Journey through Harvard University president Charles Eliot’s “five-foot shelf” of classics. This collection, first published in the early 1900s, remains one of the most comprehensive and well-researched anthologies of all time. Making good on earlier claims that he could fit the elements of a liberal education on a five-foot shelf, Eliot gathered this collection of key works, together with English professor William Neilson—who selected editions and wrote introductions. The massive collection covers major literary figures, philosophers, theologians, folklore, and historical subjects through the end of the nineteenth century. Originally published as a 51-volume collection of classics, the rise of modernism prompted Dr. Eliot to create an additional 20-volume collection of fiction—“The Shelf of Fiction”—to supplement his first collection. These two collections come together to create The Harvard Classics and Fiction Collection (71 vols.). Among...

With nearly 5,000 texts spanning from 1640 to 1800, this library comprises the foundational documents and publications of colonial and revolutionary-era American culture.

Explore Benjamin Franklin’s autobiography and take a lively trip through his unique and eventful life. Virtually self-taught, Franklin excelled as an athlete, a man of letters, a printer, a scientist, a wit, an inventor, an editor, and a writer, and is one of the most successful diplomats in American history. Stylistically considered his best work, the text has become a classic in world literature. The Journal of John Woolman tells the powerful story of John Woolman’s life. Woolman was a seventeenth-century Quaker and abolitionist and his writing focuses on his moral, spiritual, and intellectual development. In particular, the journal depicts Woolman’s deep concern for equality and justice, and restoration in the world around him. He was an open advocate of abolition, and encouraged many to free their slaves. But his influence extended beyond the Quakers. This journal has been continuously published since 1774—a true testimony to the significance and impact of his life. In...

Teach and train the next generation with this library of resources devoted to helping young people become better grounded in Scripture and the classics. Build on the foundation laid by those who came before using digital tools that enhance the great deposit of the past.