The Editors Introduction: The Five Foot Shelf of Classics

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 Universitys longest-serving president. Also known as "Dr. Eliots Five Foot Shelf," it represented Eliots 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 Eliots introduction, a readers 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.