Essays, Civil And Moral & The New Atlantis By Francis Bacon; Aeropagitica & Tractate Of Education By John Milton; Religio Medici By Sir Thomas Browne

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 University's longest-serving president. Also known as "Dr. Eliot's Five Foot Shelf," it represented Eliot's 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 III features:

• Essays or Counsels--Civil and Moral and The New Atlantis, by English scientist and philosopher SIR FRANCIS BACON (1561-1626), the former the foundational writings of his development of the scientific method, and the latter his utopian novel that influenced British notions of science as a noble endeavor.

• Areopagitica and Tractate on Education, by English poet JOHN MILTON (1608-1674), respectively his tract against censorship and his ideas on educational reform; both helped modernize English society.

• Religio Medici, by English polymath SIR THOMAS BROWNE (1605-1682), one of the earliest personal memoirs that, as a psychological self-evaluation, would later influence Jung.