75  (GBWW Vol. 48, pp. 120-154)
    2. “First Inaugural Address” by Abraham Lincoln (GGB Vol. 6, pp. 747-755)
    3. An Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding by David Hume, Sections X-XII (GBWW Vol. 33, pp. 488-509)
    4. Federalist #84-85 (GBWW Vol. 40, pp. 251-259)
    5. On the Loadstone and Magnetic Bodies by William Gilbert, Book IV (GBWW Vol. 26, pp. 77-91)
    6. The Politics of Aristotle, Book IV (GBWW Vol. 8, pp. 487-502)
    Week 51 (December 16-22, 2013)
    1. Moby Dick by Herman Melville, Ch. 76-92  (GBWW Vol. 48, pp. 154-188)
    2. “The Virginia Constitution” by Thomas Jefferson (GGB Vol. 6, pp. 502-517; Query 13 of Notes on Virginia)
    3. “Geological Evolution” by Sir Charles Lyell (GGB Vol. 8, pp. 319-324; Principles of Geology Vol. III, Ch. I)
    4. “Of Cannibals” by Michel de Montaigne (GBWW Vol. 23, pp. 143-149)
    5. On the Loadstone and Magnetic Bodies by William Gilbert, Book V (GBWW Vol. 26, pp. 92-105)
    6. The Politics of Aristotle, Book V (GBWW Vol. 8, pp. 502-519)
    Week 52 (December 23-29, 2013)
    1. Moby Dick by Herman Melville, Ch. 93-101  (GBWW Vol. 48, pp. 188-204)
    2. “The United States in 1800” by Henry Adams (GGB Vol. 6, pp. 322-359; Vol. I, Ch. I and VI of History of the United States of America During the Administrations of Thomas Jefferson)
    3. Rules for the Direction of the Mind by René Descartes, I-XI (GBWW Vol. 28, pp. 223-240; Here is a volume containing the entire text.)
    4. “Sanity of True Genius” by Charles Lamb (GBB Vol. 5, pp. 308-310)
    5. On the Loadstone and Magnetic Bodies by William Gilbert, Book VI (GBWW Vol. 26, pp. 106-121)
    6. The Politics of Aristotle, Book VI (GBWW Vol. 8, pp. 520-526)

    ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Year Two Schedule
    ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Week 1 (December 30, 2013 - January 5, 2014)
    1. Moby Dick by Herman Melville, Ch. 102-132  (GBWW Vol. 48, pp. 204-246)
    2. “Of Repentance” by Michel de Montaigne (GBWW Vol. 23, pp. 429-436)
    3. Rules for the Direction of the Mind by René Descartes, XII-XVI (GBWW Vol. 28, pp. 240-257;  Here is a volume containing the entire text.)
    4. “Of Seditions and Troubles” by Francis Bacon (GGB Vol. 7, pp. 12-17)
    5. “Probability” by Pierre Simon de Laplace (GGB Vol. 9, pp. 325-338; Chapters I-IV of A Philosophical Essay on Probability)
    6. The Politics of Aristotle, Book VII (GBWW Vol. 8, pp. 527-542)

    6 comments:

    1. UnknownJune 22, 2014 at 5:24 PM

      This comment has been removed by the author.

      ReplyDelete
    2. UnknownOctober 24, 2014 at 6:34 PM

      Is there another living person out there? I want to print out the second year and am having a hard time. I don't want to get invested in this plan only to have it taken down.

      ReplyDelete
    3. MarkJanuary 2, 2015 at 2:26 PM

      I just came across this website. I am interested, too. Please respond if there is anyone out there.

      ReplyDelete
    4. LaDonnaAugust 18, 2015 at 12:47 PM

      Original author of this list... https://westerntradition.wordpress.com/great-books-project/great-books-project-post-index/

      ReplyDelete
    5. UnknownSeptember 15, 2018 at 9:53 AM

      Part of the list is missing

      ReplyDelete
    6. AnonymousMarch 28, 2023 at 1:54 PM

      Did the list end because it completes the reading of the books? In my search for a reading plan this one looks to be the most interesting and comprehensive so I am excited to start even though it is so much later than everyone else

      ReplyDelete

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