The Great Ideas A Syntopicon Two Volume Set 1952 Britannica Great Books Series Rare Book Gifts Books Great Books of the Western World

This is a very good set of two hardcovers. Encyclopedia Britannica 1952 Printing. This set of two volumes are very good inside and out given age. NOTE: Volume One has a 2" joint separation inside front cover, top edge. (see photo) But pages are still tight to binding as this is the only seen binding flaw. The inside pages show only light natural tanning from age and are very clean with no markings seen. The bindings are tight and straight. Grey hardcover boards feature gold title lettering spine and are very good overall with only light shelf wear mostly corners/edges. Medium octavo book size or 6.5" x 9.5" each.

Great Books of the Western World by Encyclopedia Britannica was originally published in 1952 as a 54 volume set. The idea of the series was to present great books of the western world that were relevant to contemporary matters with important historical content. They were intended to be part of a conversation about great ideas and literature. They were re-issued in 1990 in a 60 volume set with some titles added and some titles left out. The idea for the series began at the University of Chicago where a course was developed with the idea of a round table approach for reading and discussing great books. The purpose was to fill the gaps in education and afford a well-rounded intellect familiar with the great works of the Western Canon along with great ideas.
Initial reception was poor but the first sets were gifted to Queen Elizabeth ll of England and President Harry Truman. Time magazine did a piece on the set featuring Mortimer J. Adler, Editor in Chief, who was integral to the university course and the subsequent set of books. Soon, the popularity of the series soared. The series features works from ancient classics to modern masterpieces.


This set of two volumes is The Great Ideas Syntopicon Volume One and Two. The word syntopicon was coined from Neo-Latin and is translated as " a collection of topics". The two volume "syntopicon" lists under the ideas of the set where occurrence of the concept could be located in the collections works. In other words, they are a guide to each volume including bibliography of additional reading and the principles and methods of synoptical construction.

Thank you for visiting Bobbis Bookstore !!