Gateway to the Great Books [10 Volume Set]

by Robert Maynard Hutchins (editor), Mortimer J. Adler (Editor), Fred Steffen (Illustrator)

Gateway to the Great Books [3,4,7,8,9 Volume Set] Britannica
Volume 3:Imaginative Literature
Volume 4:Imaginative Literature
Volume 7: Man and Society
Volume 8 Natural Science
Volume 9 Mathematics

Genres: Classics, Literature, Philosophy, Anthologies, Nonfiction

Hardcover

First published January 1, 1963

About the author

Robert Maynard Hutchins (LL.B., Yale Law School, 1925; B.A., Yale University, 1921) was an educational philosopher, dean of Yale Law School (1927-1929), and president (1929–1945) and chancellor (1945–1951) of the University of Chicago.

While he was president of the University of Chicago, Hutchins implemented wide-ranging and controversial reforms of the University, including the elimination of varsity football. The most far-reaching reforms involved the undergraduate College of the University of Chicago, which was retooled into a novel pedagogical system built on Great Books, Socratic dialogue, comprehensive examinations and early entrance to college. Although the substance of this Hutchins Plan was abandoned by the University shortly after Hutchins resigned in 1951, an adapted version of the program survives at Shimer College in Chicago.

Editor-in-Chief of Great Books of the Western World and Gateway to the Great Books; co-editor of The Great Ideas Today; Chairman of the Board of Editors of Encyclopædia Britannica (1943-1974).
He was the husband of novelist Maude Hutchins.

Reviews

[Jason Jewell · Rating 5 out of 5]

I began reading through both this series and the 60-volume Great Books of the Western World series in January 2011. I track my progress and make weekly commentary at my blog devoted to the project: http://throughthegreatbooks.wordpress...

[Blake Byrd · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a fine introduction to the Great Books.

I started what I call ¡powerPerusing! (reading well) about 30 years ago. Now (2021) I’m 68 years old. The Gateway to the Great Books set has served as my introduction to a lifetime of reading.

The first volume explains how to approach any book worth reading. For example, poetry should be heard recited aloud, drama should be seen performed on the stage. Many tales of imaginative literature can be enjoyed on the first reading and are always worth returning to. Essays should be read and discussed so that the reader has a chance to understand and learn.

The reader’s goals should include coming to terms with the author, discovering how the author achieved the goal, inquiring into the truth of the writing, responding to the piece’s truth and criticizing the success of the work.

Along the way, I picked up an Associate of Arts Degree in Liberal Arts and a Bachelor of Arts Degree in English Literature. I found that it is never too late to get an education.

In my life, the work I’ve found most satisfying has been tutoring.

I’m truly grateful to others who read these books. Young or old, it’s always a pleasure to read and discuss reading with friends.

[Jennifer]

Starting to slowly make my way through this series along with the great books series I just got off of ebay.

[Eric Walter · Rating 4 out of 5]

Completed Volume 1. A detailed overview of the Great Conversation and different methods of inquiry. Good.

[Dennis Schvejda · Rating 4 out of 5]

Completed Volume 2, "Imaginative Literature I," of the 10-volume set, "Gateway to the Great Books."